EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, Sept. 25 - Nov 16 2015

[MakiraMarlena]

In the "terms and conditions" part my CM said something about not wearing tank tops. That sounds odd but this is new to me, am I going to be asked to leave my culinary demo if I wear a tank top to the park that day?

They mean tank tops on men.

Haven't ever seen ANYONE asked to leave a culinary demo based on what they were wearing.

 

[joeyvee]

Has anyone been able to get a signature dinner (or lunch)?

 

[emilymad]

Got the Parisian Breakfast for 9/26. Wait was a little over an hour. Great CM and it was pretty painless once I got through.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

PFTS 10/24: General Admission only
Mediterranean F&W Pairing for 10/26: Sold out
What's Cooking with Robert Irvine on 10/30: Sold out

 

[wvaspartan]

Got through on Disney VISA line (in email) right at 7 and talked to agent immediately...she transferred me to dining line and was talking to agent by about 7:10. I was able to book with little pain the What's cooking with Amanda Freitag on 10/2, Culinary with Amanda on 10/3 3pm (she couldn't find the 5pm) and What's Cookin with Buddy Valastro on 11/6.

 

[salemnews]

Well that was a waste of time. 15 min wait turned into 1.5 hours. Could only book Parisian Breakfast on Sept 26, wanted Oct 3rd but was not available. Festival Tasting Sampler was off course "not in our system yet."

 

[2xcited2sleep]

An hour on the call (on the call itself not on hold) with me walking the agent through how I thought things worked and some of the tips being reported here, I finally got most of what I wanted. It pays to be persistent - she put me on hold twice to talk with a supervisor & each time came back to say they recommended I call back later. I refused and kept insisting that I knew it was possible to book today.

Ultimately got Burger bash on the 8th with the hosts from The Chew, Bryan Voltaggio and Alex G. I had wanted Andrew Zimmern on 9/27 but I think once my agent figured the process out they were gone.

I went to the disneysurveys.com site (keyword DRC) and left what is hopefully some constructive feedback on the experience. I'm truly baffled by how disorganized and inconsistent the process is... Every. Year.

ETA: I did notice they've either changed the survey questions immediately after the call since last week or specifically deleted the question about wait times for today....that's one way to make your metrics look good!

 

[Tozzie]

I just got off the phone my 35 minute wait time tuned into 1:15
I was able to book Party for the Senses forr 10/24 wine view
Tutto Gusto lunch sold out on 10/21 was able to book it for the 10/23

I asked about the premium package, she told me they do have it but they can't book it at this time and she didn't know why.

 

[CinderElsa]

Booked the Parisian Breakfast for 11/7 about 20 minutes ago. I was on hold exactly 62 minutes, according to my phone.

 

[Jen7079]

called at exactly 7am, was on hold for 30 minutes-ish. was able to book everything I wanted except the 10.20.15 - Italian food wine vs beer. she said it was still locked.

I was able to get:
10.17 - The Parisian Afternoon
10.17 - reserved seating for PFTS
10.18 - French Family Traditions.

The very helpful lady was able to re-confirm that the premium package was back for $199.

I will not be calling back on Thursday morning for the italian food wine vs beer. I am hoping that the IPO people will be able to book it, if not then it wasn't meant to be.

 

[VrBchJ]

Called at 7. Wait time of 22 min. Not bad. Finally at 8:19 CM picked up. I got nothing. No Jiko on Oct 1, no Parisian breakfast on Oct 3, no French afternoon on Oct 30. I asked about the Premium pkg. She didn't know what I was talking about.This Chase early booking is a joke on us. But fool tha I am I'll go thru this again on Thursday.

 

[karrit2000]

Well I'm pleasantly surprised despite the hour & fifteen minute wait to talk to a CM. I was able to book the 5 events I wanted. For the Italian ones I had to pick alternate dates that the first one I asked for but was able to get everything I wanted.
Italian F&W pairing on 11/12 (11/5 not available)
Italian Regional Luncheon on 11/11 (11/9 not available)
French Family Meal Traditions 11/6
Parisian Afternoon 11/7
Parisian Breakfast 11/14

 

[bethsg]

I was on hold since calling at 7... finally got through.. told either of my events.. both italian food pairings were booked... and I asked to speak with a supervisor put on hold for a long time again.. and told sorry.. its just booked in full.

 

[griergirl2]

I was told that indeed some are kept back for regular booking on Thursday, so to try back then. I would really like to know that it's available to even book before I try again. Needing Parisian breakfast on Oct. 3. I did get the Breakfast, Brews, and more for my dad and brother though which I hope they enjoy!

 

[Ms. Heimlich]

Tried this morning for PfTS reserved seating. Was on hold >40 min and no availability. Was told to "call back later." On hold now... expected wait time 7 min.

ETA: hold time fairly accurate BUT no availability in Reserved Seating.

 

[TDC Nala]

Don't forget the booking tutorial in Post 3! Also don't forget that inventory is limited for the Chase prebooking. The remainder of event inventory will open to the general public on 7/30. If you didn't get what you wanted, you can try again.

In general, special packages have not been available for the preview, so you'll have to wait for Thursday to get those.

 

[LauraLea]

ETA: I did notice they've either changed the survey questions immediately after the call since last week or specifically deleted the question about wait times for today....that's one way to make your metrics look good!

I noticed that too. Survey was very different from the one last week and no questions about wait time.

Laura

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Don't forget the booking tutorial in Post 3! Also don't forget that inventory is limited for the Chase prebooking. The remainder of event inventory will open to the general public on 7/30. If you didn't get what you wanted, you can try again.

In general, special packages have not been available for the preview, so you'll have to wait for Thursday to get those.

This is KEY! One of the things I have discovered both here and on the RunDisney messes is that there are often less then 10% of the spots opened for the early booking windows. So most of the seats for PFTS and other events won't be open until Thursday!

 

[HelenParr]

Called at 8:55, only 7 minute wait (9 minutes was the system's guess). CM struggled, first telling my What's Cooking With... opened Thursday and could not be booked today. I explained the VISA card issue (again) and she eventually found the right spot and checked -- but then indicated the Alex G. brunch has no more VISA inventory. Since she struggled mightily at each point, I'm not 100% sure she was right. But not that excited about trying again, as I need to get back to work.

Will try Thursday.

 

[winthropf]

Tried to reserve Mediterranean Food & Wine Pairing for 10/14. CM says event not available and thinks it is because it is not loaded into the system yet (0915).