2008 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Reviews

[ElizabethB]

Thanks, Webray. Another disappointment. We did the food booths once when EMH at Epcot was on a Wednesday evening and it was great fun. I was looking forward to late night at Epcot on Friday of our visit.

Well, I hope the two events we booked (down from ten last year) will be good. We picked them with great care and because we know the people running them, so I'm hopeful. We'll see.

 

[chip&dale&fun]

General comments on Food and Wine -

We just returned from a Thursday-Sunday event at the Food and Wine.

Crowds - as expected - Thursday, the day was light - we walked right into the first wine tasting at the Festival Center. The line formed about 15 minutes before the event. Most seemed like regular attendees and repeats from past years/days. We had intended on returning, but alas, not enough time. The wine offerings at the Festival Center were fine with us. An array of tastes. It did seem that the wine for purchase was less variety than past years and a smaller allocation of space. There was space available for the Sam Adams Beer Tasting both on Thursday and Friday - both times were early shows. We were able to walk into cooking shows at Pearville and LA.

Friday, the crowds were fine in the morning, we were able to obtain our choice of all we wanted. The Crowds had picked up toward the evening so there were lines at all the food booths. I was disappointed in my favourite offering as it was not as plentiful or tasty as Friday night had been. We still were able to attend the wine tasting late at night in Victoria. The Cook, Book & Bottle was offered at the Festival Center. I would have been disappointed had I attended this extra ticketed event as it was open for all to wander by and gawk. I much enjoyed the older Lunch and Learn series. The food booths were all open during the EMH - not sure how late they stayed - but they were still open after the fireworks. We had ducked into Rose and Crown and left around 10:30.


Saturday daytime we stayed away but came back for the PFTS. The crowds were huge then, just to make our way into the arena. I heard they were large the entire day. So, no report on the Festival Welcome Center.

PFTS - Disney did a good job of checking in all the parties, same as last year, with the check-in station near the lake. If you missed it, you entered to the left while everyone else scrambled to get the glasses and plates. It is still a scamble. Oh well. The first disappointment was the program. No nice program to study while you waited the next 15 minutes, rather, it was a listing of guest chefs, disney chefs for the entrees and the desserts. The next page was a listing of participating wineries. This made the selection process difficult - Although the event was still divided into the color section, you did not know what was where until you set out - and no chance to pair food and wine together except by chance.

It did seem less crowded than in past years and we always go the same weekend. The entertainement was not Circ de Soil as you know but a similar type performance on 3 stages. I personally liked the lack of the large stage in the center of the room as it was easier to walk around the food booths.

As for the food offerings, some were very good, some lacked quality and one or two were outstanding. Much is personal preference. The guest chefs I met were all personable and willing to interact with the guests, more as the night progressed and they were less busy. As for the participating wineries, some had offerings for me taste, others, not so much. A few of my past favourites did not show this year, that could have been scheduling.

There were 2 cheese stations, with some different selections, which pleased me fine. I did not frequent the desserts so cannot comment there - I did miss the gelato offered in past year(s).

Like past years, some stations were very crowded - this year it was Scallops - will need to check the print out for the chef. My favourite of the entree offerings would have been between the peppered duck with slaw, the snapper with mushrooms and artichokes and the chicken with cheese toasted bread (yes chicken!).

Sunday, it the crowds were again very slow and the lines were non-existent. But it was turning hot again, as the clouds died out, and such is not a good time to enjoy some of the hot food offerings.

Hope this helps and for those of you waiting to go - ENJOY - you will find lots to enjoy, and bear with the disappointments....they are few.

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Really upset about the bad PFTS reviews, especially since my friend, Alison, was there last night with her family. I hope they still had a good time, despite the lack of info in the booklet, not as many quality wine selections, and less seating. Can one of you who went last night elaborate on the new 'entertainment' that was there instead of Cirque?

Thanks,
Michelle

I will try - there were 3 stages - one at the front where you enter - before the curtains - one at the very rear - and one on the right side, facing in.

The events I saw were gymnists, some solo with hoops and some were paired. All performed at the same time, but the acts were different. The elaborate staging was not present, so there were no acts with the curtain, or flying. The performances included vocals, not sure if the music was live. The same band that played at Cirque was there wandering the crowds at times.

