Food and Wine festival... waiting.... patiently... not!! :)

[TDC Nala]

Has anyone noticed the "use to be free" culinary demos at the Odessey now will need an ADR and costs $.

Where does this info come from?

 

[Tinky624]

If you go to Dis Home page there is a link in the lower left that says Food and Wine Fest. In there they mention with a $ symbol that the culinary demos at the Odessey price will be announced at a later date. That will most likely be around July 31st.

 

[Tinky624]

We want to do the PFTS on 10.28 as well. I think a lot of DIS-ers will be there around then. We are probably doing MNSSHP on 10.31 too.

MNSSHP for us will be the 26th! See you at P4TS!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Has anyone noticed the "use to be free" culinary demos at the Odessey now will need an ADR and costs $. I guess the popularity of F&WF has us reaching deeper into our wallets!

I still don't see anything that says that there will be a charge for the complimentary culinary demonstrations — or for the complimentary wine tastings either.

The only thing I saw that's close (with "culinary" in the title) is the "Chefs A'Field - Culinary Adventures that begin on the Farm" — which will be held 7 times, with different guest chefs, over the course of the Festival. As with all events in the DIS list of F&W Festival events, it shows "Price to be announced."

Please let me know what I'm missing.

 

[ImprovGal]

If you go to Dis Home page there is a link in the lower left that says Food and Wine Fest. In there they mention with a $ symbol that the culinary demos at the Odessey price will be announced at a later date. That will most likely be around July 31st.

I'm trying to find what you're seeing. There are some Odyssey events that do indeed say "price to be announced", but they are ticketed events held there like they did last year:

Odyssey Cooking School debuted last year, but on Thursdays I think.
The Lunch & Learns from prior years seem to now be divided up into three categories:
Kitchen Conversations -- chefs featured on Food Network
The Cook, the Book, and the Bottle -- Lesser known chefs who have authored cookbooks
Chefs A'Field -- other chefs
Sweet Sundays

Those events may have taken some time slots away from the free demos, but they didn't eliminate them. The press release that is up on allears.net lists "cooking demonstrations" as being included with Epcot Admission.

What am I missing?

 

[DVCconvert]

Horace Horsecollar & ImprovGal

Are right, there will still be free events, but those other are 'ticketed' events.

Also, we all need to remember that the info posted on the DIS home page is NOT yet official.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Also, we all need to remember that the info posted on the DIS home page is NOT yet official.

Good point. I wonder where DIS got it?

Although the list on DIS lacks pricing and various other details, the list looks like a legitimate, preliminary list. So I'm grateful that DIS published it.

As usual, there are almost no ticketed events on Mondays and Tuesdays.

One big change this year is that many of the ticketed events in the Odyssey now include a copy of the presenter's cookbook. I'm sure the event price will go up accordingly. In the past, the presenters' cookbooks were for sale, but buying cookbooks was optional. Now — if the preliminary event list is correct — my wife and I will essentially be forced to buy two copies of each presenter's cookbook, whether we want the book or not (and we certainly would not voluntarily buy two). I hope there's another option for the second cookbook — such as an opportunity to trade it in for a different book.

 

[eeyore45]

I guess we arent going to get more info on pricing or dates before Mondays call in festival - (I can hear the busy signals now! beep beep beep...)

I wonder why they arent giving us the option of purchasing the tickets ahead of time (for more money, but with the Wine and glasses added for a pre purchase "package")

ah to get in the minds of the planners!!! Do you think they just forgot to post those "minor" details??

 

[Scratch42]

They are in the dark as much as we are as to pricing!

I guess Monday Morning will be FUN!

j

 

[cmwilson523]

I feel so much better that I am not the only one going nuts over this!!! I really would like to know the price of some of the events (although PftS is a definite - we have gone every year) before calling. It would be nice to plan, and the ticketed events that we are looking at are new - so no way to compare from last year.

For the poster that questioned the Odyssey events being ticketed rather than free: last year they did this as well. The Odyssey Cooking School was fabulous. Even though it is by no stretch of the imagination cheap, it was worth every penny. I was planning to go again, but since we can't arrive until November 8, and our flights won't get us to WDW before 9am, I have to miss out. (Sort of bummed that they switched from Thursdays to Wednesdays, but there is always the 2007 festival...)

