"Eating Between the Wines"- A WDW F&W Festival Pre-TR: 10/3-10/7 UPDATE: 8/8

[DLR29]

We're about 3 months out from my trip, so I thought I'd start a little pre-TR. Just got into the double-digits a couple days ago!



Trip Details
Who?

Me!

My name is Stephen and I am going to be a senior at USC in Los Angeles. I'm a Trojan through and through.

Seeing as I just got my grandparent's old car this year, I make frequent trips down to Disneyland...at least twice a month! I'm a Premier Passport holder because 6 months ago I was in WDW running the Goofy Challenge! My pass will still be good for this trip.

I worked at MK two summers ago through a program with my college's Christian organization (blog in my sig), and I plan on doing the College Program or a Professional Internship after I graduate next year. And yes, I'll be playing hookey from college for a couple of days, but why not? It's Disney.

My Parents

Both of them work at our local high school, but will be taking a couple days off for our trip. Both are Disney fans, but my mother is much more of a planner than my dad. Originally, it was just going to be me and my mom, but then my dad decided to join us too!​

I also have a younger brother who will be left behind because he'll be a senior in high school and can't take the time off.

When? Thursday 10/3-Monday 10/7. I've been to WDW 3 times, not counting the summer I worked there. Twice was in the middle of summer and once was this past January. My parents have only gone during the summer. It will be fun to see the resort at a different time of the year.

Where? We'll be staying offsite and renting a car. We belong to a vacation club called WorldMark, which has a property on I-Drive, like 10 min away from Epcot, which is really convenient. We stayed there on our first trip to WDW 6 years ago and we enjoyed it. Gives us more $$$ to spend on food and wine!

Why? My 21st birthday is in September, so this is a birthday trip for me! I can't wait to sample the different beers and wines at the booths. Plus we're a food-enjoying family! Food Network is our jam! Anybody watch Next Food Network Star? One of my favorite shows.

And as I'm about to graduate college, time for family vacations is extremely limited. This will be a good trip to see my parents, make some memories, and take a little break from school too.

Updates to come!

 

[DLR29]

Dining:

Since a major part of this trip will be eating (and drinking), I thought it only appropriate that the first post would be about food.

Several months ago, I got up at 3AM ( ) to get Be Our Guest reservations. One of the downfalls of living on the West Coast (although there aren't many). At this point I thought it was just me and my mom, so I made the ADR for 2 people for 5:50PM on Saturday 10/5. I'm so excited! I ate at BoG during my January trip and really really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. Here are some pics:

The menu

Me and my friends who ran on Marathon Weekend

My parents haven't gone since the new Fantasyland expansion has opened, so I'm hoping they'll enjoy dinner in the new castle. I do need to call and see if they can change the ADR from 2 to 3 people because I just found out that my dad will be joining us. Has anyone done this? I don't know how flexible they are with that.

Other than BoG, Epcot will be where we will be spending most of our time (and $$$) eating. I can't wait for the full menu to be posted for all the different stands and outposts. We're also looking into which seminars we would like to attend. Any favorites of people who have been before?

I keep drooling as I look at pictures of the food from last year.

 

[DLR29]

Update:

Yesterday the Disney Food Blog put up pictures of some of the new food items at this year's F&W Festival. Some look ok, but these are the ones I'm most excited about:

Seared Scallop with Hearts of Palm and Tomato Stew:
I am staring at this picture with my mouth watering like crazy! They look like they have that perfect seared exterior with a soft inside.

Garlic Shrimp:
Who doesn't like garlic? And with shrimp being one of my favorite seafoods, this is definitely on my "things to eat" list.

Brown Elephant Cocktail:
The description says that it's a combination of Amarula cream liqueur, milk, and Coca-Cola. This crazy mixture intrigues me. I feel like it would be either really amazing or disgusting. Definitely got to try this one!

In 1 month they open the reservations for the festival events. I can't wait for more details to be released!!!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I remember my first F&W after I was legal. It is a lot more fun then. Have a great trip!

 

[DLR29]

I remember my first F&W after I was legal. It is a lot more fun then. Have a great trip!

Hi Dis_Yoda!

I just skimmed through a couple of your F&W reports. Do you have any suggestions for what special events/seminars/presentations we should look into?

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Hi Dis_Yoda!

I just skimmed through a couple of your F&W reports. Do you have any suggestions for what special events/seminars/presentations we should look into?

Taste, Shake, Indulge is a fun event that isn't too badly priced. You all will get a bit tipsy though.

