EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, Sept. 25 - Nov 16 2015

[janjandis]

Does anyone book online or can you only do this by phone?

 

[VrBchJ]

Has anyone been able to book the Chase making of the party for the senses event? CMs tell me it's not loaded yet,

 

[karrit2000]

Does anyone book online or can you only do this by phone?

There are only certain events that can be booked online. They include the Culinary Demos, Mixology & Beverage seminars but they do not open for online booking until 7/30 and you can not get the TIW/AP/DVC discount for the seminars when booking online, you must call to get the discounts for the deminars and they are the only events that you can get a discount on but only for those held Monday-Thursday. You should also be able to book the Cheese Seminars online as well as general admission for PFTS & general admission for the Burger Block Party. If you want the premium categories for either of those with seating you will need to call. We don't know if any other events will be available online but they have never had online booking for any of the events in Italy, France, Morocco, Japan or Mexico these include the special pairings, lunches, breakfasts, tastings, etc.

 

[willidc]

VeBchJ.....Yes, I was finally able to book the Chase Making of the Party for the Senses event. I won't burden you with all of the details of the odyssey since yesterday afternoon when I received the email to the point where I was actually able to book today almost 24 hours later. In summary, it took at least 6 phone calls (2 yesterday, and 4 ---or more---today), and over three hours on the phone from about 2 PM till after 5:15PM today. With two exceptions, I was on hold for each call. Many, many conflicting answers and some misinformation on different calls. My disappointment was with the level to which I feel three of the CMs simply did not listen to what I was saying. I even read the email and quoted the disneyrewards.com website to them. I have never experienced anything like this to the extent that I did in the attempt to make this booking. After being on the phone with the most patient and amazing CM that I could have hoped for, he said he was not going to give up and he was going to make it right. After about 20 minutes he found the event but could not book---he made another call and after being on a three-way conversation for a very short while, a CM from another area (The Reservation Center) got on and found the event right away with the option to book. When HE tried to book, it told him there was no availability. So, he put me on hold for just a minute or two and came back with the reservation.

I don't know if this will help, but my reservation confirmation says "F&W Chase Private Event - The Making of Party for the Senses - From Idea to Implementation, Tuesday, October 27, 2015 (12:00 PM, Special)

I am sending pixie dust out to you with best wishes and a prayer that neither you nor anyone else needs to go to this extent.

LOL, my husband has been kidding me that I spent more than twice the length of the event plus $265 for this booking. He was a good DH bringing coffee, two Advil, water, and two chocolate covered almonds.
--------------------------------
Bonnie

 

[VrBchJ]

Bonnie, thank you. Just got off the phone after my 5th try to book the Making of the PFTS event. I was told again it was not open. I'm calling again and quoting your post.

 

[VrBchJ]

I was just told the Making of the Party for the Senses is not available for booking. I said I knew someone who had booked it today and CM said that was not possible. This is so frustrating! Bonnie, I may see you there...or not.

 

[willidc]

I was just told the Making of the Party for the Senses is not available for booking. I said I knew someone who had booked it today and CM said that was not possible. This is so frustrating! Bonnie, I may see you there...or not.

VrBchJ---the position that I took was that yesterday (7/24) an email was sent out saying that we could book "Today", ie, the 24th. Plus, I read to them the same information from the DisneyRewards.com website saying "Call today...". using the number 407-939-1870.

Only use the phone number on the email or DisneyRewards.com...the one that ends in 1870. Do NOT let them switch you to wdw-dine or wdw-fest (the same) since those CMs had no access. Also, DVC Member Services had no access as of today although they were able to find the descriptions of the three events. I was also switched to the tours department and had no luck there. The Reservation Center is where to call and where I finally had success.

Bonnie

 

[VrBchJ]

VeBchJ---the position that I took was that yesterday (7/24) an email was sent out saying that we could book "Today", ie, the 24th. Plus, I read to them the same information from the DisneyRewards.com website saying "Call today...". Do I have your permission to PM you?

Bonnie

Yes. PM me. I quoted exactly what you said but I keep getting told it won't be open until regular booking. It's so frustrating.

 

[willidc]

Yes. PM me. I quoted exactly what you said but I keep getting told it won't be open until regular booking. It's so frustrating.

I cannot seem to see how to post a PM on this revised board. Kind of hard to teach this old dog new tricks.

