2017 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival: August 31, 2017 - November 13, 2017

[samsteele]

anyone know when we find out which items are considered "snacks"? i want to get the best value on free dining. so many options!!

The vast majority of food items at the kiosks will be considered snacks under the DP. No alcohol/wine/beer will be eligible as a snack credit.

Once F&W begins, most bloggers will be out in the first few days taking video/pics of the new kiosks and the menus. Keep your eyes open for eg the DIS Team's coverage. This will make it easy to know which specific snacks you want to target.

Kiosk snacks have the same purple snack square that you see on all WDW menus.

Any snack item over $6 is a decent use of your snack credit. Any snack item over $8 is a great use of that credit.

In addition to using my snack credits, I buy a F&W wristlet gift card and load it with eg. $40. When I find snack items under $5, but still want to sample, I use the gift card to purchase instead of burning a snack credit. This also gives me a mini budget so I don't go crazy with cash at the kiosks.

Another tip is, if possible, schedule another Epcot F&W day toward the end of your vacation. If you have a large number of snack credits to use up, you will at least get one last kick at the can to spend them at the kiosks before you leave.

You can buy the wristlet gift cards at the Festival Center, usually at the 2 Bridge Kiosks and also (where I get mine) in the Festival Shop on the lagoon side in World Showcase between Mexico and Canada. A pet peeve of mine is that WDW does a poor job telling guests where they can buy the cards and even that the cards are available.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Hmm if you check MDE, does it show that you have an AP? Also, what do you plan on booking? There are only certain events for which you would need to take advantage of early booking

APs do show up in MDE. I've used the exchange certs to be able to book FPs, and it's worked for stuff like early rD race registrations.

I just can't remember if I've ever had to use that to book some F&W events... we are also DVC and have Disney VISA, so I could have used that in the past. Without those confirmed I'm now wondering about the AP exchange cert!

Last year I think I booked What's Cooking With and French Family Meal Traditions early... I know not everything will be bookable early, though.

 

[sherlockmiles]

Kiosk snacks have the same purple snack square that you see on all WDW menus.

Any snack item over $6 is a decent use of your snack credit. Any snack item over $8 is a great use of that credit.

In addition to using my snack credits, I buy a F&W wristlet gift card and load it with eg. $40. When I find snack items under $5, but still want to sample, I use the gift card to purchase instead of burning a snack credit. This also gives me a mini budget so I don't go crazy with cash at the kiosks.

You can buy the wristlet gift cards at the Festival Center, usually at the 2 Bridge Kiosks and also (where I get mine) in the Festival Shop on the lagoon side in World Showcase between Mexico and Canada. A pet peeve of mine is that WDW does a poor job telling guests where they can buy the cards and even that the cards are available.

Thank you for this useful post.

 

[samsteele]

Disney reduced the number of culinary demos last year from 3 to 2 per day and now to 1 per day with the exception of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Most of the culinary demos are now hosted by chefs from one of the WDW restaurants, if they went back to years past and had chefs from places other than WDW, maybe they would have better attendance.

Not surprised by this. I've noticed in the past 2 years that many of the culinary demos (deminars) were wide open & had same day availability. Years ago, they were free/included with park admission. The price, while still reasonable in comparison with the big ticket offerings, has been creeping every few years. When I did them a few years ago, they were under $15. The majority of attendees were also locals of a certain age with annual passes who made a real season out of it and attended multiple if not most of the deminars. They also followed celebrity chefs every year. Few out of state park guests in comparison to the regulars. As the years have passed, attendance has slipped badly as regulars dropped away.

 

[BFD]

The Disney Food Blog is reporting that early booking for the special events will begin on July 18 for Tables in Wonderland members, annual passholders, and residents of Golden Oak. Still no official word on DVC members or Chase Disney Visa Cardholders.

Couple of questions: How quickly do these book up? Do I need to be on the phone at midnight on the 18th, or will I be fine to wait til in the morning at a reasonable hour?

And, are these reservations prepaid at the time the reservation is made?

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

What is the cancellation policy on the special events? I'm thinking about trying the Parisian breakfast, French Family Traditions, and the Mexican Tequila Lunch, but might decide to only do one or two once it gets closer to November..TIA!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Couple of questions: How quickly do these book up? Do I need to be on the phone at midnight on the 18th, or will I be fine to wait til in the morning at a reasonable hour?