I have never been one to watch the performances as spectacular as they have been, as I have been too busy eating.

 

[chip&dale&fun]

I did not take my camera as I have never used it at PFTS - I wish I had so I could have a record of the food and wine offerings. Instead I tried to write the names on the borchure but did not successfully get the entire program.

I wish Disney will print a full brochure for those of you yet to come.

 

[ghidorah97]

Wow, have to say that I am totally floored at all the negativity. Granted, I was only there for three days and granted, the one event that I attended was a bit out of the norm (the Bocuse d'Or Grand Gala) but overall I was extremely pleased with the Festival. I found the food booths to be reasonably well-organized and with decent-to-very good (for the most part) food selections. The free culinary demos I attended were both spectacular. The Festival Welcome Center was nice -- and the prices for the wines on sale there were very reasonable (competitive with my local merchants).

Does the booths closing @ 10:00pm REALLY seriously impact your enjoyment?
Or maybe I'm just being too forgiving?

I will agree on the booklet for the PFTS. Bad job not including the menu and wines -- there is NO additional cost to include that information (you're already printing the darn thing!) only additional work to gather the information from the chefs/wineries and then creating the artwork to send to the printer.

I look forward to hearing more feedback over the next couple weeks.

Brad

 

[luvpooh]

Does the booths closing @ 10:00pm REALLY seriously impact your enjoyment?

yes, it does. we plan our vacations well in advance and this is a huge part of it. we enjoy getting there in the late afternoon and pacing ourselves, taking our time to enjoy the offerings and the entertainment in the cooler hours of the day. It has been our tradition to do this every year and it works out great, especially because it's not as crowded, and we prefer going out later and staying out later. Seeing as how our other traditions are going to pot (Pleasure Island), this does seriously impact our enjoyment. We are creatures of routine and habit, and breaking the routine, especially not at our doing, really stinks.

 

[ghidorah97]

yes, it does. we plan our vacations well in advance and this is a huge part of it. we enjoy getting there in the late afternoon and pacing ourselves, taking our time to enjoy the offerings and the entertainment in the cooler hours of the day. It has been our tradition to do this every year and it works out great, especially because it's not as crowded, and we prefer going out later and staying out later. Seeing as how our other traditions are going to pot (Pleasure Island), this does seriously impact our enjoyment. We are creatures of routine and habit, and breaking the routine, especially not at our doing, really stinks.

Fair enough. I wasn't passing judgment, just wondering aloud if something that -- to me, at least -- seems somewhat minor could really be all that big of a deal. Obviously, to some, it is.

So in that case, it is a bad job to not keep them open. Hard to believe that those two hours would represent any significant cost savings, so it does seem somewhat silly not to just stay open until the park closes.

At any rate, I hope that you can find the silver lining and still enjoy your visit!

 

[ElizabethB]

Failure to keep the booths open late on EMH affects my enjoyment as well. It also affects my decision as to whether to stay on property or not!

 

[luvpooh]

Fair enough. I wasn't passing judgment, just wondering aloud if something that -- to me, at least -- seems somewhat minor could really be all that big of a deal. Obviously, to some, it is.

So in that case, it is a bad job to not keep them open. Hard to believe that those two hours would represent any significant cost savings, so it does seem somewhat silly not to just stay open until the park closes.

At any rate, I hope that you can find the silver lining and still enjoy your visit!

no worries. It just stinks that everything keeps closing or getting limited. Life is stressful enough without having to worry about vacation plans changing and stressing that your carefully made plans are no longer able to be achieved.

 

[BriarRosie]

no worries. It just stinks that everything keeps closing or getting limited. Life is stressful enough without having to worry about vacation plans changing and stressing that your carefully made plans are no longer able to be achieved.

The good news is that we're armed with advance notice of any glitches to carefully laid plans like evening EMH, so we can try to adapt to something workable.

I've never taken advantage of evening EMH because I had been visiting the Adventurers Club in the evenings.

 

[shovan]

Yesterday we took part in the vertical tasting of Magnificat, which is Franciscan's top of the line meritage blend.

