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

[toomuchtv]

Can anyone tell me about the book signings? Are those not announced until the new weekly "program" is released? Also, I think I read last year about being able to get wristbands. Do they still do that? Thanks for the help!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Considering how often the Tragic Bands fail I would not use them as my only source to pay.

 

[wzd081]

All of the seminars I've been to the chef goes over afterwards and signs autographs and takes pictures. However, I haven't been to one with a widely recognized chef. In those cases do those individuals go over and do the same thing? I thought I read about having to get a wristband earlier in the day to be allowed in the line, but I'm not sure if that's the case or not. Perhaps they don't do any signatures or pictures? Can anyone help me out? I just want to make sure I do what I need to do to get in the line if there is even a line to be gotten into.

 

[serene56]

Hi everyone! We just got back on Thursday from a 2 week trip enjoying F&W! We will be back in a couple of weeks for another 2 week trip. Is there anything anyone wants to know? We have had a lot of fun and consider this to be one of the best F&W festivals yet!

I am curious when you go with people do you share or do you buy your own and hog it all?

Never been and we are going on Friday with 3 of us - 2 adults and 1 adventurous 8 year old. My plan of action is sharing.
then i look at picutres and wonder how one shares some of those dishes.

 

[Zooshoveller]

I'm thinking about doing a more detailed trip report later, but here are my favorites -

Favorite drink - Mango Star from the Refreshment Cool Post. A tasty, fruity, rum slushy.

Favorite food - Mongolian Beef in steamed bun from China. A very, very nice surprise.

Honorable Mentions - Watermelon Juice from Terra, simple and refreshing. Kielbasa and potato pierogi from Poland, small but hearty. Cheese plates from Hops & Barley and Ireland, nice variety. Apfel Eis Apple Ice Wine from Block & Hans, strong little shot.

 

[BwoZoo22]

I am curious when you go with people do you share or do you buy your own and hog it all?

Never been and we are going on Friday with 3 of us - 2 adults and 1 adventurous 8 year old. My plan of action is sharing.
then i look at picutres and wonder how one shares some of those dishes.

We always share our food and drinks (2 adults) so we can taste more things. Some things cut easily, others we just each have our own fork and nosh away at the food. And we don't mind drinking from the same cup.

 

[lilluv117]

Does anyone know if it is possible to get some of the wines sold at the F&W festival during the rest of the year? I am kicking myself for not buying a bottle of the apple ice wine & the key Limen wine. (Do they even sell bottles at the festival? I thought I read they did.) I'm going back to Disney in December and I'm wondering if I can find any of the wines then. If not, I'll just have to wait till next year and make sure I make it to the Food & Wine festival.

 

[Tozzie]

Does anyone know if it is possible to get some of the wines sold at the F&W festival during the rest of the year? I am kicking myself for not buying a bottle of the apple ice wine & the key Limen wine. (Do they even sell bottles at the festival? I thought I read they did.) I'm going back to Disney in December and I'm wondering if I can find any of the wines then. If not, I'll just have to wait till next year and make sure I make it to the Food & Wine festival.

The key limen wine you can order directly from the winery. As for the other wine google it and see where it is sold odds are you will be able to get it shipped to you. In August I found a wine at one of the stands in World Showcase, I really liked the wine and I just found it on line and I odered it and it is being shipped to me.

I have done that with wine I have really enjoyed either in Disney o on the Cruise line.

I even get wine shipped to me from Italy, it is wine that due to the small production, isn't imported to the USA

 

[Kimosabe]

Does anyone know if it is possible to get some of the wines sold at the F&W festival during the rest of the year? I am kicking myself for not buying a bottle of the apple ice wine & the key Limen wine. (Do they even sell bottles at the festival? I thought I read they did.) I'm going back to Disney in December and I'm wondering if I can find any of the wines then. If not, I'll just have to wait till next year and make sure I make it to the Food & Wine festival.

