Please tell me about Epcot's Food & Wine Fest

[mello]

I'd love to hear from anyone who's been to it. I was just reading about the concerts in the Magically Speaking newsletter this morning, and there was a link to the official site. Unfortunately, the official site has no really useful info at all. So I thought I'd ask here, since you guys collectively seem to know everything!

What special events are there, besides concerts? And do you need tickets for the concerts and other events? If so, where would you get them and how much would they be? I imagine there'd be increased crowds, so is it worth braving the extra people? Just enlighten me with everything you know about it...
TIA!

 

[jag90]

DH & I go every year, just the two of us. We LOVE it. We have never done any of the seminars or shows though. We go strictly for the food and wine (or beer in the case of DH). It is crowded and sometimes the waits are kind of long at each booth (25-30 minutes) but the food is almost always worth the wait. And, the booths are usually in such close proximity that I can wait in one line while DH waits in another. We meet in the middle and scarf down our purchases. Last year DH & I went one weekend and took the kids (DS 7 & DD 11) a few weekends later. It was the last weekend of the festival when we took the kids. The crowds were a bit much at that point but we still had a great time and so did the kids.

 

[Baloo]

During the week is not nearly as bad as a weekend.We went twice last year on a Sat. and a Mon.We had no waits when we went on a Mon. afternoon into the evening.We love getting to sample all the different foods from all over the world.DH loved the beer and there were some wonderful wines too.Italy did a whole thing on chocolate last year that was YUMMY!!!

You don't need a ticket for the concerts they're held at the America Gardens Theatre the outdoor stage and amphitheater across from the American Adventure.

Here's the info we have here at the DIS on F&W. It covers the special events and how much they cost.http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/epcot/events/index.htm

 

[mello]

DH loves the Commodores, so he'll be really excited to see them! The kids & I'd love to be there for the Beach Boys, but we'll miss that, darn it. Wow, what a nice surprise though, to have such a fun event going on for our first trip! Now I'm even more excited

 

[imatoad]

It's a really nice touch to EPCOT, we very much enjoyed it.

 

[KellyluvsDisney]

What type of food do they have at the booths? Are they small samples or like full meals? Are they food from each country?

 

[deelam]

They are not full meals. They are nice sized samples for only a couple of bucks each. You wouldn't want full meals as there is too much to taste. No real lines on the weekdays. I had such a great time there. We will miss it this year, but I plan to go next year for sure.

 

[lacy1101]

DH loves the Commodores, so he'll be really excited to see them! The kids & I'd love to be there for the Beach Boys, but we'll miss that, darn it. Wow, what a nice surprise though, to have such a fun event going on for our first trip! Now I'm even more excited

mello - Please correct me (anybody) if I'm mistaken, but when I follow the link posted by Baloo, the information listed is for last year's event. It says the agenda for 2005 is not ready yet. Is that correct?

 

[dvcgirl]

Food and Wine Fest is our favorite time to visit Epcot. It's a wonderful event. There are 20+ booths around the World Showcase for the 6 weeks of the Festival serving small portions of food from a certain part of the World along with a corresponding wine and sometimes a beer. In addition to that there are free seminars given throughout the festival. Our favorite part of the event are the special dinners and Party for the Senses event. Keep in mind that if you want to attend one of the higher end dinners that they sell out very quickly, sometimes within minutes.

If you're just interested in sampling the booths around the World Showcase, try and do so during the week (Mon-Thurs) if at all possible. This event is very popular with the locals and the lines for the booths can get quite long on the weekends. We live down here and try and avoid the weekends as well. I can't wait to see what the special events will be for this year!!

 

[mello]

But at least it gave me an idea of what there is. Also, the Magically Speaking newsletter has a schedule of the bands for this year, but no other info for this year.

mello - Please correct me (anybody) if I'm mistaken, but when I follow the link posted by Baloo, the information listed is for last year's event. It says the agenda for 2005 is not ready yet. Is that correct?

