TCD's 2011 Food and Wine Festival Scouting Report

[thegooftroopfla 18]

sweet another tcd report

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

This is supposed to be a quick report, so here are the last of the photos and commentary. . .

After enjoying our visit with Tony the restroom attendant, as well as our ravioli and cappellini, we headed back out into the rain.

Our next stop was Germany.

This is where they have my favorite item- the Nuerenberger sausage on a pretzel roll. The twins wanted to try this too, so we got two this time. This is also where I realized that there was no wait at any of the stands along this stretch of the World Showcase. I just walked up to the cashier, ordered, had my card swiped, and walked over to pick up the order. That was the way it went the rest of the evening. That made being semi-soaked worth it. On a regular Saturday night, you can expect each transaction to take 5 or 10 minutes. That slows things down considerably, and in some cases, the lines are so long that we would bypass the booth all together. Not tonight- if we saw something that we liked, we were able to just walk up and get it immediately. That was really nice.

The other thing that ended up being fun is that after we ordered each food item, we had to find someplace to eat it. Normally, you could just walk along and eat, or find a bench or ledge to sit on. but when it is pouring down rain, your food would get soaked before you could eat it. So, we had to scout out a place to eat after visiting each stand. That was a challenge here in Germany. But, we found a doorway with an overhang on the side of the building next to the stand, and that's where we enjoyed our sausages.

For Dave:

Look at those beauties!

As we huddled under the small doorway overhang, we pulled out our drenched map and looked for where we would stop next.

It looked like it would be South Africa, which was the next stop.

There was a Cheese booth here. One of the girls thought the cheese fondue looked good. And it did. But we also were planning to get cheese soup when we got to Canada, so we passed on the fondue.

Before we headed back out in the rain, I took a couple of crowd shots:

On a typical Saturday night, these shots would look a lot different. You wouldn't see any open space. You would just see wall to wall people.

Our next stop was South Africa, where we got a couple of orders of the seared beef and one order of the Bunny Chow. Here is a very bad photo of the twins eating the seared beef, and you can see the Bunny Chow there on the table:

The seared beef was a different version of a similar dish that was served at the South Africa booth last year. The girls did not like the new version as much as they did last year's. I ordered the Bunny Chow because we had agreed that we would order something that we had never tried before. It wasn't bad, but I'm not sure what it was. It was kind of like a salsa with a lot of zucchini, and a bit touch of curry. I will eat just about anything, so I ate it, but I'm pretty sure that was the first and last serving of Bunny Chow I will be having.

Our dining venue for our South Africa food was the beverage stand in the Outpost area. They serve frozen cokes here, and there is a little display of Coke memorabilia here. There are misters in here, and this is a place where folks are supposed to stop to cool off on hot days. The misters were not on tonight. No body needed to cool off. This photo shows you our location:

As we did in Germany, we pulled out our soggy map again for a discussion. There was a castmember hanging out here to get out of the rain, and she struck up a conversation with us. She was a photopass castmember. I asked her what she was doing back here. She told us she was assigned to take candid shots of folks enjoying the Food and Wine Festival. But for now, she was trying to keep herself and her camera dry. She said she really enjoyed her job, and that she had been trained to work in all four parks, but enjoyed Epcot the most. I have heard that the photopass photographer position is one that most castmembers enjoy. I have also heard that the folks who work for the photopass are not really Disney employees, but employees of another company. This young lady said she was employed by Disney. Maybe she is supposed to say that. Anyway, she offered to take some photos of us. So we took her up on the offer. She took the girls off to the side to take some photos:

According to what the girls said, these were supposed to be shots where fairy wings would be added. When we checked the photopass card, the photos were not there. The photographer did question whether there was enough light for the photos to work, so I guess they didn't.

As the girls were working with the photographer, I snapped a few more "crowd" shots:

Those photos may not look like much to you, but the last time we were at the Food and Wine Festival on a Saturday night, that bridge and pathway were wall to wall people. It was so packed, that it was difficult to get out of the crowd to stop at a food booth. Tonight, there were only a few people walking around.