However, I did edit my previous post with what I was going to PM you with, so just check there. Look at it this way, since everyone seems to be having such difficulties, the event will not fill up.

They should have never put in the email and on the website (still there) that you could 'call today'. What puzzles me is why they are not clarifying the 'call today' issue when it is so difficult to get access to bookings???

 

[VrBchJ]

I cannot seem to see how to post a PM on this revised board. Kind of hard to teach this old dog new tricks.

However, I did edit my previous post with what I was going to PM you with, so just check there. Look at it this way, since everyone seems to be having such difficulties, the event will not fill up.

They should have never put in the email and on the website (still there) that you could 'call today'. What puzzles me is why they are not clarifying the 'call today' issue when it is so difficult to get access to bookings???

After 1 hr on hold I talked to a dining supervisor. The making of the PFTS is sold out! I told Harvey that in my numerous calls over the last 3 days I was told repeatedly it was not open for booking. So how could it be sold out? He was apologetic for the misinformation but there's nothing he could do. So enjoy, Bonnie. I'll be on the outside looking in, so to speak!!!

 

[bellrae]

Does anyone know if we would be able to book the Food and Wine Festival Tasting Sampler in advance for a particular day, or if that will be a first come first served type scenario? I'm attracted to the idea of reserved seating for the concert.

 

[VrBchJ]

Does anyone know if we would be able to book the Food and Wine Festival Tasting Sampler in advance for a particular day, or if that will be a first come first served type scenario? I'm attracted to the idea of reserved seating for the concert.

I asked this question during one of my many calls to dining. The answer was a definitive "We don't know yet." Perhaps someone else got better information.

 

[lcasa]

Were you able to get any more details on the Sampler? I'd like to know if all 8 entitlements have to be used in one day before booking day next week.

I asked that when I called Friday and the CM said they did have to be used in one day. She didn't really sound 100% sure somehow though. Trying to decide myself- if you treat it as 4 drinks and 4 food items it doesn't sound like too much in 1 day. I've never been and trying to guess if that's a good deal or they're charging extra for the pin and seating

 

[meowser]

What is the official name of the Signature dinners? I'm getting nervous about making the reservation on Thursday morning. Are they Culinary Adventures in Signature Dining? And then you tell the date and the restaurant?

 

[westfield13]

Does the online availability to book the Culinary Demos, Mixology & Beverage seminars for the general public also start on July 30th? Neither my husband nor I will be available to spend a lot of time on the phone that morning, but we could get to a computer at some point.

I assume that payment is required at the time of booking - any chance we can pay for our two tickets with Disney gift cards? Does anyone know?

 

[crazy4wdw]

Does the online availability to book the Culinary Demos, Mixology & Beverage seminars for the general public also start on July 30th? Neither my husband nor I will be available to spend a lot of time on the phone that morning, but we could get to a computer at some point.

I assume that payment is required at the time of booking - any chance we can pay for our two tickets with Disney gift cards? Does anyone know?

Yes, payment is due at the time of booking and there are no refunds for the Food and Wine Festival events. I don't know about payment in the form of gift cards.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Is there some place published that indicates which events are sold out? I can't book until next week so I'd like to scratch things off my list if they are no longer available so I can make alternate plans.

Don't scratch anything off your list! What are "sold out" are the limited number of seats set aside for the pre-booking.

 

[ksromack]

Does the online availability to book the Culinary Demos, Mixology & Beverage seminars for the general public also start on July 30th? Neither my husband nor I will be available to spend a lot of time on the phone that morning, but we could get to a computer at some point.

I assume that payment is required at the time of booking - any chance we can pay for our two tickets with Disney gift cards? Does anyone know?

Us too.....about the phone situation. It's 8am east coast time? Also, I don't know why you couldn't pay with Disney gc.....I just got a few in the mail from target and I have them all combined into one, just waiting to be spent

 

[crazy4wdw]

Us too.....about the phone situation. It's 8am east coast time?

No, its 7:00 am EST.

 

[willidc]

I cannot seem to see how to post a PM on this revised board. Kind of hard to teach this old dog new tricks.

However, I did edit my previous post with what I was going to PM you with, so just check there. Look at it this way, since everyone seems to be having such difficulties, the event will not fill up.

They should have never put in the email and on the website (still there) that you could 'call today'. What puzzles me is why they are not clarifying the 'call today' issue when it is so difficult to get access to bookings???

VrbchJ---sent you a "Conversation"---I guess that is what PM has morphed into.