2014 Epcot Food and Wine Festival 9/19-11/10

[threelilbears]

Hi, We were lucky enough to get the two Italian lunches & PFTS (general admission was all that was left). We really wanted to get the Hibachi lunch but it was sold out. I've done the festival before, but this will be our first year doing any of the special events. Has anyone done the special luncheons with the wine pairings? How were they? Also, we are interested in the Mixology Sessions and the Culinary Seminars - but there is so little info. Can anyone who has done the Mixology Sessions and/or Culinary Seminars tell me about them? Are they worth doing? Any particular ones you would recommend? We were considering the Puerto Rican Rum Cocktails seminar, largely based upon when it is offered - but would love any input or guidance you knowledgeable posters may have. THANK YOU!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I've done a few culinary seminars & have reviews of them in my signature.

They take 45 minutes and the chef talks and demos making a dish. You get to taste a small portion size of the dish along with a small glass of wine. Depending on the chef, they can be really entertaining or just ok.

 

[BwoZoo22]

Hi, We were lucky enough to get the two Italian lunches & PFTS (general admission was all that was left). We really wanted to get the Hibachi lunch but it was sold out. I've done the festival before, but this will be our first year doing any of the special events. Has anyone done the special luncheons with the wine pairings? How were they? Also, we are interested in the Mixology Sessions and the Culinary Seminars - but there is so little info. Can anyone who has done the Mixology Sessions and/or Culinary Seminars tell me about them? Are they worth doing? Any particular ones you would recommend? We were considering the Puerto Rican Rum Cocktails seminar, largely based upon when it is offered - but would love any input or guidance you knowledgeable posters may have. THANK YOU!

We have done culinary seminars and mixology sessions. For the price, they are an ok event to attend.

The culinarys are geared toward people who like to cook or at least like to interact with chefs. We found it mildly interesting; others at our table were a bit fanatical about the chef, so I think they enjoyed it more than we did. You do get to learn some interesting things about cooking though.

A few years back we did a 7 Tikis Rum mixology. I enjoyed this much more, but I am a rum fan. They were all mixed drink samples though, not a straight up rum tasting.

I like the mixology and beverage events better than the culinary because I like to hear about the history and 'life cycle' of the liquor or wine; I find that much more interesting than a demo on how to cook something.

The most interesting lunch we have had was the Moroccan wine pairing. Both food and wine were good, presentation was excellent, and all very informative. We did the French Regional Lunch last year, the 'wine' was champagne, and it was FABULOUS! The food was wonderful and the champagne was fantastic, but it was really hard to hear the presenter. It helped that we sat with a champagne dealer... The Italian pairing was very informative as well, but probably my least favorite of the three we have attended. Were are giving it another go this year with the Italian Regional Pairing.

The lunches are much more expensive than the mixology/culinary/beverage events, but you get basically unlimited drinks and lots of wonderful food. But if there is a particular food, chef, wine, or liquor you find interesting, the shorter, less expensive events are a nice break in the day to learn something new and interesting. The Puerto Rican Rum Cocktails seminar sounds interesting...

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Has anyone seen a listing of "sold out events" on the web anywhere. I thought the Food Blog did it last year but.....

Thanks!

 

[eemaxx]

Heading back to Food and Wine in October (our 3rd year in a row) and in the past we have purchased the small gift cards with the coil wristbands for the convenience of not having to carry cash. Now with Magic Bands, does it even make sense to do that or can you just use your MB at each of the kiosks? Not worried about a spending limit (maybe I should be! Ha!)

 

[LisaS]

Heading back to Food and Wine in October (our 3rd year in a row) and in the past we have purchased the small gift cards with the coil wristbands for the convenience of not having to carry cash. Now with Magic Bands, does it even make sense to do that or can you just use your MB at each of the kiosks? Not worried about a spending limit (maybe I should be! Ha!)

If you are set up to charge purchases to the room then yes you can pay with your magic band at the booths.

We used the small gift cards in prior years. The one advantage to the gift cards is that you will have fewer line items on your room folio since you will have a room charge only when re-filling your gift card. With the magic bands, each booth visit will be a separate line item on your room bill. Overall the magic bands were easier -- no need to keep track of the balance or refill them as you have to do with the gift cards. I also find the magic band more comfortable than the gift card's coiled wristband and since I was wearing my magic band anyway for park entrance, FP+, etc., there was no reason to wear a gift card around my wrist as well.

 

[littledisney]

subscribing.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Heading back to Food and Wine in October (our 3rd year in a row) and in the past we have purchased the small gift cards with the coil wristbands for the convenience of not having to carry cash. Now with Magic Bands, does it even make sense to do that or can you just use your MB at each of the kiosks? Not worried about a spending limit (maybe I should be! Ha!)