The photographer worked with the girls for about 10 or 15 minutes. Too bad the photos didn't work:

While I was standing around, I took a good look at some of the props around here. Out of curiosity, I tried to open one of the coolers. I was surprised when I heard what sounded like a coke can being opened and coke being poured into a glass. We tried that with the various coolers around us, and they all did that. They also had fake ice cubes, and mister nozzles in them:

It's all about the details!

Right before we headed out of our shelter, the photopass photographer offered to take a group shot. I knew she was up to something, because she told us to pose in a certain way and pretend we were looking at something. This is what she was up to:

Cool!

After this, we put the soggy ponchos back on and headed out.

In case you were wondering, it was still raining.

The next stand we came to was Korea. There were a couple of things there that I would try, but we had already set our sights on China, so that was our next stop. We got the Pepper Shrimp and some Pork Pot Stickers. We had a hard time finding a place to get out of the rain near the stand, so we walked over to the quick serve restaurant's seating area, and grabbed a table there. We were about the only customers. The poor castmembers there were just standing around looking at each other. I haven't thought about it before, but I'll bet the quick serve restaurants get very little business when the Food and Wine Festival is going on. I don't know why I didn't take any photos in China, but I didn't. I think it's because my daughter broke out her nice camera here to take some photos. I will have to check with her if anyone wants to see photos of Chinese food. Our Chinese stop was nice because we were under a real roof and had a table and chairs. We pulled out our soggy map for the last time here, and it fell apart. But, not before we agreed that our next stop would be Scandinavia.

In Scandinavia we ordered just the Swedish Meatballs. We were all starting to get full. Also, the other main offering here was something they were calling a "Taste of Scandinavia," which included cured salmon and herring. I'm not sure what they mean by "cured," but it didn't sound good to me at the time. Maybe I'll give it a go next time.

We found a great spot to enjoy the meatballs on the very small porch of the Viking church at the Norway exhibit. I have probably walked past that church a hundred times, but never noticed this porch until we were looking to get out of the rain. It was a great place to stand. We could see everyone walking by, but we were out of the rain. Here are the meatballs:

This is the Scandinavia booth:

Technically, the Scandinavia booth is new this year. But, I remember they used to have a Norway booth in that spot. I remember this because one year I got Reindeer Stew there. It seems like back in the day, the food offerings were a lot more exotic than they are now. I mean, where else would you get a chance to eat reindeer. Now, most of the offerings are things that you can find year round around Disney World.

And some shots from our little porch:

You may be wondering about the Wine part of the Food and Wine Festival. Well, since I knew that I was driving home after we finished, I had to pass on the wine. But, I have to say seeing everyone walking around with those souvenir beer mugs started to get to me. I try to set a good example for my girls by not drinking before I know I am going to be driving. But, I will still have one beer every now and then. I decided it would be OK to have one beer tonight.

As we headed past the Norway attraction, there was a beer stand calling my name. So I got my beer:

You can see my mug has a Norwegian Flag on it. According to the lady who poured my beer, only the Norway and Germany stands have mugs with flags on them. The other locations use generic mugs. I don't know if this is true, but that's what she said. I did see a guy with a mug with a German flag on it, but I did not see other flags. This doesn't make sense, as other stands serve beer. Like Japan, for example (remember the Sumo wrestler?).

After I got my beer, we walked past a bunch of booths- Mexico, Caribbean, Argentina, Brazil, and Australia. We were heading to the new Hawaii booth. It is near this sign:

In Hawaii, we got one of the pork slider sandwiches. it was good, but had maybe just a bit too much pineapple.

