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

[Disneyglobegirl]

Looks like we have many of the same plans. We have reserved seating for the 17th too! Maybe a meet-up? We should be easy to spot - total of 9 of us, 7 women and 2 men, all adults between the ages of 19-71. Are you guys doing the Halloween party - we are on the 16th.

Awesome..we will be on the look out for you I'll send you a PM ..maybe we can all meet up for a drink at BWI before the party We get in on the 16th and are not going to do the Halloween Party...thought about it but will attempt to do a little of Epcot food booths if we can make our way through the crowds No definite plans for sunday until that evening...Flying Fish Chefs Tasting Wine dinner Yummy!!

 

[JeninTexas]

Looks like you're only going to arrive there a couple days before i do. Maybe someone else will confirm this for us.

I, too, have "free dining" and with F&W fest don't know how I'll ever use all those QS credits if I can't use them at the festival. Traveling solo I don't see myself getting three items from the same booth.

A few people on another thread have reported being able to convert their QS credits to snack credits with the concierge at their resort. Don't know if this will work, but some people say they did it with no problem.

 

[lomillerin]

How are the lines today?

 

[Tozzie]

I'm not fully clear on why they do differing times. Mine shows 8:00. I think they do it to try and stagger the arrival times.
The only nice part is they keep the desserts out till the end of Illuminations. But those who arrive late will have a less than ideal choice of tables left.
One thing is clear, most people know to arrive before the time shown. There are always lines to go in well before they open the viewing areas. Be it, the parties at HS, the Dessert party at MK or the Illumination ones

I don't know why but I suspect it is because of the hap hazard way the booking was done. one explanation that was given to me was that they needed a place holder and picked 830 I booked my package the first day it was available. I am not time constrained so I have time to straighten it out once I get there. The biggest issue I have is I am staying at the Boardwalk so how am I supposed to get my bag if they only ship to the front gate. Last I checked there is no transportation from the front of the park to BWV's

 

[betterlatethannever]

We went to a food and beer Signature dining luncheon at the ESPN Club this past Wednesday (Sept 30) – and it was NOT sold out. We got an email from the Flying Fish last week about the event and it stated there were still openings. We were flying in that day, so I actually walked up and got in.

For those that thought the luncheon at the ESPN club would just be bar food, the menu speaks for itself.
Amuse
Caramelized Onion, Smoked Bacon, Cheddar & Ale Fondue Flatbread
Florida Cracker Ale
Salad
Land Greens, Pilsner Vinaigrette, Spiced Cheese Curds, Candied Beer Nuts
Cucumber Saison
Appetizer
Lager Batter “Fish & Chips” Duck Fat Fries, Charred Onion Aioli
Hotter Than Helles Lager
Intermezzo
White Ale Sorbet, Sour Cherry Gastrique, Pale Ale Chaser
Invasion Pale Ale
Entrée
Bourbon Stout Short Rib, Roasted Garlic and Potato Gratin, Pan Gravy Reduction, Market Vegetables, Green Pea Tendrils
Marshal Zhukov Stout
Dessert
Sour Apple & Blueberry Cobbler
Fight the Power Sour Cider
Goodbye tasting
Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale

There were only 10 people in attendance for this lunch. They would certainly love to have more people in attendance at their next 2 luncheons (Oct. 14 and Oct. 28.)

As you can see from the menu, Chef Anthony Gregorek provided 6 tasty courses that were paired with 6 beers from Cigar City Brewing of Tampa, Florida. We had a 7th beer as a goodbye tasting. The beer pours were very generous – FULL GLASSES.

According to the chef, the food we had is either on the regular ESPN menu now or will be soon.

The atmosphere was very casual, the chef talked about each course as it was presented. Justin Clark represented Cigar City Brewing, and he discussed each beer and answered questions throughout the meal. His chief brewer was also in attendance.