 

[kelsco99]

My family will be going during this time this year. Would you reccomend that we, as first timers, just take advantage of the booths that are set up throughout World Showcase with our young children (5 and 6), or would you say that getting childcare so we can attend one of the Party of the Senses events is worth it?

I should point out that we are not normally gourmet food eaters or wine connoisseurs, mainly due to location and lifestyle, but this sounds really exciting and cool.

Thanks,

Kelly

 

[Ted and Holly]

Tentative concert dates: http://www.pollstar.com/tour/search...Content=FL_Lake+Buena+Vista&PSKey=Y&Sort=Date

The best part of the F&W fest are the free wine tastings and food demonstrations. Last year was the first time we checked these out. We ended up going close to 20 of the 30 days and hit the food booths 3 times at most.

Ted

 

[Greenlawnsue]

My family will be going during this time this year. Would you reccomend that we, as first timers, just take advantage of the booths that are set up throughout World Showcase with our young children (5 and 6), or would you say that getting childcare so we can attend one of the Party of the Senses events is worth it?

I should point out that we are not normally gourmet food eaters or wine connoisseurs, mainly due to location and lifestyle, but this sounds really exciting and cool.

Thanks,

Kelly

We attended last year and took our 2 DS ages 6 & 8. They had a blast! Some of the food they would not have tried in a million years, but some they loved. We also gave them autograph books and they got some wonderful messages written by people working the festival from all over the world.
At the Australian exhibit, my DH went to the wine tasting for $6 , and I sat with the kids and watched a performance by Aboriginies (spelling?) from AUS. It was great.
We also attended a free tasting in the American Pavilion , by Samuel Adams beer. We had to show our ID's. I considerd just showing my wrinkles, but, oh well, don't fight it if someone wants to think that I'm anywhere NEAR 21 years old Anyway, they had a row of chairs in the back for the kids and gave them crayons and coloring pages while we learned about barley, hops and tasted all the Sam Adams brews!
If you are staying in a Disney resort, then take the kids at least once. You just have to hop on a bus to be driven back to your hotel. (No DUI's please!) You may end up wanting to go back without them later. We did.
Have fun and go with the flow! It's ALL good

 

[roxwithears]

We went a couple of nights last Nov. We had a great time eventhough my family wasn't very adventurous to try new things. Should mention that we went on a Friday night with the kids and it sometimes turned out to be a rather "rowdy" environment for a 6 and 7 year old. There were alot of drunk and loud people outside one location (UK, I think) and so we just whisked the kids away. It wasn't very late either but maybe because it was Friday, it brought the partiers out.

 

[Ted and Holly]

It is definitely important to note that some areas, like the Beer Garden in the UK, can be quite rowdy on weekend nights.

Ted

 

[BestBigSis]

Sounds like something I would enjoy...

 

[deelam]

You have got to try the Honey Baklava in Greece, if they have it this year. It was excelent. Also good were the cookies and chocolates in the piedmont section of Italy.And the crab cakes in the USA are a must!!! Actualy, I could just go on and on. The food was really good. I got to try new things.

 

[kda]

We went 2 years ago and look forward to going again this fall. It's something different to do. On 2 different days we sort of "ate our way around Epcot". Actually, we could only eat 1/2 way around Epcot for lunch and did the other 1/2 on another eve for dinner.

DH and I split most (but not all) things, which meant we got to try a lot more. The cost can add up pretty quickly --- it seemed like the food was $2 to $3.50, and might only be a few bites for each of us. But this took the place of a sit down meal, so it probably cost less than that would have.

It was fun, and we really enjoyed most of the food. DH actually tried frogs leg soup (France) and it was good! Each of the countries had a booth, and there were additional booths from other countries that were just participating in the food and wine festival.

Hope you enjoy it!

 

[baileybelle]

This link from allears has the food and wine booth menus and prices from last year. http://allearsnet.com/tp/ep/fw04c.htm

 

[April in Disney]

We have gone the last three years and loved it. I am really looking forward to this one, I hope to be in the mickeys backyard by that time.