And, are these reservations prepaid at the time the reservation is made?

Booking will not open until 7 or 8 am. Yes, things will sell out. Remember that if there is early booking on 7/18 there are limited number of seats sold so when they say "sold out" that's not completely sold out, just out of the allotment, you have to call back on 7/20.

Everything is pre-paid.

What is the cancellation policy on the special events? I'm thinking about trying the Parisian breakfast, French Family Traditions, and the Mexican Tequila Lunch, but might decide to only do one or two once it gets closer to November..TIA!

No cancellation. If you book plan to go.

 

[AllThingsMickey4]

No cancellation. If you book plan to go.

Good to know.. thank you for the quick response!

 

[BFD]

Booking will not open until 7 or 8 am. Yes, things will sell out. Remember that if there is early booking on 7/18 there are limited number of seats sold so when they say "sold out" that's not completely sold out, just out of the allotment, you have to call back on 7/20.

Everything is pre-paid.



No cancellation. If you book plan to go.

Yes, thank you. This is all good to know. I want to book a few of the demonstrations and seminars, but the first priority is Trader Sam's, and maybe a food and wine pairing.

I can't find much information on recent Italian Food & Wine Pairings, has anyone done that lately? I'm trying to decide between that, the Mediterranean F&W Pairing, or the Mexican Tequila lunch. Anyone have any insight?

 

[loves to dive]

I tend to overbook myself every year and swear I'm not going to do it. I've had good luck just walking in and getting the deminars same day, especially if I do it right when the festival center opens so I think I'll do that this year. I can't remember, does anyone know if you do it that way can you apply the AP discount or does that only work over the phone? I've done the mediterranean meal every year and I just can't resist it so maybe I can hold myself down to just that, then I'll actually have time (and stomach room) to enjoy the booths.

 

[loves to dive]

Yes, thank you. This is all good to know. I want to book a few of the demonstrations and seminars, but the first priority is Trader Sam's, and maybe a food and wine pairing.

I can't find much information on recent Italian Food & Wine Pairings, has anyone done that lately? I'm trying to decide between that, the Mediterranean F&W Pairing, or the Mexican Tequila lunch. Anyone have any insight?

You were typing the same time I was. I've done the Mediterranean one for 3 years. First time I did it at the main restaurant in Morocco, that was good but the food was pretty heavy for a hot afternoon. The last two years I've done the one at Spice Road Tables, much better for me. The food was lighter and the wine pairings excellent. I'm hoping that is where they offer it again this year.

 

[eeyoreandtink]

Anyone done the Parisian Afternoon? How was it?

 

[Mickeynutty]

Is anyone calling this morning to see if DVC members can actually book today?

 

[BFD]

You were typing the same time I was. I've done the Mediterranean one for 3 years. First time I did it at the main restaurant in Morocco, that was good but the food was pretty heavy for a hot afternoon. The last two years I've done the one at Spice Road Tables, much better for me. The food was lighter and the wine pairings excellent. I'm hoping that is where they offer it again this year.

I've never been to Spice Road Table, but every time I walk by there, it looks like such a nice, cool spot to relax for a couple of hours. The review I read of a previous F&W Pairing was done there, so that's why I put it on my short list. I think it said they served a couple of seafood dishes, and maybe some kind of lamb? I don't really eat a lot of meat besides seafood so I am hoping that is the case again this year. Do the menus ever get posted ahead of time?

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Anyone done the Parisian Afternoon? How was it?

I did it two years ago:

A Parisian Afternoon

We headed to Monsieur Paul to check in for our final Food & Wine Event for this trip. We were sat at a 6 top towards the kitchen and were shortly joined by a lady doing the event solo. She had done many other events so she was nice to talk to. We had 3 open seats at our table during the first course of the event.

Table Setting

Menu

Once we had a chance to review the menu, we were given our first glass of mimosas along with being given an option for another beverage if you wanted such as tea or soda. We said we were totally happy with keeping the mimosas coming! Both my husband and I had a fair amount of them - not exactly sure how many to be honest. One server made them more champagne than orange juice but another made it pretty much orange juice.

Mimosa #1

Mimosa #3

The first course was a cold pea soup. The soup was really fresh and not at all rich. My husband and I both really enjoyed it.