We received a gift bag at the end, from Cigar City Brewing, including a beer glass, a T-shirt, beer bottle opener, among others.

The luncheon was worth it.

Ed

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

In the premium package fiasco thread,

Spoiler

which was unfiascoed in a major way once they got to the right people,

the people who just got done with their premium package said that payment happened at the package areas, NOT at the kiosks. This would (logically, which can be quite the crapshoot with Disney) lead me to believe that we can order three snacks and ask them to pay for it with a Quick Service credit as long as the areas we are ordering from are served by that premium area. Which kiosks that are served are less relevant, unless they must ring up each kiosk in a separate transaction. I'm hoping someone who goes before the 25th of October confirms before I get there. We have free dining and I want to make the most of it at F&W. 10 snacks included with our plan is great. 40 snacks (give or take a few because we do need to eat other places on other days...) would be friggin' phenomenal.

And before anyone says that QS credits must be used on pretty expensive things before they're worth the cost - They were free to begin with and if they are left over at the end and we have a bill from paying out of pocket for cheap things, then they were money out of our pockets not to use them, because we paid out of pocket for things we didn't need to pay for. I'm well aware of the economics of the DDP. This community has been the best resource ever on these numbers, and I do appreciate it.

No it wasn't "free". You paid rack rate for a subpar hotel room. It was a discounted package. Nothing free about it

 

[Disney102015]

Does the festival center open early on EMH days?

 

[AngiTN]

We went to a food and beer Signature dining luncheon at the ESPN Club this past Wednesday (Sept 30) – and it was NOT sold out. We got an email from the Flying Fish last week about the event and it stated there were still openings. We were flying in that day, so I actually walked up and got in.

For those that thought the luncheon at the ESPN club would just be bar food, the menu speaks for itself.
Amuse
Caramelized Onion, Smoked Bacon, Cheddar & Ale Fondue Flatbread
Florida Cracker Ale
Salad
Land Greens, Pilsner Vinaigrette, Spiced Cheese Curds, Candied Beer Nuts
Cucumber Saison
Appetizer
Lager Batter “Fish & Chips” Duck Fat Fries, Charred Onion Aioli
Hotter Than Helles Lager
Intermezzo
White Ale Sorbet, Sour Cherry Gastrique, Pale Ale Chaser
Invasion Pale Ale
Entrée
Bourbon Stout Short Rib, Roasted Garlic and Potato Gratin, Pan Gravy Reduction, Market Vegetables, Green Pea Tendrils
Marshal Zhukov Stout
Dessert
Sour Apple & Blueberry Cobbler
Fight the Power Sour Cider
Goodbye tasting
Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale

There were only 10 people in attendance for this lunch. They would certainly love to have more people in attendance at their next 2 luncheons (Oct. 14 and Oct. 28.)

As you can see from the menu, Chef Anthony Gregorek provided 6 tasty courses that were paired with 6 beers from Cigar City Brewing of Tampa, Florida. We had a 7th beer as a goodbye tasting. The beer pours were very generous – FULL GLASSES.

According to the chef, the food we had is either on the regular ESPN menu now or will be soon.

The atmosphere was very casual, the chef talked about each course as it was presented. Justin Clark represented Cigar City Brewing, and he discussed each beer and answered questions throughout the meal. His chief brewer was also in attendance.

We received a gift bag at the end, from Cigar City Brewing, including a beer glass, a T-shirt, beer bottle opener, among others.

The luncheon was worth it.

Ed

Damn you (said in the most friendly terms)
Now I gotta book this
I have been on the fence since I realized we'd be there on the 14th. I've picked up the phone to call and book most every day.
My hesitation is the time. We also have the Premium package that day
How long did the meal take?