Makes more sense then ever to carry cash. Tragic Bands are not known for reliability. Can't tell you how many people I have read about who suddenly found themselves scrambling to pay for something


Heck on one trip after. 3 visits to the front desk I gave up on charging. That was after the CM. "Fixed" it. I then walked across the lobby to the gift shop where it did not work. CM saw this and her supervisor "fixed" it. Still never worked

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Heading back to Food and Wine in October (our 3rd year in a row) and in the past we have purchased the small gift cards with the coil wristbands for the convenience of not having to carry cash. Now with Magic Bands, does it even make sense to do that or can you just use your MB at each of the kiosks? Not worried about a spending limit (maybe I should be! Ha!)

We LOVED using our MBs last year at F&W! Used them for charging last Feb also. We've never had problems. To be honest, FWIW, I have rarely even read on DIS about charging problems with MBs, though I'm not on here as much as some people.

We carry some cash on us just in case their whole system is down (i.e. can't run credit cards or MBs), but this has only happened twice, for short times, on all of our trips (at least 15 trips total for 10ish days each).

 

[kimmar067]

Makes more sense then ever to carry cash. Tragic Bands are not known for reliability. Can't tell you how many people I have read about who suddenly found themselves scrambling to pay for something....

 

[itsthatdisneygirl]

Omg yall only one month to go!!!!

 

[LisaS]

Makes more sense then ever to carry cash. Tragic Bands are not known for reliability. Can't tell you how many people I have read about who suddenly found themselves scrambling to pay for something

We always carry some cash and one credit card just in case.

Heck on one trip after. 3 visits to the front desk I gave up on charging. That was after the CM. "Fixed" it. I then walked across the lobby to the gift shop where it did not work. CM saw this and her supervisor "fixed" it. Still never worked

That happened to us on one trip. Multiple attempts by various CMs and a supervisor to fix the problem did not work. Finally one very clever CM came up with the idea to create a second account just like they do if you have two families sharing a room and want to separate out the room charges. They assigned our room keycards to the second folio and it worked! Keep that in mind in case this ever happens to you again.

 

[gwynne]

Makes more sense then ever to carry cash. Tragic Bands are not known for reliability. Can't tell you how many people I have read about who suddenly found themselves scrambling to pay for something

And for any new F&W goers, when the computer system is down the booths don't take magic bands, credit cards, or gift cards. Having cash is really helpful. The CM's start loudly asking for cash customers and the "cash" people go to the head of the line and are served. The credit/band/gift card folks are left waiting until the system is functional again.
I always bring some cash.

 

[TDC Nala]

I had an issue where the resort had erroneously entered my charge limit as "0." So when I tried to use the magic band, it was declined.

Fortunately I had some cash because I was trying to buy a shirt at Harambe Nights and you couldn't buy the shirt outside of the event.

 

[stasijane]

And for any new F&W goers, when the computer system is down the booths don't take magic bands, credit cards, or gift cards. Having cash is really helpful. The CM's start loudly asking for cash customers and the "cash" people go to the head of the line and are served. The credit/band/gift card folks are left waiting until the system is functional again.
I always bring some cash.

YES!! Having a bit of cash saved me on more than one occasion at the Kiosk.

 

[BwoZoo22]

Also keep in mind, there is a limit to room charging before the account is closed. We did not know this last year, and reached it. The resort CM had to 'bill' to date, so we could start over. Most people won't have that problem though, because I think the limit was around $1,500 or so. (And yes, that was still within our budget, I save all year for this trip! )

Otherwise, I have never had a problem with my multiple MBs. Really does make buying things easy.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Also keep in mind, there is a limit to room charging before the account is closed. We did not know this last year, and reached it. The resort CM had to 'bill' to date, so we could start over. Most people won't have that problem though, because I think the limit was around $1,500 or so. (And yes, that was still within our budget, I save all year for this trip! ) Otherwise, I have never had a problem with my multiple MBs. Really does make buying things easy.

Yup. Good point. $1,500 has been our experience (ETA: we're DVC). We're lucky enough to go on long trips and btwn all food, souvenirs, gifts for people back home, etc., we have hit it before.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Charge limits vary by resort. It appears to be currently $500 for values, $1000 for moderates and $1500 for deluxe/DVC. Once you reach that limit your card will be billed. So if you intend to pay it off with gift cards or whatever you need to do it before you hit that limit.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Charge limits vary by resort. It appears to be currently $500 for values, $1000 for moderates and $1500 for deluxe/DVC.

Didn't know that! We've been DVC forever...

 

[eemaxx]

On the subject of magic bands vs. pre-loaded gift cards for purchasing food and beverages at the kiosks, every time you charge something using your MB, you have to enter your PIN, correct? Sounds like it actually might be more convenient in that respect (and possibly more reliable) to use the gift card on the coil wristband. And yes, carrying cash just in case sounds like a good idea also. I still have our gift cards with the wristbands from last year, so perhaps I'll save some time and re-load them at our local Disney store before we go! Look out Greek griddled cheese, here I come!