The presenters were incredibly knowledgeable, and we really liked that they had sheets printed with the varietal content and barrel information on each year. It was very well organized. We'd give it overall a 95%, the only things that could have been better--we would have preferred a sparkling wine instead of the Sauvignon Blanc (although we understand the purpose of the SB was to open our palette, and I don't think Franciscan produces a sparkling wine) and again we needed something with a bit of fat content served to keep our mouths working.

Thanks for the review on the vertical tasting! I'm happy to hear that the presenters were so knowledgeable & overall it was a worthwhile learning experience. Sadly there isn't one scheduled during our visit this year, but maybe next year.

 

[disneynutz]

This year will be our first attending PFTS. I understand that PFTS includes a reserved section seat at the American Theater. Do we check in there or somewhere else. All we got from Disney was a conformation number and no other information. When we asked this question to them, they said that they didn't know?


Thanks for your help.

 

[webray]

then maybe much of the budget was spent on getting the Bocuse D'or competition there this year

Don't think so...they had great sponsors who donated everything.

 

[webray]

on EMH nights they were always open til Midnight. Someone (Minnesota Chill?) reported in the other F&WF thread that they were not open at all during EMH this past Friday and that they were advised that the booths would not be open for the remainder of the festival past normal hours on EMH nights (Friday's). Also, I was told the booths on the first Friday of the festival were open only til 10.

Only a couple of the booths were open until 10pm the first friday, the rest closed at 9pm.

 

[webray]

This year will be our first attending PFTS. I understand that PFTS includes a reserved section seat at the American Theater. Do we check in there or somewhere else. All we got from Disney was a conformation number and no other information. When we asked this question to them, they said that they didn't know?


Thanks for your help.

There are usually castmembers standing at the ropes to check you in outside the theater. Just look for them!

 

[TDC Nala]

I am not taking pictures of the food from the booths.

But I have a lot of food porn from paid events - just no time to post it.

 

[ghidorah97]

I am not taking pictures of the food from the booths.

But I have a lot of food porn from paid events - just no time to post it.

Can't wait to see it whenever you find the time!

 

[CelebrationKim]

We have reservations for an EPCOT Wine School on Saturday, 10/25. Where do we meet for this?

The cast member who took my reservations had no idea where we should go.

Thanks

 

[TDC Nala]

We have reservations for an EPCOT Wine School on Saturday, 10/25. Where do we meet for this?

The cast member who took my reservations had no idea where we should go.

Thanks

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.

 

[betterlatethannever]

Got back yesterday from the F&W festival. Read all the pages on this thread and the other (non sticky) threat that I missed.

There were some posts on both that I wanted to respond to but I don't remember which thread. So please bear with me.

The Louisiana culinary demonstrations change each week. But they DO NOT include samples to eat (just a demonstration)

The Australian wine walkabout does include a passport for $8.50(?) to sample four wines. HOWEVER, unlike last year, this year the New York wine tasting booth DOES NOT have a passport option.

The wine schools are at the festival center upstairs in the conference/banquet room.

The Sweet Sundays are at the Festival Center. They are on the main floor and use the food demonstration area, but it also includes the walkway area. This means if you are at the gift shop and want to go to the restrooms, you need to walk all the way around. (I know, what next )

Met many DISers. Were half the people at the PFTS DISers.

And yes, I am still disappointed with the festival this year. I am not sure that too many CMs are going to ask people "How do you like the F&W festival?" after listening to me go on and on (especially if these CMs looked like they were farther up the food chain). But I always got off my soap box by telling them to thank Disney for saving me money (11 ticketed events last year down to 5 this year).

After getting the "program" (as we entered) for the PFTS, I was really worried about the event. However, there were about the same number of chefs and wineries as last year.

We had problems with the non color coded programs also. We had missed a food booth and winery ( I know, hard to believe ). We figured it was against the wall but its a big room. We came upon some suits and asked. One got on her phone and found the food booth. However, she said the winery was on the other side of the room from the chef (this didn't make sense because that meant we would have missed TWO spots ). Anyway, we found the chef and the winery was right next to it.

There were good things about the festival - not crowded, many tables. And because there were very few lines, got through everything including the desserts and cheeses. And as others have posted, the desserts did not run out.

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