Party for the Senses 10/20/07 - Join Us!!!

[oybolshoi]

I know Melissa's been keeping track of as much F&W info as possible on her thread (thanks Melissa!) but I thought it might be a little easier for those DISers who'd like to share a meet 'n' greet at PFTS to hook up over here without bogging her down.

So, anyone who's coming to PFTS on October 20th, stop in and say hello! We're working on getting a group together so we can snag a table or two or three to share throughout the evening.

You may be wondering... who the heck is this Oybolshoi person?

Fair enough question.

I'm Brenda and my hubby is Jason and this is going to be our first Party for the Senses although not our first F&W Festival. We can't wait for October to get here and we hope to have a chance to meet some terrific DISsers who love good food as much as we do!

Attendees

Oybolshoi: Brenda and Jason (2)
Shovan: Sheryl & Bob (2)
Yearbook50: Melissa & Wes (2)
Girli565: Jennifer & Annette (2) Happy Birthday Jennifer!
Dizneykid: Jeanne & Marcel (2)
Magicinmyheart: Beckie & Terry; Cindy & Brian (4)
Krissalee: Krissy & Craig (2)
Cdtommie: Tom & Mary Ann; Larry & Lynne (4)
Ollie: Ian & Lynn (2)

current total: 22

 

[yearbook50]

Hi!

10/20 will be my second Party of the Senses (my first being just 7 days earlier on 10/13 with my mother).

I will be joined with my father.

I love good food and good wine (I grew up drinking wine and developed my pallet quit early luckily)

and I can't wait until I meet some fun Disers like myself.


And actually, my other thread is currently a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be today so it works out well for me

 

[oybolshoi]

Excellent!

Jay and I are fun... we think. Actually, once we've had a few drinks we're lots of fun... we think.


And I see a link for the Adventurers Club in your siggie... we love the AC!

 

[yearbook50]

Excellent!

Jay and I are fun... we think. Actually, once we've had a few drinks we're lots of fun... we think.


And I see a link for the Adventurers Club in your siggie... we love the AC!

Yup.
10/16 AC @ 9pm Dis Meet

Should be a good time.

 

[girli565]

Well, I'll be at the 10/20 PFTS with my mom. It's my first PFTS but not my first F&W Fest. It's my mom's first F&W Fest ever, she's so excited!!

So, it will be me, Jennifer, and my mom, Annette. I'm a foodie because my mom has become a self taught gourmet chef since her back injury keeps her at home most of the day. I'm really looking forward to meeting fellow DISers.

Oh, and 10/20 will be my 24th Birthday!!

 

[dizneykid]

Hi, my husband and I will be attending the October 20th PFTS! My name is Jeanne and his is Marcel.

This will be our second time attending. Although, last year I wound up getting the flu the night before and was so sick I just sat at a table in the corner all night. Only sampled a few items. I didn't want to cancel because we were with friends and also I didn't want to disappoint my husband. He had a wonderful time and sampled enough for the both of us.

So, I am REALLY looking forward to this year. I will be taking plenty of vitamin C before our trip!!

Marcel and I are foodies and we love to try new things. I have always been into wine (my dad bought me the book by Kevin Zraly, The Complete Wine Course, when I was 16). I love to cook and mostly love making desserts!

Also, we are going over to Epcot on September 29th to pick up some of the F&W Brochures. If you would like me to send you one, I will be glad to. Just pm me your address and I will get it right out on that Monday!! This way we could see what seminars are being held before our trip.

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Hi everyone I'm Beckie

This will be my 3rd Party for the Senses, my good friend Jeanne and her husband Marcel introduced me to the Food & Wine Festival 3 years ago with a few unused wine tickets from Australia. Until then I had never attended the F&WF even though we had visited WDW several times during this event.

Since my DH Terry and I managed to book and attend the PFTS the year before we thought attending together would be fun. The four of us booked and enjoyed a week of fun before our scheduled fest. As Jeanne posted she started feeling bad that Saturday, but didn't let it keep her away. She and I thought we would start our trip this year with the Party so hopefully we wouldn't be tired or susceptible to any viruses.

Sunday I called my DSis Cindy and told her the reservations for the F&W Events would be available Monday and she and her DH Brian will also be joining us.

So please add 4 more to the group.

Beckie

 

[shovan]

WOW!!!!! I'm thrilled that a shout-out for table sharers on 10/20 has actually turned into a DIS-Meet!!!
Looks like we are going to have our own Party at the Party!!!!
This is going to be so fun! I can't wait for October!

A BIG Thank You to Brenda for setting up our new DIS-meet thread!!!!

A little about us: I'm Sheryl & my DH is Bob. This will be our 2nd F&W fest & 2nd PFTS! Last year was our 1st empty nester's trip & don't tell our DD but it was the BEST! We had a great time last year & met a lot of nice foodie/wine people, a few that we still chat with! We are long term WDW addicts!. We love good food & wine, we're from New Orleans, so yes, we like to eat & drink! and I LOVE cooking!

