F&W tastings w/ kids?

[Jenny]

I have read about the tastings, particularly the one at Rose & Crown, on this board. My questions are: Can I bring my 1 & 3 year old children w/ us into the tasting areas? Are they allowed in due to their age? Is there room for highchairs or strollers at the wine, beer or food tastings? I read that one presentation at the Odyssey may run about 40 minutes. I'm not sure that my girls can hang in there for that long anyway. Is this the average time for the other free tastings? Do they all have lengthy presentations? I'm just wondering if I should send my husband in alone for certain tastings. Thanks for any info. We're leaving soon & I'd like to plan ahead. Maybe we'll have to stick to purchasing at the booths w/ the double-stroller in tow? Please advise.

 

[TDC Nala]

Usually the seminars take some time. If the kids are going to get bored and disrupt the lecture, maybe it's better to take them to Kidcot stations. Children are allowed into the free cooking demos, but if you take them in as one of the first 100 I believe they are counted as taking up a chair even if they don't taste the food. That means someone else who has been waiting in line didn't get a taste. (I did see a little girl about 4 years old really enjoying the tuna spring roll, although she pulled all the spinach out of it first.) If you're going to try these, you might tell the CMs that the baby isn't going to taste, and if you want, say the 3 year old won't either. I don't remember whether or not you're allowed to take big strollers into the Odyssey. Those presentations run about 40-45 minutes and would probably get boring for small kids. The wine presentations run the same length unless you get the guy from South Australia who talked for so long that all the wine got finished before he even mentioned the wine. The South Australia stories were interesting, though, and he had some darn good wine.

 

[Figment2]

I've not seen any children at the Rose & Crown tasting. I agree, too, with TDC Nala, that your children might get bored sitting through any of the wine tastings. The wine tastings especially are fairly quiet. Heck, even I've gotten bored a couple of times.

Cyn

 

[ttfn3]

I'm not sure about children that young. But last year, my 8 yr old joined my SIL and I for a wine tasting at the Odyssey. They put us at a table in the back, off to the side. He couldn't sit at the table where the wine was poured. But was allowed to sit in a chair right behind mine (next to the window). A CM gave him a glass of water and a basket of graham crackers, which we really appreciated! He had a couple of toys to check out to keep him busy. Meanwhile, SIL and I really enjoyed the wine tasting :thewave: