The 2010 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival Thread

[dizneykid]

Just wanted everyone to know that we were at DownTown Disney a couple weeks ago and they were selling Disney Wristlet Gift Cards there. We saw them at The World of Disney near the check out. Designed like the F&W but with a "generic" Disney logo on them. We only saw one design.

So, I guess they heard that we liked them and now offer them. I haven't been to the parks recently so I don't know if they are selling them there yet. If anyone goes, let us know.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Most F&W events are not what I would consider kid-friendly unless your kids are older and are really into food. There are no discounted event prices - you will pay the same price for your children that you would for an adult and that includes the price of alcohol. The only events I've ever seen kids at are some of the food demos at the welcome center and party for the senses.

However, although the kids don't get any reduced price, or (of course) get served alcohol, "their" portion of alcohol gets served as an extra drink to a parent. At least that's what happened at the demos I went to last year where there were kids. Mom and daughter went, and Mom got 2 glasses of wine (daughter just had water to drink). At another event, both parents, one child, so Mom and Dad had to decide who got the child's serving of wine. Interesting way to get extra wine!

 

[grace&philipsmom]

Food and Wine events are generally geared toward adults and are NOT child friendly. As Brenda mentioned, there is no lower pricing for those too young to drink alcohol or even for kids under 10. I can recommend the food & wine events for teens who are into the culinary arts but not for little kids. The dessert event is new, however, and no one will have any real info until after the first one is presented, unless Disney's official announcement says something about specific offerings for children at this event. (Disney hasn't released the official schedule yet and Disney itself has already put out conflicting information about whether this event will be Thursdays or Fridays)

Thanks for your reply. I guess I jumped the gun and got excited this morning when I received the Disney Parks Blog that stated the 3D experience would be on Fridays. Since the F&W bookings don't usually start until July or August, I guess I will just sit tight - a difficult feat for an obsessive planner!

 

[TDC Nala]

However, although the kids don't get any reduced price, or (of course) get served alcohol, "their" portion of alcohol gets served as an extra drink to a parent. At least that's what happened at the demos I went to last year where there were kids.

At the demos, they serve at best a thimbleful of wine.

I have been to specifically the food/wine pairings with a parent and teenager. The parent was not given the teenager's ration of wine. They just did not pour any wine for the teenager and they took the wine glasses from his place. This was a couple of years ago.

 

[Inkmahm]

http://www.foodwinefest.com/ They lie! It is June and I need my Food and Wine festival information fix!

Isn't it almost time for the annual sticky thread?

 

[ElizabethB]

Lurkyloo nicely posted this a while back. It gives some idea of what is being planned for the Festival. Hope the link works. If not, search back a few pages in the thread.

http://www.foodwinefest.com/?page_id=126#DelDessert

 

[Angel16]

These are basic gift cards that just have a Food and Wine Festival logo on them. They can be used like any other Disney gift cards. Any place that accepts Disney gift cards accepts these. And if you use up your funds, you can always add more to the card at the stores or festival food kiosks in World Showcase.

They did not have the wine walkabout for Australia last year, so we won't know if they bring something like that back until we see more festival info released in the next few months.

Thanks BriarRosie, Hope the Australia walkabout it back, it was so nice, relaxing and some great wine. I am glad you answered my questions as today I was going on a hunt to find your Globbuterfest report.

It's just a regular Disney gift card that happens to have a wristband attached, so you can use it anywhere Disney gift cards are accepted (which means, like, everywhere)!

Hello Jambo buddy, I got mine at the welcome center last year but I saw them other places, and they told me not to worry about the amount that I put on it b/c I could use it everywhere....

Thank you all for this information. Sounds like the way to go for us all. Guess we could load it with $100.00 each, that should take us through the whole two weeks, don't you think? Maybe not!

Angel16

 

[oybolshoi]

Thanks BriarRosie, Hope the Australia walkabout it back, it was so nice, relaxing and some great wine. I am glad you answered my questions as today I was going on a hunt to find your Globbuterfest report.

Thank you all for this information. Sounds like the way to go for us all. Guess we could load it with $100.00 each, that should take us through the whole two weeks, don't you think? Maybe not!

Angel16

Bless your heart ... $100 for a week or two? Heck ... we blow through that in two days!

 

[OKW Lover]

Bless your heart ... $100 for a week or two? Heck ... we blow through that in two days!

Got to agree - its a bit of a surprise how fast your $100 will go. If you get one food item and one beverage at each booth (you'll get more at most) you will be only about half way around World Showcase before that is gone. Of course, you won't be hungry at that point either...