I would definitely just write down the name or snap a photo of the label and order it online, from a local wine store, etc. Not surprisingly, anything you find available on Disney property is going to have a healthy mark-up on it. For example, we enjoy the Banfi Rose Regale on occasion. Saw it in a store in Epcot last weekend for $25-plus and we can get it at Total Wine for $19.95. But wait, there's more...we then saw it available at the Top of the World Lounge for....$52....ouch!

 

[Kimosabe]

I am curious when you go with people do you share or do you buy your own and hog it all?

Never been and we are going on Friday with 3 of us - 2 adults and 1 adventurous 8 year old. My plan of action is sharing.
then i look at picutres and wonder how one shares some of those dishes.

We went for the first time ever this past weekend and left the kids at home (although, having now done it, I think they would love it, too). Our approach was to share everything...at least those things in which we both had an interest. My wife is not particularly adventurous when it comes to carnivorous behavior, so that means that I got to eat anything slightly off the beaten path -- translate: lamb, venison sausage, escargot, duck, scallop or smoked salmon. I was OK with that (ha!), but I would try to be polite and not eat as much of the other things that we were technically sharing, while still getting at least one nice bite and usually a little more. There is so much to try that we had no trouble at all sharing everything, taking a couple of bites each (or more for certain things -- e.g., the gratin in Germany was a particularly healthy portion) and then moving on to the next booth. The only thing of which we got two orders all weekend was the cheese bread in Brazil....so simple, yet so good. There was enough variety of options that we never really felt the need to double-back and get something again.

With that said, if there are three of you, you may have to double-up on a few things if something really appeals to you. However, there was nothing that we got that did not afford us at least three nice bites, so if you're really wanting just to taste your way around the World Showcase and try a little of it all, three people can work together quite well.

 

[Kimosabe]

Yes. There are both sit down and hightop tables. This year there were a lot more sit down then high tops


One hint. After you move from holding into the food area they put tables up where you are held before the event. When I walked around I found that seemed more spacious.


The reason I go reserved is the mentality of "we don't share " posted earlier. Last year there was a poster on this thread just as upset because at PFTS she and her friend took two seats at a table that seated more and rude people dared to sit at the table she "reserved"

As a solo party goer I don't want to put up with this sense of entitlement

My wife and I just went this past weekend for the first time. I had tried to study up a bit on it and had read about the "stampede" when they open the door/curtain, but I had no idea how true this was. Felt like I was in the middle of a rope-drop herd heading for TSMM/Soarin'/A&E! We had no idea where everything would be, so we aimed for the first set of tables we saw and ended up sharing a table with a couple of very nice ladies/sisters who had done the party several times before. For what it's worth (to anyone going for the first time in the future), if you want to see the stage from your table, you might want to venture a bit to the left since you enter the building on the far right side...but even so, there are more than enough chances to see some of the Cirque performances and roam freely in search of food or drink. And although those first few minutes definitely gave me a sense that I needed to be in a hurry to be able to find and eat/drink everything as quickly as possible, nothing could be further from the truth. After the first ten or 20 minutes of the start of the party, things settled in and absolutely everything (as far as I could tell) was available throughout the entire party. My stomach would have thanked me had I known that going in!

I wasn't quite sure whether we would find the party worth the ticket price, even at general admission, but at the end of the night, I think I'd do it again without much arm-twisting needed. The sheer variety of food options (never mind beverages, too) was incredible. And I guess we got lucky to meet these table-sharers and end up having some great conversation for a couple of hours.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I would definitely just write down the name or snap a photo of the label and order it online, from a local wine store, etc. Not surprisingly, anything you find available on Disney property is going to have a healthy mark-up on it. For example, we enjoy the Banfi Rose Regale on occasion. Saw it in a store in Epcot last weekend for $25-plus and we can get it at Total Wine for $19.95. But wait, there's more...we then saw it available at the Top of the World Lounge for....$52....ouch!

However if you live in a state with high "sin" taxes Disney may actually be cheaper. It has happened to me

 

[tony67]

However if you live in a state with high "sin" taxes Disney may actually be cheaper. It has happened to me

Also - some states have odd rules about shipping wines - so if there is one you really like buy it or make sure you can ship it to your state before you leave Disney.

