just back from 5 days of f&w!!!

[Momof6]

Well - we had a BLAST! We have pics of almost all the food offerings from every booth. I will sort through them tomorrow and get some posted that aren't already out there. A few initial observations -

The complimentary culinary demos were great. We've done them before, but they seemed to be better put together this year. The signage in general seemed better, too.

There is no longer a beer school in UK. There is still the beer school (if you want to call it that) near the America pavilion. The guy we saw rushed through it and basically just had everyone drink the beer. You get to sample two additional beers (for a total of 6 samples). They have you vote afterward and one of the two offered will be specially brewed and packaged next year.

The cookbooks are really nicely done this year. Seemed like a good value - and can't wait to try this year's recipes.

There were a lot of problems the first two days with the credit card machines at the booths - but they seemed to be ironed out after that. The portions seemed very inconsistent from booth to booth - as did the prices in some cases. The lobster roll in the US is by far the biggest rip off of the lot. Don't bother - really.

Almost no booths had the samples displayed under a case (like they have in the past) so you really can't see what you are about to order unless you watch others go through the line before ordering.

I'll do my best to answer any questions anyone has - and like I mentioned before, I'll post pics of the food if that would be helpful.


denise

 

[katypop]

Well - we had a BLAST! We have pics of almost all the food offerings from every booth. I will sort through them tomorrow and get some posted that aren't already out there. A few initial observations -

The complimentary culinary demos were great. We've done them before, but they seemed to be better put together this year. The signage in general seemed better, too.

There is no longer a beer school in UK. There is still the beer school (if you want to call it that) near the America pavilion. The guy we saw rushed through it and basically just had everyone drink the beer. You get to sample two additional beers (for a total of 6 samples). They have you vote afterward and one of the two offered will be specially brewed and packaged next year.


The cookbooks are really nicely done this year. Seemed like a good value - and can't wait to try this year's recipes.

There were a lot of problems the first two days with the credit card machines at the booths - but they seemed to be ironed out after that. The portions seemed very inconsistent from booth to booth - as did the prices in some cases. The lobster roll in the US is by far the biggest rip off of the lot. Don't bother - really.

Almost no booths had the samples displayed under a case (like they have in the past) so you really can't see what you are about to order unless you watch others go through the line before ordering.

I'll do my best to answer any questions anyone has - and like I mentioned before, I'll post pics of the food if that would be helpful.


denise

Glad you had a blast I hope to be able to fit in a couple of the culinary demos in a few weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing your pics. I'm dissappointed to learn that most of the booths don't have samples for viewing, I found them so helpful the last couple of years. Did you go to any of the free wine tastings?

 

[kabuki]

Well - we had a BLAST! We have pics of almost all the food offerings from every booth. I will sort through them tomorrow and get some posted that aren't already out there. A few initial observations -

The complimentary culinary demos were great. We've done them before, but they seemed to be better put together this year. The signage in general seemed better, too.

There is no longer a beer school in UK. There is still the beer school (if you want to call it that) near the America pavilion. The guy we saw rushed through it and basically just had everyone drink the beer. You get to sample two additional beers (for a total of 6 samples). They have you vote afterward and one of the two offered will be specially brewed and packaged next year.

The cookbooks are really nicely done this year. Seemed like a good value - and can't wait to try this year's recipes.

There were a lot of problems the first two days with the credit card machines at the booths - but they seemed to be ironed out after that. The portions seemed very inconsistent from booth to booth - as did the prices in some cases. The lobster roll in the US is by far the biggest rip off of the lot. Don't bother - really.

Almost no booths had the samples displayed under a case (like they have in the past) so you really can't see what you are about to order unless you watch others go through the line before ordering.

I'll do my best to answer any questions anyone has - and like I mentioned before, I'll post pics of the food if that would be helpful.


denise

Thank you Momof6! We are heading out in a week and it's great reviews like yourse that get us ready! Can't wait for the pics!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Glad to hear you had a blast. We are going to miss the F&W this year. We really had a great time there the last 2 years.

 

[luvpooh]

sounds like you had a great time!
we will be in Disney in a week, and Epcot in 9 days!
Quick question, did you see the Sugar Cane bar in the Dominican Republic area? Any details you could provide would be appreciated!

