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

[TDC Nala]

does anyone know when the schedule for the culinary and beverage demos will be available? I thought it came out this day last year but am not certain.
Drew

They came out last Wednesday. Links to the schedules are in the first post of this thread.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

does anyone know when the schedule for the culinary and beverage demos will be available? I thought it came out this day last year but am not certain.
Drew

The schedule has been released. Check out the links in the first post of this thread!

 

[Mac4life30]

Can Party of the Senses be booked online on the 31? Can the Parisian Breakfast?

 

[kimmar067]

....well, this morning I did manage to purchase 4 $15 tickets or one of the Culinary demonstrations to the Festival Center.....

 

[kimmar067]

....and I got through by phone really quickly....more so than when booking a room at WDW....

 

[Inkmahm]

I was able to book the Tequila Lunch for 11/01 and what I THOUGHT was reserved seating for PFTS for 10/25. After completing my call I saw the post on this thread from Inkmahm who thought they had booked reserved seating for the Walt dinner and were only charged for GA.

I checked my CC and I had only been charged for GA for PFTS. Called back and confirmed that my ticket was for GA. CM said that all reserved seating for either of the PFTS dates that would work for me were booked. The CM was so sweet and canceled the GA ticket for me, as I can't stand for long periods due to an injury.

Thanks so much to the helpful posters on this board, especially Inkmahm, for posting about this happening with their tickets. If it hadn't been for your posts I would have had a very nasty surprise when I arrived at PFTS.

I am on the phone now trying to get my general admission tickets fixed to be reserved seating. The first CM told me there aren't any reserved seats left and the first CM probably just hit the wrong selection as they are right next to each other online. She could have thought she was doing reserved seating for me but hit general by mistake. I also can't stand for that long, I use an ECV for Epcot due to knee surgeries. I'm hoping the supervisor will be able to fix it. If they listen to the recording they can clearly hear that I asked for reserved seating, not GA.

EDIT: The first CM could only tell me to keep calling to see if there would be an opening in reserved seating. That isn't possible because the reservations can't be canceled once made so calling several times a day won't magically bring up a new opening for reserved seating. I asked for her supervisor. She gave me Disney Guest Services and the CM told me he would continue to research my question and would call me back in the next day or two. I said there must be a way to fix this since I clearly asked for reserved seating and I can't stand for 2 1/2 hours. I think he told me he would research it just to get me off the phone, to tell you the truth. I have little faith that he will call back and have this fixed for me.

 

[TDC Nala]

Can Party of the Senses be booked online on the 31? Can the Parisian Breakfast?

Party for the Senses, general admission yes, reserved seating or Wine View Lounge are phone only

Parisian Breakfast is phone only

 

[sunnygal041]

I called back. It's the correct confirmation number but the CM spelled my last name wrong. They can't change it so it appears on MDE, but I have to show my number when we go to the event. UGH

Update: I called back again and a CM was kind enough to cancel the conf.# with the wrong last name and book a new one with my correct last name. I'm gonna try calling on 7/31 to see if I can change my category to reserved.

 

[BwoZoo22]

Does anyone recall how long the culinary demos last? Wondering if we have time for a 3pm demo and 4:30 Hibachi Experience.

I don't know how people who don't use the blogs or other internet 3rd party Disney information sites actually plan a F&W vacation these days. It never used to sell out this quickly, but now, you have to know exactly what you want by 7am EST July 31 (or earlier), and the Disney website doesn't even have all the information up (no info on culinary demos, mixology, PftS, etc.)! How do they do it?!

 

[Tink1987]

What information do I need with me to call on Thursday? I won't be at my computer so want to make sure I have my info written down - do I need resort info etc? Can't see why, but I want to be prepared

 

[cdtommie]

Does anyone recall how long the culinary demos last? Wondering if we have time for a 3pm demo and 4:30 Hibachi Experience.

I don't know how people who don't use the blogs or other internet 3rd party Disney information sites actually plan a F&W vacation these days. It never used to sell out this quickly, but now, you have to know exactly what you want by 7am EST July 31 (or earlier), and the Disney website doesn't even have all the information up (no info on culinary demos, mixology, PftS, etc.)! How do they do it?!

Demos usually run about 45 minutes.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

What information do I need with me to call on Thursday? I won't be at my computer so want to make sure I have my info written down - do I need resort info etc? Can't see why, but I want to be prepared

Tell them you are staying offsite. That will save you the waste of time while they try to find your reservation , confirm it etc.

 

[TDC Nala]

What information do I need with me to call on Thursday? I won't be at my computer so want to make sure I have my info written down - do I need resort info etc? Can't see why, but I want to be prepared

There is some info on this in Post 2.

DO NOT give them resort info. If they ask for it tell them you are staying offsite, or you don't have a reservation yet. Really. If you give them your resort info then a lot of time will be wasted trying to find your resort reservation.

Have your credit card or whatever you will be using to pay for the events. Have the official name of the event, the date and the time. The time may be especially important as relatively often, the phone agent can't figure out exactly how the event is listed on the system and they have to scroll through ALL dining options looking for it. My CM couldn't find the Dining Through The Decades: A Tribute to Walt Disney. It's listed under "A Tribute to Walt Disney" so they would have to know to look under "A."