There are some really nice wines from the Niagara region that I can't ship to my state and they cant sell them here - not really sure who that benefits.

 

[MEM]

Today is my third and final day at the F&WF. Here are my favorites:

Patagonia - roasted salmon with quinoa salad and arugula chimichurri
Mexico (never disappoints!) - shrimp taco and sweet corn cheese cake
Farm Fresh - Pepper bacon hash with sweet corn, potatoes, hollandaise and pickled jalapenos. In my opinion should be on the breakfast/brunch menu of a number of Disney restaurants - would be great with scrambled eggs
Duke's Cold Nose Brown Ale, also at Farm Fresh
Hops & Barley - Florida grass-fed beef slider with pimento cheese - the cheese really made the burger. Also, the carrot cake with craisins and cream cheese icing was divine
New Belgium Brewing "Snapshot", also at Hops & Barley
France - creme brulee caramel fleur de sel - truly outstanding - I consider myself a creme brulee "expert"
Canada - seared rainbow trout - good, but not as good as last year.

Major Disappointments

New Zealand - lamb meatball was tough, dry, unwieldy
However,Kim Crawford pinot noir was excellent as usual

Australia(!) - garlic shrimp had NO discernible garlic!! lamb chop was tough as an old boot. Pavlova was good but not spectacular
Nine Stones Shiraz was very good

China - Roasted duck in a steamed bun. Bun was tender but duck was chewy and dry. Entire tray was swimming in hoisin sauce

Germany(!) - bratwurst was not nearly as good as in previous years. Doughnut filled with apricot jam was bland.

Hope some folks find this helpful. Also, if you attempt to buy wine at the Festival Center you are required to LEAVE THE PARK IMMEDIATELY with it.
I said thanks, but no thanks.

 

[DisneyFan2013]

^ I think another option is to retrieve your wine at the Package Pickup location just outside of Epcot, but you have to wait at least three hours after purchase. When I bought a bottle of beer at the Festival Center, package pickup was my only option (and I would've preferred to leave the park immediately with it).

 

[sunshinecruise]

^ I think another option is to retrieve your wine at the Package Pickup location just outside of Epcot, but you have to wait at least three hours after purchase. When I bought a bottle of beer at the Festival Center, package pickup was my only option (and I would've preferred to leave the park immediately with it).

If you are staying on Disney property, can they send it to your resort?

 

[BwoZoo22]

If you are staying on Disney property, can they send it to your resort?

Nope. Alcohol cannot be sent to the resort. They need to guarantee someone over 21 picks it up, so they do this by leaving it at one of the entrance gates. All your other purchases can be sent to the resort.

 

[Aerinha]

Ok, haven't been to this, my first visit to the Fest yet and I already booked for next year. Where is the 2015 thread? Lol.

 

[deedisneydream97]

I have not seen much posted about the Saturday night parties and how the food was. I did somehow manage to find this while drilling down on the official WDW food and wine fest page. Forgive me if someone else has already posted this. It is a document that lists the featured chefs, wineries and breweries, along with dessert and cheese stuff, for the different dates. The dishes that will be prepared are not listed, but gives you a little idea of what to expect.

https://wdpromedia.disney.go.com/me...d-wine-festival/Party-for-the-Senses-2014.pdf

 

[lilluv117]

I would definitely just write down the name or snap a photo of the label and order it online, from a local wine store, etc. Not surprisingly, anything you find available on Disney property is going to have a healthy mark-up on it. For example, we enjoy the Banfi Rose Regale on occasion. Saw it in a store in Epcot last weekend for $25-plus and we can get it at Total Wine for $19.95. But wait, there's more...we then saw it available at the Top of the World Lounge for....$52....ouch!

I've checked online but after taxes and shipping fees 1 bottle comes to about $50! Eeek! I was wondering if I could get some while in Florida to save on the shipping costs. I'm going to look into Total Wine that you mentioned.