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

That is really good advice. What we do, is stake out a table, and then make sure someone is always there. This works best with a party of more than two, but we have made it work when it was only the two of us. What we do is take turns heading out on "foraging runs." One or more party members head to specific stations, brings back enough for the table to share, and then take turns leaving/staying. It has worked well for us. Good luck out there! If anyone wants to join us, my husband and I will be a twosome for the Party of the Senses on Saturday, 10/26. We could meet up before the event, grab a table, and take turns saving seats. Just send me a private message!

We're going on the 26th but I booked reserved seating. Just curious if it was sold out by the time you booked, if you checked? Might make me feel better about getting up so early! Thanks!
 
Thank you for that great advice! Sounds a little crazy and stressful, just like booking it was! DH agreed to take over phone duties to see if we can switch to sweet seats after I pointed your post out to him, LOL.

We've done this event twice with GA and had no problem finding a table walking in at the scheduled time (unless something changed last year)...this event is no where near as crowded as the PFTS (which does have major GA seating problems).
 
Are you set up on My Disney Experience? My reservations popped up instantly on there.

I am set up on MDE, but I did not give them my ressie number before booking on Aug 9, just my DVC member number. They are not showing up. The events I booked yesterday are showing.
 


So apparently I was just unbelievably lucky this morning I called in at 6:59:55 got through to the tree immediately :cheer2::cheer2: and then got a CM right away pixiedust: She asked my how long I had been waiting and when I said not long she was taken aback. So I got the one signature event (Cali Grill) that I wanted though it did take some insistence on my part (because Cali isn't open for regular reservations currently). I also got a few seminars for the last day.

Cali Grill 11/7 - Signature Dining
Iron Horse Vineyards 11/11 - wine Seminar
Dylan Schauwecker 11/11 - culinary seminar
King Estate Winery 11/11 - wine seminar

If any of you are going to these lemme know, I love meeting up with new folks.

Dis_Yoda started this thread to keep track of who is signed up for what events: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3156540

might help you find other people that are signed up for the same ones as you
 
This is what I have done in the past, met up with friends and took turns "manning" the table. If somebody wanted to sit in the empty chairs for a bit, that was fine with us.

This year I bought myself a seat after 11 years of general admission! Yes, this is my 12th event of this type. I have the event wine glasses going back to 2001. Back then this event was in the Odyssey, was called the Grand Tasting, and there weren't any tables.

TDC, I think I liked this event more when it was at the Odyssey (Sam Adams Triple Bock! - something that they never should have created). We skipped it for a couple of years but came back last year with the reserved which I think is a nice compromise. I think our count is over 20 now since most years we did this twice each trip. We'll see you on the 26th!
 


Do you just give your name when you show up, like a normal dining ressie?

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Hello! I just registered on this forum specifically to say thank you, thank you, thank you for the posts mentioning to try again! I was so disappointed after calling first thing this morning and being told there was nothing for the Oct 13 Buddy Valastro Sweet Sunday. After reading the posts here around noon time I tried again and was able to reserve our spot!! This will be my first food & wine visit and I'm super excited now! Thanks again!! :)
 
Hello! I just registered on this forum specifically to say thank you, thank you, thank you for the posts mentioning to try again! I was so disappointed after calling first thing this morning and being told there was nothing for the Oct 13 Buddy Valastro Sweet Sunday. After reading the posts here around noon time I tried again and was able to reserve our spot!! This will be my first food & wine visit and I'm super excited now! Thanks again!! :)

Glad everything worked out for you!! DH and I will be attending the Sweet Sundays on 10/13 too (after being told several times this morning that it was sold out).

See you there!:woohoo:
 
Yes, that is what I was told this a.m.

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Yep. There will probably be someone with a clipboard at the gate to the hidden pavilion. You check in there while the GA people line up. They will let you thru to the "waiting room."

At the waiting room you pick up your various stuff. Then give your name to the hosts inside the waiting room.

Somewhere along the line someone will ask for a picture ID to confirm you. And then give you a wristband to let you in to the special seating.
 
OK, 3rd time was not a charm. Still said that Parisian Breakfast was sold out for Nov. 2. She said the only event she still showed openings for on that date was the cheese seminar. Ah well, more money for booths I suppose.
 
Yep. There will probably be someone with a clipboard at the gate to the hidden pavilion. You check in there while the GA people line up. They will let you thru to the "waiting room."

