2008 Epcot Food and Wine Festival Reviews

[DisneyHog]

So the listings they are giving at the entrance aren't showing the menus for the individual chefs and the types of wines from each winery? I wonder if that is cost or if it is to keep people moving around the room instead of staking out tables. Just a thought. It's too bad though, hard to conserve your appetite for the things you really want if you don't know what is available!!

How was the entertainment?

 

[oybolshoi]

But doesn't it seem odd that they wouldn't include where the food and drink items were and what was even being served?

They're already printing a program ... so including that standard information wouldn't be that much more expensive. The number of pages in a print run aren't really what drives the cost (at least that's how it's been explained to me). And last year's program wasn't that many pages to begin with.

Without actually seeing anything for myself it sounds a lot more like a symptom of poor planning and lack of preparedness on the part of the F&W staff, whether it's Disney / Epcot or Vanity Fair or all of them.

I guess we'll find out for ourselves on the 11th ... I'm going to be disappointed if the program doesn't list the food and drink items along with the chefs and wineries.

 

[SamSam]

Just got home from the Food & Wine Fest. Went to PFTS last night and had mixed emotions. After the chaos getting your glass/plate, I thought there were pages missing when they handed out the menu for the night. For the past several years the chef and menu had been listed by color coded station so you knew where to find it. The same with the wineries-the wines being poured were listed. For some reason this year (cost?), it only listed the name of the chef and winery. I always save my menus for momentos so was disappointed. The food, as always was very good, I just found it very confusing and wondered if anyone else did also? The area is so vast, I missed trying some things that I didn't find until I was already full. Wide variety of foods from scallops, crab, duck, veal, pork tenderloins, beef, etc. Somthing for all tastes.
It also seemed like there were fewer low tables and maybe more high tops. I'm still glad I went, but probably won't do another this year.

Dh and I have been doing PFTS for several years and this is the first year that we looked at each other and said "not worth it". The food was very good but you had no idea where to find what as the different offerings weren't listed in the menu. The wine offerings were not only less in the amount of wines offered but also in the quality of wines (with a few exceptions). The entertainment was not up to the last couple of years standards. The whole feel to me was one of trying to cut corners and see if people would still come. We already have 2 more booked and since there is the no cancellation policy, we will go. If we were able to cancel, we would, that's how disappointed we were.
We have been attending for years and are definitely going to plan next year differently. We will book 1 party and if it's like this past one we attended, that will be it for next year.
We are already in for next Saturday so I really hope we have a different experience.

 

[DisneyHumbug]

Wow, I'm really disappointed to hear this. Last year DD, DM and I went to our first party. We talked it up so much, there are 6 of us going this year. I guess we'll be doing a lot of walking around to find out what is being offered and where. Last year we had no trouble finding the Fairy Tale Cuvee!!!

 

[oybolshoi]

This is disappointing.

We'll reserve judgement until we attend PFTS on the 11th, but our plans for next year will definitely hinge on how this event and others pan out during the trip.

 

[TheDISneyFamily]

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

 

[Kteacher]

I'm also disappointed in the lack of food offerings listed . I'm going on the 11th as well-It seems like we'll be spending a lot of the party figuring out what's being served.

 

[horselover]

Would you mind elaborating on some of the booth options you enjoyed most? We're heading down in a few weeks and I'm interested in reviews of the various offerings. I've already picked out many I'd like to try and would love to hear if they measure up

This question wasn't directed at me, but I'd be happy to share what we liked. We were there on Mon. & Tue. of this week. Without a doubt my #1 favs. were the Lamb Slider in New Zealand & the Milk Chocolate Creme Brulee in France. Others that we tried & liked were the Grilled Beef w/Chimichurri sauce, Argentina(?), Pierogie w/kielbasa, Poland, Manti w/Yogurt Sauce, Turkey, Escargot, France (DH had this not me!).

What we didn't really like - Shrimp w/cilantro (Chile or Brazil? - very small portion), Chicken Sha Cha, China, Lamb Chop w/onion jam, Australia (jam was very tasty, but chop was very dry).

