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

[snykymom]

I just want to clarify - do you have to get a gift card for the festival? Can I use my KTTW card or my credit card at the booths?

 

[maciec]

yes you can

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I just want to clarify - do you have to get a gift card for the festival? Can I use my KTTW card or my credit card at the booths?

Yes you can! I'm planning on using my KTTW. I will have about $40 cash on me just in case something is down though.

 

[AladdinsPrincess]

Hi everyone! We're just back from spending the afternoon at the F&W Fest. It was crowded! Gorgeous weather today though - sunny and warm, but not humid, which makes all the difference!

They definitely still seemed to be working out some kinks (some booths were out of food periodically, some booths had too many people working and some not nearly enough, etc.) I still miss the free wine seminars and I'll never get over that! Now there doesn't even seem to be that much wine anymore at the Festival. Lots of beer and (expensive) cocktails. Two of the booths have Sterling brand wine, and Penfolds - I can buy both of those at my local grocery store. I miss the days of a larger variety of wine. There used to be wine bars, wine walk abouts, wine booths - I miss that! And I thought there was supposed to be a Portugal wine bar this year? There wasn't one today.

Food-wise, we only scratched the surface but so far...
Highlights:
Cheddar cheese soup, shrimp tacos, Sweedish meatballs, Pumpkin mousse, sausage in Portugal, and the Xente cocktail in Scandinavia

Lowlights:
Shrimp on the Barbie, Mahi mahi (overcooked), ribeye taco

Overall, it's our favorite time of the year at Epcot and we can't wait to get back next weekend!

K

 

[babyrich]

I hope this question hasn't been asked yet, and I missed it. We are going for the first time this year and our DD wants to know, is there some way she can get a wrist band that shows she's over 21, so that she doesn't have to pull out her I.D. at every booth we purchase an adult beverage at? She doesn't look 21 and is used to digging out her ID as she orders when we go out to eat here at home. Since she will have an out of state ID, she has it down to a science to let the person checking know which line on her drivers license to look at so that they don't have to keep staring at it. She's just hoping there is a way to prevent having to pull out her ID so often. Thanks!!!

I dont think there is anyway around getting asked for ID. Last year my DH and I met a young couple who wore their ID around their neck in small pouch that had a window so the face of the ID was visible. She told me that they are always asked for their ID and wearing it like this made it so much easier.

 

[GuardMusic]

I still have my "wrist gift card" from last year. Can I simply bring it back & reload it? Or do I have to buy a new card?

 

[DisGal520]

I still have my "wrist gift card" from last year. Can I simply bring it back & reload it? Or do I have to buy a new card?

you can have it reloaded. enjoy

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I still have my "wrist gift card" from last year. Can I simply bring it back & reload it? Or do I have to buy a new card?

You don't really "buy" a wrist gift card. You only pay to load it.

If the balance of your old card is zero, then the cost of reloading it or loading a brand new card is the same (for the same number of dollars).

 

[LisaS]

If someone gets a new wrist card this year I would like to know how comfortable it is. I bought one last year and it was uncomfortably tight. I tried several times to stretch it out a bit but it just kept springing back to the same size. I pulled it so hard I thought it might break but it stayed just as tightly coiled as when I bought it. I liked the convenience but don't plan on buying another one unless I can get one that isn't annoyingly tight.

 

[OKW Lover]

This year's bands aren't as tight. We had the same "issue" last year, but not this year.

 

[LisaS]

This year's bands aren't as tight. We had the same "issue" last year, but not this year.

Thank you for that information! That is good news!

 

[Chernadan]

Six more days... count them 6! Then I will be sampling that fine food and wine at Epcot. I cannot wait.

 

[buckeev]

?....."

If only I prepared for other things in life the way I am planning for this trip!!

AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH!

 

[dgbg100106]

So we arrived yesterday evening and made it to the festival around 5 pm.
The crowds were there, not as bad as last years Saturday night but heavier than I was expecting. About 20 people in lines for some booths and 5 in others. We ended up just going to La Cava and waiting for our friends.

The walking traffic was very heavy, just trying to get around people was the hardest.

I did get one of the messenger style bags, with 15 on it from last years banners.

Will try food today and hopefully post more about it tomorrow.

 

[iluvpluto27]

We attended the soft opening of the F&W festival and opening day on Friday.

The Soft opening on Thursday was very quiet when we were there around 12ish. Not all booths were open but there were pretty much no lines at the ones that were.

The Friday was a bit busier, we arrived at 11 and there were queues around 15-20 people deep at Greece and Ireland, but once the booths started serving the lines moved quickly. There were some teething problems with Ireland not having anywhere an near enough pies ready, and the Greek booth seemed a bit chaotic with loads of chicken pittas ready, but they were struggling with the cheese.

When you walked further round the lagoon the queues disappeared and there were only one or two people waiting at each booth.

Here's a few pics of some of the items we sampled.

Cheese Booth - Fondue (very good)

New Zealand - Seared sea scallop with red curry puree and apple radish salad, good, nice curry flavour and scallop was well cooked.

South Africa -Bunny Chow (Veg curry served in bread loaf) - ok but different to what I was expecting. Curry has a good flavour to it but the bread loaf is pretty much an english yorkshire pudding!

Singapore - Shrimp cake with noodle salad

Greece - Griddled greek cheese with pistachio and honey ( I thought this could have been a good dish but may be this wasn't the best example of it, the cheese was cold and hard, like it hadn't been grilled enough so only the top part had started to melt, the honey and pistachio flavours were good though)

Australia - Lammington

Mexico - Shrimp Taco

 

[we3peas]

I plan on getting the wrist card to pay, but I wanted to know if I get a receipt at every booth the same as if I paid in cash. I want to track how much I spend on food versus merchandise this year.

TIA

 

[Aunt Michelle]

I plan on getting the wrist card to pay, but I wanted to know if I get a receipt at every booth the same as if I paid in cash. I want to track how much I spend on food versus merchandise this year.

TIA

I was given a receipt at every booth using my wrist card. It includes the notation of how much is left on the card for future spending.

 

[susan514]

I was there for the preview and bought the wrist gift card. Used it at 2 booths, and realized the card fell off the wrist band. Had to go to guest relations and it took 30 minutes to replace it. The wrist band is a great idea but it will break. Keep this in mind. We were lucky no one had used it.

 

[DJT]

Did anyone notice if Belgium had the waffle with berry compote this year? Loved it last year and hope it's there again this year.

 

[chip&dale&fun]

Did anyone notice if Belgium had the waffle with berry compote this year? Loved it last year and hope it's there again this year.

Ready to start reading in earnest now....