Next, we passed Greece. The castmembers in Greece were bored. They had no customers at all. They were chanting Opa! and other things. They were even doing some type of cheer, which was then answered by some type of cheer from the booth across from them-Canada. The castmembers were apparently bored in Canada too. Their chant began with "Soup! Soup! Soup!," and then they said something else that I couldn't quite make out. According to my DD's this was a variation of a chant that begins with "Shots! Shots! Shots!," from the MTV show Jersey Shore. I am too old to watch the Jersey Shore, so I don't know about the Shots! chant, but that apparently was what the Canada castmembers were using for their Soup! chant.

Here's one of the TCD twins with her cup of soup:

Get a load of the size of that cup. Luckily, we were all pretty full. But, I think that's a pretty chintzy serving of soup.

The castmember who served us the soup was a hoot! I'm not sure if you can read her name tag, but her name was Andrenika. I asked her what part of Canada she was from, and she said Baton Rouge! I don't want to talk about it, but LSU, which is also in Baton Rouge, had just severely defeated the Florida Gators in football that afternoon. I was wearing a Gators shirt. I called Andrenkia Gator Bait. She growled at me, and showed me her tiger claws. It turns out she is part of the college program, and was assigned to work here. I am not sure how this works. The castmembers in some of the booths were from the country represented by the booths, while others were not. Clearly, the castmembers working in the Canada booth were not from Canada.

Our last stop for the evening was the Dessert and Champagne booth, where we tried the White Chocolate Macadamia Mousse with Dark Chocolate Pearls. The serving was about the size of a shot glass. But, I think it was only a dollar, so it was worth it. It was very rich, and that little bit was really all we needed.

And with that, we were done.

It was about 8 pm.

Epcot was open until 10.

But it was still raining.

It really had rained all day.

It would have been fun to take another lap around the World Showcase, because I would bet that between 9 and 10 we would have had the place to ourselves.

But we were wet.

And a little cold.

So, we headed out.

I didn't know there was a Cranberry Bog at the Festival this year. But, here it is:

And, there were cranberries in it:

There wasn't much around the bog to explain what it was doing here, but there was a little information booth off to the side. I told the girls that I had seen real cranberry bogs as a boy when I lived in New Jersey. They said that they didn't think cranberries grew in New Jersey, so we went over to the booth. There was a guy working there who told us about cranberries. He confirmed that cranberries are grown in a lot of places, including New Jersey. He had bags of Craisins there behind the counter, but he didn't offer us any. I think he was supposed to. Maybe he was going to eat them all himself.

From there, we headed to the AKL bus stop. It is the first one you come to. Nice. And, as soon as we walked up, an AKL bus came pulling up. But it stopped at the bus stop three down from ours. The bus driver motioned the people there to get on the bus, but nobody did. We could see them pointing and gesturing. The guy then pulled up to the stop right next to us and opened the door. Nobody was waiting there. He then closed the door, and was about to drive off, but everyone at our stop yelled and got his attention, so he stopped to pick us up. The guy didn't know what bus stop he was supposed to go to! When I entered the bus, he had his head down, studying his little bus stop chart. Where do they find these guys? Fortunately, our bus driver did know the way to AKL, and we made it back without incident.

From there, we loaded up and headed for home. We had a constant rain the whole way home.

So, for this once, the weather forecasters were right. But, I'm still glad we went.

That's all I got for you this time.

Chances look pretty good that the next trip report will not be far off.

TCD

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Looks like a full FILLING day!!! Sorry about the rain!!!

[gramme 2]

Really enjoyed your TR TCD. Thank you!

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

For Dave:

Look at those beauties!

I see three beauties there - and one Fiend!

As we did in Germany, we pulled out our soggy map again for a discussion. There was a castmember hanging out here to get out of the rain, and she struck up a conversation with us. She was a photopass castmember. I asked her what she was doing back here. She told us she was assigned to take candid shots of folks enjoying the Food and Wine Festival. But for now, she was trying to keep herself and her camera dry. She said she really enjoyed her job, and that she had been trained to work in all four parks, but enjoyed Epcot the most. I have heard that the photopass photographer position is one that most castmembers enjoy. I have also heard that the folks who work for the photopass are not really Disney employees, but employees of another company. This young lady said she was employed by Disney. Maybe she is supposed to say that. Anyway, she offered to take some photos of us. So we took her up on the offer. She took the girls off to the side to take some photos:

According to what the girls said, these were supposed to be shots where fairy wings would be added. When we checked the photopass card, the photos were not there. The photographer did question whether there was enough light for the photos to work, so I guess they didn't.

