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

[Biceratops]

Thanks! My issue is I'm arriving on September 26th so I wasn't sure how to book it other than the following Monday.

 

[karrit2000]

Somehow we have gone from staying one week to 10 days for F&W.

1st iteration of planning in December 2014: stay at BCV Sunday through Sunday
2nd iteration of planning in January 2015 (realized F&W was extended): BCV booked, so Garden Cottage at BW Friday/Sat and BCV Sunday through Sunday
3rd iteration of planning August 2015 (Delta changed our red eye flight and now we land on Thursday, not Friday am): Dolphin Thursday, Garden Cottage at BW Friday/Sat and BCV Sunday through Sunday

Now I'm crossing my fingers that I can find something we want to do Thursday night/Friday for F&W

EDITED TO ADD: Buddy Valastro sold out on 11/6. Still can't book deminar for premium package.

Please explain exactly what you mean by Garden Cottage @ BW. I've never heard of a "Garden Cottage".

 

[SarahInMN]

Please explain exactly what you mean by Garden Cottage @ BW. I've never heard of a "Garden Cottage".

They are concierge level, outer building rooms at BW (not the DVC side), by the quiet pool, with a full living area, loft area with the bed, 1.5 baths, and separate picket fences around each cottages entry. I think this youtube video link should work: Garden Cottage

We've stayed in them before. At first I was bummed we couldn't get our whole F&W stay at the BCV but getting to stay 2 nights in a Garden Cottage makes up for moving! I still can't believe that our flights changed and that delta put us on a flight landing 13 hours earlier than expect - now we have 1 night in the dolphin too.

I'm still working on finding a F&W event for us since we will be well rested on Friday (vs having landed at 6 am after a red eye).

 

[Biceratops]

• The package also includes admission to one (1) culinary or beverage seminar Monday through Thursday of the purchased package week, taking place in the Festival Center at Epcot. This seminar should be booked in advance as there is limited availability each day.

I'm guessing the Mixology seminar isn't part of the "beverage" seminar or is it?

 

[SarahInMN]

• The package also includes admission to one (1) culinary or beverage seminar Monday through Thursday of the purchased package week, taking place in the Festival Center at Epcot. This seminar should be booked in advance as there is limited availability each day.

I'm guessing the Mixology seminar isn't part of the "beverage" seminar or is it?

I would assume from the wording on the website that a mixology seminar is not but I don't think anyone really knows. I called today to try to reserve something (travel plan change, long story) and the CM said she had no idea when the included seminars could be booked. Once they become available, maybe a mixology seminar would be bookable.

Bottom line: Anything that we really want to do, we have just booked.

 

[FoodieFriend]

I booked my Premium Package this morning for the week of September 27th and I was unable to book the seminar.

edit 1: Desert Party is only on the Monday of the chosen package week. Lame.

if you've booked the Premium Package for Sept 28 - Oct 1, you should know that there's no dessert party scheduled for that Monday, Sept 28. that's been my biggest concern about the PP i booked also. i have sent an email to Disney about it & received a call back confirming no dessert party on monday & they are processing my request to attend my dessert party on tuesday. no reply back yet from CM Audra. (the dessert party for that week only occurs on tues or wed & we can't go on wed)

you might want to follow up as well. maybe if they hear from concerned PP purchasers, they will resolve this issue soon. or they make a dessert party for that week especially for PP purchasers??

 

[Biceratops]

if you've booked the Premium Package for Sept 28 - Oct 1, you should know that there's no dessert party scheduled for that Monday, Sept 28. that's been my biggest concern about the PP i booked also. i have sent an email to Disney about it & received a call back confirming no dessert party on monday & they are processing my request to attend my dessert party on tuesday. no reply back yet from CM Audra. (the dessert party for that week only occurs on tues or wed & we can't go on wed)

you might want to follow up as well. maybe if they hear from concerned PP purchasers, they will resolve this issue soon. or they make a dessert party for that week especially for PP purchasers??

I just got off the phone with two of the CMs and they said that's an error on the website and there will be a desert party on Monday the 28th. Still cannot book seminars. Booking this is a mess!

 

[mrobin023]

I called yesterday when I realized that on MDE it showed all my events as either guaranteed by credit card or pre-paid. That is everything but the Premium package...it was showing "not guaranteed by a credit card". Come to find out the CM who booked this had it plugged in as the premium package seminar for that Monday at 2:00 and had not booked the premium package at all! And as you can probably guess, there is now no availability for that week! Beyond frustrated!

 

[Biceratops]

Where do you see the PP on MDE?

