Any possibility it's not Disney cutting back? I've always been under the impression that the wineries are providing all that wine that is poured during the seminars, and that they count on the exposure to increase sales. With an economic downturn, all corporations are re evaluating their advertising expenses. Some of them may feel that they can't count on the return on investment or just flat out can't afford to paticipate. Some that get involved in multiple festivals may have cut back. It's got be a huge investment in travel, product and personnel to come to Disney for a wine tasting.
I'm sure there is some truth to your point, but I looked at last year's festival guide and this is what I found:
2007 - Food & Wine Pairings were offered at
7 different Epcot restaurants.
2008 - Food & Wine Pairings are being offered at
3 different Epcot restaurants.
2007 - There were
6 Exquisite Evenings held at Epcot.
2008 - No Exquisite Evenings are being held.
2007 - There were
7 different signature dining events being held around WDW property.
2008 - There are
2 signature dinners, being held within 5 days of each other.
2007 - There were
6 Regional Feasts held at Epcot.
2008 - There is
1 Regional Feast being offered.
I could go on but I won't. I have no idea what's driving the festival "scale-back" but I think that there is more than one single explanation for it. And my husband and I are disappointed in what we perceive to be a real lack of special programming compared with previous years. And the "freebies" have been reduced pretty significantly, too.
When I spoke with a CM at the Disney Dining Experience office about my concerns last month I was told that a lot of these changes came about because guests asked for them. That's the biggest load of garbage I've come across since passing a landfill last week on a detour to my office.
In years past many of the F&W pairings sold out within a day after reservations began being accepted - many of the signature dinners and exquisite evenings also sold out quickly. To me that indicates that there was tremendous interest and demand for these type of events and certainly wouldn't warrant cutting them back so extensively while not making an effort to replace them with anything equally as interesting.
Just my two cents.
r version of PFTS and it does not even come close to PFTS! Personally I think the free wine classes and food demonstrations in California are WAY better. Hope this helps a little!
I was going by your "handle" so others knew who I was talking about! 
have a big cup of coffee... and TELL US HOW IT WAS!!! 
Pictures would be even better! 
. It only includes the smaller (12 oz) beers.
