2008 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Reviews

[TDC Nala]

a friend who attended the Louisiana demonstration said she was told they will not distribute the cooking samples for consumption due to concerns about allergies.

True or just something they tell people so they won't get mad? Nobody ever mentions allergies at the culinary demos in the Festival Center. Maybe the Louisiana demos aren't indemnified.

 

[TewEpcot]

As an FYI, at the PFTS, the glasses this year are smaller than the previous few years.

Ok, I'm actually happy about this. I thought the larger glasses, though lovely for home use were just too cumbersome for the evening. The pours never did the glass justice, so why bother with such a large glass?

 

[cupcake]

a friend who attended the Louisiana demonstration said she was told they will not distribute the cooking samples for consumption due to concerns about allergies. True or just something they tell people so they won't get mad? Nobody ever mentions allergies at the culinary demos in the Festival Center. Maybe the Louisiana demos aren't indemnified.

In past years, chefs in the temporary cooking demo areas have said that they cannot serve the samples due to food safety issues. This makes sense, since there are so many rules about preparing food for the public, and they clearly aren't following 100% of them due to the constraints of the venue.

Hey, does anyone know if they are doing the same demo each day over in Louisiana? In the past, they have often had a recipe assigned to each day (e.g., Monday is recipe X, Tuesday is recipe Y, etc.) so you could go once a day for an entire week and not see repeats. It would be a shame if it's the same recipe the entire week, esp given the cooking demo situation this year.

 

[kathymc]

Wednesday October 1 was the day we ate around the world. Tried a lot of stuff, most of it good. Hubby and I split everything and this is what we ate all day long. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being best) here is what we tried

Poland – kielbasa and potato pierogi with carmelized onions and sour cream 7(we are polish, mom makes better), Chopin vodka raspberry cocktail - 8 (was good but not cold)

Canada – Cheddar cheese soup - 10 but very small serving
Had fish and chips and a Stella in England (7) and sat with some chef from New Orleans, wonder if he was famous?

Louisiana – Seafood gumbo - 10 - nice and spicy

Ireland – Boxty with bacon chips and Kerrygold garlic and fresh herb butter, 7 Guiness (I dont like but hubby gives it a 10)

Germany – Regensburger sausage with sauerkraut in a pretzel roll 7 - nothing special, Essence Riesling 8

South Africa – Durban spiced chicken with coconut milk-infused root vegetables, 10 - this was probably our favorite and a pretty good serving , Fairview Pinotage 8 - went well with the chicken

India – Red curry shrimp over rice 10 - shrimp were delicious

China – Pork pot stickers, 8 Mango Gingerita 7 - odd but refreshing

Mexico – Quesadilla con chorizo 7, Margarita 9 (from Mexican restaurant)

Chile – Spicy Beef Empanada – this was the only thing I didn’t like

It was alot of fun to try all the different things but I never realized how expensive it could be!

 

[MinnesotaChill]

I posted a few things on the other F&W thread, but one cool thing I didn't mention (and apologize if it's been mentioned here and I missed it), there are little tiny F&W gift cards at the festival centers that you can wear on your wrists. They were fantastic. We didn't have to even dig out a card! They sort of look like the Blizzard Beach photo passes. I saved ours even after they were out of money in case we can "reload" them the next time we're down. We were able to use them everywhere, and we reloaded them once down there, so I'm guessing the should be good for our next trip.

 

[TDC Nala]

In past years, chefs in the temporary cooking demo areas have said that they cannot serve the samples due to food safety issues. This makes sense, since there are so many rules about preparing food for the public, and they clearly aren't following 100% of them due to the constraints of the venue.

That's got to be right - the temporary venues don't have kitchens that can be certified or whatever to serve food to the public. The Odyssey and the PFKAWOL (Pavilion Formerly Known As Wonders of Life) have proper kitchens. You don't eat the stuff the chef prepares onstage, you eat the samples prepared by the kitchen ahead of time.

 

[NejTheLion]

The wine schools take place in the private corporate lounge in the Festival Center (Wonders of Life pavilion)

Do not know exactly in which area of the pavilion you are supposed to gather, but you do gather in the pavilion - NOT at guest relations at the park entrance.

This is not what we were told. We were instructed to check in at either guest relations or the international gateway. The wine schools do not require park admission, so it doesn't make sense to meet inside the park.

 

[LaurenNJ]

I was there from 9/24 to 9/30 and we went to World Showcase at 8pm on Friday night expecting the food booths to be open until 12pm and they all closed at 10pm. We ended up at the little bar in Mexico drinking beer. It was quite a disappointment.

 

[TDC Nala]

This is not what we were told. We were instructed to check in at either guest relations or the international gateway. The wine schools do not require park admission, so it doesn't make sense to meet inside the park.

That isn't what my friend was told last weekend. So there are different things floating around. But she had park admission already. I would guess that if you already have park admission you can just go to the festival center.

 

[Inkmahm]

As an FYI, at the PFTS, the glasses this year are smaller than the previous few years. So anyone planning on bringing wine glass holders designed for the bigger glasses, don't bother, they are too big. If anyone remembers the smaller glasses at the parties from 4+ years ago, the new ones are in between.

Ed

You mean the wine glass lanyards I bought for us based on advice I found here at DIS won't work afterall?

 

[redzinner]

You mean the wine glass lanyards I bought for us based on advice I found here at DIS won't work afterall?

If you purchased Mobile Grape ones I don't know why they wouldn't work. It is structured to fit any long stem goblet like glass. Try one at home - a white wine glass is probably similar to the one Disney is handing out.

Advice was given on previous years wine glasses, no one knew the glasses would change this year.

 

[dizneykid]

You mean the wine glass lanyards I bought for us based on advice I found here at DIS won't work afterall?

