Mary's Report

The Grand Floridian is certainly the most upscale of Disney's Florida resorts. The hotel is indeed "grand," without being particularly pretentious or stuffy. The Victorian theming has always struck me as pretty and pleasant, but overall quite similar to Boardwalk Inn, Beach Club and Yacht Club, all of which are quite a bit less expensive. For that reason I had only visited the Grand Floridian a few times to try out the restaurants and take a look around at the public areas and a few of the guest rooms. I now realize you have to stay at the Grand Floridian to get a real feel for the place.

The resort is large, but the six buildings are set around the main pool and marina in such a way that nothing feels too far-flung. In the main building are located the "Main Lodge" concierge rooms and suites, which are the most expensive and naturally also the most convenient, since they are closest to the restaurants, shops, front desk and Monorail. There are also concierge rooms in the Sugar Loaf building, which is directly behind the main building. These rooms cost a bit less than the "Main Lodge" rooms, partly because they are a tiny bit further from the action and partly because the Sugar Loaf concierge food offerings are not as extensive as they are in the Main Lodge concierge lounge.

Four other buildings house the standard "Garden View" and "Lagoon View" rooms, which do not include access to a concierge lounge. We booked a Garden View room, which is the least expensive option. When we arrived at the Sago Cay building (a short walk from the back of the main building), we were surprised to discover that we had been assigned a Lagoon View room. The upgrade wasn't mentioned when we checked in. Our balcony overlooked the marina and the Seven Seas Lagoon. We could see the top of Space Mountain and the Magic Kingdom fireworks across the lagoon.

The rooms at the Grand Floridian are quite large and some things are "upgraded" a bit when compared with Disney's other Deluxe resorts. For instance, guest rooms have minibars instead of empty refrigerators. (This may or may not strike you as an improvement, particularly if you have small children in tow.) The bathrooms have marble tile instead of ceramic, and special Victorian-style toiletry packaging instead of the standard Mickey soap. The beds have pillow-top mattresses, but the linens are ordinary. Overall the room quality is similar to what you'd find at a Westin or one of the better big-city Hiltons, but with very attractive theming. It's not quite up to the decadent standard set by true 5-star luxury hotels such as Ritz-Carlton or Four Seasons, but it is very nice and comfortable.

Other advantages of the Grand Floridian include Monorail service to Magic Kingdom and Epcot, a multitude of dining and drinking options (six restaurants, a tearoom, three lounges and two pool bars) and lovely shops selling merchandise like Bally, Tommy Bahama and Polo. There are two pools, one of which offers a slide and elaborate waterfalls. The hotel's location right on the Seven Seas Lagoon allows for quick access to many water sports, and we saw quite a few of the resort's guests enjoying the fishing, water-skiing and boating that are offered. Near the hotel and accessible via a walkway along the shore is the Grand Floridian Spa, offering a wide variety of services such as massages and pedicures. The Fairy Tale Wedding Pavilion is beyond the spa along the same walkway.

The Grand Floridian has an impressive lobby and there is frequently a pianist performing in the lobby, which adds to the elegant ambiance. We were also fortunate enough to be staying at the hotel at exactly the time of year when the Christmas decorations go up. On Thursday night around 11:00 pm we noticed the shop windows in the lobby were being changed out. I speculated that they must be putting in the holiday displays, and sure enough, the next morning they were sparkling with decorated holiday greenery. On Friday night we returned from dinner and found a squad of Cast Members near the entrance of the main building, unpacking an enormous load of decorations. By morning the main lobby was sporting swags and wreaths everywhere, and the outer buildings had small Christmas trees in their lobbies. Seeing the transformation was a lot of fun, and it was especially entertaining to witness the astonishment of small children on Saturday morning, seeing the "magical" changes that had taken place overnight.

It does seem that Disney recruits the "best of the best" Cast Members to work at its flagship hotel. Everyone we encountered, from the front desk to the valet parking attendants, was extremely helpful and oustandingly friendly. We've certainly had service of that quality at the other Disney hotels, but it can be a bit inconsistent. On that basis alone, we'll be returning to the "Grand" in the future, I'm sure.

When it comes to the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, let me start by saying "yum." The Festival was a delicious experience. If you love to eat, and particularly if you enjoy trying new foods, you need to schedule a trip to the next Food and Wine Festival right now. If you enjoy tasting wines and/or beers, you definitely don't want to miss out on the Festival.

Mike will be writing a complete report (coming soon!) but I'll give you a short overview. The Food and Wine Festival can be enjoyed on many levels. The primary thing you don't want to miss, in my opinion, is the "walk around the World" to visit the tasting booths scattered throughout World Showcase. This year there were more than 20 booths representing foods from countries all over the world, from India to New Zealand, South Africa to Chile, Singapore to Poland. A few additional booths presented regional specialties from the US, including Florida shrimp. There was also a "Great Beers of the World" booth and one devoted to Champagne and other sparkling wine.

Each booth offers appetizer-sized portions of two or three food items (generally two "savory" choices and one dessert), plus three or four wines and beers from the region. Prices range from about $1.25 to $4.25 per "taste," with the desserts tending to be on the lower end and most other items costing $2.50 and up. I would say the average price for food items is around $3. Beer samples were usually available in two sizes (6 oz and 12 oz) and wine tastings were generally 2 oz. Prices for the beverages ranged from $2 to $7, with the average price around $3.

