2018 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival: August 30 to November 12, 2018

[Missyrose]

The "signature dinners" always seems way overpriced and I avoided them.

We did the Raglan Road signature dinner two years ago and it quickly shot to the top of our F&W favorites list. It was so good, (yes, pricey) but worth every penny.

 

[crazy4wdw]

The Disney Parks blog posted some information on the signature events this morning. The full schedule can be found here: https://secure.parksandresorts.wdpr.../06/Epcot-Signature-Dining-Events_UPDATED.pdf

This info is still not posted on the WDW website. I don't imagine that many people who are planning at trip to the festival would check Disney Parks Blog.

Seems like whoever is in charge of this year's festival has really dropped the ball. Dates of the festival were released later than usual, no information available for the special events prior to early booking, many of the premium events discontinued this year, the number of demos and seminars reduced. Glad I decided to skip this year's festival.

 

[woodleygrrl]

This info is still not posted on the WDW website. I don't imagine that many people who are planning at trip to the festival would check Disney Parks Blog.

Seems like whoever is in charge of this year's festival has really dropped the ball. Dates of the festival were released later than usual, no information available for the special events prior to early booking, many of the premium events discontinued this year, the number of demos and seminars reduced. Glad I decided to skip this year's festival.

Its a shame because our once a year trip (when we use DVC points) is ALWAYS for Food and Wine. It just seems strange that they would cut offerings instead of adding to them.

 

[karrit2000]

It almost seems like they are trying to kill the F & W Festival.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

It almost seems like they are trying to kill the F & W Festival.

I don't think that - I think they want to make it more like the other festivals and keep it just in EPCOT.

 

[Brocktoon]

It almost seems like they are trying to kill the F & W Festival.

I'm not even trying to over analyze it ... I think it may be as simple as they know people pack Epcot every year, and they know that any events they offer will sell whether they release the info on time or not. They probably dropped the lower margin offerings and will just focus on the big money makers. For WDW, this event is basically in cruise control mode and still remains highly popular. Until they see attendance or profits go down, they have no incentive to put in additional effort.

Many of us have seen the insane Saturday crowds and lines at the F&W Fest yet people still wait in the lines for the $5 thimble of cheese soup and eye dropper of wine ... I'm probably part of the problem as I still go year after year (although avoid Saturdays like the plague)

I'm just saying I think Disney may be less than prepared year after year because they can ... It's not hurting business.

 

[Stephy811]

Does anyone have any idea how quickly the italy beer vs wine tasting will book? From these boards I feel like everything will go crazy fast, but this is my first F&W so I would like to have time to think and make my plans (adrs, fps, etc) before booking something non-refundable.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Does anyone have any idea how quickly the italy beer vs wine tasting will book? From these boards I feel like everything will go crazy fast, but this is my first F&W so I would like to have time to think and make my plans (adrs, fps, etc) before booking something non-refundable.

The events do go fast. I would schedule my FPs around them.

 

[karrit2000]

Does anyone have any idea how quickly the italy beer vs wine tasting will book? From these boards I feel like everything will go crazy fast, but this is my first F&W so I would like to have time to think and make my plans (adrs, fps, etc) before booking something non-refundable.

This is a very popular event so it does go fast. With less "Signature" special events this year I'd expect things to go pretty quickly. If you are planning to attend F & W you make your plans around the F & W events, not the other way around. We go every year and most other plans end up falling by the wayside as the trip is specifically to get the most out of F & W.

 

[OhhBother]

I'm contemplating booking the Italian regional lunch, but I'm curious about menu choices. Neither my husband nor I eat seafood or lamb. Will we likely be stuck with multiple courses we can't eat?

 

[karrit2000]

I'm contemplating booking the Italian regional lunch, but I'm curious about menu choices. Neither my husband nor I eat seafood or lamb. Will we likely be stuck with multiple courses we can't eat?

If you have any food issues you let them know when you check in. They will make substitutions where appropriate. I don't recall ever being served Lamb at any of the Italian events but some courses do contain seafood. Mom can't have seafood along with a few other dietary issues and they've always provided her with wonderful substitutions for those items she can't eat.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Is anyone else bummed about how thinned out the event schedule now is? The signature meals are gone, so are most of the most interesting events. The demo schedule has been cut by two-thirds and doesn't include anyone remotely interesting. I'm just not sure what direction Disney is taking F&W. I know the booths are the moneymakers, but the other stuff was what made the event special (for us, at least).

Since I wasn't booking any F&W events this year, I put the money toward a photo session for my family at Epcot. So I guess that's the silver lining?

Honestly, no. All of the events that we enjoy the most are still around, and the booths themselves are a big draw. Weren’t the outside-Epcot events and most others being removed relatively new? Aren’t they adding to the booths?