The photographer worked with the girls for about 10 or 15 minutes. Too bad the photos didn't work:

Looks like there was plenty of light there IF the camera was set properly. Mine would have had no problems there - even with the flash off!

Right before we headed out of our shelter, the photopass photographer offered to take a group shot. I knew she was up to something, because she told us to pose in a certain way and pretend we were looking at something. This is what she was up to:

Cool!

SEE! I told you there was plenty of light. The photographer mush have screwed something up for the other photo shoot ...

So, for this once, the weather forecasters were right. But, I'm still glad we went.

TCD

I'm glad you went too! We got another TCD TR out of the deal AND it was about Food & Wine! Good Job.

[We4mickey 6]

Great trip report TCD. One of my co-workers just got back and was telling me about the rain. She felt really bad for the families that were there for their first trip. She said she had never seen it rain like that.

[stefa70 205]

Ahhh, short but sweet! I am quite disappointed that your sausage photo was not an "action shot." It would have made Dave much more uncomfortable.

I was worried when you said you had bunny chow! All I could picture was poor little Thumper on a plate. Glad to hear it was only a veggie thing.

You're never too old for Jersey Shore!! It is one of my guilty pleasures. Who doesn't love a show about drinking, fist pumping, fighting and sex? I'm serious, that is the show in a nutshell. Good stuff!

The photopass pic you did get is awfully cute. You guys look like 3 little drowned rats. :heart:

Thanks for the food critique, I'm not an adventurous eater so it's good to have a heads up on what you liked and didn't like. The beer looked fantastic, I may be willing to try one of those.

I still have my fingers crossed that your next report will be after Halloween.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Looks like a full FILLING day!!! Sorry about the rain!!!

The rain ended up being a good thing! We got to enjoy the Food and Wine Festival with no waits at any of the booths. And we certainly didn't get hot and sweaty walking around! It ended up being a memorable evening. Not at all what we expected. That's a good trip in my book.

Really enjoyed your TR TCD. Thank you!

Thanks for reading and posting! Glad you liked it!

I see three beauties there - and one Fiend!

You are quite the charmer there, Ed. But, I don't know how I feel about you calling me a beauty.

Looks like there was plenty of light there IF the camera was set properly. Mine would have had no problems there - even with the flash off! SEE! I told you there was plenty of light. The photographer mush have screwed something up for the other photo shoot ...

I agree. It wasn't that dark. The photographer was trying to do some type of special effect. I know she needed a certain type of background, and she was trying to keep the girls out of the rain- it must not have worked. Same deal with the hang glider shot- she had to really move us around to have enough sky in her shot. No big deal- it didn't cost us anything, and we had a nice conversation with her.

I'm glad you went too! We got another TCD TR out of the deal AND it was about Food & Wine! Good Job.

Thanks, Ed. I am glad we have that first visit under our belts, now I am already scheming about how to get back.

Great trip report TCD. One of my co-workers just got back and was telling me about the rain. She felt really bad for the families that were there for their first trip. She said she had never seen it rain like that.

I agree with your coworker. For us, it was no big deal. It was actually a fun change of pace. But, what if this was somebody's one and only trip in a lifetime to WDW- it was one of those rare days where the weather was just terrible all day long. And Sunday wasn't any better.

Fortunately, this is rare for Florida weather.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Ahhh, short but sweet!

No, that's you.

I am quite disappointed that your sausage photo was not an "action shot." It would have made Dave much more uncomfortable.

