2012 Epcot Food and Wine Festival *HAS ENDED*

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Yes, I hope so too! I'm arriving on a Sunday afternoon and returning home the next Saturday. If this is accurate, I will not be doing any culinary demos this year.

Also, did anyone notice that the menus for the international marketplace booths are very similar to last year's? I was really disappointed after reading them as the menus for the countries that were represented last year seem to be the same for this year.

Disney gets slammed here either way...

If they change the menus folks come out of the WOODWORK to whine.

If they don't change the menus some of us who go every year go "ehh"

It's a tough balancing act.

 

[Werner Weiss]

According to the docs we got at the TiW preview dinner, culinary seminars are Daily at 1, 3, and 5PM. I'm hoping what's above is a typo.

The Festival Guide page about the Culinary Demos is in error.

Culinary Demos will be every day of the F&W Festival.

Pam Smith will host Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays.

John Ekin will host Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Disney gets slammed here either way...

If they change the menus folks come out of the WOODWORK to whine.

If they don't change the menus some of us who go every year go "ehh"

It's a tough balancing act.

I agree! I would much rather Disney keep the same menu items from year to year with minor tweaks. I find that when they bring out a new item it is either sensational or terrible. Refining items from year to year is a great idea and it encourages consistency. A perfect example of this is the lamb in Australia - it is consistently offered but the presentation changes slightly each year.

 

[karrit2000]

Disney gets slammed here either way...

If they change the menus folks come out of the WOODWORK to whine.

If they don't change the menus some of us who go every year go "ehh"

It's a tough balancing act.

I definitely agree with you. I wish they would change up the France menu as I don't do Escargot & I loved the Puff Pastry with Cheese they had a few years back. Getting bored with the Milk Chocolate Creme Brulee, they really need to change to a different flavor for variety.

I for one am glad to see the Salmon gone from Canada. I'll be getting the Filet.

I see a few new items that are definitely of interest to me. But quite a few that I wish would have been changed like the Lamington in Australia. I'll be passing on the Cheese Trio this year. The only one that appeals to me of those is the Cheddar. I'd probably eat the Brie but definitely not the Blue Cheese. I prefer my mold to only be in antibiotics. I won't be doing the Dessert Trio either. I'll probably get the Chocolate one although I'm not expecting to like it and the Lemon & Blueberry one. Not Yogurt or Raspberries for me. Can't wait to try the Clam Chowder & the Spinach & Cheese pastry in South Africa sounds interesting.

 

[herb102211]

We're looking to do the Kitchen Memories event with Buddy Valastro on 11/9. Are there any meet and greets with the demonstrators? For those of you that have been in the past, do you feel its worth the money? Thanks

 

[TDC Nala]

We're looking to do the Kitchen Memories event with Buddy Valastro on 11/9. Are there any meet and greets with the demonstrators? For those of you that have been in the past, do you feel its worth the money? Thanks

He's plugging a book, so he should be doing a book signing. If you want to do a book signing, get there at park opening and get a wristband for it, his will probably go fast.

The last Kitchen Memories I did was Andrew Zimmern's in 2010, enjoyed it thoroughly, maybe because he had three kinds of hot chile condiments.

 

[PrincessShea]

I'm a total newbie to F&W so this might be a dumb question...but if I get the reserved seating at the Party for the Senses, can I buy drinks from a bar? Or do I have to buy the top tier seating to even have access to the bar?

 

[karrit2000]

The top Tier is the only one that has access to the full bar. There is plenty of Beer & Wine available and sometimes some Liquor to the other 2 tiers at the various stations. I personally don't get the need to pay for drinks at a full bar at this event since one is supposed to be attending to sample the included offerings paired with the appropriate foods. There is much more spirits served at the 3D Dessert Discovery event if that is what you are looking for.

 

[PrincessShea]

The top Tier is the only one that has access to the full bar. There is plenty of Beer & Wine available and sometimes some Liquor to the other 2 tiers at the various stations. I personally don't get the need to pay for drinks at a full bar at this event since one is supposed to be attending to sample the included offerings paired with the appropriate foods. There is much more spirits served at the 3D Dessert Discovery event if that is what you are looking for.

Oh, like I said I really don't know much about the party other than what was in the brochure. I have no problem having just the wine that's paired with the food. I just didn't know what was offered beyond the food

 

[herb102211]

He's plugging a book, so he should be doing a book signing. If you want to do a book signing, get there at park opening and get a wristband for it, his will probably go fast.

The last Kitchen Memories I did was Andrew Zimmern's in 2010, enjoyed it thoroughly, maybe because he had three kinds of hot chile condiments.

