International Food and Wine Festival

swede375 · Post by **swede375** » Jul Mon 27, 2009 6:47 pm

Hello-

My wife and I have been down to Disney World a few times but never to the food and wine festival at Epcot. I was wondering if anyone has gone and perhaps if any of the speacial "tastings" are worth the money. We are staying at the boardwalk so I look forward to the short walk over to the festivities.

Thanks,
Swede

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Jul Mon 27, 2009 9:04 pm

This is my favorite time to go!! The food is amazing!!! Make sure to bring penty of money, and some lines for food may be longer than ride lines.

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Jul Mon 27, 2009 9:47 pm

Food & Wine is a great time. Just expect "un disney like" crowds during the weekends as a lot of locals come to dine and drink around the world. But it is defnitely worth checking out.

noledawg · Post by **noledawg** » Jul Tue 28, 2009 7:41 am

I've never done a special tasting, b/c frankly just walking around the world is satisfying enough. Yes, bring money, though they now do very convenient prepaid cards that you can purchase at guest relations and other places. You can also wear them on your wrist, which actually is very helpful (easier than pulling out your wallet or purse).

And yes, the weekends have many locals. We prefer coming down during the week, and actually getting started when they open. Technically WS is at 11, but during food and wine you can usually start in the neighborhood of 10:30. We don't do the wine or beer until well after lunch, but the food is really good any time of day.

I think you should definitely go!!!! It's like a hard ticket attraction, but you only have to pay for what you want. It really is a lot of fun.

swede375 · Post by **swede375** » Jul Tue 28, 2009 7:56 am

We are going down there Oct. 4th and staying through the week. Not going to be there on the weekend. The festival is going to be our focal point. Thanks for the tips!

-Swede

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Jul Tue 28, 2009 9:49 am

We've done the Food and Wine Fest twice now and we loved it!!! There are tons of booths set up! We've been during the week, so we didn't have bad crowds. My only suggestion would be to stay away from the Moroccan beer!

cousininmiami · Post by **cousininmiami** » Jul Tue 28, 2009 11:28 am

We have never been during the Food & Wine but would love to go. When you say it costs a lot of money for the extra food and drink, how much are we talking? Is is one price per country, or how does it all work? We might also go this year, but don't know yet.

swede375 · Post by **swede375** » Jul Tue 28, 2009 12:29 pm

I've read that most of the booths are $3-$5 for apps but the main events can be anywhere from $35 - $220. I haven't been there but that is what I've read up on so far. Most of the events look to be on the weekend which we will miss but I'm looking forward to tasting everything from every country's booth.

-Swede

Clusty · Post by **Clusty** » Jul Tue 28, 2009 1:00 pm

I've never been to the Food and Wine Festival, but I'd like to. The only thing I'd be worried about is the crowds on the weekends.

Lion Sleeps Tonight · Post by **Lion Sleeps Tonight** » Jul Tue 28, 2009 5:29 pm

All around the Showcase there are booths featuring cuisine from around the world, and it goes by country. Each booth consists of about 2 food samplings with recommended wine/beer and desserts. Each item usually costs about 3-6 dollars. Every year there is a different theme and a State is featured. Last year it was Louisiana, the year before that was Oklahoma.

Durban Spiced Chicken. So good.

coasterfiend · Post by **coasterfiend** » Jul Wed 29, 2009 7:42 am

Unfortunately when we went last year we did not participate in any of the tastings, we did try to go to one of the free wine tasting seminars as a walk-up but with no luck. The set-up looked very nice. I know I'm no help for your initial question but I do suggest getting advance reservations if you do wish to participate. Also if you're going to try one of the events that does not take ressies get to the site at least one hour prior. Also there are many opinions about past events on other disney forums (Allearsnet and disboards for example)
Happy eating and drinking!!!

PureDisney · Post by **PureDisney** » Jul Wed 29, 2009 9:41 am

This sounds like a lot of fun. How bad are the crowds?

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Jul Wed 29, 2009 10:00 am

Pretty busy during the weekends. 50,000-60,000 (when a normal slow day at EPCOT) might be 30-40?

timekeeper · Post by **timekeeper** » Jul Thu 30, 2009 7:06 am

Have fun! We loved it and want to go back sometime.

The only paying event we did (besides the food samples around the showcase) was the Party for the Senses. We loved it! It was well worth the money to have items we dont usually eat. That is one we would be sure to do again. (Its only on Saturday nights.)

We toured the food booths during the week. On that Saturday evening (party was at 6 or 6:30) we hit Epcot at 5pm and it was packed! I had never imagined the park that busy!!!!!

HelenParr · Post by **HelenParr** » Jul Fri 31, 2009 9:21 am

You can have a great time at the booths alone, particulalry on weekdays (less locals) and earlier in the day. Very festive, a little crowded.

We have done special events. Our favorite events have been the chef lunches. We attended Todd English and Cat Cora, and those were totally worth it! (Expensive, but fun).

The demonstration tastings used to be free, but will be $8 this year (for crowd control really). I would still go to some for $8. Fun and relaxed.