At the waiting room you pick up your various stuff. Then give your name to the hosts inside the waiting room.

Somewhere along the line someone will ask for a picture ID to confirm you. And then give you a wristband to let you in to the special seating.

Cool, thanks. Where is the pavilion located?
And what is the stuff you have to pick up? I'm intrigued!

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Hmmm...when I booked the deminars early on Aug 9, I was told that there wasn't a culinary demo at 3pm on Nov 3. That was disappointing, since the schedule says it's Chef TJ. Tooling around the booking tool today, I see that there IS a demo that day, that time, and it even has (or had) availability. Booked it!

And, I was able to get all my confirmation numbers during the call I made to confirm that deminar was really happening.

For the first time ever, I took the "after call" survey. Was kind to the CM that helped me, and then I went out to the website they give you at the end of the survey for additional comments and gave them some insight into my lack of love for the overall process this year.
 
Thanks for your tips, jaygalterio!!

THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME LAST YEAR!!! I was LIVID and we din't get what we wanted when I finally got someone on the phone.

I am sorry.
So you feel my pain!! Thanks!!! :goodvibes Frustrating, but I'm over it... mostly... ;)


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.
Glad to hear this account - thx!! :)


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.

I do understand that this is the rule, but it seems ridiculous to me. The extra $20 or so gets you a reserved table, and means you don't have to wait in line -- that's enough of a benefit -- akin to a F! dining pkg. Without that extra $20 you have to wait in line and make a mad dash for a seat. Once you get it, what's the harm in keeping it? Not the WHOLE TABLE, of course, but just the seat. :confused3

We'll obviously follow whatever the rules are, but this strikes me as silly.
 
I do understand that this is the rule, but it seems ridiculous to me. The extra $20 or so gets you a reserved table, and means you don't have to wait in line -- that's enough of a benefit -- akin to a F! dining pkg. Without that extra $20 you have to wait in line and make a mad dash for a seat. Once you get it, what's the harm in keeping it? Not the WHOLE TABLE, of course, but just the seat.

We'll obviously follow whatever the rules are, but this strikes me as silly.

You are signing up for open seating, and that's what open seating is. Really, nobody will do anything about guests holding a table. But if they all desert that table at the same time, the table is up for grabs.
 
You are signing up for open seating, and that's what open seating is. Really, nobody will do anything about guests holding a table. But if they all desert that table at the same time, the table is up for grabs.

I guess I don't see the benefit to anyone of "open seating" done this way, rather than people just grabbing a seat when they get in. There are many events like this outside of WDW -- where some seats are reserved, some are first come first served on the day. And you pay a premium for reserved. Nothing dictates that those seats need to be "open" in the way WDW appears to do this. I understand it's what they're going for, for some reason, I just don't see the benefit.

And they describe these as "Reserved" seating and "Standard" seating -- they certainly don't describe them or label them as "Open" -- or describe what that means here. At least this is the nomenclature for the Scotland: Land of Food & Drink event.
 
It's always been open seating and I've been going to these events for many years. Sorry, but the seat is not yours. If you all get up and leave the table, you risk losing it. This is why I am buying a seat this year as it is practically impossible for a single person to hold a chair. I've got a friend coming, and we could have taken turns at an open seating table, but we just went for the reserved seats instead.
 
That is really good advice. What we do, is stake out a table, and then make sure someone is always there. This works best with a party of more than two, but we have made it work when it was only the two of us. What we do is take turns heading out on "foraging runs." One or more party members head to specific stations, brings back enough for the table to share, and then take turns leaving/staying. It has worked well for us. Good luck out there! If anyone wants to join us, my husband and I will be a twosome for the Party of the Senses on Saturday, 10/26. We could meet up before the event, grab a table, and take turns saving seats. Just send me a private message!

And this is exactly why I shelled out the extra cash for reserved seating. Husband and I are going to the event together as a couple and want to be able to spend our time together - looking at the selections, talking with the chefs and the winemakers, distillers, etc.

That is a big part of the enjoyment for us. It would not be anywhere near as interesting if one of us had to stay at the table while the other one darted around picking up food and drink.

We did do PFTS back in 2004 when there was no special seating and we managed ok but did not spend any time sitting. In fact, I think they mostly had standing tables.

Will let everyone know what I really think of reserved seating after we try it out for the first time on 10/26!
 

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