DCA Food & Wine Festival, Mar 10 to Apr 16

[lorijohnhill]

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.

I think my daughter will love that! Thanks for the scoop!

 

[Belledisney]

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

Yep! You can get anything from the booths.

 

[cyclenut]

We were at the parks last weekend and joined in the food and wine festival. I was a bit disappointed. I did pay extra for a brewmaster session that was fun. Wife and I each grazed through the food, which was surprisingly mediocre. The bacon Mac and cheese, which could have been great, was like Kraft from the box with bacon sprinkled on top. The price was high for the small portion size (it makes sense for the portion to be small, but at that price ... )

There were no many beer choices. With all the different breweries around CA, I really expected more. I've been to the DisneyWorld version and they don't even compare. Very disappointed.

 

[pudinhd]

Has anyone tried the cherry lemonade with cherry pearls at Lemon Grove or the Dole® Pineapple-strawberry Float with vanilla ice cream and strawberry pearls at LAStyle? Thanks!

 

[Dorisk3]

Having just returned, I would say the whole thing was underwhelming. It as mostly people running around with beer in yellow plastic cups sometimes as early as 10:30 in the morning. If you're going anyway that's fine, but I wouldn't go out if my way or cancel plans for a few extra food booths.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Has anyone tried the cherry lemonade with cherry pearls at Lemon Grove or the Dole® Pineapple-strawberry Float with vanilla ice cream and strawberry pearls at LAStyle? Thanks!

My daughter got the cherry lemonade and I had a few sips. It wasn't bad, mostly just a very sweet drink. She was super intrigued by the pearls (she's three), so it was amusing watching her drink it - her facial expressions were priceless.

 

[ej119]

Just got back from the Festival yesterday and I really enjoyed it! My husband and I burned through three of the AP sip and savor passes (we decided the marketplaces would be our main source of food each day) and tried every single booth.

There were a few times when a booth ran out of an item, but food would return in less than an hour at most spots. At Off the Cob, a cast member announced they were out of the nuggets, so the very long line dispersed, but within 5 minutes, they received a new batch of nuggets (I was after the margarita so I didn't get out of line).

EDIT: Booths did run out of certain drink items, with little cast member education on why a replacement was being offered and/or for how long.

The biggest surprise to me was the variation in crowd levels day-to-day. We arrived Thursday night and I felt Friday was incredibly busy in both Parks (with many FPs running out very early). Saturday, comparatively, seemed downright quiet for the first half of the day; only for Sunday to feel completely packed my noon. If other APs were blacked out Saturday, we certainly could tell a difference.

Anyway, I know some people were disappointed, but as someone who made a trip to DLR specifically for F&W, I was not.

 

[figment_jii]

I've begun posting my photos from the F&W Festival in the dining thread:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/m...-with-pictures.1253888/page-222#post-57404250

Overall, my family really enjoyed the F&W Festival this year. We felt like most of the dishes were tasty and more reasonably priced/sized than the Festival of Holidays.

 

[GeneralTso]

We happened to bet there during F&W. I certainly would not make a special trip for it. It is NOTHING like Epcot's. Nothing.
It's good for a walk through, and trying a few things. I thought it would really catch on and expand from last year, but it's about the same. Great idea, just needs to be taken up a few notches.