Sounds great! Thanks for the info!

 

[LisaS]

And no more Bunny Chow.

That's really unfortunate! DH and I are vegetarians and love Indian food so we both enjoyed the bunny chow very much.

 

[TDC Nala]

Bunny chow was OK, could have used some spice. Personally I didn't think it was particularly Indian and it was being sold at the South Africa booth. But there is a whole booth with nothing but vegan choices this year...and probably some veggie selections at other booths, I haven't looked for them though.

 

[karrit2000]

Oh, like I said I really don't know much about the party other than what was in the brochure. I have no problem having just the wine that's paired with the food. I just didn't know what was offered beyond the food

Don't worry, there is definitely plenty for you to drink at the party without having to pay extra. We only did the party once back before they started with the Wine View lounge. We felt it was way too much to try to consume & enjoy in such a short amount of time for the price and back then I think we only paid $95. Tried one of the regional dinner parties they offered one year in the same venue and felt that was a little more reasonable. But those didn't go over too well for the most part. Now we stick with the Pairings & Regional Lunches and such because we find it more relaxing and enjoyable than the PFTS. We also did the dessert part one year. It was fun but way more sweets and alcohol than I was comfortable trying to enjoy in the limited amount of time. You really need to have a good meal before that one because of all the different liqueurs, rum, bourbon, wine, etc. and such but then there isn't enough room for all the sweets and it ended up being too much sweets for us and we didn't get to enjoy much of the liquor being offered.

 

[LisaS]

Bunny chow was OK, could have used some spice. Personally I didn't think it was particularly Indian and it was being sold at the South Africa booth. But there is a whole booth with nothing but vegan choices this year...and probably some veggie selections at other booths, I haven't looked for them though.

When there are only four or five non-dessert items you can eat out of all the booth offerings and half of them are cold plates (cheese plate, salad) we really appreciate anything hot and reasonably tasty!

Bunny chow is a curry dish and according to Wikipedia, bunny chow originated in Durban which is "home to a large community of people of Indian origin." My DH is very particular about his Indian food (he grew up on it in the UK where curry is considered the national dish these days) and enjoyed the bunny chow very much so I think people who enjoy Indian food (especially vegetarians who love Indian food) would enjoy it. It wasn't highly spiced but my spice tolerance is lower than DH's so it suited me very well and surprisingly DH wasn't put off by it being more mildly spiced.

It's a moot point now since it has been eliminated this year but it does raise an interesting question. If a dish is created in South Africa but by Indian immigrants, is it a South African dish or an Indian dish?

 

[TDC Nala]

They do have it at Jiko if you really miss it. At least they did last time I was there and read the menu (July 8). So do the vegan offerings not make up for it? I am assuming Disney thinks the vegan booth will be the go-to for vegetarians and vegans, not sure if it means they'll lay off the veggie offerings at the other booths. LIke I said I haven't checked to see how many there are this year.

 

[LisaS]

They do have it at Jiko if you really miss it. At least they did last time I was there and read the menu (July 8). So do the vegan offerings not make up for it? I am assuming Disney thinks the vegan booth will be the go-to for vegetarians and vegans, not sure if it means they'll lay off the veggie offerings at the other booths. LIke I said I haven't checked to see how many there are this year.

We had it at Jiko a few months ago and enjoyed it very much but it was great to have it available at F&W last year since we spend a lot of time at the festival.

I hope the new vegan offerings are good. I'm looking forward to trying them. Having a vegetarian item at a few of the booths allows us to have the experience of "eating around the world" so I do miss it when yet again, something we enjoyed last year gets replaced by a meat dish. For example, the corn empanadas they had in Argentina one year were really tasty. They were gone the following year. The CM in the booth said people complained about them "Hey, there's no meat in this thing!" so they replaced them with beef empanadas.

 

[karrit2000]

For example, the corn empanadas they had in Argentina one year were really tasty. They were gone the following year. The CM in the booth said people complained about them "Hey, there's no meat in this thing!" so they replaced them with beef empanadas.

the Corn Empanadas actually replaced the Beef Empanadas for one year at the Argentina booth. They have had the beef ones all the other years that they've had the booth. I can sympathize with them changing something you enjoyed for a different version since I love the Beef ones but thought the corn ones were a poor substitution. Apparently I wasn't in the minority since they went back to the beef ones. I do think they need to possibly up the offerings at each booth so there is something that might appeal to everyone. They really need to offer some type of dessert item at each booth. You are right in that the vegetarian offerings are slim beyond the dessert choices and they should be offering more. I don't normally eat Asian food but I have been tempted by a few of the offerings. There are a couple I may try this year. I'm also looking forward to trying the Spinach & Cheese Pocket in South Africa. I'm really curious about the Mushroom offering in Poland although I don't care for caramelized onions, I'll probably ask them to leave those off. And I'm definitely trying the Griddled Cheese thing in Greece since they ran out before I got to try it last year.

