2019 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival: August 29-November 23, 2019

[leholcomb]

Looking for words of encouragement here I suppose... We've never been to F&W, but are happily attending this year! I have been keeping up with this thread and have been watching all of the special dining events that you guys are booking and I am feeling some FOMO. As this is our first year (5 day trip which we plan to attend F&W 2 or 3 of those days, but we also have a park hopper) attending F&W we planned to simply sip and stroll and eat at the kiosks, etc., but not do any of the special dining. We won't be disappointed doing F&W this way, will we?

I've been to F&W the past 10 years. This is my first year doing a special event. You will have a great time!

 

[sherlockmiles]

Looking for words of encouragement here I suppose... We've never been to F&W, but are happily attending this year! I have been keeping up with this thread and have been watching all of the special dining events that you guys are booking and I am feeling some FOMO. As this is our first year (5 day trip which we plan to attend F&W 2 or 3 of those days, but we also have a park hopper) attending F&W we planned to simply sip and stroll and eat at the kiosks, etc., but not do any of the special dining. We won't be disappointed doing F&W this way, will we?

This is all we do too!
This will be our second year. First year we just wanted to see what was what, etc. This year there are VERY VERY FEW special things going on during our trip so that made the decision very easy. There is SO much to see, eat, drink that you'll be fine.

Suggestion - share all of the dishes - you can taste more!
Also can't wait for new Remy search. Our first year he was indoors due to hurricane....hoping he's outdoors this year.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Looking for words of encouragement here I suppose... We've never been to F&W, but are happily attending this year! I have been keeping up with this thread and have been watching all of the special dining events that you guys are booking and I am feeling some FOMO. As this is our first year (5 day trip which we plan to attend F&W 2 or 3 of those days, but we also have a park hopper) attending F&W we planned to simply sip and stroll and eat at the kiosks, etc., but not do any of the special dining. We won't be disappointed doing F&W this way, will we?

I think your plans sound great! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed at all. I’ve been doing F&W for 10 years now and only relatively recently have I started to do several events — mostly as I began taking longer, dedicated F&W trips and then later moved to within an hour’s drive. I’m also a big fan of various food tv shows as additional context.

I think the events are great and look forward to them but they are expensive, a bit of a gamble as you won’t know the menu in advance and won’t have choices (they do accommodate allergies), you’ll be seated with others (that’s been mostly fun for me but I’ve also had a few awkward table assignments), and they’re time consuming.

In 2 days you probably still won’t be able to get through all the booths, if that’s a goal. Note there are different philosophies in terms of how to tackle the booths. I am someone who does still like to have a table-service reservation or 2. We usually avoid Sat/Sun, snack through the day, and have a late TS dinner. At the end of a busy day, we like sitting down and being served.

There are “low cost” , shorter in duration, demos, beverage seminars ($19 pp each) or the food & beverage pairings ($29 pp) if looking to check out an event. But I don’t think you need one to fully enjoy the festival.

Have fun!! And feel free to ask more questions here... we’re a group who loves talking F&W, with a pretty wide variety of experiences.

 

[randumb0]

10/24 Wine vs Beer is sold out so I booked the 17th

 

[eva]

I keep looking over what is offered the week we are there (Oct 5-12) and I just can’t get excited by much. The celebrity chefs that week really don’t thrill me. I would love to see most any of the chefs listed at the brunches, except Buddy Valastro. Just not my cup of tea. Wish we were there a day earlier to see Jet Tila’s Duo. The Duo’s that week seem pretty boring. We have already seen the couple doing the seafood one. The beverage seminars are mostly wineries with sweet Rieslings and Proseccos. The only one that has wines we would be interested in is on Sunday. And we hadn’t planned to go to Epcot that day. Still debating on a specialty dinner. But we haven’t been to Wine Bar George or Jaleo yet. And I am wondering if we would enjoy those just as much, if not more. We might be enjoying the booths mostly this year. I think next F&W we will come in for 10 nights, instead of a week. I just seem to miss something I want to do by a day or so.