 

[dgbg100106]

Thank you all for this information. Sounds like the way to go for us all. Guess we could load it with $100.00 each, that should take us through the whole two weeks, don't you think? Maybe not!

Angel16

The two of us went through $180 in two days........ good luck with that.

 

[oybolshoi]

Got to agree - its a bit of a surprise how fast your $100 will go. If you get one food item and one beverage at each booth (you'll get more at most) you will be only about half way around World Showcase before that is gone. Of course, you won't be hungry at that point either...

Very true!

We budgeted about $300 for F&W snacking last year for a ten-night trip for the two of us; we usually split everything so that money lasts a little longer but we find that if we want to try at least one thing at every booth around the world showcase the cost adds up very fast.

 

[jgive]

Yeah, DH and I got $100 on a gift card last year to share. Luckily he was being picky and didn't want to try everything so it lasted. I'll be going without him this year and plan on getting a $100 gift card by myself!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Last year I went through a $100 gift card by myself, plus snacks on the DDP, in just six days.

 

[sjs314]

Since I first read about the F&W wrist card, I was thinking of loading it with $50 (never been to F&W before and will be going 2 days this trip) but now that I have read what you all spent I guess I best load it up with $100

 

[Rpsemont]

For those that are frequent WDW visitors and/or have kids - save your wristlet gift cards.

They're able to be used at all the parks and great to give children with a set spending amount. A couple years ago, we let DD take a friend. We put $50 on each of their cards and they were free to use it for snacks, food, gifts, whatever. We use ours every trip. DH and I usually load up with $100 or $200 each. Believe it or not, for us its easier than carrying cash and helps us budget. Whenever you purchase something, the receipt show you your available balance.

 

[DenLo]

I missed some days on this thread as I was out of the country for 30 days, but in trying to catch up I notice that people really use the gift card for paying at the F&W.

Since we found a gift card on the ground last March with $25 on it, it seems like an easy way to lose some money. Can't you use your KTTW card? If that gets lost you can stop payment on it.

 

[TDC Nala]

People in general love the wristbanded gift card. I don't use it myself. I think the above is just another reason why I prefer not to use one. But many find them extremely convenient. The proof of that is that Epcot went from offering them at the festival center where you had to ask for them to having racks and racks of them in the festival center and at some spots around the World Showcase.

Has been posted before but guests should keep in mind that the wristbanded Festival gift card is the same as a regular Disney gift card, it just looks different. It can be used anywhere a Disney gift card can be used. So if you drop one, anybody can pick it up and use it anywhere. Please be careful with your gift cards.

I assume that if you lose one you may be able to have it cancelled, although unless you are carrying around the number on the back of the card you will probably not be able to do that. Yes, I'd assume you would lose all funds still registered on the card, although I don't know the exact procedure.

 

[DenLo]

TDC Nala, thanks for the reply. Also when I heard the cards were on wristbands, it reminded me of a thread that was talking about the PhotoPass cards that were given out at the Water Parks. The cards were on a wristband and people on the thread were complaining that the bands would break and the wearer didn't even know the card was gone.

BTW, we held onto the card we found for a few days but when we checked it still had not been cancelled. Gave the card to a family with four kids since Cinderella was on the card. Somehow it just didn't seem right for us to use it.

That's a good idea about recording the card number on the back. Taking a photo might be the best way to have the card number on hand (using your cell phone would insure the photo will be with you).

 

[dgbg100106]

TDC Nala, thanks for the reply. Also when I heard the cards were on wristbands, it reminded of a thread that was talking about the PhotoPass cards that were given out at the Water Parks. The cards were on a wristband and people on the thread were complaining that the bands would break and the wearer didn't even know the card was gone.

BTW, we held onto the card we found for a few days but when we checked it still had not been cancelled. Gave the card to a family with four kids since Cinderella was on the card. Somehow it just didn't seem right for us to use it.

That's a good idea about recording the card number on the back. Taking a photo might be the best way to have the card number on hand (using your cell phone would insure the photo will be with you).

If I remember correctly, the card comes in two pieces, the second half is a copy of the number but it stated clearly that you must have proof of purchase, which would require that you keep your receipts for each load to know how much money was on the card.

You can also use the balance at Disneystore.com and you can find all of the locations you can use it at, at disneygiftcard.com

 

[OKW Lover]

If I remember correctly, the card comes in two pieces, the second half is a copy of the number but it stated clearly that you must have proof of purchase, which would require that you keep your receipts for each load to know how much money was on the card.

Actually, the system keeps track of how much money has been spent on the card. The requirement for proof of purchase is so that they can be sure you are the one that purchased the card.