Totally not F&W related, but the Strawberry Tart from the French bakery is to die for!

We would have liked to try a few more things, but there's only so much the stomach can handle & we ran out of time.

All the booth lines were fairly short & I had no cash register problems, although DH did a couple of times.

We did 2 wine seminars also. The Pinot Grigio vs. Pinot Gris one was good. The Wines of Washington one was terrible. She made us watch a really boring 20 min. DVD about Washington wine country. It was like being in science class. None of the wines were that good either.

Hope that helps. Have a great time.

 

[Bordeaux Babe]

I'm glad to see it wasn't just me who had the same opinion of PFTS. The entertainment that we saw was 2 girls doing flexibility/strength routine and a guy spining this huge silver open box shape object. We ended up walking into the indoor "holding" area to sit at a table and they performed on the stage out there. I did see the same guy perform on the large main stage later. There were also musicians walking around.
I was tempted to contact Disney in regard to the menu issue. I hope they do change this for the upcoming weeks or at least for next year. At the end I did walk around snapping pix of the chefs creations and wines. I'm sure I still missed some of them.

 

[Tinker_Belle]

Thank you, HorseLover! It seems you liked all of the things on my list to try. I can't wait!

 

[TwingleMum]

He is still there, he was doing the intro for the Whiskey Seminar Saturday afternoon.

Any more whiskey seminars?? Are they free?? My DH would really be interested.

 

[BriarRosie]

Dh and I have been doing PFTS for several years and this is the first year that we looked at each other and said "not worth it". The food was very good but you had no idea where to find what as the different offerings weren't listed in the menu. The wine offerings were not only less in the amount of wines offered but also in the quality of wines (with a few exceptions). The entertainment was not up to the last couple of years standards. The whole feel to me was one of trying to cut corners and see if people would still come. We already have 2 more booked and since there is the no cancellation policy, we will go. If we were able to cancel, we would, that's how disappointed we were.
We have been attending for years and are definitely going to plan next year differently. We will book 1 party and if it's like this past one we attended, that will be it for next year.
We are already in for next Saturday so I really hope we have a different experience.

While Disney is saying there's a "no cancellation policy" on these events, I still think it's worth calling to see if you can still cancel since you have a very good reason to do so. You knew when you booked the events what you could reasonably expect from the PFTS from years' past, and if it doesn't meet your expectations this year, you should be able to cancel the other two you've booked.

I am a little disappointed to hear that people feel the event has been cheapened. I'm hoping that I'll still enjoy mine on the 18th.

For what it's worth, I don't plan on being at a table with seating during the party. Last year I started at the back of the room and zig-zagged my way through the stations so I wouldn't miss any of the offerings. I found this system way more productive than going back and forth to a table.

This year, I intend to take pics of the signs at the stations before I take pics of the food so I can identify things better.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Where are these pictures you all are talking about???

 

[TxDsnyGrl74]

Where are these pictures you all are talking about???

Most people have indicated in their posts that they 'plan' on taking pics when they get there. Considering the festival started just over a week ago, not everybody that has attended has taken a camera to provide pictures (which they do out of the kindness for their DIS friends).

 

[NejTheLion]

We already have 2 more booked and since there is the no cancellation policy, we will go. If we were able to cancel, we would, that's how disappointed we were.

If you were that disappointed, you should talk to Disney. I wouldn't be surprised if they refunded your other tickets. Also, if enough people complain, perhaps they'll fix some of these things for the later events where possible.

 

[CarolA]

Dh and I have been doing PFTS for several years and this is the first year that we looked at each other and said "not worth it". The food was very good but you had no idea where to find what as the different offerings weren't listed in the menu. The wine offerings were not only less in the amount of wines offered but also in the quality of wines (with a few exceptions). The entertainment was not up to the last couple of years standards. The whole feel to me was one of trying to cut corners and see if people would still come. We already have 2 more booked and since there is the no cancellation policy, we will go. If we were able to cancel, we would, that's how disappointed we were.
We have been attending for years and are definitely going to plan next year differently. We will book 1 party and if it's like this past one we attended, that will be it for next year.
We are already in for next Saturday so I really hope we have a different experience.