Sweet Sundays is good if you like desserts a lot. If you aren't a huge sweets person, its a bit much on the sugar for early morning.

Party of the Senses is also good but it is highly priced for what it is now but 30 different food/wine stations for 2.5 hours is a nice way to spend the evening once you get through the running of the bulls at opening.

The seminars - I wouldn't know what to recommend until the list is given out as those tend to change a lot each year.

 

[DLR29]

Taste, Shake, Indulge is a fun event that isn't too badly priced. You all will get a bit tipsy though.

Sweet Sundays is good if you like desserts a lot. If you aren't a huge sweets person, its a bit much on the sugar for early morning.

Party of the Senses is also good but it is highly priced for what it is now but 30 different food/wine stations for 2.5 hours is a nice way to spend the evening once you get through the running of the bulls at opening.

The seminars - I wouldn't know what to recommend until the list is given out as those tend to change a lot each year.

Taste, Shake, Indulge sounds like fun. I looked up Sweet Sundays and it looks yummy but that definitely seems like too much sweet dessert to start off the day! I wish it could be done in the afternoon or after dinner.

I'm also looking at the new Parisian breakfast that will be at Les Chefs de France on Saturday mornings. Hmmmm, 1 more month until we can get our reservations.

 

[PoppyGirl]

Hey there! I'm finally making it over here to check out your PTR!

I guess we'll both be getting up super early on August 13 to book special events! I hadn't heard of the Taste Shake Indulge....have to look that one up.

We are trying for DDD Desert party--sweet seats!

What part of CA are you from? I lived in Orange County for 7.5 years during grad school and after. Still have many many friends in LA, San Diego and OC area. I try to make it out there once a year. My younger DSS lives in Studio City and works at the Hard Rock there. I was out there in June for a scrapbooking retreat in Big Bear and then to see DSS and another friend. Love Southern CA weather.

 

[DLR29]

Hey there! I'm finally making it over here to check out your PTR!

I guess we'll both be getting up super early on August 13 to book special events! I hadn't heard of the Taste Shake Indulge....have to look that one up.

We are trying for DDD Desert party--sweet seats!

What part of CA are you from? I lived in Orange County for 7.5 years during grad school and after. Still have many many friends in LA, San Diego and OC area. I try to make it out there once a year. My younger DSS lives in Studio City and works at the Hard Rock there. I was out there in June for a scrapbooking retreat in Big Bear and then to see DSS and another friend. Love Southern CA weather.

Welcome!

Sorry it took me so long to respond, but I've been pretty busy recently. I go to school at USC in Los Angeles, but I'm originally from the Bay Area (East Palo Alto, specifically). It's nice because I'm close enough to home but Los Angeles is so different from NorCal, which I like. Plus, I'm really close to Disneyland!!! I have a Premier Pass and I go a lot. I was there yesterday.

I also love So Cal weather, except the past couple days it's rained! But when I say "rained" I really mean tiny tiny drizzles here and there. Nothing like rain anywhere else in the country...or world.

 

[DLR29]

It's been almost a month since I've updated this, but they just released all of the mini demo/seminars, and we can book tomorrow because we are AP holders!

Here are the events that we'll be going to in less than 2 months!

Culinary Demonstration: Sunday 10/6
We will be doing 1 culinary demo. It will be hosted by Tim Hockett, who is a chef at a restaurant called "Nacional 27" in Chicago.

The entree will be beef-inspired. Most of the food seminars during our weekend are shellfish and seafood, and that's just not our big thing, so we will try this one out. I'm excited.

Mixology Seminar: Friday 10/4
Hosted by Charlotte Voisey, a famous mixologist, this should be really fun!

The events list that Hendrick's Gin, Icelandic Vodka, and Italian Blood Orange Liquor will be presented in our seminar. Being 20 still, I'm interested in sampling all of these different hard liquors. The blood orange one intrigues me.

Kitchen Memories: Thursday 10/3
This is our big event. We're big food TV show fans, so when we heard that Andrew Zimmern, host of Bizarre Foods, was going to be at Epcot at the same time as us, we had to hop on board.

It's a little pricey (and pricier because he's a more famous figure), but it should be a good time. It's a 2-hour, 3-course lunch and a wine pairing for each course. I'm really excited to see what he prepares for us.

Other than those 3 events, we will just browse the individual stands around the World Showcase. There are also some free events that seem interesting like the cranberry bog or the small tastings.

8 weeks from today we will be there!!!