 

[NewRVLady]

I love the name of the first course
AMUSE

Interesting

 

[ksromack]

Just a note for sampler people- as of around one o clock today (maybe more like one thirty?), the Block and Hans booth was told they were no longer allowed to accept the tabs from the tasting sampler/premium package. Apparently they weren't supposed to at all, as they're a 'regular' stand not an official Food and Wine one. I don't know if they ever were allowing it, but the call was supposedly put to all other non-temporary spots: the Joffery's kiosks, the outpost, Refreshment whatever it is by Canada... whatever.

Sadly, this happened ten minutes before we stopped there to use a tab. Sigh.

Hops and Barley was unable to convert a counter service to three snacks, too: they understood what was wanted, but couldn't make the register work. I hope others have better luck, though that is so not a New England lobster roll. So much celery and onion!

We tried to use the tabs at Bloch and Hans on Monday too......only we were there earlier than you. The older guy at the booth told us we could not use the tabs there. We managed to use them on all higher priced drinks but paid out of pocket for the two wines we had at Bloch and Hans.

Anyone experience the wine pairing luncheon at Tutto Gusto yet? We'll be there soon and am looking for feedback. TIA

We did this last Wednesday and I have very positive thoughts on it. The food was delicious and the wine was also good. We had a great server from a town close to Venice and she was cute. I found the gal who explained the wines a little hard to understand but she was so passionate about it all, it was hard not to get into it as well

Help please..... can someone tell me what page on this thread are the details for the sampler package? I can't find it in this huge thread.

The Sampler package provides 8 beverage/food tabs connected to a lanyard along with a tab that allows entrance to the Eat to the Beat concert. You also get a pin commemorating the 20th anniversary of F&W. I believe it was close to $62 (which includes tax). This can be purchased ahead of time and picked up at the Festival Center for the day it is purchased. Originally it was intended to be used all on one day but when they came back from press the date on each tab only included the expiration date of Nov 15 (the last day of the festival). The concert seating can only be used on the day the lanyard was originally purchased for, however. What we did was look at each booth to see what food/beverage items we were interested in purchasing then we used the tabs for those items. There are many many adult beverages priced at $8 and over and that is what we used them for. We had two sets of these so on our last day when we still had 10 tabs to use we ended up using a couple of them on the higher priced food items. I forgot to mention we also had free dining so we used just about all of our snack credits at F&W too. It was worth it for us.

If we purchase gift cards here at home can we use them for the food and wine festival food items??

Absolutely!

How are the crowds on weekdays?

It was considerably lighter crowds on our Tuesday and Wednesday touring than it was last Sunday. I heard it was horible on Saturday so that's why we avoided it. Strangely enough, this past monday seemed busier than I expected.

I'm not fully clear on why they do differing times. Mine shows 8:00. I think they do it to try and stagger the arrival times.
The only nice part is they keep the desserts out till the end of Illuminations. But those who arrive late will have a less than ideal choice of tables left.
One thing is clear, most people know to arrive before the time shown. There are always lines to go in well before they open the viewing areas. Be it, the parties at HS, the Dessert party at MK or the Illumination ones

It rained a lot of the evening of our dessert party so they moved the desserts to the Great Hall of China! No announcement......we learned of it when we tried to enter the roped off party area. I was happy we checked out the area early! We arrived right before it opened. The sparkling wine was very good as were the desserts. My favs were the Moroccan baklova and the UK Apple Crisp.......try that last item with the vanilla ice cream they serve and you will be in heaven Then we high tailed it up to the roped off viewing area (we were early so I could set up my (table top) mini tripod on the ground right by the fence. It was a large viewing area and there was plenty of room. We sat on the concrete right by the fence the entire time with a great view of Illuminations.

A few people on another thread have reported being able to convert their QS credits to snack credits with the concierge at their resort. Don't know if this will work, but some people say they did it with no problem.

I saw no one do this at the booths and when I asked at the front desk at CBR I was told the conversion HAD to be done at the location where you would be doing the converting. We ended up having 3 QS credits and like previous trips we ended up at Goofy's Candy Co at Disney Springs and walked out with 9 yummy treats to take home

 

[JOE DELL]

Sorry if it's been asked, are they doing Dole Whip this year?

