Any Tips For Food & Wine Fest '05?

[Disney Girlie-Wirlie]

Hi all! I am very pumped up right now. In 2 weeks I'll be in Disney World with another Dis member, my twin sister SPECTROMAGIC *0*, for the umpteenth time. I've never been this time of year and therefore will be experiencing some firsts such as MNNSHP and EFWF. Does anyone have any good tips or "must-knows" about the fest? Anything I shouldn't miss? Or that I should look for or taste? I'm really excited about the festival and wanna make sure I don't miss anything good!

Thanks for the input everybody!

 

[OhioTony]

We were there last week in Sept last year & I would say for F&WF be @ the world Showcase when it starts to avoid lines. Also, we took cash for purchasing our food & wine samples..I'm not sure if the roomkey charge system was set up for the booths. ...for MNSSHP take pictures from identical spots at MK before MNSSP add during..they are fun to see the contrast in decorations..also take large bags for kids..towards the end of the night they pass out candy in LARGE quantities...I think we still have some left from last year!

We'll see ya there in 2 weeks!

 

[ncbyrne]

My advice would be to enjoy Epcot during the weekdays during the F&W fest. Also, eat a very small breakfast early in the day and don't make any PDRs. There are so many great food items to enjoy, it's best to just graze your way, slowly, around WS - starting right at 11:00 when it opens, right thru to your last bite as you watch Illuminations. I was there last year with my DGDs. This year it'll be just me and DH Oct 13-24 and we plan to spend several days tasting, and sitting in on the free seminars.

 

[WillCAD]

Ditto - plan on no counter-service or sit-down meals on at least one Epcot day and just chow down on the plates from the various booths.

Other tips:

Zantac
Tums
Rollaids
Prilosec
Gas-X

 

[Frito]

We were at the F&W festival Nov 04.....great time!!! We had a light lunch...tried something from almost every nation from their little kiosks.....then stayed for the light show. I wish Disney had it more than once a year!

P.S. I'm glad we took Dis transportation to Epcot.....sampling the wines and beer...would have been unable to drive back by the time we made it all the way around!!

 

[Disney Girlie-Wirlie]

Great tips,thanks! I have to admit, it never even dawned on me that I could sample food and wine ALL day! I kept thinking of it as a dinner thing. So I'll have to remember not to eat too much during the day, thanks for that tip! So, what kind of samples can you buy exactly? Are they decent size or just bite size? Can you use any other payment other than cash? Oh yeah, and what's Eat to the Beat all about? I'm sorry if I'm asking to many questions, I'm just really excited! Food does that to me I guess...and Disney!

And in regards to MNSSHP, I like that idea to take a picture in MK before and after the party infront of the same spot to see the difference w/the decorations. I will definitely do that.
:thewave:

 

[Cookie Princess]

Ditto - plan on no counter-service or sit-down meals on at least one Epcot day and just chow down on the plates from the various booths.
Other tips:
Zantac
Tums
Rollaids
Prilosec
Gas-X

Can't forget the Beano for my dear hubby!! HE-HE.

 

[Zandy595]

I didn't realize it until the other day, but DisneyWorld.com has a lot of F&WF info. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/calendar/specialeventslisting/eventSubListing?id=FoodWineSubListingSpecialEventPage

 

[SeaShelley]

Ditto - plan on no counter-service or sit-down meals on at least one Epcot day and just chow down on the plates from the various booths.

Other tips:

Zantac
Tums
Rollaids
Prilosec
Gas-X

Great list!!!

 

[Zandy595]

I don't know why, but when I woke up this morning my first thought was... Does Epcot's Food & Wine Festival have Greek food? Anyone know?

 

[MickeyMantleMouse]

I don't know why, but when I woke up this morning my first thought was... Does Epcot's Food & Wine Festival have Greek food? Anyone know?

Not that I remember from last year. Closest will be some of the dishes they serve near Morocco. Lamb, hummus, pita, etc. But as far as classic greek food, I don't think so.

 

[pyrxtc]

We were there last week in Sept last year & I would say for F&WF be @ the world Showcase when it starts to avoid lines. Also, we took cash for purchasing our food & wine samples..I'm not sure if the roomkey charge system was set up for the booths. ...for MNSSHP take pictures from identical spots at MK before MNSSP add during..they are fun to see the contrast in decorations..also take large bags for kids..towards the end of the night they pass out candy in LARGE quantities...I think we still have some left from last year!

We'll see ya there in 2 weeks!

Is there enough and is it ggood enough candy we could give it away for Halloween to trick-or-treaters?? LOL!!

