**2011** Epcot Food & Wine Festival HAS ENDED. 2012 Festival 9/28 - 11/11

[PNO4TE]

Talk amongst yourselves.....

Fine ideas, Ellen!

The following is copied from last year's F&W pages that are still not updated for 2011. They deal with the costs involved in sponsoring a kiosk or Premiere Program are high. That eliminates many of the craft breweries or small wineries:

The Marketplace Kiosks, especially positioned around the World Showcase Promenade for the 45 day event, are the heart and sole of the festival. Each of the 27 Kiosks is themed to a particular county and offers, on an average, 4 beverages and 3 food items. The food portions and beverage pours are moderate in size, so as to enable the Guests to sample from multiple countries during their visit.

All Marketplace kiosks are operated with Walt Disney World® Cast Members.

Signage exclusivity is given to one food and one beverage sponsor, per kiosk, unless otherwise negotiated. Bottled water will be available for sale at each kiosk, but will not be entitled to special signage.

SPONSORSHIP FEE: $15K

Seminar Participants also have to pay to be there:

OPTION 1*:
Participation Fee – $1,800
3-Days, 2-Nights / Total three events

Two to three Beverage Seminars
and/or a Wine Presentation at a Culinary Demonstration
OPTION 2*:
Participation Fee – $2,000
4-Days, 3-Nights / Total four events

Three to four Beverage Seminars
and/or a Wine Presentation at a Culinary Demonstration

The majority of the Marketplaces offer wine for sale, however, beer and spirits are also permitted and beer and spirit companies are equally eligible to sponsor a kiosk when applicable to the featured country. The following information pertains to quantities of wine – volume for other beverages will be determined on a case by case situation.

• PRODUCT TO BE PURCHASED BY WALT DISNEY WORLD®

Walt Disney World® will purchase wine up to 4 wines for a Marketplace Kiosk for the 45 day event. The average wholesale price of each selection will be on an average of $12-$15. Quantity TBD.
Walt Disney World® will purchase the same selection of Marketplace wines to be place in the official Festival Wine Shop for the duration of the festival. Quantity TBD.
Walt Disney World® will purchase a total of 18 bottles of wine per Wine Seminar (6 bottles of each of 3 wines selected). A participant has the opportunity to host 3 seminars during the festival – for a total purchase by Walt Disney World® of 54 bottles. The wine selection will be determined under separate agreement.
Walt Disney World® will purchase 18 bottles of one wine selected for one presentation/pairing at a culinary demonstration.
Walt Disney World® will provide, for sale, the wines featured in the seminars for a “Bottle Signing with the Winemaker” Sessions which will immediately follow the seminar.

• FOOD PARTNERS

A Marketplace food sponsor will have the opportunity to showcase their product(s) within one Marketplace Kiosk that is compatible with the featured country. The food may be served as is, i.e. a cured ham or specialty cheese. Other products will be incorporated within a recipe.

• PRODUCT TO BE PURCHASED BY WALT DISNEY WORLD®

Walt Disney World® will purchase the selected products for the Marketplace. The wholesale price of each selection will be competitive with other currently purchased items by Walt Disney World® within the same category. Quantity TBD.
Recipe(s) incorporating the food item will be developed by Walt Disney World® or recommended by the sponsor. Due to operational logistics, Disney reserves the right to make the final decision on any recipe to be served during the 45 day event. The featured product(s) may be in one or up to three recipes.
All food items, currently not on the Walt Disney World® core list, will be subject to safety testing prior to approval. Food products will be procured through Disney's Purchasing Department.

• SIGNAGE/RECOGNITION PROVIDED BY WALT DISNEY WORLD®

Promenade signage at the Marketplace, featuring the history of the company and the flavor profile of the featured product(s). The panel will be one side of a triangle structure and measures approximately 7” high X 2.5” wide.
Mention on the back cover of the Festival Guide. Print circulation of 350,000.
Brand Mention in the Official Festival Cookbook with featured food and/or wine selected as a pairing. Circulation 10K.
Printing and distribution of tasting mats and venue signage for the wine seminars.

Participants do receive Deluxe accommodations (one room) at Disney’s Beach Club Resort for 4 nights (all rooms have 2 queen beds, and can accommodate 4 guests). Four 5-Day Park Hopper Passes for all four Walt Disney World® Theme Parks.

 

[MrsG]

Just trying to prepare how to book a special event for the F&W on line. Do you go to a special link or will it come up in the link where you make your dining ressies for WDW restaurants?

 

[BriarRosie]

Just trying to prepare how to book a special event for the F&W on line. Do you go to a special link or will it come up in the link where you make your dining ressies for WDW restaurants?

It won't be the same link as the regular restaurant online reservations. TDC Nala will post the link to the first post of this thread (where all the other details and links are listed) whenever the info becomes available.

