2016 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival: September 14 - November 14, 2016

Holy wow! We just did the Culinary Adventures with a Master Chef event at the CR. Such a great experience, working had in had with great CMs and then enjoying the fruits of our labor. The food was amazing and we were entertained by the chefs all night. At first I thought it was too pricey, but for what you get, it ended up being my all time favorite event at any F&W!

5 course meal: sushi (we rolled and prepared ourselves), wedge salad, fresh pasta (pesto and marinara), best fillet mignon I've ever eaten and strawberry mousse in chocolate bowl for dessert. Each had a wine pairing and we got to try some molecular gastronomy with banana dipping dots in liquid nitrogen. We got commerative aprons, a cookbook signed by all the chefs and even a "graduation" to chef hat, which we wore all the way back to our resort with pride :-D

It all happens backstage but we were allowed to take tons of pictures.
Highly recommended if you can afford it.
 
Dikran said:
Holy wow! We just did the Culinary Adventures with a Master Chef event at the CR. Such a great experience, working had in had with great CMs and then enjoying the fruits of our labor. The food was amazing and we were entertained by the chefs all night. At first I thought it was too pricey, but for what you get, it ended up being my all time favorite event at any F&W!

5 course meal: sushi (we rolled and prepared ourselves), wedge salad, fresh pasta (pesto and marinara), best fillet mignon I've ever eaten and strawberry mousse in chocolate bowl for dessert. Each had a wine pairing and we got to try some molecular gastronomy with banana dipping dots in liquid nitrogen. We got commerative aprons, a cookbook signed by all the chefs and even a "graduation" to chef hat, which we wore all the way back to our resort with pride :-D

It all happens backstage but we were allowed to take tons of pictures.
Highly recommended if you can afford it.
Click to expand...

That sounds fantastic! If you post pics somewhere public, please share!
 
2xcited2sleep said:
Not sure on the cheese seminars but the What's Cooking With definitely used to start later. For what it's worth, I attended one earlier this year and I was let in the International Gateway early along with those who had pre-opening breakfast reservations in Norway etc. (scanned my band to check). I was not the only one and when I got to the Festival Center others had come from the main entrance. Can't hurt to ask & even if they don't honor it, I believe they typically start letting "regular" people in ~8:45. Have fun!!
Click to expand...

Interesting. We attended the Robert Irvine's What's Cooking With on a Sunday in September. We had to wait until the gate was opened for all guests, which fortunately was 8:45am. We had arrived at the International Gateway pretty early, so was one of the first groups through the gate.

Tinks said:
So if you had a choice of attending Food and Wine Thursday late afternoon/evening, Friday early (right at opening) or Saturday any time, which would you choose??

Looks like I only have those options and this is my first F&W.

Thanks for any advice!!!
Click to expand...

If you're going just for the food booths, I suggest Thursday afternoon/evening. The F&W booths don't open until 11am. However, if you plan on seeing either the Festival Center (opens at 9am) or riding FW rides, then Friday morning does become an option.
 
Dikran said:
Holy wow! We just did the Culinary Adventures with a Master Chef event at the CR. Such a great experience, working had in had with great CMs and then enjoying the fruits of our labor. The food was amazing and we were entertained by the chefs all night. At first I thought it was too pricey, but for what you get, it ended up being my all time favorite event at any F&W!

5 course meal: sushi (we rolled and prepared ourselves), wedge salad, fresh pasta (pesto and marinara), best fillet mignon I've ever eaten and strawberry mousse in chocolate bowl for dessert. Each had a wine pairing and we got to try some molecular gastronomy with banana dipping dots in liquid nitrogen. We got commerative aprons, a cookbook signed by all the chefs and even a "graduation" to chef hat, which we wore all the way back to our resort with pride :-D

It all happens backstage but we were allowed to take tons of pictures.
Highly recommended if you can afford it.
Click to expand...

If on the off chance this is happening during my trip to F&W next year, I'm definitely going for it.
 


I did the VIP food and wine tour recently. The cast members indicated that it would be back in 2017 so thought I would provide some feedback on it.

In short - I really enjoyed it. We had four cast members with us and about 20 people in the group.

We started with the brunch in the festival centre, where we had the prime table up front. Anyone that wanted their books signed had them pre-signed before brunch (the books were then stored by the CMs and nobody had to carry them all day, you got them back at 5pm). Immediately after brunch we had a quick meet and greet with the chef ahead of the people with the wrist bands.

We were whisked off to Soarin - where we entered from backstage. We were given prime seating on the ride as well (front centre) within minimal wait time.

We did a wine tasting at the festival centre with Dino - the head sommelier for the festival, which was really informative.

We then headed to try some of the festival foods. We had a seated area in one of the buildings (unsure which one) - and all of the dishes were introduced by WDW's head chef. The discussion was really interactive and we could ask questions about the festival or food at Disney more generally. Interesting answer from him at one point - any recipie from Disney you might want? Email them. They will send it to you! They apparently have a full archive and can even provide ones they don't make anymore. There was wine available with the food.

We then hit up Frozen (again with almost no wait), which was awesome! We had some spare time before our ne t stop, so they took us to Mexico and we rode that ride too (again, no wait).

