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

[crazy4wdw]

I don't know about everyone else but I was SOOOO happy this morning NOT to be up at the crack of dawn listening to busy signals and hold music for the 3rd day in a row!

LOL!

Me too!

 

[crazy4wdw]

I need all the important info the dos and don'ts for first timers. Also we are debating on park hoppers or buying MNSSHP tickets.

Schedule your days for the festival on weekdays. Epcot is more crowded on Friday, Sat, and Sun becasue local residents attend the festival in large numbers.

Also, take a look at the first page of this thread for hellpful links to the special events and menus for the international marketplaces.

Also visit the Epcot F&W section of the Disney Food Blog for helpful info:
http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2013-epcot-food-and-wine-festival/

 

[kasedroz]

Schedule your days for the festival on weekdays. Epcot is more crowded on Friday, Sat, and Sun becasue local residents attend the festival in large numbers.

Also, take a look at the first page of this thread for hellpful links to the special events and menus for the international marketplaces.

Also visit the Epcot F&W section of the Disney Food Blog for helpful info:
http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2013-epcot-food-and-wine-festival/

It's a weekend trip. We'll only be there Saturday. We won't arrive til 7 on Friday night and are keeping around 4:30 Sunday afternoon.

 

[TDC Nala]

If your only option is to go on a Saturday, make sure you get there right at 11 AM when World Showcase opens. Hit as many booths as you can before the crowds start arriving. You're coming from Future World if you are staying at Pop, consider skipping the booths that are right there when you enter World Showcase and head for the back of the showcase. Or, you can walk up through England and Canada and France and be ready when the rope is dropped and the booths open. The crowds coming in from Future World will swarm the first booths they come to, and it will take awhile for them to trickle back. When it starts getting crazy, take it easy. There will be crowds, and the booths will have big lines.

You may find shorter lines at booths offering more "exotic" types of cuisine. Try the vegan booth. Where you see long lines, they will usually move more quickly than you think they will, absent some kind of mechanical problem with the registers or some other unusual issue.

Also expect LOTS of people on the pathways, especially in the evenings. Congestion is prevalent around the England/Canada area, and in American Adventure and the neighboring pavilions right after the Eat to the Beat concert lets out. There will also be lines for the regular Epcot food and beverage offerings, not just for the festival booths. You may even find long lines for the bathrooms (especially the ladies').

 

[Inkmahm]

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!!

Yay!

I"m sure I wasn't the only one to say try, try again. But you are welcome!

p.s. I have seen Buddy when his traveling show came to Minneapolis. He is very entertaining in person! You're in for a fun time!

 

[AuroraRora]

Did the 3D Dessert party sell out (the GA, not the reserved seats)?

 

[WDWGeek1971]

Did the 3D Dessert party sell out (the GA, not the reserved seats)?

Not yet. As of 11:35AM EDT, you can still book on-line:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/3-d-desserts/

 

[ryansstitch]

It's a weekend trip. We'll only be there Saturday. We won't arrive til 7 on Friday night and are keeping around 4:30 Sunday afternoon.

Hmm, it will be pretty busy the whole time you are there then. I would suggest getting to Epcot before world showcase opens, just so you can get started at booths as soon as you can, before everyone starts rolling in by 1ish. however, on your friday, when you arrive, it will be packed already. with World showcase closing by 9 or 10, I probably wouldn't bother gong to the park unless there Ida special event dinner that you can book ( even then, that's a full day ticket on one meal!). I personally always get park hoppers, but that's mostly because both my husband and my dad, brother ( I've always gone with one or all of them!) have zero patience for boredom, and want to switch parks at the drop of a hat. That being said, I think it is still helpful during f&w in case you want to escape the heavy crowds and spend some time just enjoying another park. Our plan for the saturday we will be there is to get to booths when WS opens, spend a few hours at that, when we can't handle crowds, do rides until our 3pm seminar, afterwards do a few booths to kill time, head back to 5pm seminar, afterwards head to Hollywood studios or MK, depending on the crowd level in our lines app. We deliberately scheduled seminars for the busiest days so we can spend time we would be feeling a bit overwhelmed doing something we enjoy! Hope that helps!

 

[cruisingkat]

According to the Chase Disney visa newsletter I received in the mail, the American pavilion is the new location. I would think that they needed a larger location than last year because there were often times where there was a line to get in as it was filled to capacity.

 

[basketlacey]

This will be my 5th year at the F&W festival and my first trip with only adults. I am super excited. But, we didn't book any special events. I am still a bit on the fence because I would love PFTS but I am not sure the rest of my group would like the GA set up. We currently have a reservation at FF and I figure we will spend about the same amount of money as GA to PFTS. But, we will be able to sit and talk and relax through our meal. I don't know. Part of me feels like I will be missing out and the other part of me says, if any of the group is grumpy because of the crowds and lack of tables, it would ruin the night anyway....

 

[cdtommie]

PFTS is supposed to be a moveable cocktail,party. You are supposed to circulate around, tasting bites, sipping wine. There is no need for this crazy table saving or someone sitting while another gets up. Walk around together, get bites, eat them, go to next chef. If something needs to be cut, lean at a high table for a minute, exchange a pleasantry with someone standing there and move on. This is not a sit down dinner and I still don't under stand the big deal about a table (unless you have a disability or trouble standing or walking, of course.) if we see a partly empty high top, we'll stop for a minute to eat our food ( often to a very disgruntled person all agitated because he table is " saved") and move on.

Bingo! it's a cocktail party, not a sit down dinner. No one is entitled to hog a whole table for the entire night.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Bingo! it's a cocktail party, not a sit down dinner. No one is entitled to hog a whole table for the entire night.