 

[FoodieFriend]

Where do you see the PP on MDE?

it shows up on MDE on Monday September 28 as the PP at 830pm. since reading your post, i'm calling the FEST phone line again to get the same assurances you received. the CM that i'm speaking to (Amy) said that she's sure that since they booked PP on Sept 28 "there must be a dessert party" that night. really? i asked her to check with a supervisor that agreed with her logic where they wouldn't have been able to book the package on that day if there was no dessert party. i explained that i booked it on the 1st day when details were not confirmed yet and if they could send me confirmation IN WRITING that states clearly that my dessert party is on monday not just my PP swag bag ready for pick up. I had to elevate my call to a supervisor that also can't give me any confirmation in writing. we'll see what can be done for me...

 

[Biceratops]

Ah I figured it out -- I linked the PP under "Dining Reservation" using the confirmation number. Thanks!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Just a note. Those of you trying to get your CMs to send you emails, it's probably not happening. Disney does not allow them to do that and they could easily lose their job when you show up waving that email demanding something they promised that Disney did not agree to

 

[Biceratops]

Not that it matters but I'm assuming they're allocating ~428 PPs each week (3000 Premium Packages divided by the 7 weeks of the festival). For those who did the Premium Package last year, how crowded were the "Premium Areas"?

 

[Scoobypop]

Last year we were a party of 7 for the two days we used the PP areas. The areas were all quite small, with as noted above, only some having seating areas. We NEVER had a problem getting a table or tables, and I was surprised because they were small areas. Our favorite areas were the ones behind Canada, there were long picnic tables, the one by Italy/Germany, nice and shaded with seats, and the one by Puerto Rico, it felt very "private/VIP" like. We have not booked this year yet-like many others here, our biggest value was the VIP areas and runners, and less about the goodies included. (Although we did wind up loving Late Nights Live, had a blast and used our entitlements for $12 champagnes, so definitely got bang for our buck at the party). This year we want the areas again, but I have the same worry, will they be MORE crowded this year than last year? Like we wonder if people passed it last year, had a harder time than usual finding tables (or trash cans lol) to eat on, and decided to splurge and buy it this year. Will opening it to locals crowd the small areas more? So we decided to take our chances, wait and see reviews and feedback, and if the areas are still not full and crowded, we will try to book. If it's sold out by the time we try to book (our trip is Oct 14) then so be it, and we'll know the lesson for next year. Thanks everyone already for sharing the booking experiences as well.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

They were not crowded at all. At a couple of them that only had a few seats, all the seats were occupied but there were still standing tables.

The biggest crowds come in on the weekend, when the areas can't be used.

 

[pepperandchips]

Not that it matters but I'm assuming they're allocating ~428 PPs each week (3000 Premium Packages divided by the 7 weeks of the festival). For those who did the Premium Package last year, how crowded were the "Premium Areas"?

What everyone else said, above. Last year we used the PP credentials October 1 and 2, and in most areas we were the only group - sometimes there'd be one or two other couples. We liked the area in the Odyssey Center - it had plenty of seating in the built-in banquettes in that area, was inside and air conditioned Plus the beer flights... yum! The food runners there visited Patagonia, Australia, and New Zealand for us. (I think, see above regarding beer flights... haha.) That was an "above-and-beyond" thing they did for us - we did not have the menu for those booths at the Craft Beer PP area, but the runner was more than happy to do it for us. I've raved before about those CMs and they deserve another moment of recognition here. Worth. Every. Cent.

 

[vettegirl]

Does anyone know anything about the package where you get 8 credits for the day and a guaranteed seat at a concert. There are two websites talking about this but I see nothing on the official site.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Yes, this is called the Discovery Sampler Package and you can book it now. You get 8 "entitlements" to use at the Festival kiosks (there will likely be some exclusions, probably the highest priced beverage items), a limited edition pin and priority seating for the 6:45 concert on the day you have the package. All entitlements must be used on the same day.

 

[vettegirl]

Yes, this is called the Discovery Sampler Package and you can book it now. You get 8 "entitlements" to use at the Festival kiosks (there will likely be some exclusions, probably the highest priced beverage items), a limited edition pin and priority seating for the 6:45 concert on the day you have the package. All entitlements must be used on the same day.

Thanks

 

[jen23il]

Clarification, are the regular MagicBands able to be used to charge food & drinks at the F&W kiosks for the F&W Festival? Or are we still better off loading a GC and using that?
Confused because if purchases in general can be charged using your MagicBand and if you do the Dining plan QS credits can be used/taken from the MagicBands (we are NOT doing the Dining Plan, but saw this mentioned), then why would we need another easy method (gc) to purchase items at Food and wine - MagicBands are on the wrist, just like the F&W gift card wristband.

Only thing I can think of is if the kiosks are not setup for the RFID read.

First time to F&W and super excited, but my waistband won't be, luckily swimsuit season will be over.

Thanks for your help.