I know. I was torn about it. But truth be told, my old sausage photo bothers me too. I played it safe for this trip. But, hopefully this will not be my only trip to the F&WF this year.

I was worried when you said you had bunny chow! All I could picture was poor little Thumper on a plate. Glad to hear it was only a veggie thing.

Yeah, I had no idea what Bunny Chow would be. I'm glad it wasn't a bunny too.

You're never too old for Jersey Shore!! It is one of my guilty pleasures. Who doesn't love a show about drinking, fist pumping, fighting and sex? I'm serious, that is the show in a nutshell. Good stuff!

The funny thing about Jersey Shore is that Seaside Heights is where I always went to the beach when I lived in NJ. It was nothing like it is depicted in the TV show. And, I don't think any of those "actors" is even from New Jersey. It is definitely not my cup of tea.

The photopass pic you did get is awfully cute. You guys look like 3 little drowned rats. :heart:

Thanks. We were three drowned rats at about that point of the trip.

Thanks for the food critique, I'm not an adventurous eater so it's good to have a heads up on what you liked and didn't like. The beer looked fantastic, I may be willing to try one of those.

The beer was good. And, there really was nothing that I didn't like. When you get right down to it, the food isn't that exotic. The stuff that is advertised as spicy really isn't very spicy at all. They are appealing to the masses here. You don't need to be adventurous to enjoy the samplings.

I still have my fingers crossed that your next report will be after Halloween.

I have my fingers, toes and eyes crossed.

I am pretty sure it's going to happen.

TCD

[stefa70 205]

No, that's you.

:heart:

I have my fingers, toes and eyes crossed.

I am pretty sure it's going to happen.

TCD

:jumpforjoy You just made my day!!! :jumpforjoy

[Total Joker ... TJ 203]

Thanks for taking us along for the ride! Great report!

[Lou... 3,118]

Ahhh, short but sweet!

No, that's you.

That's shameless, Andrew.

You know, the same thing could be said about me. On second thought, maybe not.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Great report, Andrew. I agree with the F&W festival I'd rather put up with the rain than the crowds.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That's shameless, Andrew.

You know, the same thing could be said about me. On second thought, maybe not.

I don't think you're all that short.

Or that sweet.

So, maybe not.

Maybe we could say you are not tall and kind of sweet.

But that isn't very catchy, is it?

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great report, Andrew. I agree with the F&W festival I'd rather put up with the rain than the crowds.

Yes, that is true. This was a unique chance to do what we wanted without having to wait on lines at the booths.

But the crowds are fun too. There is nothing like the people watching on a F& W weekend evening after folks have been hitting the wine for a while.

TCD

[devores 382]

On Monday when we went, there was someone working in the cranberries bog. They would walk around in waders and answer questions and move the berries around.

We did luck out and had no crowds on Monday. So we missed the rain and crowds. We may go back this weekend to try some of the stuff we missed and pick up another bottle of wine.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Thanks for a great F&W preview, TCD!

I'm with you all that I'd rather brave the weather than the crowds.

We're trying to plan to NOT go on the weekends while we're there, but our inlaws are coming to stay with us for a few days over one of the weekends so we may not be able to avoid it.

Maybe we'll get lucky and it will rain. :)

[Lou... 3,118]

On Monday when we went

Dave, how come you didn't go on the CM preview day?

It wasn't officially open to the public so no lines at all.

I made it half way around before I was done.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

For Dave:

Look at those beauties!

Well, it's not as bad as I had feared. But the look on your face is still just a tad disturbing. IMHO, of course.

The other thing I noticed is that the pretzel looks different from last year. When I first saw your pic, and got over my fear and trepidation, I noticed that the pretzel looked puny to me. I seem to remember there being more pretzel last year. So I took a look at my sausage picture from last years F&W, which you will notice I am not a part of, and sure enough the pretzel looks a lot bigger.

Boo to Disney for chintzing out on the pretzels!!

We got the Pepper Shrimp and some Pork Pot Stickers...... I don't know why I didn't take any photos in China, but I didn't.