Next up was a beer tasting session at the craft beer area. We got the try three beers and had a lot of interaction with the experts to discuss the beer.

Then it was off to festival centre again, this time to a private room upstairs, for a wine tasting and full meal. And I mean full meal! We had pumpkin soup (which was amazing), followed by a giant plate of steak, fish and vegetables (also great), then dessert. We tried three wines with them and learned about the history of the winery they came from.

After that we got a backstage van ride over to Italy, where we had a shot of limoncello. Then it was off to Eat to the Beat where we had VIP seats, where we said farewell to the wonderful cast we had spent the day with.

We also were able to access a VIP area for the fireworks later in evening if we chose to.

There was plenty of water on hand throughout the day, and they provided plenty of bathroom breaks as well.

If you get a chance to do this, I highly recommend it - we had a blast.
 
We were in Epcot yesterday. This will be the smallest review ever bc we only did lunch at F+W (dinner was at Rose & Crown), but I figured I'd share our thoughts on what little we ate for anyone going in the next few days

China - black pepper shrimp with Garlic noodles- the flavor on this what great. Peppery and garlicky, but nothing overpowering. My 14 month old loved the noodles that came with it. It only had 3 small-medium shrimp and a lot of noodles. But it was sitting-under-a-heatlamp dry. I would have loved some olive oil over the top. I'd probably skip this if I had the chance again due to dryness. I also had the mango bubble tea with milk in China. Loved this! It was so tasty and refreshing.
Hops & Barley - Smoked Beef Brisket and Pimento Cheese Served on Griddled Garlic Toast- again this had a great flavor, but suffered from dryness on top from the heat lamp. However, I would get this again. Meatballs and brisket/short ribs are the only beef products I really like, though I don't eat a lot of red meet. This was very flavorful. I liked the different accompaniments. There was some sweet and spicy and very well seasoned. I liked that there were some crisper pieces of meat.

Morocco - hummus fries. I don't like raw onions, so I got it without the salad on top. The "tsaziki" sauce certainly is not that. Chipotle maybe? However, these were delicious. Like rectangle shaped falafel with a more crisp outer coating. There were 4 pieces and very fresh tasting. That may be because I didn't get one that was sitting out due to asking for no salad on top.

France- Croissant aux Escargots- this was delicious! I don't get bothered by texture, but it did weird me out a few times to look inside the Croissant and see the Escargot and then eat it with that slightly chewy mouth feel, but obviously not enough that I didn't finish it. Different textures, buttery, garlicky. I think I want one right now!

Unfortunately that's all I can speak about, but figured I would anyways.
 
How busy do you guys think the World Showcase will be tomorrow at 11am? It's Veterans Day and it's Jersey Week, so I'm worried it might be packed.
 


Was there yesterday- it was like Christmas! Line of cars to get in and lines at entrance all the way to/ past ticket booths. I've been to Disney for Christmas week and it looked like it worse than that! I was scared to go in. Lol
Considering the crowds we were able to try a lot bc we got there shortly after 11:00. I couldn't even imagine being there late in afternoon/ night.
We left and went to HS around 3:00.
I'm sure tonite will be even worse.
I did really like the pierogi/ kielbasa and Golumbki in Poland. Poland is always a favorite for us. BBQ beef in Korea was good too. Lamb meatball in New Zealand and lamb chop in Australia are also favorites. Those are ones that stood out for me.
Trying more today.
 
Our two day/one night return trip, this past Sunday and Monday, went off without a hitch. We had visited this past mid September when the temps were in the mid 90s and the heat index 100+. What a difference in the weather as the weather this time was around 81.
Both days had some crowds but very manageable. Most food booths had short lines with a few having no lines. Even the beer line in Germany was non-existent.

Some of the beers at the F&W booths were out on those last two days. Also noticed that on Monday the Block And Hans booth was closed when we walked past it.
 
crazy4wdw said:
It appears that the 2017 Food and Wine Festival will run two additional weeks:

August 31, 2017 - November 13, 2017

I just saw an uploaded copy of the Holidays around the World passport which has these dates indicated for next year's festival.
Click to expand...

Oh my gracious--it is getting ridiculous! I'm sure those who are not fans of F&W will not be happy about that extension. For so many years you could count on it beginning the last Friday in September. Now, at the rate Disney is going, this event will be backed up into summer.

I honestly don't care how long it runs because we go the same weeks. I just hope they shake up the timing of the Eat to the Beat concerts so we aren't seeing the same acts each and every year. :flower::drinking:
 
They've finally figured out a way to get the crowds there in September! Offer F&WF the entire month!

Opening weekend will be Labor Day weekend!
 
That will be great if they don't schedule MNSSHP four days a week at the same time.

The Halloween party really messed with our schedule this October.
 
crazy4wdw said:
It appears that the 2017 Food and Wine Festival will run two additional weeks:

August 31, 2017 - November 13, 2017

I just saw an uploaded copy of the Holidays around the World passport which has these dates indicated for next year's festival.
Click to expand...
Love it! We love F&W and this now increases our chances to be able to catch it. :thumbsup2
 
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