 

[TDC Nala]

I don't think they can guarantee that every single booth can stock something that appeals to EVERYONE. But they can get a good mix. Better than the one they have now. Meat is what sells, that's the issue I suppose.

My favorite item from last year is gone, too. Replaced by a Mung Bean Pancake with Shrimp. Maybe I'll like that too, don't know.

 

[franandaj]

It looks like our schedule has three lunches and two dinners spent grazing at the booths (or just living between the France and Canada kiosks for days at a time ). Plus I think we're going to try for an Italian Regional Lunch and DBF just saw the pizza and beer pairing and wants to try that. For someone who was worried about how much money we were going to spend at F&W, he sure keeps adding the fun events!

I found it wasn't so much "lunches and dinners" but that we would arrive around 11AM and start grazing. We would hit three or four booths and try each one of the items, take a break for a couple hours and do it again. If we didn't have any ADRs that trip we probably could have fit in 4 grazing sessions a day.

Yes, I hope so too! I'm arriving on a Sunday afternoon and returning home the next Saturday. If this is accurate, I will not be doing any culinary demos this year.

Also, did anyone notice that the menus for the international marketplace booths are very similar to last year's? I was really disappointed after reading them as the menus for the countries that were represented last year seem to be the same for this year.

I was really happy to see it was similar. I had to cancel my trip last year only days before going and was looking forward to trying some of the new ones last year. I'm glad to see they are back.

I agree! I would much rather Disney keep the same menu items from year to year with minor tweaks. I find that when they bring out a new item it is either sensational or terrible. Refining items from year to year is a great idea and it encourages consistency. A perfect example of this is the lamb in Australia - it is consistently offered but the presentation changes slightly each year.

I'm glad to see they tweaked the lamb slider too, we'll see if the meatball is better. The best change I saw was that Morrocco now has Merguez! I LOVE Merguez, and don't get to eat it very often, that will be a real treat.

I for one am glad to see the Salmon gone from Canada. I'll be getting the Filet.

I see a few new items that are definitely of interest to me. But quite a few that I wish would have been changed like the Lamington in Australia. I'll be passing on the Cheese Trio this year. The only one that appeals to me of those is the Cheddar. I'd probably eat the Brie but definitely not the Blue Cheese. I prefer my mold to only be in antibiotics. I won't be doing the Dessert Trio either. I'll probably get the Chocolate one although I'm not expecting to like it and the Lemon & Blueberry one. Not Yogurt or Raspberries for me. Can't wait to try the Clam Chowder & the Spinach & Cheese pastry in South Africa sounds interesting.

I am also happy to the Salmon replaced with the Filet. I liked the Chicken Sausage last time I had it. The only thing on the Desserts kiosk that interests me is the Chocoloate one. I don't consider yogurt a dessert. The Spinach and Paneer sounds really good, that's one of my favorite Indian dishes.

 

[LisaS]

the Corn Empanadas actually replaced the Beef Empanadas for one year at the Argentina booth. They have had the beef ones all the other years that they've had the booth. I can sympathize with them changing something you enjoyed for a different version since I love the Beef ones but thought the corn ones were a poor substitution. Apparently I wasn't in the minority since they went back to the beef ones.

Thanks for that information. If people really enjoyed the beef ones and felt that they were replaced with a less appealing version I can understand why they were upset and disappointed. It's too bad they can't offer both.

I do think they need to possibly up the offerings at each booth so there is something that might appeal to everyone. They really need to offer some type of dessert item at each booth. You are right in that the vegetarian offerings are slim beyond the dessert choices and they should be offering more. I don't normally eat Asian food but I have been tempted by a few of the offerings. There are a couple I may try this year. I'm also looking forward to trying the Spinach & Cheese Pocket in South Africa. I'm really curious about the Mushroom offering in Poland although I don't care for caramelized onions, I'll probably ask them to leave those off. And I'm definitely trying the Griddled Cheese thing in Greece since they ran out before I got to try it last year.

Do try the Griddled Cheese, it was an interesting combination of textures and flavors. Very tasty! I'm glad it is back again this year. And as you point out, in South Africa's booth they replaced a veggie offering with a different veggie offering so we will definately give that a try.