2014 Epcot Food and Wine Festival 9/19-11/10

[ssphillips]

I must have been lucky last year, I got everything I wanted. Can't remember how long I was on hold.

Can you book the Parisian breakfast early with the Disney Visa? If not, how quickly do you think this will sell out?

 

[TDC Nala]

Got an email as a Disney Visa cardholder. Looks like on the 29th we can only book:

Culinary Demonstrations
Mixology Seminars
Wine Schools
Cheese Seminars
“3D” Disney Dessert Discovery

Is that what everyone else understands?

Laura

Just as a note. This is exactly what happened last year (the same limited list was released) and then it turned out to be that they had spots available at ALL events (except a couple of the signature events that were in private rooms and had very small capacities). So based on that, if you have a Disney Visa and you want ANY event, not just the ones listed, and it won't put you out to call the reservation line at 7 AM Eastern on Tuesday, then do it. It can't hurt and if things go the way they did last year you will be able to reserve almost anything.

They only had limited availability though, and if you were on hold 45 minutes to an hour or more it was likely that you were not able to get anything. If you can't get it Tuesday, call back for it on Thursday.

Remember you will need to be lucky enough to get a CM on the line who not only knows what you are talking about but is able to book special events or get someone to help them book special events.

 

[nonnahsb]

I am sure this is already posted somewhere, but could someone post the number that we should call on 7/29 for Disney Visa advance booking? Thanks!

 

[TDC Nala]

407-WDW-FEST. you could also call 407-WDW-DINE. They go to exactly the same queue.

 

[Tamar]

I just booked culinary demos for the length of our trip (Oct 9-20). Got everything we wanted (13 demos) with the exception of the Andrew Zimmern demo on Oct 11, which the CM said was sold out, but he did not know if that meant there would be tickets on the day they're generally available.

No wait today! I figured this would be the case, so when I didn't get right in yesterday I decided to wait until today, knowing Zimmern would probably be sold out. We'll try to get his lunch event instead.

 

[WaltDaddy]

There are some good lookin beer flights this year! We go every September and we'll back for ten days - gonna enjoy all the different countries tents!

 

[karrit2000]

Two questions if anyone can chime in. Having looked at the menu's I now realize that 2 visits to the marketplace may not be enough for dh and I to try everything we wish to try. Currently we're planning on 2 Monday evenings namely the 29th of Sept and Oct 6th. I can also add Sat the 27th for lunch around 11:00 am(while we're still at the Dolphin) if opinions are that the booths wont be totally mobbed by that time. If they are then we'll make do and just cut some items. Comments?

Also I found a booth map from 2 yrs ago. Save and except the couple of booths that have chgd are the locations basically the same ? Does anyone know when maps for this yr will be available ?

This is our first F&W so we're trying to gauge our steps

I've never attended F & W in September but usually Saturdays are the busiest days. If you go at 11AM as soon as World Showcase opens it shouldn't be too bad. Since you will be coming from the Dolphin hotel you will be entering through the International Gateway so the best thing to do would be to head over the Bridge towards France & hit the booths in that direction heading toward Morocco, Japan & America rather than heading toward UK & Canada. This way you will be ahead of the people starting from the Future World side and the booths shouldn't be too busy yet.

As for the Map, the booth locations generally remain the same from year to year although they do occasionally move some of them around, particularly those that are countries that don't have a World Showcase Pavilion.

 

[TDC Nala]

Another thing to remember when booking events is that for food & wine events, paid admission is required for everyone, including children and infants. I recall some parents on the thread last year who got surprised when asked to purchase a ticket for the Parisian Breakfast for their baby.

 

[superchime]

Will I be required to give the names of the people attending when I book an event? My older son would like to do one of the Sweet Sunday brunch events but there's no way his little brother would sit for two hours, so one of us will hang out and roam Epcot with him. Haven't yet decided whether my husband or I will attend the event with our older son and I didn't know if we needed to choose now or not.

Thanks!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I counted, there are 39 items I want to try from the booths this year. I'm thinking that's doable if the two others I'm with don't mind sharing everything. I know BFF will.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Will I be required to give the names of the people attending when I book an event? My older son would like to do one of the Sweet Sunday brunch events but there's no way his little brother would sit for two hours, so one of us will hang out and roam Epcot with him. Haven't yet decided whether my husband or I will attend the event with our older son and I didn't know if we needed to choose now or not.

Thanks!

If you book the event under your older son's name - there won't be a problem as it goes by the reservations holder's name and the number of guests.

 

[superchime]

If you book the event under your older son's name - there won't be a problem as it goes by the reservations holder's name and the number of guests.

Great! Will that work if he's a minor? Does that matter? Thanks!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Great! Will that work if he's a minor? Does that matter? Thanks!