Have a pen and paper to write down your confirmation numbers. If your event doesn't automatically link to MDX you will need the confirmation number to link it yourself.

 

[Tink1987]

Tell them you are staying offsite. That will save you the waste of time while they try to find your reservation , confirm it etc.

There is some info on this in Post 2.

DO NOT give them resort info. If they ask for it tell them you are staying offsite, or you don't have a reservation yet. Really. If you give them your resort info then a lot of time will be wasted trying to find your resort reservation.

Have your credit card or whatever you will be using to pay for the events. Have the official name of the event, the date and the time. The time may be especially important as relatively often, the phone agent can't figure out exactly how the event is listed on the system and they have to scroll through ALL dining options looking for it. My CM couldn't find the Dining Through The Decades: A Tribute to Walt Disney. It's listed under "A Tribute to Walt Disney" so they would have to know to look under "A."

Have a pen and paper to write down your confirmation numbers. If your event doesn't automatically link to MDX you will need the confirmation number to link it yourself.

Great, thanks so much both!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

There is some info on this in Post 2. DO NOT give them resort info. If they ask for it tell them you are staying offsite, or you don't have a reservation yet. Really. If you give them your resort info then a lot of time will be wasted trying to find your resort reservation.

I never thought about this delay - I've always given my resort info and they've pulled it up very quickly. I called right at 9am on 7/24 to book 3 demos early and got all three. Called today right at 7am and got 3D sweet seats and Hibachi Experience. Both times looking up the resort just took a few seconds. Maybe I got lucky!

I also found it convenient that by giving my resort res# they had all my info - billing address, email, etc. seemed convenient.

 

[RSWA2]

There is some info on this in Post 2.

DO NOT give them resort info. If they ask for it tell them you are staying offsite, or you don't have a reservation yet. Really. If you give them your resort info then a lot of time will be wasted trying to find your resort reservation.

Have your credit card or whatever you will be using to pay for the events. Have the official name of the event, the date and the time. The time may be especially important as relatively often, the phone agent can't figure out exactly how the event is listed on the system and they have to scroll through ALL dining options looking for it. My CM couldn't find the Dining Through The Decades: A Tribute to Walt Disney. It's listed under "A Tribute to Walt Disney" so they would have to know to look under "A."

Have a pen and paper to write down your confirmation numbers. If your event doesn't automatically link to MDX you will need the confirmation number to link it yourself.

I told them I'm staying offsite, but the CM still asked for my phone number. The benefit I found by doing this was she had my name/email/address and everything, so she didn't have to ask for my name and stuff for the reservation. That probably helped with linking the confirmation to MDE and with making sure the name was spelled correctly.

 

[BwoZoo22]

Actually, using my resort reservation number to find my information was the quickest thing about the phone call. It took a good 20+ minutes to find and confirm that no reserved seating was available for my PftS date. Even though the CM next to her "pulled reserved seating right up."

I think giving the resort reservation, if you have one, is hit or miss. It will ensure they spell your name correctly. But DEFINITELY have the full official name of the event, the date, the time, and even the location. It's also a good idea to know the pre-tax price to help confirm you are getting the correct event. And write everything down!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Does anyone recall how long the culinary demos last? Wondering if we have time for a 3pm demo and 4:30 Hibachi Experience.

I don't know how people who don't use the blogs or other internet 3rd party Disney information sites actually plan a F&W vacation these days. It never used to sell out this quickly, but now, you have to know exactly what you want by 7am EST July 31 (or earlier), and the Disney website doesn't even have all the information up (no info on culinary demos, mixology, PftS, etc.)! How do they do it?!

You will be able to make the 4:30 Hibachi Experience. The demo will take a max of 1 hour so you just have to head straight to the back of world showcase.

 

[TDC Nala]

Actually, using my resort reservation number to find my information was the quickest thing about the phone call. It took a good 20+ minutes to find and confirm that no reserved seating was available for my PftS date. Even though the CM next to her "pulled reserved seating right up."

I think giving the resort reservation, if you have one, is hit or miss. It will ensure they spell your name correctly. But DEFINITELY have the full official name of the event, the date, the time, and even the location. It's also a good idea to know the pre-tax price to help confirm you are getting the correct event. And write everything down!

It might be fine if you have only one resort reservation during the festival. I have three. I usually have multiples. I got caught up one year in having the agent try to match up resort reservations to various events and I have told them I was offsite for booking from then on.

 

[TCARON]

Man what a train wreck!

We love Sweet Sundays, which is now called Sunday Mornings with.... but three Disney reservation people could not find the events without a lot of searching.

The 29th was the first day to book. Called at 8 am on the 29th. After 30 minutes with each reservation person they told me that October 5th was sold out. They all checked other Sundays for me and said the same thing.

I just cannot believe that they are all gone prior to opening up to the public on the 31st.

Very disappointing and frustrating.

Tom C