***Epcot Food And Wine Festival Info 2008***

[rmom50]

My DW and I will be there while Otis Day performs, too, but is it the SAME Otis Day as in Animal House? That movie is 30 years old! If it is the same guy, he must be as old as Mick Jagger.

We are not really excited about the entertainment either, but really looking forward to the food.

yup...same guy. saw him last year and it was fun, but ....Otis apparently has a 3 song repertoire. He was alledgedly in breech of contract on his first set (for time limitations) and the police were called (I'm serious). I was sitting right by the action and picked up on some of the incident. . There was also a problem with him canceling a show (or more) because of "rain". It wasn't really raining and I've sat there in pouring rain when the performers didn't cancel. I was stunned that he was invited back this year, but I'll go again. The police officers were dancing by the time they left. It was just as fun watching the spectacle of all that as Otis.

 

[DisneyHog]

I have researched old schedules as best I can. It appears the food and wine pairings have been on the same day of the week for the last 5 years (sake/sushi Monday for example) and the Signature dinners/exquisite evenings are always on Friday or Sunday. I am wondering if anyone can confirm this because I have been waiting for the schedule to come out not only to schedule F&W events but also to book Cirque. We are going Oct 11 and I am afraid if I wait until August 22 there won't be any decent seats for Cirque. What do you think?

Beth

 

[Missy Bruin]

Hey everyone missy here my family and i are making the trip down to the world once again this time for the food and wine festival.This will be our first festival we will be there on october 24th Thur october 27th.MY Main reason for coming down to the festival is to come see my favorite band of all time EXPOSE'.They played the eat the beat concerts last year and they had a great time so disney ask them back this year.So the girls are back better than ever.So if anyone is down there when EXPOSE' is there my advice check out there show they but one hell of a performance.See you all soon.MISSY AND FAMILY

 

[rcraw45425]

Okay, I've gotta ask, this is making me crazy, Night Ranger and Los Lobos, what were their "hits"? I remember NR as a hair band but cannot place a single song and iTunes is acting hinky on this computer. Same thing with Los Lobos !

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Okay, I've gotta ask, this is making me crazy, Night Ranger and Los Lobos, what were their "hits"? I remember NR as a hair band but cannot place a single song and iTunes is acting hinky on this computer. Same thing with Los Lobos !

Night Ranger had "Sister Christian" and I believe Los Lobos did "La Bamba"

 

[webray]

Since Jim did not return in 2007, I don't know if they'll even offer it. Anything possible, though. I wouldn't book it, though.

Jim was there in 2007, just a lot of us regulars weren't!

 

[Steve-O]

While admittedly over-priced, I have found the Exquisite Evenings to be consistently the most civil and enjoyable paid event at the Festival over the past couple of years. Interestingly, there is not even a mention of them on the Disney site. Has anyone heard anything about them being discontinued?

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

While admittedly over-priced, I have found the Exquisite Evenings to be consistently the most civil and enjoyable paid event at the Festival over the past couple of years. Interestingly, there is not even a mention of them on the Disney site. Has anyone heard anything about them being discontinued?

I just saw on Disney's site where they only mention Regional Feasts, PFTS and Signature Dining...hmmm...maybe they are nixing it this year. Honestly, I don't feel it will be any huge loss. BTDT.

 

[kkproulx]

Just thought of this since I seen someone the other day wearing a Food & Wine Fest t-shirt (really looked nice) the other day......where do they sell the Food & Wine fest shirts? Or do you get one if you attend one of these 'extra' activities?

 

[oybolshoi]

Just thought of this since I seen someone the other day wearing a Food & Wine Fest t-shirt (really looked nice) the other day......where do they sell the Food & Wine fest shirts? Or do you get one if you attend one of these 'extra' activities?

You can purchase these at the Festival Welcome Center and there are also smaller kiosks around the park the sell limited F&W merchandise. Rarely do you receive a gift for attending a special event and if you do it sure isn't Disney merchandise.

 

[kkproulx]

You can purchase these at the Festival Welcome Center and there are also smaller kiosks around the park the sell limited F&W merchandise. Rarely do you receive a gift for attending a special event and if you do it sure isn't Disney merchandise.

