*2013* epcot food & wine festival 9/27-11/11

[Angel Ariel]

I called at 8:15 this morning (forgot today was the 15th!). it took me about 10 calls to get through to being on hold..then I was on hold for 50 mins before speaking to someone.

That would have been fine if the person I spoke to had been knowledgeable. When I first asked her about the 3D Dessert Discovery, she thought I was asking about the Wishes Dessert Party and told me the reservations for October weren't open yet. I had to clarify that I was asking about the food and wine festival event. Then she didn't know about the difference between the GA and the Sweet Seats, so I was put on hold a bit again while she figured that out. There was more, but those are the low-lights It's the first time I gave negative feedback on the survey at the end because she was so less than helpful.

sadly, no sweet seats available, but we did get GA for the 3D Dessert Discovery on 10/4. Hopefully GA will work out OK. Has anyone done it before? How early do we need to get in line to get in?

 

[SamSam]

Dh and I were both on line at 5:69am (our time), dialing over and over. I got through by 6:01 but the lines were already full and I was put on hold. 45 minutes later (I was sweating bullits by then) and I finally get through (dh is still on hold).

Good news was I was able to get most of the events we wanted, a couple were sold out...but that's life.

 

[Bellamouse]

Isn't everyone excited to see My Magic+ implemented after this fiasco over the last several days? Just think what fun that will be - the system goes down or doesn't work and you can't get into you resort room, can't get into a theme park, you can't get into your dining locations with advanced ADR's, etc. Something to look forward too!

Just another reason we stay offsite, and I carry all my confirmation numbers around handwritten on an index card. We carry paper tickets, too. Not sure I want to convert to RFID when the time comes. We are definitely NOT getting any magic bands, no matter what. This is making me lean more and more toward keeping my old paper tickets.

We never do any of the special events, just the booths (F&W is my favorite and really the only reason we come back to Disney at all), and watching this thread and what you've all had to endure just makes me that much more glad we don't participate.

So, so sorry it has been such a nightmare for everyone and I sincerely hope you all enjoy your events, considering what you had to go through to get into them!

 

[BGK]

Waited 50 minutes starting at 8:30ET. Missed out on Scotland... and the Citrico's signature dinner, as both were full. Got my two French regional lunches, an Italian regional lunch, and the Flying Fish signature dinner. I only had to give credit card information once. The CM was very friendly and efficient. The whole process took about fifteen minutes once I connected, which was consistent with past years. What wasn't was the 90 minutes of busy circuits.

 

[skater]

It's basically by specific event, and not all the events are available for online booking. But you can link to the ones that are via https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/epcot/#/special-events/

This link takes you right to Party for the Senses bookings: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/party-for-senses/
But it's only for General Admission bookings.

Thanks! This morning I was told on the phone that 3D was sold out - both general admission and sweet seats. Now, the general admission is available online and on the phone . Crazy.

 

[karmacats]

AKL IPO came through for us this a.m. - at about 11 I got an email that they were able to reserve the 10/20 Sweet Sundays brunch for us. We're only at DW for 4 days prior to a cruise and this was the only event we really cared about during that time, so I'm really glad they got it.

For those of you wondering about 3d Dessert Party general admission, we did it last year, and it was fine (were hoping to do it again this year, but it's not being offered the one weekend we're there). We got there about half an hour early, and were able to get right into the building - no waiting outside in the bad weather or on line - but they did keep us in a huge waiting area until exactly start time. We were about halfway back in the crowd, so when the doors opened we had to wait for the folks in front of us to enter, but even though it was crowded it was very orderly. We went past the stage and the sweet seats to a large area of tables, found a table, put our sweaters over 2 chairs to show they were taken, and started to eat. We'd often get up one at a time to get food, but if we happened to be up at the same time, the sweaters showed we were sitting there (I have no idea if the sweater thing is a no-no, but there were quite a few people using clothes, bags, etc to mark seats as taken). The tables were large - ours was for 6 or 8, i think - so sometimes roving parties would come sit with us, but mostly we were on our own. There seemed to be enough tables for everyone - I never saw the seats all full. Long story short, we loved the party and would definitely do it again, but I don't feel the need to pay for the sweet seats unless you want some of the extra "perks" (like different alcohol or cheese or whatever they offer that's not in GA) - reserved seating was definitely not necessary to find a nice relaxing table.

Sounds like most of you who booked GA for things yesterday because you were told reserved seating was sold out were able to switch your reservations to reserved today. I'm glad to see that, and glad Disney was flexible about refunding the GA tix. I've said it a million times, but I cannot believe how disorganized everything is this year!

 

[jenjersnap]

Thank you, karmacats. That is very relieving. My DH had no luck convincing them to switch our GA to sweet seats, he was firmly told it was nonrefundable, so we are stuck with GA.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Thanks! This morning I was told on the phone that 3D was sold out - both general admission and sweet seats. Now, the general admission is available online and on the phone . Crazy.

I just got off the phone with a CM who double checked teh sweet seats for 10/4 for me. I didn't trust the CM I spoke with this morning, given her lack of knowledge. This CM did confirm, though, that sweet seats were sold out for that day (and I mentioned hearing about glitches). She did say that GA seats were still available for that day.

ETA: Thank you, karmacat, for the reassurance on GA for the 3D Dessert Discovery - that makes me feel a lot better!

 

[TDC Nala]

I'm wondering if the Party for your senses events sell out fast?
I'm wondering if i should try to book it now, or if I could wait until a closer date, because I'm not really sure if I want to spend that kind of money, and even less sure on what to get.

PFTS is a large event with capacity for over 300 and they are probably getting in more than that. General admission often doesn't sell out at all, much less on the first booking day. It does happen once in awhile - but not the first day.