 

[cdtommie]

What’s frustrating to me is the inconsistency. I also did the Italian Regional lunch last year and refills were limited and begrudging. And then I read reports of people at the same event on a different date who said wine was flowing freely. I’m trying wine vs. beer this year.

We've done beer vs wine every year since it was offered and they have always been generous with the pours. Regional lunch, not so. I think last year we got small refills on maybe one or two of the wines. I think this is impacted by where you are seated, if you are near the end of a table towards the center of the room you do better than further away.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I keep looking over what is offered the week we are there (Oct 5-12) and I just can’t get excited by much. The celebrity chefs that week really don’t thrill me. I would love to see most any of the chefs listed at the brunches, except Buddy Valastro. Just not my cup of tea. Wish we were there a day earlier to see Jet Tila’s Duo. The Duo’s that week seem pretty boring. We have already seen the couple doing the seafood one. The beverage seminars are mostly wineries with sweet Rieslings and Proseccos. The only one that has wines we would be interested in is on Sunday. And we hadn’t planned to go to Epcot that day. Still debating on a specialty dinner. But we haven’t been to Wine Bar George or Jaleo yet. And I am wondering if we would enjoy those just as much, if not more. We might be enjoying the booths mostly this year. I think next F&W we will come in for 10 nights, instead of a week. I just seem to miss something I want to do by a day or so.

My sense is run, do not walk, to Wine Bar George. They could curate your own tasting or may even offer a special event of their own. No inside knowledge, but last year they did a screening of the latest Somm film and we tasted the wines or close approximations from the film and it was awesome. Also suggest the Wed wine tasting at Jiko.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

We've done beer vs wine every year since it was offered and they have always been generous with the pours. Regional lunch, not so. I think last year we got small refills on maybe one or two of the wines. I think this is impacted by where you are seated, if you are near the end of a table towards the center of the room you do better than further away.

Really looking forward to beer vs. wine. I very much enjoyed the Italian regional lunch last year but (on the date I attended) refills were definitely not offered and when tablemates asked for some there was a bit of a sigh and rolling of eyes. I totally get they have a profit margin... just wish it was a consistent experience for the $. In the tequila lunch it’s pre-poured and no extra (unless the table next to you doesn’t show, as I lucked into last year) For the Italian Regional and French Family Meal, it seemed based on who hosted. I’m sure I didn’t need more wine, but paying the same amount, I’d like the same options other guests receive.

 

[eva]

My sense is run, do not walk, to Wine Bar George. They could curate your own tasting or may even offer a special event of their own. No inside knowledge, but last year they did a screening of the latest Somm film and we tasted the wines or close approximations from the film and it was awesome. Also suggest the Wed wine tasting at Jiko.

This sounds wonderful. We haven’t been to impressed with the beverage seminars or duos in the past. I have been tossing around the Italian Wine and Beer. We did the dinner at Tutto Italia years ago. Banfi was hosting the wine portion. The wines were very good. It put us on to Chianti Classico Riserva. And when we last went to Italy, we had that very Chianti in Florence. We enjoyed it. But there are so many other things to do and eat. LOL!

Edit- Just made a reservation at Open Table for Wine Bar George. Thanks!

 

[randumb0]

I did Wine vs Beer last year and they were very generous with refills

 

[Deb & Bill]

Our trip this year is at the end of our AP that we activated last year for F&W, so we're about a week earlier. And many of the special dinners were hard to book since they weren't even happening for our dates. BUT, we did get the French Family Meal Tradition (third time) on the day we leave for home, Oct 4. I had to promise Bill that I would drive us home so he could enjoy the wine (I can't drink any wine because of my medication, so it's not a problem). We've had such great meals at this in the past we wanted to do it again. We'll have to see how going to the first one of the festival goes.

We also booked the Mediterranean Food & Wine Pairing at Spice Road Table because was we walked past Spice Road Table last week during Flower & Garden, Bill said he's like to try there some time. Any one have any experience with this one? I'm not as adventurous a diner as Bill, but I'll make do.

We did the Italian Regional Food & Wine Pairing twice and the one last year wasn't as good as the first one we did. We also did the Italian Beer & Wine pairing a few years ago and it was pretty good.