Thanks

 

[karrit2000]

Sorry if it's been asked, are they doing Dole Whip this year?

Thanks

Pineapple Dolewhip is on the Menu at Refreshmentport near Canada. There is an Alcoholic version again with Coconut Rum this year.

 

[ksromack]

I saw someone walking around Epcot with Dole Whip and I'm pretty sure one of the booths has dole whip with the option of adding rum

 

[JOE DELL]

I saw someone walking around Epcot with Dole Whip and I'm pretty sure one of the booths has dole whip with the option of adding rum

Sweet!! Thank you!!

 

[Simba's Mom]

I love the name of the first course
AMUSE

Interesting

You do know that's a real culinary term, right? It's a French term, actually the entire term is amuse-bouche. It's a small tasting, hors dourve (neither I nor spell check is sure), at the beginning of the meal. At Fancy restaurants, the chef prepares an amuse to preview what's to come. We got one at Artist Point for our anniversary, and since I'd only encountered it on the Food Network/Cooking Channel, I was so thrilled!

 

[ChrisNY2]

We went to a food and beer Signature dining luncheon at the ESPN Club this past Wednesday (Sept 30) – and it was NOT sold out. We got an email from the Flying Fish last week about the event and it stated there were still openings. We were flying in that day, so I actually walked up and got in.

For those that thought the luncheon at the ESPN club would just be bar food, the menu speaks for itself.
Amuse
Caramelized Onion, Smoked Bacon, Cheddar & Ale Fondue Flatbread
Florida Cracker Ale
Salad
Land Greens, Pilsner Vinaigrette, Spiced Cheese Curds, Candied Beer Nuts
Cucumber Saison
Appetizer
Lager Batter “Fish & Chips” Duck Fat Fries, Charred Onion Aioli
Hotter Than Helles Lager
Intermezzo
White Ale Sorbet, Sour Cherry Gastrique, Pale Ale Chaser
Invasion Pale Ale
Entrée
Bourbon Stout Short Rib, Roasted Garlic and Potato Gratin, Pan Gravy Reduction, Market Vegetables, Green Pea Tendrils
Marshal Zhukov Stout
Dessert
Sour Apple & Blueberry Cobbler
Fight the Power Sour Cider
Goodbye tasting
Good Gourd Imperial Pumpkin Ale

There were only 10 people in attendance for this lunch. They would certainly love to have more people in attendance at their next 2 luncheons (Oct. 14 and Oct. 28.)

As you can see from the menu, Chef Anthony Gregorek provided 6 tasty courses that were paired with 6 beers from Cigar City Brewing of Tampa, Florida. We had a 7th beer as a goodbye tasting. The beer pours were very generous – FULL GLASSES.

According to the chef, the food we had is either on the regular ESPN menu now or will be soon.

The atmosphere was very casual, the chef talked about each course as it was presented. Justin Clark represented Cigar City Brewing, and he discussed each beer and answered questions throughout the meal. His chief brewer was also in attendance.

We received a gift bag at the end, from Cigar City Brewing, including a beer glass, a T-shirt, beer bottle opener, among others.

The luncheon was worth it.

Ed

That sounds awesome! I wish they had published more information in advance!! I should have trusted my gut and booked it - I thought it would be fun, but was torn about spending the money on ESPN Club. I won't be in Orlando on the 14th or 28th. Hope they do it again next year!

 

[Stinky_Pete]

A few people on another thread have reported being able to convert their QS credits to snack credits with the concierge at their resort. Don't know if this will work, but some people say they did it with no problem.

I saw one person report being able to do this. When she was questioned about it, because no one else has ever been able to do this, she got all defensive, saying she's been doing it for years and years. It makes me think there's something not quite right about that report.

