2007 International Food & Wine Festival (Marketplace Booth Details Now Available!)

[Janet-TX]

Here are the events we are seriously considering:

10/14 10:30A Sweet Sundays
10/15 3:30P Food & Wind Pairings - Japan
10/17 10:30A Chefs A'Field
10/17 6:30P Regional Feast - Peru
10/18 3:00P Kitchen Conversations - Roy Yamaguchi
10/19 10:30A The Cook, The Book & The Bottle - Alan Wong
10/19 6:30P Exquisite Evenings - Pacific NW
10/20 2:00P Cheese Tastings - England

Which event(s) will go/sell out the fastest?

Thanks for the help!

 

[PatriciaH]

Here are the events we are seriously considering:

10/14 10:30A Sweet Sundays
10/15 3:30P Food & Wind Pairings - Japan
10/17 10:30A Chefs A'Field
10/17 6:30P Regional Feast - Peru
10/18 3:00P Kitchen Conversations - Roy Yamaguchi
10/19 10:30A The Cook, The Book & The Bottle - Alan Wong
10/19 6:30P Exquisite Evenings - Pacific NW
10/20 2:00P Cheese Tastings - England

Which event(s) will go/sell out the fastest?

Thanks for the help!

The Exquisite Evenings go super fast. The Food and Wine parings do too since there are a small number of people. Le Cellier goes the fastest though!

Have any of you asked the res people to not give the long speil about each event and just book them all first? I don't want to be rude but I don't want to miss out of booking some events either!

 

[shovan]

Yes, I can see why they were doing the hard sell-they are there to push their product. Perhaps they could master the selling tactic a bit better though. After a half hour of hearing the guy speak like the Grange was the holy grail of wines, it was very off putting. Nobody in our party actually liked it, but then we are not extreme wine afficianados, we simply like what we like and that's that-pricey or not.

I remembered I had some of my F&W Festival photos on a web based photo sharing site, so I just copied and transferred them over to photobucket. Sorry they are not labeled...for the life of me, other than the Emu potstickers for an appetizer (which were delicious!), I don't recall much (shame on me). I would have to dig up my menu in order to label them all.

I put the photos in order (I think). The beginning ones show the tables where they come around and serve appetizers, no assigned seating there. I think there are 3 apps in the photos. Then the actual room (cordoned off from PFTS). The gentleman in the photo labeled EEA17 (wearing the glasses) was the representative for Penfolds. If anyone has questions, let me know and I'll try to answer as best as I can. Enjoy!

http://s198.photobucket.com/albums/aa198/Keep-Moving-Forward/Exquisite%20Evenings/

Thanks for the pics! It does look wonderful! But at that price, you really shouldn't feel like you're getting sold anything! I will show my DH the pics when he gets home, so we can try to make some decisions. I don't think I'll be able to talk him into 2 pricey events, so we'll have to choose.

Thanks again, I did enjoy the food porn!

 

[shovan]

Well - since I'll be back on Oct 2nd, I guess I'll be posting this for you all on the 3rd.

That would be a huge help!

 

[Wigit12]

From what I remember about 20.

Yikes--we may have 8 or 10 people with us
I guess we'll have to pick one and hope for the best. They'll probably fill up while I'm making my first reservation.

 

[Pocahantas]

Here are the events we are seriously considering:

10/14 10:30A Sweet Sundays
10/15 3:30P Food & Wind Pairings - Japan
10/17 10:30A Chefs A'Field
10/17 6:30P Regional Feast - Peru
10/18 3:00P Kitchen Conversations - Roy Yamaguchi
10/19 10:30A The Cook, The Book & The Bottle - Alan Wong
10/19 6:30P Exquisite Evenings - Pacific NW
10/20 2:00P Cheese Tastings - England

Which event(s) will go/sell out the fastest?

Thanks for the help!

My sister and I are going to try and book the Food & Wine Pairing in Japan on October 15 so we may see you there!

 

[luvpooh]

these are the things I'm considering, but I'm torn for a number of reasons:

10/12 - F&W pairing at LeCellier
10/12 - S African Wine event

OK, I don't think we can do both of these in 1 day - PLUS, we had scheduled our eat around the WS to be this Friday night b/c Epcot has EMH and we like going to eat from the booths at night vs during the day. So these are my first issues. Would it be too much to eat at the F&W pairing and still be able to really enjoy all the offerings of the booths? Or do they give you a lot at the F&W pairing?

10/13 - F&W pairing @ Bistro
does anyone know anything about this one? It looks appealing since it has to do w/charcuterie and cheeses.

10/13 - Cheese tasting (Spain)
we did a cheese tasting last year and didn't really enjoy it. It just wasn't worth the $ (45/person) that we spent. However, this series of events says new, so maybe it's a different format? It is also now in the Odyssey vs. the Beach Club where it was last year, so we'd have to pay park admission in addition to the increase in price this year ($60/person)

so obviously there's a conflict between the 2 above events...any suggestions?

10/13 - PFTS

DFi wants NOTHING to do with this, so I guess, for the 4th(?) year in a row I'm passing up...

So PLEASE - any opinions?