 

[ksromack]

I have one more question if you don’t mind. Do you get to pick the show that you want or is it based on your reservation? When I booked mine it said 2nd seating if that matters.

I wanted a late lunch but the 5:30 concert. There weren’t any lunch ASR’s available at 2pm so we took a 1:30 time. The cm on the phone made it sound like she could book me at any time slot for the concert but YMMV.

 

[cdtommie]

Our trip this year is at the end of our AP that we activated last year for F&W, so we're about a week earlier. And many of the special dinners were hard to book since they weren't even happening for our dates. BUT, we did get the French Family Meal Tradition (third time) on the day we leave for home, Oct 4. I had to promise Bill that I would drive us home so he could enjoy the wine (I can't drink any wine because of my medication, so it's not a problem). We've had such great meals at this in the past we wanted to do it again. We'll have to see how going to the first one of the festival goes.

We also booked the Mediterranean Food & Wine Pairing at Spice Road Table because was we walked past Spice Road Table last week during Flower & Garden, Bill said he's like to try there some time. Any one have any experience with this one? I'm not as adventurous a diner as Bill, but I'll make do.

We did the Italian Regional Food & Wine Pairing twice and the one last year wasn't as good as the first one we did. We also did the Italian Beer & Wine pairing a few years ago and it was pretty good.

Mediterranean Food & Wine Pairing is a real treat, this will be our fourth year (maybe fifth) in a row. Courses will likely be shrimp, tuna (spicy!), lamb chops and baklava for dessert. Wines usually from Spain or Portugal with an occasional Greek wine thrown in (no wine refills but that is certainly reasonable for the price). I think you will enjoy this event.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Mediterranean Food & Wine Pairing is a real treat, this will be our fourth year (maybe fifth) in a row. Courses will likely be shrimp, tuna (spicy!), lamb chops and baklava for dessert. Wines usually from Spain or Portugal with an occasional Greek wine thrown in (no wine refills but that is certainly reasonable for the price). I think you will enjoy this event.

Thanks, I think We will enjoy it.

 

[CDKG]

@lvcourtneyy @TeresaNJ I will be attending the Parisian breakfast solo, so we should definitely plan to meetup prior!

 

[TeresaWen]

Our trip this year is at the end of our AP that we activated last year for F&W, so we're about a week earlier. And many of the special dinners were hard to book since they weren't even happening for our dates. BUT, we did get the French Family Meal Tradition (third time) on the day we leave for home, Oct 4. I had to promise Bill that I would drive us home so he could enjoy the wine (I can't drink any wine because of my medication, so it's not a problem). We've had such great meals at this in the past we wanted to do it again. We'll have to see how going to the first one of the festival goes.

We also booked the Mediterranean Food & Wine Pairing at Spice Road Table because was we walked past Spice Road Table last week during Flower & Garden, Bill said he's like to try there some time. Any one have any experience with this one? I'm not as adventurous a diner as Bill, but I'll make do.

We did the Italian Regional Food & Wine Pairing twice and the one last year wasn't as good as the first one we did. We also did the Italian Beer & Wine pairing a few years ago and it was pretty good.

My husband and I will going to French Family Meal traditions on Oct 4 too!

 

[Cinderella94]

Any word as to if there will be AP magnets again?

 

[mfriedl1]

Does anyone know if the food And wine festival booths can convert DDP Quick Service credits to snacks?

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Any word as to if there will be AP magnets again?

Not yet... but seems likely.

Does anyone know if the food And wine festival booths can convert DDP Quick Service credits to snacks?

Official Disney answer for 2018

https://disneyparksmomspanel.disney...ning-plan-qs-meals-food-wine-festival-377728/

 

[gwynne]

Mediterranean Food & Wine Pairing is a real treat, this will be our fourth year (maybe fifth) in a row. Courses will likely be shrimp, tuna (spicy!), lamb chops and baklava for dessert. Wines usually from Spain or Portugal with an occasional Greek wine thrown in (no wine refills but that is certainly reasonable for the price). I think you will enjoy this event.

Thanks for posting-we hadn't considered this event until now. We just booked.