DCA Food & Wine Festival, Mar 10 to Apr 16

[rentayenta]

Thank you for the reviews @DLgal

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

The DIS has been updated with pricing for all of the marketplaces.

The DIS Unplugged Disneyland team has done video reviews of most (10!!!) of the marketplaces. I'll post links to the videos as they get released on another thread.

 

[Winnowill]

Every booth we went to Saturday night was out of...something. The Bacon Twist booth ran out of BACON, for crying out loud.

That said, I did get the limited AP pin, so there was that.

 

[DLgal]

Every booth we went to Saturday night was out of...something. The Bacon Twist booth ran out of BACON, for crying out loud.

That said, I did get the limited AP pin, so there was that.

I went again today. The Onion Lair booth didn't even open while I was there (until 12:30). They kept running out of forks at all the dispensers too.

I tried the sweet corn nuggets with chili, the sweet corn custard tart and the beef tenderloin slider with chimichurri.

Corn nuggets were good but the chili wasn't great, to be honest. The meat was in huge chunks and really tough and gristly. The chili was very bland as well. I would love a bucket of just corn nuggets with the addition of some cheddar cheese inside.

Sweet Corn Custard Tart: was pretty good. There wasn't much corn flavor. The consistency was like a thick pudding. I liked the cookie shell and the tuille on top. The "chili" chocolate sauce had no discernable chili taste. It tasted like melted milk chocolate. I'd get this one again. I think the price on the desserts is a steal and so far I've enjoyed them the most.

The slider was so so. Part of my meat was tough and full of gristle that I had to spit out. The chimichurri was very thick, almost like a paste, and garlic was supposed to be prominent, but I didn't taste much at all. The meat had no seasoning. This could've been a lot better. Unfortunately it was just kinda meh.

 

[MinMou]

DLgal's reviews sound like this is the first time they ever did this, and not like a Disney event. I am hoping that things improve as the festival progresses, and that this becomes a premier event like the one at WDW - without the crowds!
Did she just catch all the booths at the wrong times?

 

[Nevada Jen]

We went a couple of days this week and actually had an awesome experience! Everything we had was awesome! And had no customer service issues at all. I think the pork round bao was my favorite. But everything at LA style was also really good. There is a sauce guy. I think it was called hot lips. Test the sauces. They were amazing!

 

[DLgal]

DLgal's reviews sound like this is the first time they ever did this, and not like a Disney event. I am hoping that things improve as the festival progresses, and that this becomes a premier event like the one at WDW - without the crowds!
Did she just catch all the booths at the wrong times?

I don't get it either! I went last year to the Food and Wine festival, the Festival of Holidays, and the Chinese New Year one. This is the worst luck I've had at any Disney food festival. I've been to two Epcot F&WF.

It is curious that so far, there have been NO lines at any booths, except the wine and beer booths. Every food booth has been walk up and order immediately. But then that doesn't explain the service issues and food running out issues. I would expect that if the lines were long and they were overwhelmed.

Maybe weekdays in the morning aren't the best times to hit up the booths. Who knows?

I'm not giving up yet! DH hasn't been yet. We may go Sunday and I will be back next Friday as well with a friend who hasn't been yet so we will try lots of items. We shall see how things are then.

 

[wingednike]

During Festival of Holidays, I realized it's not best to be there right at opening of the booths because DST (Disney Standard Time) is in effect and mishaps happen. It's not an excuse for Disney but it helped me manage my expectations. The first time it happened, the problem was that the food had not been delivered in time.

I don't get it either! I went last year to the Food and Wine festival, the Festival of Holidays, and the Chinese New Year one. This is the worst luck I've had at any Disney food festival. I've been to two Epcot F&WF.

It is curious that so far, there have been NO lines at any booths, except the wine and beer booths. Every food booth has been walk up and order immediately. But then that doesn't explain the service issues and food running out issues. I would expect that if the lines were long and they were overwhelmed.

Maybe weekdays in the morning aren't the best times to hit up the booths. Who knows?

I'm not giving up yet! DH hasn't been yet. We may go Sunday and I will be back next Friday as well with a friend who hasn't been yet so we will try lots of items. We shall see how things are then.