I’d enjoy more celeb chefs (bummed that Guarniscelli isn’t there when we are!), but that’s about it. The demos went downhill a while ago, and I can’t take that host — so no desire to see more of those!

 

[NuJoy]

Both lamb and fish were on the menu at last year’s Italian Wine Luncheon.

 

[Castillo Mom]

I know the meal/wine pairings are nonrefundable. Anyone know what the cancellation policy is for the beverage seminars? I can't find the info anywhere online.

 

[Straughn]

I know the meal/wine pairings are nonrefundable. Anyone know what the cancellation policy is for the beverage seminars? I can't find the info anywhere online.

They are also non refundable. I don’t think there is any paid event associated with F&W that is refundable.

 

[karrit2000]

Is anyone else bummed about how thinned out the event schedule now is? The signature meals are gone, so are most of the most interesting events. The demo schedule has been cut by two-thirds and doesn't include anyone remotely interesting. I'm just not sure what direction Disney is taking F&W. I know the booths are the moneymakers, but the other stuff was what made the event special (for us, at least).

Since I wasn't booking any F&W events this year, I put the money toward a photo session for my family at Epcot. So I guess that's the silver lining?

Yes. Each year it seems they take more & more events away without coming up with anything really new & exciting.

The focus this year seems to be on making it a more family friendly event by adding more activities for kids. They mentioned a few in passing but there are no details provided. They now plan to offer a Free Junior Chef Kitchen that they tried to sell one year. I laughed when I read they were going to have a Character Dance party on Friday & Saturday evenings. Those are the two time frames that many families try to avoid due to the overly crowded walkways & less child friendly vibe. Honestly I try to avoid those times myself and only visit EPCOT those days if I have a special event booked. I'd love to enjoy the characters myself but F & W really isn't the place for it. Do they plan to restrict it to Families only? It's a Food & Wine Festival which makes it something that isn't exactly kid friendly and I think they are going overboard trying to appeal to families for this particular event. Most F & W festivals I know of do not even allow anyone under the legal Drinking age to attend. Obviously they can't, shouldn't and won't keep anyone under 21 out of EPCOT during the Festival.

The New Food & Beverage pairings in the Festival Center sound interesting but are quite limited and once again only held on the weekends with not enough info to know what you are paying for that you may not even want to eat. Sunday Brunch with the Chef is just a rebranding of the What's Cooking with and the old Sweet Sundays. The relatively new Mix It, Make It, Celebrate It is an overpriced money grab. I'm done with the Seminars & Culinary Demos. It kills me to see them dump the leftover beverages at the end of each non-sold out event when we pay to attend them and the Presenting Companies not only supply them but also pay for the opportunity to do so. How about making the pours a bit more generous and offering the leftovers to the paying guests instead of trashing it. Last Seminar I attended my Scallop wasn't even cooked enough to be edible so I paid for the opportunity to eat nothing. I won't book them in advance since even though they list the main ingredient you have absolutely no idea how it's going to be prepared. For the protein items they seem to rely too heavily on Hot spices that overpower the main ingredients and most of the "pastry" items contain Nuts.

With the elimination of all F & W Events that were held outside of Epcot & the cut to the ones actually held in Epcot the competition to get into the few remaining so called "signature" events is going to get even worse. They don't even hold PFTS every weekend anymore. I know they tried to hold smaller more specialized similar events years ago on different nights but because many of them didn't sell out they were deemed a flop. They've come up with a few interesting ideas a few times but only offered them once or 3 or 4 times during the Festival so unless you were lucky enough to be there when it was offered you never even had a chance to experience it. Every year I keep hoping they will come up with something new different but whenever they do usually it's either a one shot deal and/or not held at anytime during the two weeks I have scheduled to be there.

I may skip next year. I live in CO now & over the next several months They are holding 4 different F & W Festivals within 50 miles of me all priced well under $50 with discounted admissions available that are all under $50 for 2 people. VIP admissions are also under $100 for more than what you get at PFTS. There are also multiple Beer Fests practically every weekend.

 

[dachsie]

Do the Mix it Make it events sell out usually?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Do any of the culinary demos fill anymore? Looking to book a lamb and a lobster one this year and debating if I should get up at 3:45am for those tomorrow or wait to call in and sleep an extra few hours...

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Do any of the culinary demos fill anymore? Looking to book a lamb and a lobster one this year and debating if I should get up at 3:45am for those tomorrow or wait to call in and sleep an extra few hours...

Those should be online tomorrow. I wouldn't stress over it.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Those should be online tomorrow. I wouldn't stress over it.

Gotta call in to use my gift cards- I love discounts too much lol. Alas I can’t do it, I’m getting nervous just thinking about waiting to book my demos. Alarm it is, and I’m 99% sure it’s totally unnecessary but that darn 1%...