 

[cdtommie]

In viewing all the input on craft beers, it occurs to me that Disney has, in its loyal and usually vocal, customer base, a wealth of experience and insight into problem solving. We also know, from Disney's own, public materials, WHO the Epcot beverage manager is (Marianne Hunnel) and HOW to communicate ideas and feedback (wdwguestcommunications). So how about we "solve" this problem with our ideas - which, cumulatively, may contain the very idea that could be implemented for F&W 2012 (let's face it, contracts are already signed for this year).

So - I liked the person who mention the "late 90's" beer garden - sounded like it was in the "Millenium" venue, and therefore, co-opted for events - but could you describe more those aspects that you remember that you really liked about the setting, offerings, etc?

Personally, I was in a place called "The Tap Room" in Seattle after our May Wonder Alaska cruise - they had 180+ beer taps, a full time person who did nothing but clear tap lines - and every server could listen to what you liked and recommend a sampler. Now THAT is a beer place.

A note - I also slightly prefer wine to beer. But, a well-crafted beer is infinitely preferable to a poorly thought-out and executed wine (not that we have to chose....). I have tried probably 60 beers in the past year (I have 20-something sons) and believe beer is an important part of our dining and social culture.

What if....

What if they could set up multiple taps (not unlike the beer garden they HAVE set up in Germany) and find an efficient way to pour the beer (part of the delivery process is that you can't really rush pouring beer - where wine can be unceremoniously "dumped" in a glass)?

Talk amongst yourselves....


.

I wouldn't be surprised if Disney's Inbev contract discourages any competition at F&W - they are ruthless about protecting their market share. Probably another issue is local availability - might be hard to get brewers to sign up if their product is not available in FL. And some breweries such as Dogfish Head and Bell's can't even meet current demand so they may not care about promoting their products at F&W. I do think some day things might change - it just ticks me off that Disney labels these offerings "craft" which is false advertising. As a side note I've talked to the staff at California Grill several times and suggested they add Stone, Alesmith, Green Flash etc (ie. California beers) but the answer is always management is not interested (probably again due to Inbev payola)...nothing like the crisp clean taste of Bud Light to compliment that Kazan roll!

 

[Brocktoon]

I wouldn't be surprised if Disney's Inbev contract discourages any competition at F&W - they are ruthless about protecting their market share. Probably another issue is local availability - might be hard to get brewers to sign up if their product is not available in FL. And some breweries such as Dogfish Head and Bell's can't even meet current demand so they may not care about promoting their products at F&W. I do think some day things might change - it just ticks me off that Disney labels these offerings "craft" which is false advertising. As a side note I've talked to the staff at California Grill several times and suggested they add Stone, Alesmith, Green Flash etc (ie. California beers) but the answer is always management is not interested (probably again due to Inbev payola)...nothing like the crisp clean taste of Bud Light to compliment that Kazan roll!

All great points. From what I've gathered over the years, it seems like the beer distribution business is pretty cut-throat. There are many west-coast beers that I can't get in my area due to the distributors. I've even called New Belgium last year about finding thier beers in the Philly area and they said they can't work with the distributors. One of the bar managers I know in the area has diret contact with most of the major craft brewers and she's mentioned that dealing with the ditribution channels is rediculous.

Also, if I was running even a decent sized operation like Rogue, Stone, Victory, Dogfish etc ... I agree that I don't see any adavantage to going after getting my beers in WDW. For the most part it's probably a waste of money as it's not going after a target market, as vast majority of people visiting probably feel Yuengling is a taste explosion compared to Bud.

I just don't understand why most of the resorts don't get some cases of some decent stuff. As you mentioned, InBev probably makes it worth thier while, but is a few cases really going to add that much overhead cost, and if no one drinks it will it really be a big loss that will take down the operation?

 

[redzinner]

Knowing nothing about the beer industry, I have a $ question: Is the profit margin on a 2 bottles of beer (~24 ounces) served in a restaurant the same as a bottle of wine (~ 25 ounces) served in a restaurant?

 

[AJW]

Just trying to prepare how to book a special event for the F&W on line. Do you go to a special link or will it come up in the link where you make your dining ressies for WDW restaurants?

For the past few years, a link was posted on www.foodwinefest.com when registration opened.

 

[PatriciaH]

I would love if they got better craft beers at F&W and some of the restaurants at least. Stone would be great at the California Grill. Rogue, Dogfish Head, Southern Tier, Ommegang, Allagash, Brooklyn Brewery, Pretty Things, Smuttynose, Great Divide, Shipyard, Cape Ann, Mercury Brewing, etc.