It looks like we are going to have to see if we can grab several large tables together. I wonder if the PFTS organizers are going to have everything set up the same as last year. Which was (unfortunately) line up early & run like heck to get a good table!

I think this is our crowd so far:

Shovan - Sheryl & Bob party of 2
oybolshoi - Brenda & Jay -2
girli565 - Jennifer & Mom, Annette - 2
yearbook50 - Melissa & Dad, Wes - 2
dizneykid - Jeanne & Marcel - 2
+
magicinmyheart - Becky & Terry + Brian & Cindy -4 - total party of 6?

Gosh, 14 people so far!

From what I remember from last year, the largest table had chairs for 6.?? Does anyone's memory serve them better as to how the tables & seating was set up? Where the large tables grouped together or was it mixed with small & large? If I recall, the taller tables without chairs were on the perimeter of the table areas, right?

I know Bob & I, and Brenda & Jay will not be going to the concert that night, so we'll get there early. In the past have they allowed seat-saving? We've didn't do the reserved concert seating last year either, has anyone else done that? I was wondering how that worked out?

 

[yearbook50]

I'm Melissa...I will be a party of 2 with my father (Wes)

 

[oybolshoi]

I'll be sure to start editing the original post with a running list of DISsers who plan to attend.

I'm glad we have some time to work out the details. I can't wait to meet everyone and eat and drink and drink and eat...

And Jeanne, I for one would love to take you up on that offer of a F&W program when you visit in September. Thanks so much for being so thoughtful so far in advance!

 

[shovan]

I'm Melissa...I will be a party of 2 with my father (Wes)

Sorry, I hadn't made the connections with Brenda's kudo's to you & your screen name! I've corrected the numbers!

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Sheryl

We have never attended the Eat to the Beat Concert Series before the PFTS, just on nights with no events scheduled.

If you attend the concert it ends at the same time the PFTS starts so...remember that crowd last year...you would be one of the guest way in the back...one of the last guest to enter. Makes your chance of getting a table very small. We try to arrive at 6:00pm so we are in the middle of the crowd.

Last year we found a small table for four toward the middle of the building, I think that they did have larger tables at the entrance, large enough for 10 guest but that may have been the year before.

We will know how the tables are arranged once the earlier partys start.

Beckie

 

[yearbook50]

Sorry, I hadn't made the connections with Brenda's kudo's to you & your screen name! I've corrected the numbers!

Its ok.





I'm not planning on going to the Eat to the Beat Concert before Party of the Senses.Only one I might do is on 10/14 for David Cassidy (my mom's high school crush)

If you have a group large enough can't you call and request a reserved table?
I may look into that.

 

[shovan]

Melissa, I don't know if a table can be reserved or not? That would be great! If you can't make the call, let me know & I'll do it. If you do get to set aside a table, you'probably should mention that we'll have 1 wheelchair in the group. (My DH Bob)

I'll be sure to start editing the original post with a running list of DISsers who plan to attend.

I'm glad we have some time to work out the details. I can't wait to meet everyone and eat and drink and drink and eat...

And Jeanne, I for one would love to take you up on that offer of a F&W program when you visit in September. Thanks so much for being so thoughtful so far in advance!

Brenda, Thanks! You are so on top of this!


And I almost forgot about Jeanne offer! I was actually going to go hunt for someone going early to send me one. Thanks Jeanne I'll pm you with that info.

What other events are y'all going to be attending?

Besides the party, we've booked wine pairings at Marrakesh & Coral Reef. We wanted Le Cellier & of course that was already full by the time I got through. In fact there were a lot of other events, we were hoping for, but not having the schedule out a lot sooner, kept us from being able to work it all out.
We also have an adr at AP, and ended up cancelling the one we at CG to fit everything in. We are also having a meet with some other Dis-friends on my NOLA thread, going to do a lot of booth cruising that day!

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

If you have a group large enough can't you call and request a reserved table?
I may look into that.

You can call but none of the tables are reserved. You may find a stranger has decided to sit in your seat while you go to one of the stations for food or wine. This does and has happen they will tell you all the tables are open for anyone. Which they are...it's just that most people wouldn't take someones seat.

This happened to us our first time, the other couple we had meet in line had left the table while we were checking out other food stations. (We tried to take turns going around) The new guest had thrown the other couples possessions under the table. I sat down to try and wait for the original couple but never saw them before we left.

 

[oybolshoi]

What other events are y'all going to be attending?

We'll be at that Le Cellier tasting on 10/19 (sorry you won't be there Shovan) and the Scotch pairing on 10/21 at Rose & Crown. And we really want to get into a Sushi / Sake pairing if Disney can figure out what the heck is going on with the restaurant reservations.