 

[k5thbeatle]

I don't know why, but when I woke up this morning my first thought was... Does Epcot's Food & Wine Festival have Greek food? Anyone know?

Yes they did last year and will again this year.

 

[MickeyMantleMouse]

Yes they did last year and will again this year.

Wow, I must have completely missed it last year. Where was it, by Morocco?

 

[liamsaunt]

Food and Wine festival is great! You will have a wonderful time. We went last year and really enjoyed it. We mostly used cash, but the booths were set up to take room cards as well. If they have the South Africa booth again this year, try the spicy durban chicken. It was great! If you like to cook at home, there will be a recipe booklet for sale that has most of the food from the festival. I think it was $6 last year.

 

[idofabric]

I don't know why, but when I woke up this morning my first thought was... Does Epcot's Food & Wine Festival have Greek food? Anyone know?

Try this site...
http://allearsnet.com/tp/ep/fw05/fw05d.htm
it has info, and on the left it has a list of all the booths this year.

Yes, last year I got the best Baclava? the honey, flakey pastery stuff? It was very good, not overly sweet or sticky. They also had so other stuff...
here is a partical list from the above site... hope this is legal...

Continental Europe
France
Ireland
Greece
Italy
Spain - NEW
Oktoberfest

I also think you need to go on a weekday, we did a Tue, Thur and a Sat last year, I think. Thur was the best. The food just seemed less mass produced, maybe because there wern't a ton of folks in long lines...like on the Sat. We had some of the same things on Sat we had tried in the weekday earlier, and most were not as well prepared. Also the portions seemed larger on the weekdays... that could be the , hum, drink tasting that made it seem so different... Not a big drinker, but lots of free wine, beer and other tasting. For me a little goes a long, long way. And it helps that DH doesn't drink at all but will go and let me have his after just a tiny sip for him. That is very nice!

So my tip would be to take an over 21 none drinker to all the free tasting, if you want more then an oz. of anything....

 

[k5thbeatle]

Wow, I must have completely missed it last year. Where was it, by Morocco?

That I can't remember but trust me it was there. My wife could probably remind me as I believe she got some food from the Greek booth but I am not a fan of Greek food myself. Plus my memory may have been clouded by some of the wine samples from around the world.

 

[jenelope]

Here's my best tip: share everything you can! I went with my parents three years ago and we took turns buying and shared nearly every dish we tried. It may sound tacky, but we kept our forks and knives so we wouldn't have to get three new sets at every booth. Sharing costs and food enabled us to try about three times as many things before getting tired of eating. Some things were not as easy to share, but we managed most of them.

 

[Otter49]

Some foods not to miss, IMO:

Australia - Lamb Chop & BBQ'd Beef Tenderloin
Russia - Beef Stroganoff
Australia - Lamb Chop
Poland - Kielbasa & Pierogie
Australia - Lamb Chop
Canada - Cheese Soup
Australia - Lamb Chop
Italy - Pasta Carbonara
Australia - Lamb Chop
USA - Crab Cake
Australia - Lamb Chop
France - Ham & Cheese Thingie & Creme Broulee
Australia - Lamb Chop
Ireland - Guiness Stew
Australia - Lamb Chop & Beef Tenderloin

There are obviously more I can't recall.

I highly recommend to everyone - get to Epcot early early - race over to the UK and reserve space at a Great Beers of the World Seminar. Very very limited seating, but a great little event in the UK garden area. It's much better than the pretty good Sam Adam's beer tasting.

Did I mention the Australian Lamb Chop & BBQ'd Beef Tenderloin?

 

[k5thbeatle]

Some foods not to miss, IMO:

Australia - Lamb Chop & BBQ'd Beef Tenderloin
Russia - Beef Stroganoff
Australia - Lamb Chop
Poland - Kielbasa & Pierogie
Australia - Lamb Chop
Canada - Cheese Soup
Australia - Lamb Chop
Italy - Pasta Carbonara
Australia - Lamb Chop
USA - Crab Cake
Australia - Lamb Chop
France - Ham & Cheese Thingie & Creme Broulee
Australia - Lamb Chop
Ireland - Guiness Stew
Australia - Lamb Chop & Beef Tenderloin

There are obviously more I can't recall.

I highly recommend to everyone - get to Epcot early early - race over to the UK and reserve space at a Great Beers of the World Seminar. Very very limited seating, but a great little event in the UK garden area. It's much better than the pretty good Sam Adam's beer tasting.

Did I mention the Australian Lamb Chop & BBQ'd Beef Tenderloin?

Ditto on the items from Australia! Also the lamb chop with mango sauce from S. Africa!