 

[shovan]

Yikes--we may have 8 or 10 people with us
I guess we'll have to pick one and hope for the best. They'll probably fill up while I'm making my first reservation.

Yikes for me too! We are going to be there at the same time!

The pairing we did at Alfredo's last year had about 35 people, so some have more, some may have less.

 

[bnormant]

I can't imagine going to the food and wine festival and passing up on the PFTS. It's the one place where you can try the food and wine from almost all the visiting chefs and wineries during that week. It can be tiring since you can't sit for very long or lose your seat when you do get up for seconds, but it's well worth it. I was trying wine that would be $15 - $20 a glass at a nice restaurant in New York.

 

[luvpooh]

I can't imagine going to the food and wine festival and passing up on the PFTS. It's the one place where you can try the food and wine from almost all the visiting chefs and wineries during that week. It can be tiring since you can't sit for very long or lose your seat when you do get up for seconds, but it's well worth it. I was trying wine that would be $15 - $20 a glass at a nice restaurant in New York.

I have actually done this (with my sister) and loved it. We did enjoy trying tons of different things. My FI just can't get past the fact that you don't have a guaranteed place to sit and kind of has an aversion to sitting with strangers to boot so it's probably better for all involved if he doesn't go to it...
sorry to get you involved in my family weirdness!

 

[shovan]

I have actually done this (with my sister) and loved it. We did enjoy trying tons of different things. My FI just can't get past the fact that you don't have a guaranteed place to sit and kind of has an aversion to sitting with strangers to boot so it's probably better for all involved if he doesn't go to it...
sorry to get you involved in my family weirdness!

That is a shame, you'll have to miss it again! Just DH & I went last year, & as Bnormant said, holding on to your table is a toughie. We enjoy meeting other foodies though, so that wasn't an issue for us. It would be fun to do it with a group, then you'd have someone to hold the table!

 

[luvpooh]

That is a shame, you'll have to miss it again! Just DH & I went last year, & as Bnormant said, holding on to your table is a toughie. We enjoy meeting other foodies though, so that wasn't an issue for us. It would be fun to do it with a group, then you'd have someone to hold the table!

the worst part is I know he would love all the different offerings but he just can't get past the whole setup I guess... (sigh)

 

[bnormant]

If we have enough people going to the 10/6 PFTS, maybe we could pool resources and reserve a DISboards table. Then there'd at least be a home base to go back to when you're feet are tired.

 

[mlill]

If we have enough people going to the 10/6 PFTS, maybe we could pool resources and reserve a DISboards table. Then there'd at least be a home base to go back to when you're feet are tired.

Sounds like a great idea! I think we will need at least two or three tables. We'll hope for the best!

Good luck to everyone making their reservations on Monday!

Cheers!
-Michelle

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

I have actually done this (with my sister) and loved it. We did enjoy trying tons of different things. My FI just can't get past the fact that you don't have a guaranteed place to sit and kind of has an aversion to sitting with strangers to boot so it's probably better for all involved if he doesn't go to it...
sorry to get you involved in my family weirdness!

We had a group of 8 of us at one of the PFTS last year and we just made sure we always had one person manning the table-actually, we were right by the stage for the Cirque du Soleil performers so our tables were those really small bar tables...we pulled 2 of them together and huddled up. We didn't have any issues. I think for the most part we saw people grab a table and stay there for the evening. I don't think you really have to socialize or share a table with strangers if you don't want to, but I understand the concern. I don't think its weird either...although I'm pretty social, sometimes you just want to sit and relax with your family or your spouse alone.

 

[TDC Nala]

The Exquisite Evenings go super fast. The Food and Wine parings do too since there are a small number of people. Le Cellier goes the fastest though!

Have any of you asked the res people to not give the long speil about each event and just book them all first? I don't want to be rude but I don't want to miss out of booking some events either!

I did that last year. The booking agent insisted on giving the entire spiel after each booking. I booked about 12 events. I tried saying I was attempting to book some popular events but she ignored me and kept talking. She also had me read my credit card number and expiration date over for every booking.

Got everything I was trying to book anyway. I wasn't trying for Le Cellier but I will be this year, so I'll be hoping I get a more reasonable agent.

 

[PatriciaH]

I see a lot of people are doing the South African Wine Event. Any guesses on how many people this will hold? I am guessing a lot since it is at World Show Place. Just trying to figure out what events to book first

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Will I have any problems booking Sweet Sunday. I know that with the amount of people at Party for the Senses I should be able to book that easily, since I'm calling exactly at 7:00 AM Monday morning. I shouldn't have any problems with Sweet Sunday though, should I?

 

[kabuki]

I see a lot of people are doing the South African Wine Event. Any guesses on how many people this will hold? I am guessing a lot since it is at World Show Place. Just trying to figure out what events to book first

I would think that it would hold the same amount of people as the PFTS since it is at the same place! Lets hope because we are trying to get in also!

 

[ImprovGal]

From what I remember about 20.

I know I've seen more than 5 four-tops filled at Coral Reef FWP's and Mitsukoshi FWPs. The Mitsukoshi ones filled every table in the Matsunoma Lounge.