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

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Just been told NO PREMIUM PACKAGE this year!

And others were told it's coming.

All bets still in play for a couple of weeks IMHO

 

[Missyrose]

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.

I know it's seriously disappointing, but I would wait a little bit of time before making that switch. The disappointment may subside a bit in the coming days.

 

[Jen7079]

And others were told it's coming.

All bets still in play for a couple of weeks IMHO

It was announced late last year too. there was definitely a pick up in people who did it the 2nd year. I can't imagine that they wouldn't do it again. I am really hoping that they do it again. It really makes the event for us. We love meeting and talking with everyone at the different seating areas.

 

[Richard M Nixon]

I forgot to call in today until 9:30, had a 5 min wait and booked VIP seats for the burger party on 11/11. Woop.

I also asked about the PP and was told maybe. I'm still holding out hope. What could the cost possibly be to Disney? 10-15 minimum wage CMs, the space is free, and whatever the marginal cost of the goodie bags and desert party is. They're bound to make money off of selling just a few dozen PPs each week, so I can't see why they would axe it entirely.

 

[mac3mpc]

I know it's seriously disappointing, but I would wait a little bit of time before making that switch. The disappointment may subside a bit in the coming days.

That's what my TA said too, but after getting shut out Monday morning and again today I don't know.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I forgot to call in today until 9:30, had a 5 min wait and booked VIP seats for the burger party on 11/11. Woop.

I also asked about the PP and was told maybe. I'm still holding out hope. What could the cost possibly be to Disney? 10-15 minimum wage CMs, the space is free, and whatever the marginal cost of the goodie bags and desert party is. They're bound to make money off of selling just a few dozen PPs each week, so I can't see why they would axe it entirely.

I think you are underestimating the CMs required. It's about 3 per location so that's a minimum of 18 with the six locations. Plus probably a few floaters since they get lunch breaks etc... Then there has to be someone who deals with them, does the set up and break down etc.... I figure the staffing is running at a minimum $2500 a day. Let's say the cost is $10,000 a week. To break even they need to sell 50 packages a week. Based on the statements that there is always open seating in these places I think that they probably are not selling lots more then the 50.

I actually think the problem may be that it was not profitable. The "food sales" can't be considered an "addition" as that revenue is probably coming either way so the entire funding has to come out of the package price. And remember in Disney's world right now breaking even or a small profit does not seem to interest them, they are looking for BIG cash cows LOL! If they want this thing to make say $50,000 a week they would need to sell about 300 packages a week (or increase the price to a lot more than they currently charge)

As I indicated my friend who used to work in special events told me this nearly didn't come back for year two because it lost money. I think they took out a lot of the extras to reduce cost and hoped that since it was "established" from year one it would sell better. I think it would sell better if they ever got organized and announced it with all the other events, but what do I know LOL!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

(Or maybe people are moving off boards like this and on to other social media?)

This would be my guess. There is SO MUCH more out there each year than there used to be. Lots of places to get info and share experiences. I won't stop coming to check DIS for things like this anytime soon, but I am ALSO checking elsewhere -- FB, Twitter especially.

 

[willidc]

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.

I would not make that change so quickly. Look at the overall experience of staying at the Poly---which really cannot be matched anywhere else in the world. I say that because DH and I took a trip to Polynesia a couple of months ago and were amazed at how authentic the WDW Poly experience truly is---except there is more water in Polynesia, but it is a bit cleaner at WDW with better transportation and attractions. But, I digress!

Two years ago when Parisian Breakfast was brand new, it sold out completely with lightning speed. So many people were disappointed and the restaurant was so pleased with the response that they reconfigured the venue to more than double the size of seatings. They put the word out and about two weeks after initial booking period began, there were additional bookings to be had. I know that Trader Sam's had limited real estate, but putting an additional time/date is not out of the question. In 16 years of F&W we have also seen this done. For instance---Italian F&W Pairings are now three times a week instead of just once. I could go on...

And check with reservations right up until the very last day!

Good luck! Enjoy the Poly and the rest of F&W.

 

[pepperandchips]

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?)

Just stopped by to see if the premium package was available this year and if so, at what price. Looks like there was no need to get up early this morning and call - not sure we'll even do it this year even if it's available. Like others, we loved it year one and thought it was okay last year.