I bet it looked something like this.

[LONE-STAR 370]

As always well done. Thanks for the report.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

On Monday when we went, there was someone working in the cranberries bog. They would walk around in waders and answer questions and move the berries around.

We did luck out and had no crowds on Monday. So we missed the rain and crowds. We may go back this weekend to try some of the stuff we missed and pick up another bottle of wine.

You were lucky to miss both the rain and the crowds!

So, what has been your favorite food so far?

I have not tried any of the wine- do you have any that you would suggest?

Thanks for a great F&W preview, TCD!

I'm with you all that I'd rather brave the weather than the crowds.

We're trying to plan to NOT go on the weekends while we're there, but our inlaws are coming to stay with us for a few days over one of the weekends so we may not be able to avoid it.

Maybe we'll get lucky and it will rain. :)

You should plan to go at least once on a weekend. The crowds can be fun. Especially if you are not worried about hitting a lot of the food booths yourself.

Well, it's not as bad as I had feared. But the look on your face is still just a tad disturbing. IMHO, of course.

The other thing I noticed is that the pretzel looks different from last year. When I first saw your pic, and got over my fear and trepidation, I noticed that the pretzel looked puny to me. I seem to remember there being more pretzel last year. So I took a look at my sausage picture from last years F&W, which you will notice I am not a part of, and sure enough the pretzel looks a lot bigger.

Boo to Disney for chintzing out on the pretzels!!

I bet it looked something like this.

Hey, you're right about the pretzel roll. I thought the sausage looked a lot more offensive than I remembered hanging off the bun and waving around. Now I know why.

And, yes, as a matter of fact, that is exactly what our food from the China booth looked like. Except that I just noticed that they are using white paper plates this year instead of the black plastic plates they have used in the past.

I think maybe they have a new paper plate sponsor?

As always well done. Thanks for the report.

You are welcome, Michael.

Thanks for reading.

TCD

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Hey TCD great report!

We were there that day too! We hit MK that morning, and F&W for a few hours until we got tired of eating in the rain.

We probably passed you, we were walking out towards the Yacht Club about the time when you were walking in.

We tried to go back to the F&W after watching the Tigers beat up on the Gators but we had enough rain for one day.

I'm going to try and get to a trip report soon.

WBI

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Hey TCD great report!

We were there that day too! We hit MK that morning, and F&W for a few hours until we got tired of eating in the rain.

We probably passed you, we were walking out towards the Yacht Club about the time when you were walking in.

We tried to go back to the F&W after watching the Tigers beat up on the Gators but we had enough rain for one day.

I'm going to try and get to a trip report soon.

WBI

Ah, man, I'm sorry I missed you!

How many beer mugs did you have around your waist?

I'm glad I didn't see you after LSU stomped on the Gators. You probably would have rubbed it in. I know I would have if the result had been the opposite. I didn't watch the game, but they replay it on the Sunsports network here. I started to watch it last night, and oh boy was it bad! I think the Gators went three and out on their first two possessions, and the Tigers scored touchdowns on theirs.

I hope you do post a little report for us.

If not, at least tell me if you found anything really good to eat. I'm hoping to go back and would love to try some new items.

TCD

[gramme 2]

TCD I am a Nole and one of my sons friends plays for LSU ( 22 Baker) and I caught my self cheering on the Gators. I am sorry they had such a difficult lost. My husband is a gator and I think he went into a deep depression! Didn't talk for hours!!!!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

TCD I am a Nole and one of my sons friends plays for LSU ( 22 Baker) and I caught my self cheering on the Gators. I am sorry they had such a difficult lost. My husband is a gator and I think he went into a deep depression! Didn't talk for hours!!!!

I am surprisingly at peace with the loss. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I did not have the slightest hope that the Gators would win on Saturday. So, I was not surprised in the least when LSU killed them. Killed! I will be much more upset if they lose to Auburn, which I am afraid they will.

TCD