Originally Posted By DlandJB Have you been yet? We went over today for a little while and had a blast. We got to sit in on a food demonstration about several different cheeses. The Chef was from the Disney Culinary Academy (not open to the public, but for resort cast members in food services). He was extremely knowledgeable. We sampled three cheeses - a cheese from cow's milk, one from sheep's milk and a goat cheese. It was great fun. We also did a taste test of the the food items in the Marketplace menu. There are some terrific things. My favorites are the Wild Mushroom Risotto, the cheese platter and the Ghiradella Chocolate Maquise (we split that one 3 ways - it is small but very rich) There is also a white cheddar cheese soup in a mini sourdough boule, lobster "lollipops," California Skewes, Pepper crusted beef tenderloin slides, hummus with pita chips and a berry trifle. The items are all in the $5 range and fun to share and sample. We are looking forward to going back again!
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 Thank you for the post DlandJB Our son and his wife will be there the last week. Does anyone have tips for "newbies" to the festivities that they would like to share? I forwarded the info from the Disneyland website to them so they do have that. They are quickly becoming as enchanted with DLR as we are
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I was in DCA on Friday and Saturday, but didn't really do anything related to the festival. It was really nice to see that they had really expanded the event from last year, and it's neat to see it impacting things all over the park (even Award Weiners had a special sausage). Hopefully they can keep expanding it and make it into something really special that takes over the whole park and becomes a bit of an annual tradition.
Originally Posted By DlandJB Does anyone have tips for "newbies" to the festivities that they would like to share?>>> They should pick up the fesitval guide at the information tent near the Sunshine Plaza. That is a great written guide with maps, schedules and promotions for signature events. Check out the times of the food and wine demonstrations and get in line early for the ones they want to attend. This year there are two locations for the demonstrations and they are larger than last year's location. We decided to skip "Taste" this year since the price jumped from $100 to $125 and while I think that is a perfectly reasonable price if you drink and can take advantage of the excellent wines, beers and spirits they plan to have this year, for a non-drinker it is hard to justify -- although the food was excellent last year. We decided we'd save the money for dinner at Napa Rose. In case the folks from Food and Wine are checking out threads, I want to put in my suggestion that next year you might consider adding a "water tasting' element - bottled waters, mineral waters, still and sparkling all taste surprisingly different and no doubt there exists an expert out there who can put something fun together. (My first husband through a water tasting party for non drinking friends for Bastille day one year -- it was fun.) They might also consider looking into some "sophisticated" juices and soft drinks (like Wine Country Soda - they have it at Whole Foods). Alas, de-alcoholized wines pretty much taste like swill. Be sure your friends/family try the risotto!
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 Thank you DLandJB We were in DCA the past 2 years that the Festival was going on and other than the special foods served on the Warf we really didn't notice much going on. Looking at the DL site it looks like there was a lot more to it than we knew (other than the ticketed events.) Knowing where to get the brochure is a big help. DH doesn't drink alcohol so the idea of a tasting of other drinks is a great idea Non alcoholic beer tasting ? He actually enjoys some of the less known brands
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Another thing I noticed was that the event really took over the Pacific Wharf area, so people who didn't want to wait in disgustingly long lines basically got to choose between Taste Pilots (with about a 30 min wait when I walked by), Award Weiners (with a 20 wait when I had lunch there), Korndog Kastle, Burger Invasion (appeared to be at least 20 min), or Pizza Oom Mow Mow. I've never really complained about food before, but those really aren't great options, as far as variety goes. The waits were all rediculously long (Award Weiners's queue stretched to the other side of the street, forcing the traffic up onto the sidewalk and through the plaza in front of the bathrooms), and the food really isn't that good. I know they added Food and Wine stuff to several places around the park, but it seems that those that didn't want to participate had very limited options, and created very long lines.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 Good tip FerretAfros So a casual stroll into Boudins for a salad in a bread bowl and a choice of any seat on the warf,(something we can always count on during the off season) wouldn't be a good choice during the Festival. That line for Award Weiners must have been something to see!