I wouldn't worry. If you bought the wine lanyards from Mobile Grape you should be ok. They are designed for all kinds of wine glasses. From white to red. We have even tried them with champagne flutes. As long as the glass has a stem you will be fine.

 

[lilyv]

Just wanted to add about the lanyard/necklace thing...if you prefer not to wear something like that to the PFTS, not to worry! You are given a snack plate that has a nice, neat cut out for your wine glass. You carry the snack plate (with your wine glass inserted in the cut out) , and it's big enough to easily accommodate the smaller tasting portions that each of the chefs are providing. Stop at a table, remove your glass from the snack plate, eat, leave the dirty smaller dish and then pop your glass back into your snack plate. It's really easy.

And about the wine glass "size"? I just measured mine. It's a Schott Zweisel 14 oz wine glass. It's about 8 3/4" tall. Obviously pours are smaller, but these aren't teeny tiny glasses. The size is just right for using with the plate. I'm big on easy, and simple. The plate thing worked great for us.

 

[SamSam]

In past years, chefs in the temporary cooking demo areas have said that they cannot serve the samples due to food safety issues. This makes sense, since there are so many rules about preparing food for the public, and they clearly aren't following 100% of them due to the constraints of the venue.

Hey, does anyone know if they are doing the same demo each day over in Louisiana? In the past, they have often had a recipe assigned to each day (e.g., Monday is recipe X, Tuesday is recipe Y, etc.) so you could go once a day for an entire week and not see repeats. It would be a shame if it's the same recipe the entire week, esp given the cooking demo situation this year.

We went to a demo yesterday(it was gumbo) and a CM working the area said that the demo and chef change every 3 days. If we make it back there today, I will check it out to see if the CM was right.

 

[betterbutter]

This is not what we were told. We were instructed to check in at either guest relations or the international gateway. The wine schools do not require park admission, so it doesn't make sense to meet inside the park.

We were told that we had to meet at the front entrance at guest relations. We are staying in a villa in the Epcot resorts area. So we had to go though the park and all the way to the front, only to be told we didn't need to if we had park admission, we could simply have met at the Festival Center.

We asked the person at the Festival Center who was checking people in there, and she told us that we could have just come there.

So Sunday we just showed up at the Festival Center for the vertical tasting, and were fine.

If you don't have park admission they will escort you in and out from guest relations outside the park. If you do have park admission, just go right to the meeting area in the Festival Center Building which is in the back by the restrooms. As long as you have park admission you do not need to go to guest relations first.

We're off to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours today, then we're headed back to Epcot later in the day. We want to see Jonny Lang who is playing tonight, so it's an added bonus!

 

[HGD24]

F&WF newbie here - I see alot of people are mentioning the gift cards. Are they sold in set amounts? If so, what are the amounts? If you don't use up all of your money at the food booths, can you use the cards at shops all over Disney or are you out that money that is left on them?

 

[Rose&Crown]

We will be there starting on Friday and I considered having my Dad stand in line for seminars for us. He always has a book with him and would not mind at all. But then I remembered that when we were there in 2006 there was a cast member who was counting the number of people in line and cutting it off at a point. She told those of us near the end that she didn't turn away that there was a possibility we might not get a seat. I really appreciated this. Who wants to stand in line for no reason? Considering this, I've decided that we won't have Dad wait for us.

But is it really "cutting" if one person waits while the others buy snacks, use the restroom etc, if they let the cm know how many is in their group? Is that any different than someone saving seats for the rest of family at Fantasmic or some other theater? I am not trying to start an argument or upset anyone (hate it when people get into arguments with people they don't know online). I am just genuinely curious what your opinions are.

yes, it is.

6 people in line and one has to use the restroom, ok that's just being civil.

6 people in line and 5 are missing, this is unacceptable.

I once had a lady ask me to let her party up to her on toy story, 12 people. She said it was ok because when she got on line she told the person behind her that she had more people. Insanity.

 

[Rose&Crown]

Dh and I can't stand lines, so in 10 years of Festival attendance, we've never been to one free wine seminar. I recall a month ago that many people posting here said they didn't care that the Exquisite Evenings (our favorite event) were eliminated since they didn't attend them anyway.

I guess it's my turn now to say we don't care that the number of free seminars have been seriously reduced. We don't attend them anyway.

The whole saving places in line, potty breaks, etc., and just waiting in line an hour is just too miserable in order to get a couple of swallows of middling wine. We're on vacation and don't want to deal with it.

Exactly, couldn't agree more, we didn't attend one last year due to waiting in lines and the demographic did not appear to be wine aficionados (multiple years in wine retail experience), but people looking for something free at disney (a rarity)

Although, I think I will hit the Sam Adams one this year.

 

[TDC Nala]

This year they are giving out cards for the seminars in the festival center. Once you get a card you can get in and out of line as you wish and you will be admitted to the seminar. If you want a close seat, keep your place in line; if you don't care where you sit, once you get a card you can wander around until they load. But be advised that you will probably end up sitting under the air conditioner if you do this, and it's set to counteract global warming, so bring a jacket.

They gave my friend a card for her husband who was elsewhere at the time. But I do not think they will give one person any more than two cards. Didn't ask.

(Edited to add that I am talking about the culinary seminars - I have not yet attended a wine seminar and don't know if they are using the card procedure.)

 

[ghidorah97]

But be advised that you will probably end up sitting under the air conditioner if you do this, and it's set to counteract global warming, so bring a jacket.

Holy smokes, I couldn't agree more! I was sitting underneath the A/C during my first culinary demonstration and I was -- literally -- shivering about halfway through. Once it was over, I had to go outside just to get my core temperature back up.

Brrrrrrrrrr!