Soupe Froide de Petit Pols - Cold Pea Soup w/ Bacon Mushroom Toast

The second course was a plate of finger sandwiches along with a warm croissant and a quiche I passed on eating the quiche but the savory croissant was so buttery and flakey and flavorful! The finger sandwiches were interesting flavor combinations! I really enjoyed the Chicken Curry one the most followed by the tarragon butter & ham one. The tomato basil one fell flat to me. I couldn’t quite decide if I liked the cranberry turkey apple one but the serving wasn’t large enough for me to really make the decision. I’m glad that they gave us such large savory options between the soup and this course as what was coming was a lot of sweets!

Assortiment d’amuse bouches -
Cold:
Tarragon, Spinach Bread Sandwich w/ Mustard Tarragon Butter & Ham
Curry, Turmeric Bread Sandwich w/ Garlic Aioli & Chicken
Tomato, Basil Bread Sandwich w/ Basil Pesto, Tomato, Carrot & Cucumber
Multigrain Cranberry Bread Sandwich w/ Mayonnaise, Apple & Turkey

Warm:
Smoked Salmon Quiche w/ Spinach & Dill
Savory Thyme Croissant

When we originally signed up for this event, the only two things we knew about it were there would be unlimited mimosas (yay!) and macarons. What we got was so much more on the plate. The three macarons were so pretty along with being prepared exactly as they should be. My husband and I both enjoyed the blackberry one the most! The chocolate cream was super flavorful and not very heavy at all. Every pastry and dessert on this plate was executed correctly in a french tradition which made all of it really enjoyable. This was the star of the event and it really showcased what they had advertised.

Assortiment De Petits Fours Aux Chocolats Valrhona
Chocolate Cream w/ Equatorial Milk & Guanaja Chocolate
Macaron w/ Araguani 72% Chocolate
Macaron w/ Blackberry & Illanka 63% Chocolate
Macaron Exotic w/ Opalys White Chocolate
Vanilla & Mixed Berries Puff Choux
Valrhona Chocolate Bonbons

Champagne #10something

Throughout the event they really kept up on keeping our glasses filled and right before it was over, they switched to just champagne to finish off the open bottles. We would totally do this event again next year as we felt it was very worth it!

 

[loves to dive]

I've never been to Spice Road Table, but every time I walk by there, it looks like such a nice, cool spot to relax for a couple of hours. The review I read of a previous F&W Pairing was done there, so that's why I put it on my short list. I think it said they served a couple of seafood dishes, and maybe some kind of lamb? I don't really eat a lot of meat besides seafood so I am hoping that is the case again this year. Do the menus ever get posted ahead of time?

I don't remember the menus being posted in advance, you might check last years thread that is linked at the top of this one.

 

[RachelTori]

BFD - I've done the Mediterranean pairing at Spice Road the past 2 years: Excellent!

The Mexico Tequila Lunch twice also: Excellent!

I have mixed feelings about the Italian pairing at Tutto Gusto. We did it the first year it was offered and it was not good to the point where I contacted Disney with our concerns/feedback. I had a very nice discussion with someone from the executive offices. They apparently listened as the next year were glowing!

 

[DVC4US]

Is anyone calling this morning to see if DVC members can actually book today?

Just got off the phone with DVC - could not book today but she did confirm that DVC members can book on the 18th.

 

[DVC4US]

Question for anyone that went last year and might know. When we went in 2015 PFTS could not be booked early(AP,TIW, DVC) like some of the other events - we had to wait until the opening day for everyone. Does anyone know if you could book PFTS early last year?

 

[patster734]

So after looking over the menus, the following booths are in my "yes" column:
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cheese Studio, China, Chocolate Studio, Coastal Eats, France, Hawaii, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Scotland, Spain, and Wine & Dine.

Everything else is more or less evenly split into "maybe" and "no." (Some things I'm just not interested in, like beer or Indian food.)

No love for Flavor from Fire? The Piggy Wings were one of my favorite snacks from last year. They were at Craft Beers last year.

You were typing the same time I was. I've done the Mediterranean one for 3 years. First time I did it at the main restaurant in Morocco, that was good but the food was pretty heavy for a hot afternoon. The last two years I've done the one at Spice Road Tables, much better for me. The food was lighter and the wine pairings excellent. I'm hoping that is where they offer it again this year.

We did the Mediterranean meal a couple years ago and enjoyed it immensely!