2016 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival: September 14 - November 14, 2016

[sueg]

Called at FEST # at 7 AM. 34 minute announced wait was 31 minutes. Got Italian Food & Wine luncheon.
CM apologized because she "only had 12 noon". Fine, I said.
This is our third year for this luncheon and I have grown tired of the Disney-created drama around booking these events. I spent two hours on hold on Tuesday. If we hadn't promised our new DDIL this luncheon, I probably wouldn't have called back today.
Happy I got it. Really not happy with this whole experience!

 

[Vegananthropologist]

I booked this same one! Looks like I'll be seeing you soon!

Nice! See you there

 

[VrBchJ]

I got the same reply on Tues about the Premium Package...it was only for the 20th Anniversary. Told her I'd done it the previous year when it was 19 years. She said she thought I was mistaken! I have the feeling it's not going to happen this year.

 

[Pixie Dust ✨]

My french family meals for 11/13 is sold out. After I waited on the phone for an hour and had already been connected one time and the disconnected. Devastated.

Sending a . Booking can be so frustrating.

 

[lovingeire]

Got word this morning from my friend that she booked our group for the Parisian breakfast after the Wine & Dine 10K on the 5th! So excited!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Wasn't the wine in last year's premium package the special 20th anniversary bottle? That could be the source of the confusion


What I am wondering is if the festival Is losing some appeal. Seems like the thread is pretty calm today. I thought there would be a lot more posts based on prior year. (Or maybe people are moving off boards like this and on to other social media?)

 

[AllyBri]

Grotto all gone. Darn.

 

[YodasMom]

I called right at 7 AM and there was a 13 minute wait. Got Brown Derby signature dinner on Oct 20. I was able to get 4 other reservations on Tuesday early AM, so I only made the one today. Had just arrived at the airport to fly out when I made this mornings call so I gave up after making the one reservation .... Couldn't hear. Would like to do Italian regional lunch but it's to hard to call in at the airport. I'm sure it's probably going to be sold out by the time I get to my destination today. Another year, I guess.....

 

[CaptJack'sFamily]

Realized after I hung up after getting my reservations this morning that I had forgotten one. So I have now been through the process again! The CM that helped me this time was Flo - she was so great! She was able to get me a reservation for the Parisian Breakfast on 10/22. She also took a minute to check on when they may start taking reservations for the Flying Fish after the renovation is completed. Nothing yet on when it will be open for regular dining - glad that I will be there on 10/27 for their wine dinner. Flo said that there were about 300 calls in the queue - I told her I really appreciated her good attitude on a day when I am sure they are under a lot of stress and pressure.

 

[mac3mpc]

I was shut out of Trader Sam's. Talking to my TA now about switching resorts. I don't want to be at the Poly watching everyone else going into the one event I wanted.

 

[TeresaNJ]

TOUR line and after 40 minutes got PFTS reserved seating on Oct 29 and Parisian breakfast on Nov 5. Now to dust off the old yellow and black suit

See you at breakfast!

 

[wvaspartan]

Nice! See you there

See you both there... Same one for me as well

 

[TeresaNJ]

My french family meals for 11/13 is sold out. After I waited on the phone for an hour and had already been connected one time and the disconnected. Devastated.

I'm so sorry. Maybe possibly try for the Parisian breakfast? We've done it two years it a row, and loved it.

 

[FeralCatRogue]

Does anyone know anything about the Duff Goldman event? I called on Tuesday and was told it's on of the What's Cooking With demonstrations on 10/28. However, they told me it was sold out for the advance sale and more spaces would be available today. If you look online, Duff isn't even listed and 10/28 is grayed out - looks as though there is no event at all. I just got off the phone and the CM said she had no availability. Is it sold out or just not on sale yet?

I was looking into this one as well, I was told he was cancelled and now it was TBD. I hope I got the right info cause I would have kept on them to book it for a chance to see him.

On a better note, Tour number seems best to call was able to get Hibachi Experience this morning on it!

 

[Lori in CNY]

Yes the biggest perk is the seating areas and being waited on. There were no waits - sometimes the seats were full but there was always at least a table. Food came in about 5 minutes after ordering. It's only offered M-Th (all 4 days) so you can't get it on a weekend anyway. Yes I would do it in your scenario. The umbrellas saved us from an unpredicted rain shower one day! Also, even if the temps are mild the sun can still get intense so the shade was welcome too.

Here's our video with our review of the Premium Package as well as us eating in the Premium seating areas. Also the playlist below is our entire Oct 2015 trip where you can see us getting waited on M-Th and what that was like.

Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX-M6xaJhefx5FikUJO1z6FSTKQosHKH5

Review:

It certainly looks like you guys enjoyed yourselves. My DH and I did the Premium Package the 1st year it came out. If I were to describe how it has changed I would say think about your boxes of cereal. You still pay the same for your box of Corn Flakes but the size of the box has decreased significantly! Yes, the price for this package is the same....but the amount of perks/value has changed considerably. I had to twist hubby's arm to have him agree to purchasing it in the first place. At a cost of $400 for the two of us, we could have gotten a Party for the Senses admission which is wonderful but we had done that before and I wanted to try something new. My statement to him was being the initial year of the offering, if it caught on, the price would only go up.

I stand corrected in the aspect of price but allow me share with you the items included in that first year. We both received bottles of wine, wine glasses, wine bottle openers, an insulated bag that could be used for wine or even your lunch that had the wine held in it with the F&W logo, a hand-crafted box of truffles where the box itself was made from chocolate, themed magic band, lanyard with 8 entitlements for booth purchases, admission to a private after park closing party complete with music, dancing, booths for food and drinks, a kickoff cocktail in a flashing glass, and $50 Disney gift cards. Yes we also got the private eating areas but the 1st year there were some issues with there not being enough shade so within a week the umbrellas were added. (all was delivered to our hotel and waiting refrigerated at check in)

I too hope the package comes back but will be interested to see what is included. Keeping the park open after Illuminations just for us had to be a HUGE cost to Disney and I noticed last year that was gone and they invited you to one of their Illuminations Dessert Parties. Still a great perk, but certainly not the same cost to Disney so not as big of a value.

Thought you might be interested to know how it has "morphed" over the couple of years it existed. For those that have attended MNSSHP in the past compared to now you will understand what I mean probably best.

 

[ellie05]

OK so i was finally able to connect my reservation to MDE account. I had to call and had a few minutes of panic when the CM couldn't find my reservation! I was transfer back to dinning and the CM also couldn't find the reservation . Finally she had to go to the event and go through the list and she found it. The CM in the morning put the wrong phone number and as expected misspelled my name. Also the reservation number i had was missing a number. Finally everything got straighten out and linked to MDE .

I have to say I was very nervous after Tuesday and because of Trader Sam's size I figure that seats were going to be very limited. I had the official clock counting down in the computer and when it change to 7 am I pressed the call button. I went right through, but the CM was not very good. It took him a good while to even find the event and then apparently took down the wrong information. To me it felt like eternity, but I was off the phone by 7:11. This has been the most stressful F&W event booking ever, in past years we have been able to book everything we wanted, but the events were bigger(like PFTS) so the more seats really help your chances.

I feel bad for all the people that didn't get what they wanted . Keep trying you never know when something might open.

 

[maggieb9975]

I got the same reply on Tues about the Premium Package...it was only for the 20th Anniversary. Told her I'd done it the previous year when it was 19 years. She said she thought I was mistaken! I have the feeling it's not going to happen this year.[/QUOTED]

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

It certainly looks like you guys enjoyed yourselves. My DH and I did the Premium Package the 1st year it came out. If I were to describe how it has changed I would say think about your boxes of cereal. You still pay the same for your box of Corn Flakes but the size of the box has decreased significantly! Yes, the price for this package is the same....but the amount of perks/value has changed considerably. I had to twist hubby's arm to have him agree to purchasing it in the first place. At a cost of $400 for the two of us, we could have gotten a Party for the Senses admission which is wonderful but we had done that before and I wanted to try something new. My statement to him was being the initial year of the offering, if it caught on, the price would only go up.

I stand corrected in the aspect of price but allow me share with you the items included in that first year. We both received bottles of wine, wine glasses, wine bottle openers, an insulated bag that could be used for wine or even your lunch that had the wine held in it with the F&W logo, a hand-crafted box of truffles where the box itself was made from chocolate, themed magic band, lanyard with 8 entitlements for booth purchases, admission to a private after park closing party complete with music, dancing, booths for food and drinks, a kickoff cocktail in a flashing glass, and $50 Disney gift cards. Yes we also got the private eating areas but the 1st year there were some issues with there not being enough shade so within a week the umbrellas were added. (all was delivered to our hotel and waiting refrigerated at check in)

I too hope the package comes back but will be interested to see what is included. Keeping the park open after Illuminations just for us had to be a HUGE cost to Disney and I noticed last year that was gone and they invited you to one of their Illuminations Dessert Parties. Still a great perk, but certainly not the same cost to Disney so not as big of a value.

Thought you might be interested to know how it has "morphed" over the couple of years it existed. For those that have attended MNSSHP in the past compared to now you will understand what I mean probably best.

I kind of think that if it comes back this year it will one of a couple of ways

1. Just the seating, nothing else with the same basic price point
2. Large price increase with some bizarre "extra" that people don't really care about

 

[Lori in CNY]

I kind of think that if it comes back this year it will one of a couple of ways

1. Just the seating, nothing else with the same basic price point
2. Large price increase with some bizarre "extra" that people don't really care about

I have to agree with you .... and the more we ask (cause for demand) the higher the price gets!

 

[maggieb9975]

Just been told NO PREMIUM PACKAGE this year!