 

[cindyfan]

It's somewhere in the 120's. What specifically are you looking for because I don't think everything was in one post.

For the sampler package..... what does it cost? is there an AP discount for it? how to pre-order? what does it include, is it by credits like the dining plan? how many? do all the snacks have to be used in one day? Can it be purchased the day of? Where would I go in Epcot to get it? is it only for food? Or are beverages included? Thanks!!

 

[karrit2000]

For the sampler package..... what does it cost? is there an AP discount for it? how to pre-order? what does it include, is it by credits like the dining plan? how many? do all the snacks have to be used in one day? Can it be purchased the day of? Where would I go in Epcot to get it? is it only for food? Or are beverages included? Thanks!!

It's $59 + tax. No AP discount. Can be booked online:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/epcot/food-wine-festival-tasting-sampler/
It includes 8 entitlements at 30 official F & W booths (they provide a list). They can be used to purchase almost any food and/or wine from the 30 listed booths except excluding all Champagnes, Flights & the Palette from the Cheese & Wine booths. Best bang for your buck is using the entitlements on items that cost at least $7.50 which is a few food items & most of the pricier drinks. You get a credential that has 8 tabs that you use to make your purchases. They can be used any day of the festival through 11/15/2015. Originally they said they all needed to be used in one day but the credentials all have 11/15/2015 as the expiration date for the entitlements. The credential also gives you reserved seating at the 6:45 Eat to the Beat concert only for the specific date you purchase your package for. You also get a limited edition Festival pin made only for the sampler package, it can't be purchased separately. If there are any left available day of you can buy for that day. The actual credential must be picked up day of from the Festival Center in the old Wonders of Life Pavilion. So even ordering ahead of time you will need to go pickup the actual credential

 

[KiniShakenBake]

No it wasn't "free". You paid rack rate for a subpar hotel room. It was a discounted package. Nothing free about it

I totally get that, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't take and use the dining that came with our hotel room that had no discounts on it anyway, and wouldn't have even without the added dining. We know we paid for the dining plan in our rate and got ourselves the room we wanted at the resort we wanted. Last time we stayed, we were at the CBR and wow wasn't that an experience on the buses. Never again... Walking distance to Epcot was our first criteria, and we really were not interested in other properties in the Epcot area. I'm a K-12 teacher (in economics, among other subjects...) with a second job to work around additionally, so our travel plans were rather fixed into the period we are going. We wanted to stay at the Boardwalk for our honeymoon, so we made a reservation there. It was only after we'd decided on the dates of our trip and the distribution of days at various places/prices that I started looking at room rates and discovered that free dining had just been announced, and was overlapping our trip by a good bit. Unlike so many families, we didn't really start out hoping for free dining. It just fell into our laps accidentally. You can call it subpar, but we'll call it convenient and perfect for us.

By swapping our dates at Universal and Disney and putting Universal at the start of our trip, we ended up a better rate at our Universal hotel along with a pair of DDP credit sets that we didn't plan on having, and now don't have to pay for the vast majority of our food. In our book, that was pretty darn close to free because we were going to end up paying rack for the room anyway because there were no other deals falling over our dates, and haven't really scheduled more or less dining as the result. Now we're only covering the tip on that dining. I'll take it, and my steak and lobster at Narcoosee's, which DH has taken to calling Jacuzzi's. For those with flexible plans that rely on free dining, cool. To each his or her own. Ours weren't flexible, but it worked out nicely for us. As an added bonus for swapping our plans, we got to avoid F&W during the weekend AND make full use of the premium package that we had heard about and wanted to get for the sit-down options with runners. I think it will work out well.

I promise not to pooh-pooh your plans or economic valuations if you promise not to pooh-pooh mine. Deal?

In other news, 17 days until we get to jump into the deliciousness of F&W. I'm still waiting on the report that QS credits can be used to pay for three snacks from different (but served in the same area) kiosks in the premium package areas. Any news?

Thanks!!