As for our other plans... We'll be at WDW 10/15 - 10/25

We have ADRs at Jiko, Crystal Palace, Gardenview Lounge, Kona, Scifi, Flying Fish, California Grill, Narcoosee, and Rose & Crown. My birthday is 10/17 and once we enter the 30-day booking window I'm going to make an ADR for Bistro Paris for that night.

We're also going to do a Segway tour in Epcot one morning!

This is our last WDW trip for a few years, so we're trying to cram in as much as we can on this visit.

And... we're going to spend one morning over at the Mandara Spa...

 

[shovan]

Sheryl

We have never attended the Eat to the Beat Concert Series before the PFTS, just on nights with no events scheduled.

If you attend the concert it ends at the same time the PFTS starts so...remember that crowd last year...you would be one of the guest way in the back...one of the last guest to enter. Makes your chance of getting a table very small. We try to arrive at 6:00pm so we are in the middle of the crowd.

Last year we found a small table for four toward the middle of the building, I think that they did have larger tables at the entrance, large enough for 10 guest but that may have been the year before.

We will know how the tables are arranged once the earlier partys start.

Beckie

Last year, we didn't really see the neccesity in reserved seating for the concerts or want to sit outside getting all hot & sweaty before the Party. Since they have now scheduled Juice Newton for that night, I will really not need to make that concert that night! We will make sure to catch the Four Tops while we are there, though.

Your right about being able to get more info after the first Parties, the dis is cool isn't it!

 

[shovan]

We'll be at that Le Cellier tasting on 10/19 (sorry you won't be there Shovan) and the Scotch pairing on 10/21 at Rose & Crown. And we really want to get into a Sushi / Sake pairing if Disney can figure out what the heck is going on with the restaurant reservations.

As for our other plans... We'll be at WDW 10/15 - 10/25

We have ADRs at Jiko, Crystal Palace, Gardenview Lounge, Kona, Scifi, Flying Fish, California Grill, Narcoosee, and Rose & Crown. My birthday is 10/17 and once we enter the 30-day booking window I'm going to make an ADR for Bistro Paris for that night.

We're also going to do a Segway tour in Epcot one morning!

This is our last WDW trip for a few years, so we're trying to cram in as much as we can on this visit.

And... we're going to spend one morning over at the Mandara Spa...

Yeah, I'm still mad that I had so much trouble getting through on the phone yesterday! You really are trying to get a bunch in on this trip, that's going to be great! We were thinking about trying for the Bistro too. Is that how they do that, another wake up bright & early & hope to get through?

Why the last trip for a few years?

 

[oybolshoi]

Yeah, I'm still mad that I had so much trouble getting through on the phone yesterday! You really are trying to get a bunch in on this trip, that's going to be great! We were thinking about trying for the Bistro too. Is that how they do that, another wake up bright & early & hope to get through?

Why the last trip for a few years?

Bistro only takes reservations 30 days in advance. I don't think there's usually a rush for them like there is for the F&W stuff, but I have the date marked on my calendar so that I don't forget to call at some point to get it. I don't think you need to worry about waking up before sunrise to nab an ADR at Bistro (I hope not!).

I don't understand the phone system with WDW dining at all. I called the F&W fest number... had to go through all those stupid prompts, and then actually got a CM who said, "Welcome to the F&W Festival ADR center." She was great - on top of everything (until she told me the sushi pairings were sold out).

But when I tried to call back 5 minutes later the circuits were busy and then one other time I got through but was on hold for so long that I had to hang up or I would have been late for work.

As for this being our last visit for a while - we don't have any points available for next year because we borrowed them to cover a second trip this year (May). And we really want to visit some different places. We're thinking of using our 2009 points to cover a trip to Hawaii...

 

[MAGICinMYHEART]

Sheryl

I called 407 WDW-FEST (407 939-3378) at 6:59am and by the time 7:00am rolled around I was talking to Rob, he did a great job and I was completed by 7:07am.

Sorry you had such a problem yesterday, I have been caught in that never ending hold pattern only to reach someone that's

Unfortunately I need to try for an AP or Florida Residence discount rate for the first three days of my trip. I am DVC Member and have had my main reservations over at The Boardwalk Villas for 10 months, just added three days over at the Wilderness Lodge when my DSis Cindy decided to come party with us. So now I have to check for those discounts every morning.

We will be at:
Wilderness Lodge October 18-21
Boardwalk Villas October 21-25

We're also going to do a Segway tour in Epcot one morning!

Brenda

That's so funny...we also have the Segway Tour scheduled for Oct 24th along with Jeanne and her DH. When are you planning to take the tour?

I still would still like to book the Sake, Sushi, and Sashimi for the 22nd, can't wait until Jeanne visits and gets some of the F&W Brochures so we can complete our planning.

Beckie