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

[SarahInMN]

Got through after about an hour on hold...the cast member at first could not find the cheese event or What's Cooking with... Once I gave her the date and start time, she was able to find them no problem. I would suggest once people get through give the date and start time first, then confirm the name of the event with the CM.

 

[Lintasare]

And of course I wrote down the confirmation for the culinary demo I was able to book wrong and I can't add it to MDE.

 

[juju]

On the phone at 4am on west coast, 30 min wait was one hour, only to be told what I wanted was no longer available. We decided to spend our $400 elsewhere and go back to sleep. PTFS reserved seating

 

[Missyrose]

I called the Chase number, it was just the resort reservation line. She transferred me and I got through to a person about 6 minutes later. Had an awesome CM who knew what he was doing and got the Beer and Wine Pairing Lunch at Via Napoli booked for Oct. 20 (yes, the system calls it Beer vs. Wine). Wanted to book the Japanese Beer Tasting, he said he could see it on the calendar for Oct. 21, but he tried a couple of different ways and it wouldn't book. I'd dialed the FEST number on my other phone and am now through about 70 minutes of the estimated 90-minute wait in the hopes that may the Japan event has been loaded into the system.

All in all, much better experience than two years ago.

 

[SarahInMN]

Alright here's my phone experience:
On phone at 4am PST, quoted a 60 min hold by 401am, someone came on the line shortly after 5 am PST.

She could not find my events at first but then I gave her the date and start time, not the title. She found and booked the Whats Cookin with Alex Guarneschelli and two cheese seminars with that information.

off phone by 513 am PST.

 

[gottalovepluto]

My CM said no tank tops for men only.

Laura

Phew! Thanks!

 

[MiataPaige]

booked Parisian Breakfast on 9/26 after 75 minutes on hold. Whew!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Phew! Thanks!

Fair warning. I have nearly frozen in some of those seminars. SO if you do wear a tank top you might wish you had a jacket (Or you can just buy the Food and Wine version )

 

[lcasa]

Yay! got everything I wanted - just over 1 hr wait. Great CM. I can't believe I got the What's Cookin With Alex G. demo on 11/13 after an hour!
Also booked the French Traditions, the Italian Wine Vs Beer ( she looked it up as Wine & Beer but the actual booking was VS) , and a cheese seminar

 

[crazy4wdw]

Well, 1 hour and 15 minutes and I was able to reserve all of the beverage seminars I wanted and the Food, Wine, and Beer pairing at Via Napoli on 10/20. Now off to work so I can pay for this trip!!!!

 

[B'rer Karen]

I called in exactly at 7 am to the FEST number. Told wait time was 35 minutes, actual wait was about 50. Had a WONDERFUL CM pick up (Jessica Reed). I told her I was calling to book F&W events and I was a Disney Chase cardholder. She said absolutely she could help me, that I would need to use my card to make the bookings (which I knew, but gave me confidence that she knew what was going on). I used the tips on this board to give the full name of the event, and I also added the location of the event. That seemed to really help her find the events. I got the Mexican Tequilla Lunch on 10/22, I wanted the Italian Regional Lunch on 10/23 but they didn't have availability for 2, so that is currently sold out to Chase card members. Instead of trying again on Thursday I asked her to check for 10/21 and there was availability, so I got that. Also booked the Mediterranean F&W pairing on 10/19. So glad that is over with and I don't need to call back on Thursday.

 

[telligurl]

I called right at 7 and got through after a 35 minute wait. I was able to book the Tequila lunch for 09/25, which was the only thing we wanted.

 

[crazy4wdw]

I did book that Italy wine and beer thing for 10/20.

See you there!!!

 

[JSTX]

Called right at 7 - on 3 phones. Finally got through after 60 minutes and was not able to book anything we wanted.

 

[cdtommie]

I called the Chase number, it was just the resort reservation line. She transferred me and I got through to a person about 6 minutes later. Had an awesome CM who knew what he was doing and got the Beer and Wine Pairing Lunch at Via Napoli booked for Oct. 20 (yes, the system calls it Beer vs. Wine). Wanted to book the Japanese Beer Tasting, he said he could see it on the calendar for Oct. 21, but he tried a couple of different ways and it wouldn't book. I'd dialed the FEST number on my other phone and am now through about 70 minutes of the estimated 90-minute wait in the hopes that may the Japan event has been loaded into the system.

All in all, much better experience than two years ago.

We booked the Japanese Beer tasting on 10/21. Here's hoping it's really craft beer.

 

[snausman]

Ok, just got done. Call the chase number, got a live CM and than was transfer to regular dining line. On hold for 4 minutes than got the very sweet CM. I booked the following..

1.Rockin Burger Block Party 10/8
2.Italian Reg Food and Wine Pairing at Tutto Gusto 10/9
3. Italian Food, Wine and Beer Tasting Via Napoli 10/6
4. Mediterranean Food and Wine Pairing Spice RD 10/5
5. Parisian Breakfast 9/26
6. The worlds magnificent Cheese and their wine partners 11/14

I could not book Eat to the Beat Dinner Packages or the Japanese craft beer tasting.

I will try again on the 30th with the rest of the world.

I was on the phone for over 1 hour booking everything. It took that long because of all the searching my CM had to do.

Overall a good experience, much better than last year.

It did start off bad calling the chase number and than being transfer but it worked out well.

Laura

 

[CaptJack'sFamily]

Got through after 70 minutes. I was able to book PFTS on 10/17 as general admission only - no reserved or wine view left. The Italian Regional Lunches on 10/14 and 10/16 are not available, nor was the Flying Fish Signature Dinner on 10/15. The Tequila Lunch on 10/17 was available. So I was able to get 2 items off my list and will go through this process again on Thursday morning. Geez, 4AM Pacific Time is really early!!!

Kudos also to the CM that assisted me - she had a great attitude and was very helpful, even making recommendations on some items that were available as substitutes for the events that were already booked out. She's also done this before - hope I get to talk to her on Thursday!

 

[joeyvee]

After not getting anywhere with the first agent, called back and got Italian Regional Lunch but still not finding others.

 

[SarahInMN]

Yay! got everything I wanted - just over 1 hr wait. Great CM. I can't believe I got the What's Cookin With Alex G. demo on 11/13 after an hour!
Also booked the French Traditions, the Italian Wine Vs Beer ( she looked it up as Wine & Beer but the actual booking was VS) , and a cheese seminar

I know right? I assumed it was a lost cause too after an hour but no problem! See you at Alex G!

I also got the 2 cheese seminars without a problem (but I didn't think those would be an issue).

I'm just glad I don't need to do this again on Thursday. And am glad all my events appeared immediately in MDE.

 

[rsimon]

I am so done with this process. A few years ago, this was an easy process. Disney has done an excellent job of marketing the events and each year the booking process is more crazy than the last.

Why can't they get a direct number to dial so there is no confusion and BS automated attendant. They need to have these events loaded and ready to go. Really, why can't they just do it all via the Web??? Oh, because it is Disney and their IT sucks!!

Tired of wasting hours on the phone waiting for something you can't get.