You might try going to Guest Service and expressing your concern and requesting a refund.

I went to them a few years ago over a very poor Wine and Cheese event. I really didn't expect a refund, but wanted to make my views known that I was RIPPED OFF. (The women running the event's knowledge of wine was limited to picking up the bottle and reading us the name! LOL!) The CM looked at the event description, listened to my complaint and gave me a refund! He agreed it was not what was described!

I have never been able to read the menu in that dim lighting anyway so... I guess I won't miss that I am still going to go with good expectations Saturday. I wonder if the fact that the first week was "overloaded" by the big event impacted the "presenters" at the first PFTS. I noticed in reading my guide that the wine presenteres for the free tastings looked better as the weeks went on then in week one (with the exception of the Qunitessa wine lady who had great wine) The first week seemed to have a lot of "generic" distributors doing the presentations. They were good, but..... I have noticed in the past that if you want to see what winerys are at your PFTS look at who is presenting on your weekend!

 

[DoOverDreams]

DH and I are going to be at WDW Oct 17-20 and were pretty excited to find out that the F&W fest is going on while we're there. We haven't been to one yet and looking at all your pictures, yum!

Here's my question for all who have been there. We were thinking of doing the PFTS (is that the right abbreviation?) while there, since there is so much great sounding food and it seems like a very handy way of trying a bit of everything in one place. However, it sounds like many of you aren't very happy with the PFTS this year. So, should we do the PFTS while we're there, or just enjoy ourselves wandering around the World? Do they have the same foods at the PFTS or different items?

What would you experts recommend? Ok, I've got to get off this thread. My stomach is rumbling. I need to go find something to eat! Darn those pictures....

 

[TYMAN]

Here's my 2 cents....the Seared Beef Medallion w/ Polenta from San Francisco was excellent!

 

[redzinner]

Here's my question for all who have been there. We were thinking of doing the PFTS (is that the right abbreviation?) while there, since there is so much great sounding food and it seems like a very handy way of trying a bit of everything in one place. However, it sounds like many of you aren't very happy with the PFTS this year. So, should we do the PFTS while we're there, or just enjoy ourselves wandering around the World? Do they have the same foods at the PFTS or different items?

What would you experts recommend? Ok, I've got to get off this thread. My stomach is rumbling. I need to go find something to eat! Darn those pictures....

By no means an expert on F&WF events, I would recommend attending the Party for the Senses.
The food at PFTS has been (in the past) so much better than what is served at the kiosks around the World Showcase. The wine selection is better also. The participating chefs differ each Saturday at the PFTS but usually they all have their 'gourmet' torques on and try something unique and different.
You don't have any 'under your belt' to compare this year's to, so I don't think you'll be disappointed.
The lack of printed program is a disappointment for those of us 'regulars' because it was a road map of the room and we could determine food/wine selection using it. That shouldn't affect the food quality just our attack plan.
We all wondered why the price wasn't increased for this event and now we know how Disney managed it.

 

[betterbutter]

Just got home from the Food & Wine Fest. Went to PFTS last night and had mixed emotions. After the chaos getting your glass/plate, I thought there were pages missing when they handed out the menu for the night. For the past several years the chef and menu had been listed by color coded station so you knew where to find it. The same with the wineries-the wines being poured were listed. For some reason this year (cost?), it only listed the name of the chef and winery. I always save my menus for momentos so was disappointed. The food, as always was very good, I just found it very confusing and wondered if anyone else did also? The area is so vast, I missed trying some things that I didn't find until I was already full. Wide variety of foods from scallops, crab, duck, veal, pork tenderloins, beef, etc. Somthing for all tastes.
It also seemed like there were fewer low tables and maybe more high tops. I'm still glad I went, but probably won't do another this year.

We haven't gone and aren't planning on it, but we spoke to half a dozen couples yesterday who expressed similar sentiments, and said that it's just no longer worth the cost.