 

[rentayenta]

We learned too during the Festival of the Holidays not to arrive right when the booths open up; they were simply not prepared.

 

[DLgal]

We learned too during the Festival of the Holidays not to arrive right when the booths open up; they were simply not prepared.

I haven't been going right when they open. It's always been 11:30 or later, so a full hour after they open.

 

[Kimi313]

I thought I read somewhere last year that the food booths were only open on weekends? Are the food booths open this year all week?

 

[MinMou]

I found a blog with a checklist for all the foods available, not including seminars, special dinners, etc. And according to the blog it came from, the food and wine are available every day of the festival http://thisfairytalelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DCA-Food-and-Wine-2017-checklist.pdf

 

[CyndiLouWho]

The DIS has been updated with pricing for all of the marketplaces.

The DIS Unplugged Disneyland team has done video reviews of most (10!!!) of the marketplaces. I'll post links to the videos as they get released on another thread.

I found 2 DIS unplugged reviews. Are there more?

 

[DLgal]

I thought I read somewhere last year that the food booths were only open on weekends? Are the food booths open this year all week?

The food booths are open daily. They also were last year. The special seminars and events/tastings are only on weekends, with some lectures on Thursday and Friday afternoons as well.

 

[DLgal]

So, went back today. Same old same old. The Onion Booth was out of all food items at 1:15pm with no ETA on replenishment. This is strike 3 for the Onion Booth for me.

The Corn booth ran out of corn nuggets after I had stood in line for 15 min. ETA was 30 min for more. Then, a gal came out and said they had one more order left, so I got it. But then, no forks AGAIN! Ugh!!!! Had to walk all the way to Boardwalk Pizza and go inside to get a fork. I'm going to start bringing my own fork...

Husband got a beef slider and declared it delicious.

We tried the Olive Focaccia and it was very good as well. We split that and a lemon macaron.

Lines were incredibly long today but service seemed better overall. I was crabby due to hunger by the end of the day. I'm not going to count on festival foods for a meal anymore due to items constantly running out. I expressed my frustrations to a CM who worked inside the lemon booth and he said "tell me about it...Every booth I have worked at this week has had issues with things running out...There isn't much space to store the food and it takes forever to get things replenished."

 

[lorijohnhill]

Would someone please explain the AP coupon book thing to me? How does it work?

Also, any details on the Jr. Chef experience?

 

[Belledisney]

Wanted to share some pics of the food and wine festival. We really enjoyed the booths. Didn't really find the tastings to be worth it. Pretty short and not much of a tasting.

Loved it overall.

 

[Belledisney]

Would someone please explain the AP coupon book thing to me? How does it work?

Also, any details on the Jr. Chef experience?

You pay $45 and you get 8 coupons for the booths to be used for food. It works out to be about $5.50 each. So saves a little money if you get higher priced stuff. Also comes with a lanyard and you get buttons and a passport to stamp at each stand. We enjoyed it and used it over a couple days.

 

[lorijohnhill]

You pay $45 and you get 8 coupons for the booths to be used for food. It works out to be about $5.50 each. So saves a little money if you get higher priced stuff. Also comes with a lanyard and you get buttons and a passport to stamp at each stand. We enjoyed it and used it over a couple days.

So you can get anything (except alcohol) at the booth with the coupon?

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Would someone please explain the AP coupon book thing to me? How does it work?

Also, any details on the Jr. Chef experience?

Jr. Chef is cute. We did it the first day of the festival, so it's possible that details have changed a bit, but this was how it went for us: We got there about 30 minutes early and they had a line off to the side (across from the chef hat coloring area near the Ariel ride). The kids were taken in by themselves (no parents) and arranged around tables, a few kids per table with one cast member. The "chef" came out and ran things, and Goofy showed up for most of the time being Goofy and roaming the tables. The kids traded off tasks (measuring, pouring, stirring, etc.) with all the ingredients for oatmeal cookies. The cast member at the table did a great job of facilitating the kids. They took a scoop of finished dough from each table and used the "magic oven" to turn that mess into a big Mickey oatmeal cookie. Then they gave every kid a little packaged oatmeal cookie to eat.