 

[momomonster]

We were there on Friday (first day of F&W) and couldn't get near the booths, they were so mobbed. Epcot was open until 11pm that night, so we tried to go by late in the day, but none of the booth menus were lit and we couldn't see a thing.

Oh, well, the fest looked wonderful and I was disappointed we didn't get a chance to sample the goodies. Luckily, Epcot is full of good food and we still enjoyed ourselves a great deal.

 

[simonkodousek]

F&W sounds like a lot of fun. I think we might consider going for a weekend next year.

 

[Joan S.]

Hi, Cannot wait to see your pics! Can you tell me WHERE the "complimentary culinary demos" are held?? My DD and I will be attending our FIRST F&W in TWO weeks!! Thanks, Joan

 

[karrit2000]

Complimentary Culinary Demos are held in the Odyssey building. They vary from 2 -6 demos per day depending on what other Paid Events they are using the building for. the building is the short brownish one way off to your left as you head toward World Showcase.

 

[AmberI]

Sept 28 was great. the crowds were really low till about 6pm.

 

[mickaholic4077]

I was there on the 1st(Happy Anniversary Epcot!!!) with my mother. We were waiting in line for the 11am demo. I asked a CM when we were going to be let in to the building and he said 5 to 10 minutes before it started. Well,it was 10:58am by my watch and we still hadn't been let in yet. It started to rain and they STILL wouldn't let us in. Finally,someone in the line went up to the door,opened it,and demanded that they let us all in. It was 11:00 before we were let in. They need to get their act together when it comes to these demos.(BTW,the salmon sampler was delicious!!)

 

[ladysoleil]

sounds like you had a great time!
we will be in Disney in a week, and Epcot in 9 days!
Quick question, did you see the Sugar Cane bar in the Dominican Republic area? Any details you could provide would be appreciated!

I thought the SugarCane bar was kind of ehh. I wanted to be able to try the real sugar cane rum, but it's just frozen daquiri drinks- Mango, Passionfruit and Banana. They weren't terrible, but I was hoping for something different, and they were a lot like the booze slushies in Morocco, really.

 

[PatriciaH]

I thought the SugarCane bar was kind of ehh. I wanted to be able to try the real sugar cane rum, but it's just frozen daquiri drinks- Mango, Passionfruit and Banana. They weren't terrible, but I was hoping for something different, and they were a lot like the booze slushies in Morocco, really.

Yes, I had the passionfruit and did not like it much. DH said the banana was the best of the lot (he had them layer them like in Mexico.)

 

[luvpooh]

I thought the SugarCane bar was kind of ehh. I wanted to be able to try the real sugar cane rum, but it's just frozen daquiri drinks- Mango, Passionfruit and Banana. They weren't terrible, but I was hoping for something different, and they were a lot like the booze slushies in Morocco, really.

boo. I was hoping there would be real sugar cane rum and they would be making mojitos, caipirhanas (sp), etc. I can do without frozen drinks except for a 'mandatory' one or 2 at the start of a tropical vacation!
thanks for the info!

 

[TOM&LORIE]

"The complimentary culinary demos were great" Quoting Momof6. What are these???????

 

[MSJoyce12]

So, are all the souvenir beer steins different at every country? I'm wondering how much I should budget...

Shane

 

[BriarRosie]

"The complimentary culinary demos were great" Quoting Momof6. What are these???????

They are listed in the festival guide. I don't have the direct link to the
the .pdf someone posted here on the DIS. There's a timetable with the
food and wine demos listed. They are free to anyone in the park, (over 21
obviously for the wine stuff) but you need to get in line about 30 minutes early or risk getting shut out of the demo. Seating is limited.

 

[ladysoleil]

boo. I was hoping there would be real sugar cane rum and they would be making mojitos, caipirhanas (sp), etc. I can do without frozen drinks except for a 'mandatory' one or 2 at the start of a tropical vacation!
thanks for the info!

I was disappointed so I asked one of the F&W organizer people who happened to be in the pavillion.

I don't remember what day it is, perhaps someone with the program can look it up, but they are doing a demonstration tasting of the sugar cane rum at some point. That would be worth doing.

 

[ladysoleil]

So, are all the souvenir beer steins different at every country? I'm wondering how much I should budget...

Shane

I think it depends on the booth. We got a German one with the flag, but the American one was just the generic Food & Wine logo.