Food & Wine Festival Strategies.....What are your must eat's / drinks???

[1MegMeg]

Thank you all for your tips and strategies. This will be our first year to the F&WF too.

Are the samples big enough for two people to share, or do we each need to buy our own?

 

[suzimar57]

i've gone to several past F&W festivals (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 & 2003) - my favorite time of the year!!

past years i've had baked ziti & cannoli in italy, baklava in greece, quesadilla in mexico, kielbasa & pierogies in poland, and salmon & fudge in canada

last year, for me, the "standout" snack was the crab cake at the united states booth (think i ate about 10 of them...) - also filled up on lots of watermelon water at the mexico booth

had sweet green tea mousse at japan, hummus in morocco, creme brulee in france, cheddar cheese soup in canada, potato pancake with sauerkraut & sour cream in russia, and grapefruit cake at the colorful eating booth

going back again in a few weeks - really looking forward to it!

 

[Hadjii]

Do not miss....


The Coco-Polada wine at the Citrus kiosk...our favorite
The whiskey custard at the Ireland kiosk...you can't eat just 1
The chicken and chorizo quesidillas at the Mexico kiosk...a treat
Any of the South African wines...yummy

Also, don't forget the great concerts going on during the fest. We're really lucky cuz Blake Shelton's gonna be there during our stay. We love him.

If you are going at night...eat lightly during the day. When the previous posters say they were full half way 'round, they weren't kidding. There's a ton of different booths with several food choices at each one. Even though they are appetizes sized portions, they fill you up pretty quickly. We like to go around once and get appetizers. Then we do a dessert/wine run around the world the second time. Whew! No room for sissies here lol. You need to be a food warrior and attack .

Have a great time. It's our favorite time of the year at Disney World. - Nancy

 

[ncbyrne]

I've been a few times during the Flower & Garden Festival and the vendors were different each time. So I'm sure the food vendors would be different every year too. This year we'll be there Nov 3-8, but I'll have my 2 DGDs (7 + 11) with me. They are VERY picky eaters, but I'm hoping there will be enough choices so that we can avoid a sit down lunch.
Does anyone know if they accept Disney Dollars?

 

[PneumaticTransit]

The best tip is just to have a lot of small bills on hand.
I don't know what kinds of food they will have this year, but in the past I have really enjoyed the water melon juice in Mexico, the clam chowder in America, and the green mussels (I think Australia?). Italy always has great food. It is also nice to try foods that I would not normally order (just in case I didn't like it - I wouldn't want to be stuck with it) I really liked the escargot <sp?> (snail) from France.
I did notice last year on the opening weekend all of the booths had very long lines. I would recommend going to Epcot on a weekday, and/or towards the middle/end of the festival.
Get a festival guide when you enter the park, they will have a list of food available at all the booths. Mark off a "must try" list. If you start at one end of the World Showcase you will find yourself full halfway through so save room for the stuff that really sounds good.
Oh yeah, the chicken tacos in Mexico were great, as well as the chicken with peanut sauce from China. I love to eat, can't you tell?
They only thing I've tried that I didn't like was sake in Japan. Save yourself the $2 and go buy some rubbing alcohol at Walgreens... I'm sure it will taste the same

 

[dischick4778]

I have been the past two years and it was somewhat different each time. My favorites were the Scallops in Spain, the Cheddar Cheese soup in Canada, honey lemonade (not sure which stand), the Mussels from Australia, and dessert is always in Italy. There are so many good choices. The best thing to do is get to Epcot before the F&WF starts, grab a booklet and make your game plan. It is so much fun!

 

[ncbyrne]

Would you say that if you ate enough samples around the lagoon that it would suffice as lunch?

 

[dischick4778]

I would say it's enough for lunch and even for a dinner as well. We always leave there so stuffed! Just watch your wallet, the small prices add up pretty quickly. We wound up spending $60 per person once. Yikes! But it was well worth it.

