Food and Wine Strategies

[JerseyJanice]

We'll be leaving soon to go to the F&W Festival. Not planning to do any special events--the booths are enough for us.

I printed out the guide map menu and highlighted all the things I'd like to try. I read this suggestion on this site, and it sounds like a good way to keep pace and not miss anything special.

We'll have the Quick Serve DDP, so we'll have 32 snack credits to use for 1 1/2 days. Planning to pay cash for any item under $3.50. Also planning to get two $50 Festival gift cards, one for me and one for DH, mainly to use for adult beverages.

What's your strategy? That is, if you have one--I didn't last year because it was my first time and didn't know what to expect. Now that I've been, I'll apply more organization this trip.

 

[leebee]

We don't have a strategy as it's our first time to F&W, so I'll be interested to see the responses. My DSis says don't bother with a ts ressie for F&W days. She says the "tastes" are generous and we won't want a full meal for dinner. Not sure I 100% trust this... but she and I have very similar eating patterns.

DD18, DH, and I will have 12 snack credits to use at F&W, and I think I'll have about $40 in DisVISA rewards dollars to put onto a wrist band for F&W. How do I use the snack credits... will they need my KTTW card every time? Do they let you charge costs to your resort room, or do you have to pay for them with cash (cc, etc.)?

 

[OKW Lover]

Since you're going on 2 separate days, its most important that you start the 2nd day going in the opposite direction than you did the first day.

Why? Because on the 1st day you'll find yourself getting full by the time you get half way around.

 

[JerseyJanice]

We don't have a strategy as it's our first time to F&W, so I'll be interested to see the responses. My DSis says don't bother with a ts ressie for F&W days. She says the "tastes" are generous and we won't want a full meal for dinner. Not sure I 100% trust this... but she and I have very similar eating patterns.

DD18, DH, and I will have 12 snack credits to use at F&W, and I think I'll have about $40 in DisVISA rewards dollars to put onto a wrist band for F&W. How do I use the snack credits... will they need my KTTW card every time? Do they let you charge costs to your resort room, or do you have to pay for them with cash (cc, etc.)?

CS in Epcot is very good, so if you don't get full on the kiosk offerings, you can have a meal there. (I like the Kringla Bakery and the Tangerine Cafe.) TS meals can be so time-consuming and there's so much to see at the Festival.

Fyi, there are two lines at each kiosks--one where you order and pay, and another where you bring your receipt to get the food and drinks. When paying, tell the cashier if you want to use a snack credit for something.

I found it to be a good idea to observe people's food as they exited the kiosk. Some offerings are more worth it than others. For example, last year, they had some kind of meat on a skewer at the Brazil kiosk. It was a tiny piece of beef or pork (I forget which) and not worth what they charged. OTOH, the slice of steak on a skewer they sold in Argentina was a fairly generous serving.

We didn't have a meal plan so I didn't take much notice of what was available for a snack credit, but on another thread here, someone posted a link that had photos of most of the kiosks' menu boards. I see that the lobster roll in America and the lobster and scallop pie in Ireland were each a snack credit last year. I hope that holds out this year because that's a good deal.

Things I didn't care for or felt ripped by last year were the California rolls in Japan. They were no better than those sold by supermarkets around here and you didn't get many for the $. I didn't like any of the offerings in Poland because I can make that food better myself at home. The cabbage roll was much smaller than the ones I make, and the fatty kielbasi was just a small slice. I didn't care for the cat food-like texture of the lettuce wrap in Korea.

I liked everything else we got and really enjoyed all the drinks I had--prosecco, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, frozen mojito in Puerto Rico. My favorite things were the fondue, the cheese soup and sausage with polenta in Canada, the short rib in France, and the aforementioned steak-on-a-stick in Argentina.

Hope you have fun on your trip, Leebee!

 

[MickeyNicki]

I think it depends on how long you are going for...last year we had to cram it into the last 2 days of the festival and that was tough

Get to the countries at 10:30 and wait until they open. Share with someone, works out great so you can sample more.

Greece is always close to Canada and that is our favorite so we start that way and go counter clockwise.

Highlighting the items you most want to try.

Stick in a circle mode, dont try to run back and forth

Avoid Friday mid afternoon until Sunday early afternoon as it will be slammed with the locals...Sun late afternoon to Fri early afternoon are the best times to go as they are not busy at all

 

[Sweet Melissa]

I think that the guidelines you already have in place are a fine strategy. Now the only thing left to decide is, when you arrive at the World Showcase, do you go clockwise or counter-clockwise?

 

[JerseyJanice]

Since you're going on 2 separate days, its most important that you start the 2nd day going in the opposite direction than you did the first day.

Why? Because on the 1st day you'll find yourself getting full by the time you get half way around.

I think that's a fantastic idea, OKW Lover! We will do that!

Sweet Melissa (love your username BTW), I think we'll start at the bridge and go clockwise toward Mexico/Norway the first day, then go counterclockwise (UK/France) the next day.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Also, I'm figuring that we'll pay cash for any food item $3.50 or less and use snack credits for the rest.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

Sweet Melissa (love your username BTW), I think we'll start at the bridge and go clockwise toward Mexico/Norway the first day, then go counterclockwise (UK/France) the next day.

Thank you! I think your plan sounds ideal. I think that's almost exactly what we did last year when we stayed at the Boardwalk. Have fun!

 

[Redheaded Sunshine]

Something that worked really well for me the last time we went was not getting more than one of something until after we tried it. If we wanted another one, we went back. Otherwise as a PP said, you'll be stuff before you even get halfway.

And for the record, things that made the cut for a go-back were DEFINITELY the sausage & polenta in Canada and the cheese soup! AWESOME.