The festival has definitely lost a bit of its appeal for me - I hate how Disney releases just enough information to whip everyone into a frenzy and fails to disclose key information before booking day. Then booking day comes and some things sell out in minutes (come on, they had to know that the Trader Sam's event would be popular) while others remain open for months. I think I may save my premium package budget this year to try the Swan/Dolphin food & wine classic.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

The festival has definitely lost a bit of its appeal for me - I hate how Disney releases just enough information to whip everyone into a frenzy and fails to disclose key information before booking day. Then booking day comes and some things sell out in minutes (come on, they had to know that the Trader Sam's event would be popular) while others remain open for months. I think I may save my premium package budget this year to try the Swan/Dolphin food & wine classic.

ITA about those frustrations, but these things have always been true! I don't think that all of a sudden large numbers would be turned off by this in the same year. I think people are just going elsewhere to discuss this stuff more and more over the years (FB, Twitter, elsewhere).

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Premium Package. That's the only thing I'm interested in again this year.

Without it, I won't be spending so much of my trip at the Festival. I really enjoy the seating and the service you get with it.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

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?)

Perhaps because my expectations were so low based on prior years or maybe I got really lucky this year or maybe the events I wanted weren't super popular but I thought it all went pretty smoothly this year. I do wish they'd release info on the premium package.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

ITA about those frustrations, but these things have always been true! I don't think that all of a sudden large numbers would be turned off by this in the same year. I think people are just going elsewhere to discuss this stuff more and more over the years (FB, Twitter, elsewhere).

Rumors are attendance is down.. I was curious if this is true for Food/Wine too? Guess we will see.

 

[Jen7079]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the Premium Package. That's the only thing I'm interested in again this year.

Without it, I won't be spending so much of my trip at the Festival. I really enjoy the seating and the service you get with it.

I agree. Without the package my husband will not want to walk around Epcot more than 1-2 times. with the package we would come all 4 days.

 

[crazy4wdw]

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?)

Rumors are attendance is down.. I was curious if this is true for Food/Wine too? Guess we will see.

It does seem that everything went much better this year than the last couple of years. I was also wondering about the low number of posts as usually there are pages and pages of comments on the day reservations open up. There are still numerous resort discounts in late October available. I've seen discounts pop up for Riverside and French Quarter which were not included when the discounts were originally released. I've also seen discounts for the Yacht Club which indicates to me that the attendance may be down for October (which would make me happy!).

 

[patster734]

Still waiting for mine to show up - I made my reservations about 20 minutes ago. I've tried refreshing MDE multiple times and logged out and back in - still not there. Glad that I wrote down the reservation numbers just in case!

If you have your reservation number, try manually adding it. I had to manually add my Mexican Tequila Lunch to my MDE.

Rumors are attendance is down.. I was curious if this is true for Food/Wine too? Guess we will see.

That should be interesting to see. Lower attendance could be caused by the tiered ticket pricing which could cause higher attendance for F&W because it isn't considered peak season.

 

[HolRae]

With the premium package are gratuities included or do you tip each time you are brought food? Also can you use snack credits? How does that work?

 

[iona]

I'm another whose call didn't go so well.

Japanese Craft Beer Tasting - fully booked (although we were able to book the session a week earlier which we've done, and are in the process of changing our plans to accommodate, so all was not completely lost).

Signature dining at Artist Point - fully booked

Brunch with a twist at Grand Floridian - fully booked

We were only looking to do AP or GF so I guess we're only one down overall.

 

[Tink10]

With the premium package are gratuities included or do you tip each time you are brought food? Also can you use snack credits? How does that work?

We don't use dining plans, so I can't answer that one, but the Cast Members in the premium areas would not accept any gratuities last year. We used the premium entitlements, cash & room charge to pay.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

It does seem that everything went much better this year than the last couple of years. I was also wondering about the low number of posts as usually there are pages and pages of comments on the day reservations open up. There are still numerous resort discounts in late October available. I've seen discounts pop up for Riverside and French Quarter which were not included when the discounts were originally released. I've also seen discounts for the Yacht Club which indicates to me that the attendance may be down for October (which would make me happy!).

I was surprised to see a cheese event I was thinking about still available about 30 minutes ago for online booking. I nearly booked it until I realized that with tax it was $95. I love cheese, but.... $95? Just a little more then I felt this was worth (I did one several years ago)