 

[TiggMan]

For those of you new to the F&WF, here are a few items to consider:

Samples are for appetizers, entrees, desserts, wine & beer. Not every booth will offer all of these, and the samples are as different as the countries offering them. You can definitely graze around the world, and yes they can serve as either lunch or dinner, depending on how hungry you are and how many booths you may wish to visit.

Prices range from $1-$4. If you are sampling a beverage of choice, you might be able to get them to give you just a sip for free before actually buying it and then finding out you wasted your money on something you didn't like. The vendors take cash, Disney $, and Room key/Charge card for those staying on site.

For the Food booth menus and pricing from last year, go to:

http://www.allearsnet.com/tp/ep/fw03c.htm

The free seminars were usually held either in the old Odyssey restaurant to the left as you enter WS from FW, or at an area back by the US and Japan pavillions.

You might also want to take a pen/pencil and a piece of paper to write down those wines/beers that you find worthwhile. We did and found them at a local beverage store for home use.

Hope this helps you all.

 

[ncbyrne]

Do the booths also offer non alcoholic beverages?

 

[TiggMan]

You know, that's a good question. I don't think so, since there are so many other places around to get them.

 

[DianeV]

My husband recommends the free beer shows!

Actually we have done the Sam Adams one twice now and its interesting..you get about 5 or 6 different samples

He tried to get into the Beers around the World last year but it was full so you have to sign up for that one early.

 

[webmomom]

the watertmelon ice, water or whatever you want to call it, is non alcoholic beverage/ Thinking that seems to be the only one. My husband does not drink, so we never really got anything to drink fromthe booths except the watermelon water.

 

[Raggedy]

This sounds like alot of fun. I am excited. Do any of the people get drunk? Just a question. I have been to wine tasting parties and alot of the people were smashed. LOL. Does anyone ever see anyone drunk at these. I am sure the cm's escort them out right away.

 

[djh96]

Do they sell bottles of wine to buy if you love the samples?

 

[disneyorbust]

Ssshhhh, don't let too many people know this so I can still get into it, but the Piedmonte chocolate cooking demo in the Italy pavillion was GREAT! We went for 2 days; the first was a chocolate dessert like a flan and the next day was chocolate pasta (really good). That was my favorite followed closely by Beers around the World - lots of fun and interesting; the Sam Adams seminar was more fund and interesting, and I dragged my poor,sweet husband to many wine tasting seminars. We did also eat a lot too!! Fav's were: cheddar cheese soup and salmon in Canada, watermelon ice in Mexico, grapefruit cake somewhere, hummus in Morrocco. I'm sure there were many more, it is a lot of fun and filling too. You do go through dollar bills rather quickly though with all the samples to choose from! I'll be back there this year 10/13-10/18

 

[TiggMan]

Do they sell bottles of wine to buy if you love the samples?

Yes, they do. They had a rather large place back by the US pavillion next to where the seminars are held.

 

[Tina1]

Ok this is my first post on this site. We try to go to the food and wine festval every year, it would have to be my favorite time to go. Don't plan to much just look up the menus and entertainment then wing it. We try to go on Thursday that has always seemed to be the slowest day. Start around noon, dinner always seems more crowded. there's a lot more locals in the evenings and weekends. Let me know if you have any more questions Here's a good web site.
www.allearsnet.com
Hope this helps Tina

 

[B'rer Karen]

Originally posted by Raggedy
This sounds like alot of fun. I am excited. Do any of the people get drunk? Just a question. I have been to wine tasting parties and alot of the people were smashed. LOL. Does anyone ever see anyone drunk at these. I am sure the cm's escort them out right away.

I'm sure lots of people get drunk. I know I did. But I think what you're really asking is are there lots of obnoxious drunks being loud and boisterous and getting sick in the bushes. That I did not see. But if you're drinking around the world all day long, you're bound to get drunk. It wouldn't be good for business if cm's escorted those people out.

 

[Tinkerbelle739]

I am so excited!! DH and I are planning on doing this one evening while the kids are in the Sandcastle Club at the BC. We will have 6 hours to enjoy the F&WF and I am so looking forward to alone time with DH and grazing along the way!!