For the booking the only problem I see is the credit card will be in a different name then the guest, but if you can get past that I think it will be fine.

But if you have to book it in an adult name just do it. Then both of you show up and check in. Explain that person A will not be going but will be replaced by person B AKA your older son. That will work, it just means both of you may have to go to check if the name on the reservation isn't the name going.

 

[Ellie Badge]

Im not convinced there wont be some changes. I say this for this reason. We arrive on Sept 25th. I had planned to book the 3-D for the 26th but if it wasn't going to be held that night I would grab the regular Dessert pty for that night. When all the dessert parties came into the system the 19th and 26th of Sept were both noticeably absent from the dates. They had just come in and I even called to verify they were not sold out , just not there. So good guess that the 3-D would be on those nights but nope, not starting till the next wk acc'd to all reports. Except if you look on the Disney site for both the 3-d and PFTS they both say more info to come. So I called today, the CM agreed it was odd and went to check with someone and came back and told me that there "might" be some add'l dates or events and that they were still " working on things".
What surprises me is for such a large event one would have thought all these details would have been worked out months ago.
So for now we've booked a boat for a private showing of Illuminations. We might change if the party comes up but I wasn't waiting any longer.

Good tips Luckybee! I'm keeping my eyes peeled for possibly more events added ... thanks so much, I wouldn't have thought to check otherwise

 

[sugarbobbin]

Got an email as a Disney Visa cardholder. Looks like on the 29th we can only book:

Culinary Demonstrations
Mixology Seminars
Wine Schools
Cheese Seminars
“3D” Disney Dessert Discovery

Is that what everyone else understands?

Laura

As a Disney Visa holder, will I be able to book the Mexican Tequila Lunch on Tuesday? I have no idea what category that falls into.

 

[karrit2000]

As a Disney Visa holder, will I be able to book the Mexican Tequila Lunch on Tuesday? I have no idea what category that falls into.

In theory you should be able to book the Mexican Tequila Lunch but it depends on if the CM you get knows what they are doing & can grab one of the limited spots made available for booking on Tuesday.

The wording on the Visa Early Booking e-mail is the same as last year. People trying to book that day got mixed results. I think I tried calling several times that first day. The first person I got couldn't find any of the events I was requesting and she told me they were only booking the deminars. I questioned them about the other events that were listed in the e-mail and they said no those couldn't be booked until the date that everyone could book. Then she finally said they could also book the Dessert party & PFTS and one other thing. After reading here that others were able to book most of the other events I tried calling again. I think I might have gotten to book one thing during the Visa Booking but most events were showing sold out. The CM I was dealing with on the second call could see the number of reservations made & knew there should be more availability and he advised me to be on the phone first thing on regular booking day. On the regular booking day I think I was again only able to book one event since they hadn't loaded everything into the system & the CM's couldn't find many of the events. I was able to add a few more events a few days later after they had sorted out the computer mess.

 

[sugarbobbin]

In theory you should be able to book the Mexican Tequila Lunch but it depends on if the CM you get knows what they are doing & can grab one of the limited spots made available for booking on Tuesday.

The wording on the Visa Early Booking e-mail is the same as last year. People trying to book that day got mixed results. I think I tried calling several times that first day. The first person I got couldn't find any of the events I was requesting and she told me they were only booking the deminars. I questioned them about the other events that were listed in the e-mail and they said no those couldn't be booked until the date that everyone could book. Then she finally said they could also book the Dessert party & PFTS and one other thing. After reading here that others were able to book most of the other events I tried calling again. I think I might have gotten to book one thing during the Visa Booking but most events were showing sold out. The CM I was dealing with on the second call could see the number of reservations made & knew there should be more availability and he advised me to be on the phone first thing on regular booking day. On the regular booking day I think I was again only able to book one event since they hadn't loaded everything into the system & the CM's couldn't find many of the events. I was able to add a few more events a few days later after they had sorted out the computer mess.

Good to know. Thanks!

I suppose my plan attack will to call on Wednesday and then again on Thursday. If we don't get a spot, no big deal, more money to spend on food booths.

 

[sunshinecruise]

Is anyone trying the Dining through the Decades: a Tribute to Walt Disney? It sounds interesting but I don't know what to expect. My dh asked "What if Walt's favorite food was hot dogs?"
I think it could be interesting, but I think it will sell out fast since it is only one night.

 

[YodasMom]

Is anyone trying the Dining through the Decades: a Tribute to Walt Disney? It sounds interesting but I don't know what to expect. My dh asked "What if Walt's favorite food was hot dogs?"
I think it could be interesting, but I think it will sell out fast since it is only one night.

I'm going to try to sign up for it. Walt's favorite foods were more in the "comfort food" category. It will be interesting to see how they do this.

 

[gorjus121]

Are there any special events for children or suitable for children?