Okay, now that I have gotten that out, back to lurking...
Catherine

 

[J and R's mom]

I am so jealous of all of you who get to go to this event this year. We'll be getting there a week after it ends. Grrrrr!

I'm hoping to get to it one of these years.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

I'm really hoping some of these fun events will take place during 11/7 - 11/11. I have be home that Sunday for a family event, so I have to miss PFTS and I'd love to go to something special that week. I'm waiting with baited breath on the rest of these dates.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

I'm really hoping some of these fun events will take place during 11/7 - 11/11. I have be home that Sunday for a family event, so I have to miss PFTS and I'd love to go to something special that week. I'm waiting with baited breath on the rest of these dates.

I think there are several promising events from 11/7 to 11/11 in the list at DIS.

My guess is that all events have been slotted, so the list should be compete in that regard. The list is incomplete in terms of who some of the presenters are, what wineries will be at the ticketed events, and the exact dates of the Party for the Senses. Of course the event prices are also missing.

During times when there are no ticketed events in the Odyssey Center, there should be 45-minute complimentary culinary demos every 90 minutes or so. Also I would again expect two wine tasting rooms, each seating about 100 guests for complimentary wine presentations/tastings.

 

[Epcot Mom]

Ok, I need some feedback from you festival veterans. Last year we were there by accident during f&w but with kids, couldn't take in the festival events. This year we are going down just do that w/o kids. We are thinking we'll do the Party for the Senses and just leave the rest to whim while we are there. Do we need to book PftS ahead of time? If so, do we need to call first thing 7/31 or just sometime before Oct? Anything else you would consider a must do? My husband is a wine collector and I am into cooking but we have two small kids and this is a precious weekend without them so planning to do something at 11:00 am isn't appealing after enjoying wine the night before.

Anything we're missing by thinking only of PftS?

Thanks,
Epcot Mom

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The Party for the Senses, with a capacity of several hundred people each week, has traditionally not sold out as quickly as events with very limited capacity, such as the Exquisite Dinners. (The Exquisite Dinners cost twice as much as the Party for the Senses, but they seem to be the first events to sell out each year.)

If you are seriously thinking of going to the Party for the Senses, I would recommend booking on July 31. I think it's unlikely that any Party for the Senses date will actually sell out on July 31 — but you never know. I don't think it's necessary to call in right at 7:00 a.m. EDT for the Party for the Senses.

If you later decide not go to the Party for the Senses, you'll get a full refund if you cancel in time. I think the cancellation deadline last year was 72 hours before the event, but I could be mistaken.

The Party for the Senses is a lot of fun. We went in 2003 and 2004. It's expensive, but it's a great way to try a lot of different foods and wines. It helps to be adventuresome. The chefs tend to feature seafood and less common meats. I don't think we saw any beef or chicken either time.

I would recommend having a way to get back to your hotel afterwards that does not involve a Party for the Senses attendee driving a car. When you have many tastes of wine and other alcohol, it's easy to lose track of how much alcohol you've had.

 

[Tinky624]

I still don't see anything that says that there will be a charge for the complimentary culinary demonstrations — or for the complimentary wine tastings either.

The only thing I saw that's close (with "culinary" in the title) is the "Chefs A'Field - Culinary Adventures that begin on the Farm" — which will be held 7 times, with different guest chefs, over the course of the Festival. As with all events in the DIS list of F&W Festival events, it shows "Price to be announced."

Please let me know what I'm missing.

Price to be announced tells me it most likely isn't complimentary. If it was complimentary there wouldn't be a charge. The Chefs A'feild and others shows they list to be held in the Odessey all show a money sign $. Which all will have a charge. The demand of people waiting outside and the extrem populairity of this event has caused them to put a price on this. They don't have enough room between these shows to get things set up for the deoms they use to have. So exactly in what Air Conditioned building will these "complimentary" demos be held not sure. The free demos on days with schedualed events I think will be held between Maracco and France outside in the heat.

