2019 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival: August 29-November 23, 2019

[Micharlotte]

There is a great app. It's on google play
WDW Food&Wine. Lists all the booths, plus allows you to make notes.

It's available for apple as well. Ir's a fantastic app!

 

[mckennarose]

That’s probably because it’s hidden when not being used. It’s between Canada and England right behind Joffrey’s Coffee.

I was in that building for an event 5 years ago, but I don't remember it being really large inside. ????? Unless they had us in a front portion and blocked off the rest, which is possible because it was a YES class. Does anyone know how big it is inside and how it compares to the old festival center?

It's available for apple as well. Ir's a fantastic app!

HIGHLY recommend the app! I've used it for F&W and F&G but they have all the Epcots festivals on there.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I was in that building for an event 5 years ago, but I don't remember it being really large inside. ????? Unless they had us in a front portion and blocked off the rest, which is possible because it was a YES class. Does anyone know how big it is inside and how it compares to the old festival center?

It’s pretty big (60K square feet according to the internet) but I think they can drape and put up partitions that make it seem smaller. It was originally the Millennium Village - built for the Y2K celebration. Of note are the bathrooms. Shhhh..., don’t tell anyone but I’d guess there are ~40-50 stalls in the ladies room.

But unclear how they’re using it for this festival. If the events will be partitioned off or if there will be shopping in there, etc.

 

[mckennarose]

.......Of note are the bathrooms. Shhhh..., don’t tell anyone but I’d guess there are ~40-50 stalls in the ladies room.
.......

WHAT?!?
Man, those would be so helpful if they were open all the time! Especially in that area since its down little from the UK bathrooms and the bathroom at the Refreshment Port is a joke.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

WHAT?!?
Man, those would be so helpful if they were open all the time! Especially in that area since its down little from the UK bathrooms and the bathroom at the Refreshment Port is a joke.

They do open them on New Year’s Eve and other extreme crowd times. Unrelated to Food & Wine specifically, but some construction photos posted today suggest they are adding restrooms in the Refreshment Port area as a part of the expanded pathway from the Imagination pavilion. Agree the existing ones are gross. My best friend and I describe anything truly awful as “RP” (Refreshment Port) quality.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

My wife and I have done other festivals at epcot and absolutely loved the decor but have never been to food and wine. We love the booths at F&G and Holidays but I want some feedback about the seminars. We only have 2 days and no kids in tow and have the flexibility of park hopping. Are they worthwhile from a time or value standpoint? I would hate to spend all that time to get 1-2 thimblefuls of wine and wish we had done something else. Can we expect something approaching a meal/ heavy snack with the pairing seminars?

 

[Deb & Bill]

My wife and I have done other festivals at epcot and absolutely loved the decor but have never been to food and wine. We love the booths at F&G and Holidays but I want some feedback about the seminars. We only have 2 days and no kids in tow and have the flexibility of park hopping. Are they worthwhile from a time or value standpoint? I would hate to spend all that time to get 1-2 thimblefuls of wine and wish we had done something else. Can we expect something approaching a meal/ heavy snack with the pairing seminars?

Are you talking about the Specialty Dining and Pairing? These are not seminars but real meals and the price reflects that. We've done the French Family Meal Traditions twice before and doing it again this year. It's not cheap, but you get loads of wine. Loads. We did the Beer and Wine and Food Pairing at Via Napoli one time and we had twelve empty glasses at each place setting when we arrived. Six for beer and six for wine. We've done the Italian Regional Food & Wine pairing at Tutto Gusto twice and we had plenty of wine there. We are also doing the Mediterranean Food & Wine Pairing this year. We haven't done that one yet. These are multiple hours long, multi-course meals with wine and/or beer with each course, including dessert.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

My wife and I have done other festivals at epcot and absolutely loved the decor but have never been to food and wine. We love the booths at F&G and Holidays but I want some feedback about the seminars. We only have 2 days and no kids in tow and have the flexibility of park hopping. Are they worthwhile from a time or value standpoint? I would hate to spend all that time to get 1-2 thimblefuls of wine and wish we had done something else. Can we expect something approaching a meal/ heavy snack with the pairing seminars?

Deb & Bill covered the events under the Specialty Dining & Pairing heading above. I’ve also done a few and really enjoy them.

The Food & Beverage Pairing events feature a single glass of wine or cocktail and what I’d call a snack portion - similar in size to what you’d get at one of the booths. These events are under an hour. I think these were new last year and feedback varied pretty widely. I did three - one with the team from Wine Bar George, one with a Top Chef winner, and one with the chef from Victoria & Albert’s and Tattinger champagne. They were great (I do love food tv and learning about food and wine). Others were less satisfied with both presentation and food. I think I booked the Wine Bar George event again but am otherwise skipping this year. Given your limited time, unless really interested in the chef or particular ingredient, I think I’d skip them and if looking for a break from booths, heat etc, hit La Cava or Tutto Gusto or Spice Road Table instead (note that Tutto Gusto does close for the Italian Regional lunches on select Wednesdays).