I don't remember anyone saying they wanted to "hog a whole table for the entire night"...? I do recall some specifically stating they did not want/intend to do this, though.

I've never been to a cocktail party with reserved seating - seems a mismatch to me, personally.

And Disney isn't billing something like Scotland: Land of Food and Drink as a "cocktail party". If that's what they intend, they should be clear in how they market these things. And they should clearly describe what "STANDARD SEATING" means at the WDW F&W fest. Not obvious AT ALL. JMHO.

 

[ashleyrm]

Bingo! it's a cocktail party, not a sit down dinner. No one is entitled to hog a whole table for the entire night.

Unless they have paid for reserved seating...

 

[cdtommie]

I don't remember anyone saying they wanted to "hog a whole table for the entire night"...? I do recall some specifically stating they did not want/intend to do this, though.

I've never been to a cocktail party with reserved seating - seems a mismatch to me, personally.

And Disney isn't billing something like Scotland: Land of Food and Drink as a "cocktail party". If that's what they intend, they should be clear in how they market these things. And they should clearly describe what "STANDARD SEATING" means at the WDW F&W fest. Not obvious AT ALL. JMHO.

We've been going to this even since it's inception and it clearly began as a "cocktail party" type event (the plate they provide you has a cut out to hold your wine glass while you are standing). Seating has increased over the years to address this common complaint (it has pretty much leveled off now with the reserved options).

The reserved seat option (and corresponding price premium) just appeared in the past few years...people have been doing the mad bull rush and holding tables all night since the beginning (believe me, we've done this event like 20 times) and we have witnessed first hand how incredibly nasty people can be due to seat and high top hoarding, even just to put a plate down on a high top for even a minute - that's why we got fed up enough to skip this event for a couple of years and have only returned with the introduction of the reserved seat option. To be honest, if we didn't get reserved seating, we would just move on and book some other event instead.

 

[cdtommie]

Unless they have paid for reserved seating...

Yes, my comment was the referencing general admission aspect of the event.

 

[ashleyrm]

Yes, my comment was the referencing general admission aspect of the event.

And we will be reserved seating along with you on 10/26!

7:15PM - Party of the Senses Reserved Seating
cdtommie
ashleyrm + 1
Inkmahm + 1 (Dynaguy)

First time for us with the reserved seating. Really looking forward to it!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

We've been going to this even since it's inception and it clearly began as a "cocktail party" type event (the plate they provide you has a cut out to hold your wine glass while you are standing). Seating has increased over the years to address this common complaint (it has pretty much leveled off now with the reserved options).

The reserved seat option (and corresponding price premium) just appeared in the past few years...people have been doing the mad bull rush and holding tables all night since the beginning (believe me, we've done this event like 20 times) and we have witnessed first hand how incredibly nasty people can be due to seat and high top hoarding, even just to put a plate down on a high top for even a minute - that's why we got fed up enough to skip this event for a couple of years and have only returned with the introduction of the reserved seat option. To be honest, if we didn't get reserved seating, we would just move on and book some other event instead.

I hear ya'. I tried to get reserved seating but after a variety of snafus (Disney-caused!), I wasn't able to. And this will be our first time at a F&W event (stuck to booths before), so given Disney's descriptions we really didn't know what to expect with "standard" seating. I'm grateful for DIS and people in this thread for clueing me in before we get there!!

I would NEVER be rude to people or complain in any way if they shared a table or high-top I was at! Disney is setting up this way -- those people aren't doing anything wrong! I just think they could have a better setup. Reserved, and standard, where standard means you grab your seat (not whole table) when you get in and can keep that seat without a problem.

 

[cdtommie]

And we will be reserved seating along with you on 10/26!

7:15PM - Party of the Senses Reserved Seating
cdtommieha
ashleyrm + 1
Inkmahm + 1 (Dynaguy)

First time for us with the reserved seating. Really looking forward to it!

Awesome! We did reserved last year and it was great except for an early snafu... someone with an ECV claimed our table...I think they liked that it was on the perimeter and not one of the internal tables. They were already out on the floor when we got there so just the ECV parked there...the CM said they would move them or they could get find us another table (we opted for the latter)...by the time they got the manager with all the confusion and set up a new table it was about 7:45PM already so we lost any early advantage.

Our esteemed moderator and one of our Disney hero's, TDC Nala will also be there in the reserved section too.

 

[TiggerAllie]

Just saw that All Ears is posting that they have added seats to the Parisian breakfasts. Was that something that could be booked online, or did it have to be over the phone?

 

[TDC Nala]

One year at Party for the Senses in 2008 (The Year of the Comps and Magical Memories Giveaways) a fight broke out between two men over a chair. Both were ejected. In those years, whole families came to PFTS, put a blanket on the ground and had a picnic. That stopped when the comps ended. I tend to think there's no children's price for the food and wine events because it discourages parents from bringing along their young children. I think PFTS is fine for teens or even tweens who have an adventurous palate and like tasting different foods. But not for little kids. Now, when I see little kids at the event, they are usually the chefs' kids.

I'd like to NOT see an argument over whether the chair you grab is "yours." I just want those in general admission to be aware: if you get up and leave the table and someone takes that chair, Disney likely won't help you get it back.

My friend got the reserved seating last year, she had a table with her name on it and ONE chair. When she would come back from getting food, sometimes there would be a person sitting in her chair. In that case you can point to the name on the table and state this is a paid reserved table. That did the trick for her, but I'm guessing it wouldn't work for general admission.

I may see Tommie at the beer table...it's not any unusual beer though.

Just saw that All Ears is posting that they have added seats to the Parisian breakfasts. Was that something that could be booked online, or did it have to be over the phone?

Parisian breakfast must be booked by phone.