Gotcha! I didn't think that Disney would 'give' something away, but I thought maybe! I'll be on the search for one when I'm there. Thanks for the info!

 

[oybolshoi]

Gotcha! I didn't think that Disney would 'give' something away, but I thought maybe! I'll be on the search for one when I'm there. Thanks for the info!

Like I posted before ... if you find something you like buy it, don't wait. I wanted one of the blue ladies F&W t-shirts last year and didn't buy it right away because I thought there would be plenty of time (we were there for 10 days). I went back five days later and they didn't have my size ... in fact the only size they had anywhere in the park was a small. And although I checked back every day they never seemed to have my size when I looked.

 

[ReggieB]

Awww... that's great! I'm glad the F&W cards worked for you! I'll do my best to get them updated for this year as soon as the info is released. Who knows when that will be...

Have a great week everyone!
-Michelle

Fantastic! I was just wondering the other day if you might be doing some this year! Your trip report last year is one of my favorites.

 

[LiteBrite]

What time do the F&W booths open?

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I have researched old schedules as best I can. It appears the food and wine pairings have been on the same day of the week for the last 5 years (sake/sushi Monday for example) and the Signature dinners/exquisite evenings are always on Friday or Sunday. I am wondering if anyone can confirm this because I have been waiting for the schedule to come out not only to schedule F&W events but also to book Cirque. We are going Oct 11 and I am afraid if I wait until August 22 there won't be any decent seats for Cirque. What do you think?

It seems like PFTS is always on Saturdays, but then I've heard that there is no PFTS on the first Saturday this year, so who knows.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

What time do the F&W booths open?

Same time the WS opens-11am.

 

[luvpooh]

I haven't gone to it since it became the Jim Koch Lovefest. I did the first International beer dinner they offered when it was done at Rose and Crown only. The price was $55. The dinner was a true bargain.

The following year, they alternated for the first time between International and Domestic (aka Sam Adams), and I attended one that fell on a Sam Adams week. It was still $55. That was the informal one that webray was talking about, upstairs in the VIP room at the American Adventure building. The buffet stations were great, and you had 5 beers to choose from.

The 1-night only Jim Koch Lovefest started the year after that, for $125. And the following year, another 1-night event with Jim was $145. I just can't imagine the $125 or $145 dinner would be worth it after experiencing the event at $55.

Since Jim did not return in 2007, I don't know if they'll even offer it. Anything possible, though. I wouldn't book it, though.

Interesting...and a good point about the price increase. Was the 1 nighter in 06 a sit down meal at least?

Webray makes a good point too. We didn't book anything last year b/c of the non-refundable 'clause'. With DH's job, it's never 100% guaranteed we are going away until we are on the plane (except for our honeymoon, b/c w/out that provision, then there wouldn't have been a honeymoon!

We did the Int'l beer dinner 2 times when it was offered (04 and 05?) and we had a GREAT time! The food was very good, and it was a real bargain at that $55 price. I would love for them to bring those weekly ones back.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

The date change is definitely not good news for us. Our anniversary is August 10th and I was going to surprise DBF with a hard ticket event for a gift. What should I do now? Do we even have an idea what events are going to be offered on what days of the week? I am at a total loss. Ugh!

 

[cdtommie]

Night Ranger had "Sister Christian" and I believe Los Lobos did "La Bamba"

Los Lobos is not a singles band really and you won't find anything in Top 40 (thank God) except for the La Bamba cover...I would expect them to do rather twisted versions on Disney classics since they have an album of Disney songs coming out in November...and I consider them to be the finest band in America. They are amazing live and can play any type of music...and they usually do a few covers from bands like the Dead, Who etc. at their shows. They will rock out pretty hard.

We also did the Sam Adam's event when it was $55 and it was fabulous...haven't it done since the first year.

 

[cdtommie]

Like I posted before ... if you find something you like buy it, don't wait. I wanted one of the blue ladies F&W t-shirts last year and didn't buy it right away because I thought there would be plenty of time (we were there for 10 days). I went back five days later and they didn't have my size ... in fact the only size they had anywhere in the park was a small. And although I checked back every day they never seemed to have my size when I looked.

If you're going back next spring check the Character outlet..they were selling tons of F&W stuff back in May at cut rate prices...I think my wife got a hat for like four bucks.