 

[LaDonna]

Does anyone know anything about this I couldn’t actually find it on Disney World‘s website so I wasn’t for sure if it’s happening

 

[KYTink]

There are always these types of threads started this time of year! Is F&W crowded? Yes. Will there be people drinking? Yes. But you have to adjust your expectations if you are attending on a weekend.
We like to hit F&W and F&G right at 11 when it opens and do all of our "must trys". Then we leave for the mid afternoon and return later around 5-6 pm. The point is we get our "must trys" out of the way while its not as crowded and we don't get frustrated by the large crowds in the evening. If we do F&W on a weekend (last year we had to do a Saturday), then we will also schedule another day during the week away from the weekend crowds. But we like to go as many times as we can!


It's on the Apple store. It has nothing to do with MDE. I LOVE the app and have used it for several F&G and F&W now! Cast members that have seen it also like it a lot and I shared it with many festival attendees. I still get a booklet because I like them, but for tracking what we want to try or what we do try, I use the app. It even has a map and other filters, like gluten free or kid friendly so you can easily locate what you're looking for.

Can you share the app name that you use for F&W (or at least some form of it)?

(edit - I found it on pg. 41)

 

[2xcited2sleep]

View attachment 425418

Does anyone know anything about this I couldn’t actually find it on Disney World‘s website so I wasn’t for sure if it’s happening

The Junior Chef Kitchen was new last year but as far as I've seen I don't think they're offering it this year.

 

[peabody58]

I've searched, really I have. Can TIW be used with the Eat To The Beat Dining package? Looking at San Angel Inn Oct 14th. $60 - $12 (20% TIW) = $48 plus $8.64 gratuity. Disney Dining Line CM says yes, but TIW Web Site says no. Thanks in advance. May just book the restaurant outright and stand in line for Kenny G.

 

[gwynne]

I've searched, really I have. Can TIW be used with the Eat To The Beat Dining package? Looking at San Angel Inn Oct 14th. $60 - $12 (20% TIW) = $48 plus $8.64 gratuity. Disney Dining Line CM says yes, but TIW Web Site says no. Thanks in advance. May just book the restaurant outright and stand in line for Kenny G.

Personally, I would not take the opinion of a Dining CM over the policies on the TIW website.
From the website:

"Tables in Wonderland is not valid toward festival dining options including, but not limited to, festival marketplaces and special dining packages."

We had considered doing a dining package that night for Kenny G, but after looking at the price we decided to just enjoy Shula's.

 

[sherlockmiles]

What is TIW?

 

[evlaina]

What is TIW?

Tables In Wonderland - restaurant discount

 

[gwynne]

What is TIW?

Here is some more info on Tables in Wonderland.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/tables-in-wonderland/

 

[sherlockmiles]

Here is some more info on Tables in Wonderland.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/tables-in-wonderland/

Thanks - for some reason I can't ever remember that.

 

[vinotinto]

I've searched, really I have. Can TIW be used with the Eat To The Beat Dining package? Looking at San Angel Inn Oct 14th. $60 - $12 (20% TIW) = $48 plus $8.64 gratuity. Disney Dining Line CM says yes, but TIW Web Site says no. Thanks in advance. May just book the restaurant outright and stand in line for Kenny G.

Personally, I would not take the opinion of a Dining CM over the policies on the TIW website.
From the website:

"Tables in Wonderland is not valid toward festival dining options including, but not limited to, festival marketplaces and special dining packages."

We had considered doing a dining package that night for Kenny G, but after looking at the price we decided to just enjoy Shula's.

I agree. The phone CMs don't always know what will happen onsite and the website indicates it will not apply. But, there is a 10% off discount to eat to the beat packages with an active AP for the Passholder and up to 3 guests:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/epcot/fall-passholder-exclusives/
Also, the automatic tip on TiW is 18% *prior* to discount. So, $60 would be $10.80 tip. I realize TiW won't apply to the package, but didn't want you to be surprised at other restaurants.

 

[HollyMD]

Does anyone ever really save much in the long run with the TIW? Since it costs $150, seems like it would take a lot of table service dinings to really see a savings?

 

[vinotinto]

Does anyone ever really save much in the long run with the TIW? Since it costs $150, seems like it would take a lot of table service dinings to really see a savings?

You would need to spend $750 in included TS to break even on TiW if you do not have an AP.
If you have an AP, the math is fuzzier because TiW gives you a discount on alcohol. If you don't drink any alcohol, you would need to spend $1,500 in included TS to break even. If you do drink alcohol, then the break even point is somewhere between $750 and $1,500. For my family, I eyeballed that we would need to spend about $1250 in included TS dining with alcohol to break even, which we easily did, but we don't really eat much QS.