 

[ImprovGal]

Price to be announced tells me it most likely isn't complimentary. If it was complimentary there wouldn't be a charge. The Chefs A'feild and others shows they list to be held in the Odessey all show a money sign $. Which all will have a charge. The demand of people waiting outside and the extrem populairity of this event has caused them to put a price on this. They don't have enough room between these shows to get things set up for the deoms they use to have. So exactly in what Air Conditioned building will these "complimentary" demos be held not sure. The free demos on days with schedualed events I think will be held between Maracco and France outside in the heat.

These all say "Price to be announced" because they are indeed ticketed events. However, it doesn't look like they're replacing freebie cooking demos (or bumping them from the Odyssey's air conditioned comfort).

Chefs A'Field, Kitchen Conversations, and Cook-Book-Bottle only tie up Odyssey until 12:30pm Thurs - Sun. Sweet Sundays blocks off Odyssey until 2pm. The regional feasts, although they don't say it, appear to be evening dinner events (which would block off Odyssey from 6pm to close on what looks like Wednesdays). Odyssey Cooking School blocks off Odyssey until 12:30pm on Wednesdays. I think that covers all the Odyssey ticketed events!

Now let's compare to last year at the Odyssey:
Sweet Sundays blocked off until 12:00.
Lunch & Learns -- blocked off until 12:30pm Fri & Sat
Cooking School -- blocked off Thurs until 1:30pm.

So what did the free cooking demos' Odyssey schedule look like last year?

Fridays & Saturdays -- 6 spread throughout afternoon first @1:30pm, last @7pm.
Sundays -- 6 spread throughout afternoon first @1pm, last @6:30pm.
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays -- 5 spread throughout afternoon, first @12:30pm, last @5:45pm
Thursdays -- 4 spread throughout afternoon first @3:15pm, last @7pm.


It doesn't look to me like you'll be shorted many free demos. Probably 1 or 2 dropped from Sunday. Perhaps cut 2 from Wednesday, but I think Thursday will be able to pick up 1 or 2 extra.

Chefs A'Field is just a new name for a Lunch & Learn. Those ticketed events were only held Fridays and Saturdays last year, but had been held Fri, Sat, and Sun in 2004.

Whew!
I wish they'd hurry up and release the darned price list so I can figure out how much I need to whittle down my wishlist!!! AGGGHHH!!!!

 

[Stuck In Wonderland]

I have been reading this post for a couple of days now and thought I would join in! I have read many post in this thread that talk about holding tables and rushing to get a table. I have been to every PFTS and as far back as when it was called the Grand Tasting held at the Odessey. I'm not one for letting things bother me and never need a table when we taste at PFTS. However, I have noticed how many of these table holders are very rude to others that are wanting to have a good time as well.

Example- Last year we were watching one of the performances and when it was over a young couple wlaked up to one of the tall tables near the stage that another couple was eating at. The young couple said hello and began to share the standing table space that would easly fit 4 people. The other couple then rudely told them that the table was being occupied. The gentleman tried to explain that they only wanted to try the sample they just received and would then move. But the rude couple forced them to leave. I was very impressed by the young mans restraint not to reach across the table and choke them. This is just one recent example that I can remember, but I see this kind of behavior by many so-called adults. The point is everybody has paid the same amount to be there, it's not meant to be a sit-down dinner. If everyone adhered to this, there wouldn't be a problem, just a rotation and sharing of tables and chairs. I understand that some folks do need to sit and take a break, but please be considerate of those wishing to "share" your table for a few moments. Let's no be so possessive!

I do enough of this while I'm there and enjoy my short time on earth to the fullest! SOOOOO lookin forward to this years F&WF!

 

[tammyandtommy]

Can someone explain to me about the party of the senses? I must not understand. . . I thought when you paid for the dinner you got the table too? Is this not true? OK so what does happen at the POTS??

 

[zurgswife]

Can someone explain to me about the party of the senses? I must not understand. . . I thought when you paid for the dinner you got the table too? Is this not true? OK so what does happen at the POTS??

There are tables and chairs just not enough for everybody to sit down at the same time is what I was told....