 

[Simba's Mom]

My question concerns the Hawaiin booth and beers. Hawaii is home of DS's favorite beers (and he's, unfortunately quite a conisseur-but I digress). Although I'm not a beer drinker, I want to try the Kona beers. Is Kona Longboard a beer? And is Kona Pipeline also a pure beer, or is it a beer mixed with coffee?

 

[dgbg100106]

My question concerns the Hawaiin booth and beers. Hawaii is home of DS's favorite beers (and he's, unfortunately quite a conisseur-but I digress). Although I'm not a beer drinker, I want to try the Kona beers. Is Kona Longboard a beer? And is Kona Pipeline also a pure beer, or is it a beer mixed with coffee?

Those are both beers.... We visited the brewery a couple of years ago, but they now have these beers in VA and MD, as I have seen them in the grocery stores.

But the Longboard is not mixed with Kona coffee, but the Pipeline is.
Pipeline is a porter and longboard is a lager

 

[PatriciaH]

The Pipeline Porter has coffee in it. It is one of DH's favorite beers and tastes like coffee.
http://konabrewingco.com/beers/pipeline-porter/
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/579/33183

 

[Brocktoon]

My question concerns the Hawaiin booth and beers. Hawaii is home of DS's favorite beers (and he's, unfortunately quite a conisseur-but I digress). Although I'm not a beer drinker, I want to try the Kona beers. Is Kona Longboard a beer? And is Kona Pipeline also a pure beer, or is it a beer mixed with coffee?

If I can recall correctly, the Longboard is a lager, Pipeline is a porter, and The Poly should also have Kona's Fire Rock which is a Pale Ale.

Longboard - nothing to write home about, a standard middle of the road lager

Fire Rock - not too bad given the WDW choices. It has a bit of a bitter / citrus hop bite and aroma from dry hopping. It's very similar to something like Sierra Nevada

Pipeline - This is a porter ... if you're not familiar with beers, this will be darker with a coffee / chocolate like quality. In fact I think they brew it with some kona coffee. It's still '100% beer', but the coffee will be mixed with the malts during the manufacturing process.

I don't think anything Kona does is really world class, but the Fire Rock and Pipeline aren't too bad

EDIT: I think PatriciaH beat me to the punch

 

[cindycastle30]

For anyone interested in learning more about the beer industry I would suggest watching a documentary called Beer Wars. I watched it on Netflix. It is very interesting and informative.

 

[Bellamouse]

As pathetic as the beer selection is, I'd figure they'd atleast pick a better selection from the Brewers. Sierra Nevada's selection will be the pale ale ... really? Why not atleast go with the Torpedo IPA or Tumbler Brown. A generic pale ale doesn't really cut it if you want to introduce beginners to diffrent styles of beer. Abita goes with the Purple Haze, but no mention of TurboDog.

The target doesn't seem to give variety, but push out the more bland easy to sell beers. I'm pretty sure the Blue Moon and and various wheat flavored beers will be top sellers.

RIGHT. Very annoying indeed. I am not a drinker at all, but DH is a big beer enthusiast - brews his own - so he looks forward to the craft beers. We too noticed the very, average, grocery store variety beers being offered this year.

 

[Brandilovesdisney]

I tried to find the answer to this question but I couldn't find it anywhere...can you pre-order the food and wine festival special mini gift cards through the Disney website? Or do they have to be bought in Epcot?

 

[BriarRosie]

I tried to find the answer to this question but I couldn't find it anywhere...can you pre-order the food and wine festival special mini gift cards through the Disney website? Or do they have to be bought in Epcot?

As far as I know, they only sell those at the park. But, I was able to buy one at the Guest Relations booth outside the International Gateway, before I entered the park. Many of the stores sell them, as well as temporary locations with Festival merchandise.

 

[redzinner]

I tried to find the answer to this question but I couldn't find it anywhere...can you pre-order the food and wine festival special mini gift cards through the Disney website? Or do they have to be bought in Epcot?

In the past you could only purchase them during the 6 weeks of the Festival at Epcot. There are many locations in Epcot that sell them during the Festival.

 

[Brandilovesdisney]

Do regular Disney gift cards work too?

I have read that most samples are between $3-$7 - does that seem accurate?

 

[ilovejsparrow]

This is my first F&W, but after looking at the menus I have to agree that I'm surprised that there aren't more craft beer options. I really like Purple Haze so I'm excited they have it, but my dad and boyfriend are craft beer enthusiasts are are disappointed with the selection. They should offer more rare in ported beers at the different stands. As a PP mentioned, most of the beers can be found at a local pub or grocery store, and they're not very special.

On another note- has any ever done the mixology class or is it new? I'm debating attending or not.

 

[dgbg100106]

Do regular Disney gift cards work too?

I have read that most samples are between $3-$7 - does that seem accurate?

Hi, I am Brandi too....

Yes, all Disney gift cards work at F&W

Yes, that is about right for the cost of the samples