The reserved seating options will probably sell out if not today or tomorrow, most likely by the end of the week.

Same with the 3D Dessert Party. Reserved seating goes pretty quickly. General admission, not so much.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

The past two days have been craziness.

I got most of the events I wanted through about 5 different phone calls the past couple days. I was not able to get my Brown Derby Signature Dinner but I was able to get into the Flying Fish one that was also that evening.

I know I posted this on the other thread but we are going to:
10/5 - Taste, Shake & Indulge
10/8 - Signature Lunch @ Le Cellier
10/10 - Signature Dinner @ Flying Fish
10/11 - Kitchen Memories
11/1 - Spirits Confidential
11/2 - Culinary Demo
11/2 - The Great Whiskey Debate
11/2 - Party of the Senses
11/3 - Italian White Truffle Lunch

We also have a Citricos Wine Dinner on 10/8 but that isn't part of the Food & Wine Festival.

I debated about doing the Mexican Lunch or Italian Regional on 11/2 but I think Disney got enough of my money the past couple days.

 

[herb102211]

Did you try again ?

So I decided to call again a few minutes ago (not giving up hope here!) and the CM was able to book us for the Sweet Sundays!! I have no idea what's going on with these systems, but I'm glad we were finally able to get seats See you there!

 

[TDC Nala]

I am certain that I am going to keep all my confirmation numbers with me on both trips. Might need them this time.

 

[sasmmb]

You should try. Some events apparently did not load into the system until closer to 8 AM. I think some of the CMs didn't understand why they weren't showing up and decided they must be sold out. Mine didn't say that, she said she didn't understand why they weren't showing up either.

Alas, still no luck. And my CM was a little grumpy too. I politely asked to speak to her supervisor saying that I had heard there were some technical issues on the computers for some CMs. She put me on hold for 30 seconds and then came back saying there was no such thing as a complaint department or supervisor she could transfer me to but she could give me an email address to write to.

 

[Cynth]

PFTS is a large event with capacity for over 300 and they are probably getting in more than that. General admission often doesn't sell out at all, much less on the first booking day. It does happen once in awhile - but not the first day.

The reserved seating options will probably sell out if not today or tomorrow, most likely by the end of the week.

Same with the 3D Dessert Party. Reserved seating goes pretty quickly. General admission, not so much.

Thank you, that is reassuring, I'll will take the chance and wait for a bit and then decide if I want to do PFTS in general admission.

 

[ellie0311]

On hold for 57 minutes this morning starting at 7 am but I was able to secure our Sweet Sundays spot for 10/20. I also just called back now and was on hold for only 3 minutes and booked the Italian Food & Wine Pairing at Via Napoli on 10/24. If I could just get the rest of my traveling companions to get back to me on their interest in a mixology seminar I should be all set.

 

[Inkmahm]

Alas, still no luck. And my CM was a little grumpy too. I politely asked to speak to her supervisor saying that I had heard there were some technical issues on the computers for some CMs. She put me on hold for 30 seconds and then came back saying there was no such thing as a complaint department or supervisor she could transfer me to but she could give me an email address to write to.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Today is a day when that catch phrase is about as true as it will ever get.

For anyone who has been turned down once or twice for an event, I would call AGAIN and get someone else to ask. The CMs don't know where to look in the system to find these events and the system HAS had glitches where events were just not showing as being open yet. The CMs decided that meant they were sold out. Once I got my CM to actually go check it out because that made no sense, I was able to get the one event that really mattered to me.

So I say it again, call back! I'd call 4 times if I had to and you MAY get a different answer.

 

[TDC Nala]

We went past the stage and the sweet seats to a large area of tables, found a table, put our sweaters over 2 chairs to show they were taken, and started to eat. We'd often get up one at a time to get food, but if we happened to be up at the same time, the sweaters showed we were sitting there (I have no idea if the sweater thing is a no-no, but there were quite a few people using clothes, bags, etc to mark seats as taken).

There was a post (not on this thread) awhile back from someone who used a merchandise bag to "save" a general admission seat, and people removed the bag from the seat and put it on the floor when the table was empty.

Those of us who have been attending these events for many years agreed that while it took a bit of nerve to move people's stuff, it also took some to save seats in this fashion, as general admission seats are ultimately not meant to be reserved or "taken." I would think that if someone takes your seats while you are up and leave the table empty, you couldn't appeal to Disney employees to ask them to get out of "your" seats. Just a heads up in that direction.

 

[Arielle71]

So I decided to call again a few minutes ago (not giving up hope here!) and the CM was able to book us for the Sweet Sundays!! I have no idea what's going on with these systems, but I'm glad we were finally able to get seats See you there!

Yehhh, so happy for you...

 

[WDWGeek1971]

So, after my 7am experience--only able to book the Mexican Tequila Lunch, and Spirits Confidential--I got to work and in my misery decided to try to book a Party for the Senses since I couldn't get the 3D Party. Well, I was easily able to book that on line. So, I thought, I have 45 minutes to my next meeting, let me try calling in again. So, I did. Spent about 10 minutes on hold and then was able to book three more events--all of which had been "UNAVAILABLE" at 7am. So, to what I had already booked, I added three biggies:

1. French Regional Lunch
2. Cheese Seminar
3. Italian White Truffle Lunch!!!!

WOOT! So glad it worked out. Only "downside" is that we will be going to Party for the Senses instead of the 3D Disney Dessert Discovery party. If that is the biggest challenge this trip has to offer, I'm thrilled!!! So, if you were unable to book an event his morning, give it another try!!!!!

 

[marsh0013]

I just called, got through in no time, and got my brother the one event that was unavailable yesterday. Italian food and beer pairing on Tuesday Oct 22. He didn't even know I couldn't get it yesterday. He's on a cruise right now, lucky guy.