Did anyone attend the new City Tastes event held this past Friday? It was on Victoria, Australia. I have the event booked on Oct. 31 for Tastes of Italy. I was wondering if it was set up like PFTS.
Just got back last night from WDW. In catching up on this thread, it looks like I was the only DISer at the City Taste Friday.!!!?!
So, it looks like you are stuck with me in giving the review.
We planned on using the same routine as the PFTS. So we got to the World Showplace at 5:45 and the CM said the (big wooden) doors would open at 6:20 and the doors to the building itself would open at 6:30 for registration. The registration table was just inside those doors. There were no wristbands given out. Now remember I was still in PFTS mode. Being apprehensive that having to register at 6:30 would cut into the party time
.
After registering, we went into the big room (no sultry
announcement or raising the curtains like the PFTS), and got our glasses at the first (red) station. These glasses were plain and you didn't get to keep them.
Since the CM mentioned that the food would be served on big (regular sized) plates, we figured we would need a table so hurried to find one.
Don't bother hurrying.
The CMs said not to run and there were plenty of tables. Well they were right. My guess is there were 250 people there.
A manager (?) CM I talked to mentioned that they hoped there would be 200 more people. (I had heard from people waiting in line outside, that they had friends who just bought tickets after 6PM!!.
The room (it was cut in half) had seating for 500 (my guess). The tables were mostly small tables as far as I can tell, and had 5 chairs at each. We sat with one other person so two chairs were empty. There were also tall tables with a chair or two.
For the first half hour or so, we kept one person at the table to "save" it. But, realizing that this was the entire crowd, didn't bother after that.
There were completely empty tables in our area.
The room was set up just like the PFTS. There were 5 food stations, one each per color, with up to three wineries at each food station. There were a total of 9 wineries (plus Foster's Lager). Each food station had multiple items to make a complete meal (e.g. meat/fish potato, salad.
I should be telling you about the food and wines right now. BUT THERE WERE NO PROGRAMS. Nothing was handed out.
My wife wrote down everything (?) on a sheet of paper (actually the itinerary sheet we got from the resort when we checked in there). But, until she translates it into something I can read (26 years and I still can't read her handwriting), it will have to wait.
The food was very good and presented well (think of full size PFTS portions). Some stations allowed you to serve yourself. Obviously there were no lines and you could go back as many times as you liked.
The wines obviously were from Victoria Australia and many of them were the ones at the Australian walkabout, bar and food stand. Some of these wines were also at the PFTS on Saturday.
There was one dessert station with multiple desserts offered. Well it was the same dessert paired with different fruit slices.
There was an olive oil tasting station (five different flavored olive oils).
Entertainment was a local(?) guitar duo.
We knew it was a special event when Pam Smith showed up
and introduced a representative (chamber of commerce?) from Melbourne/Victoria. He showed a video presentation of the area. He also mentioned that Qantas is starting non stop service next week
At Saturday's PFTS I spoke to some manager types at the end of the event. I thanked them for making the change to the program so it was more user friendly. I also said it probably made their life a little easier since they didn't have to field questions from guests on where various chefs were located (like we had to do on the 4th).
I also mentioned that the night before, there WAS NO PROGRAM for the City Tastes and said even a one page typed on white bond paper would be helpful. Hopefully something will be done for Italy next Friday.
Comparing it to the PFTS, there obviously wasn't the variety. The price reflected that ($90). But it was the same amount of time, and you could get as stuffed and as drunk as you want (probably even more so since there were no lines).
If you compare it to a food and wine pairing (and its price), it was a great deal.
The pace was pleasant, laid back quiet and very enjoyable. I am not sure how I would feel with the attendance at maximum.
IMO, this was a great event for the guest. Which means it probably won't be around next year (unless it sells out).
Ed
P.S. Regarding Saturday's PFTS - Obviously nothing distracts me from my eating and drinking. I didn't see security on Saturday nor did I see any disturbances.
P.P.S. I've been to more crowded PFTS in previous years. But it probably was because of the stage taking up so much room before. But if you really want to see crowded, this year's California Adventures F&W event "TASTES" was shoulder to shoulder, front to back packed in (think packed bus at park closing for 3 hours).
We were never rude to them, but they were reaching over us to pick up/set down their glasses, etc... They seemed totally oblivious to the fact that we could not have our own conversations within our group because they were so loud. The last straw for me was when one of the men reached over and picked up the edge of our tablecloth... using it to wipe his greasy hands!
I immediately got up and quietly asked our waiter to invite management over for a little discusssion. I have never experienced this type at the "Party" before...
I would have loved to have seen some security that night.