We chose to skip breakfast and enter World Showcase right when it opened at 11:00 am, with the idea that we would do lots of tastings in lieu of lunch. This worked out very well. The weather was pleasant and the crowds remained relatively light until about 1:00, even though it was the final Saturday, probably the busiest day of the entire Festival. By late afternoon, you could hardly move due to the crowds and it was a bit hot outside to be drinking much wine, in my opinion. Ideally you would visit the booths over the course of two or even three days, because there are over 65 food items to try. We managed to eat 14 "tastes" and a half-dozen beverages between the two of us, before deciding we were just too full to continue.

Access to the booths is included in the price of Epcot admission, though obviously you have to pay for the foods and beverages you select. In addition, there are dozens of complimentary culinary demonstrations, as well as wine and beer seminars, offered throughout the festival. All of the events are listed in a program you can pick up at the gates. If you get a chance, try to pick up a program early and plan out your strategy, because there is a lot to do.

In addition to the food and beverage booths and the various free demonstrations, you can also participate in relatively inexpensive experiences such as the "Aussie Walkabout," which allow you to taste wines from different regions of the same country for a nominal charge (in the case of the Aussie tasting, we paid $7 to taste 5 wines).

For those who really want to immerse themselves in the Food & Wine experience, Disney offers special classes and parties that cost extra and must be booked well in advance. Typically these separately ticketed events go on sale in late summer and range in price from $35 for a "Food & Wine Pairing" lasting about one and a half hours, to multi-course gourmet "Signature Dinners" at $145 per person. We attended three of the special events to get an idea of what's offered.

On our first day we tried a "Lunch and Learn" session. For $75 per person, you are treated to a three-course lunch with three wines, accompanied by a cooking class conducted by well-known chefs. The courses are served as the chefs demonstrate how to prepare the dishes you are eating. In addition, a winemaker or winery representative discusses the wines that have been paired with the meal. This all takes place in the Odyssey Chef's Showplace, which has a demonstration kitchen and video screens for easy viewing. Attendance is restricted to a certain number of participants (I think it was around 50), making it a fairly intimate experience.

We attended the "Lunch and Learn" session conducted by Ben and Karen Barker of Magnolia Grill in Durham, North Carolina, with wines from Silver Oak in Napa Valley. The presentations were excellent and very entertaining. The food and wine were outstanding and very well-paired. Just 4 or 5 participants are seated along one side of each round table, making it easy to view the demonstration. Even the service was excellent, which is always impressive in a banquet-style setting. We thoroughly enjoyed this experience and would certainly try it again.

We also attended a $35 per person "Food & Wine Pairing" at Coral Reef restaurant, which was a huge disappointment. The attendees were seated along one wall of the restaurant while the general public was dining right alongside. The restaurant noise was deafening and the layout was awkward, making it hard for the winemaker to communicate with the group. He finally gave up and wandered from table to table taking questions. The chef also made a brief visit to each table, asking if we liked the food. We didn't. It was not well matched with the wine and just wasn't very good, in our opinion and the opinion of our tablemates.

Disney does not announce what the actual offerings will be for the Food & Wine Pairings offered at Coral Reef or Le Cellier, so with those presentations you are pretty much buying a "pig in a poke." We were told at the time of booking that the food and wine would be "themed to the restaurant where they are presented." Naturally we assumed we'd be having seafood and probably white wines at Coral Reef. Instead we were served three vintages of Etude Pinot Noir (two of which are no longer available for purchase, having sold out due to the current Pinot Noir craze) and a heavy mini-meal of overly spicy cheese grits with very fatty veal cheeks, tough lamb with mint and berries, and a warm chocolate cake that had some unidentified but odd-tasting white liquid center. It might have been white chocolate or coconut goo -- we couldn't identify it, the menu didn't say, and the chef was nowhere to be found by then, so we couldn't ask him. Overall, the menu wasn't well-suited to a 3:00 pm tasting on a hot day.

Some of the Food and Wine Pairings do have a bit more focus -- the pairings held at Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki Dining Room are focused on sake, sushi and sashimi, while those at Bistro de Paris include French wines, charcuterie and cheeses. Next time we'll try one of those, instead of the "grab bag" approach. If the food and wine are to your liking and the presentations are better than the one we experienced, the Food & Wine Pairings could be a relative bargain, since you do have the opportunity to interact informally with a chef and a winemaker.

On our final evening we attended "Party for the Senses," a $95 per person extravaganza offered each weekend during the Festival. This party includes unlimited tastings of about 30 outstanding dishes prepared by chefs from Disney and other leading restaurants around the world. There are also endless tastings of dozens of fine wines and some beers. An especially enjoyable aspect of the event is that the chefs are present at the serving stations, fussing over the preparation of their dishes, and when they aren't too busy you can chat with them. Likewise the wines and beers are served by representatives from the producers, so you can learn more about them. (Oddly enough, Disney doesn't really play up this aspect of the party, which we think is a shame.)

There is entertainment during the party, consisting of very loud electronic music performed by a roving band and intermittent performances by Cirque du Soleil, which immediately attract a huge crowd. If you don't hustle over to the stage you really can't see the Cirque performances. Another issue is that there is not enough seating to accommodate everyone -- in fact, I would say only about 50% of the crowd can sit at any one time. When you enter the party you are provided with a nice wine glass etched with the Food & Wine logo (which you get to take home) and a plate with a slot in it for your glass, which makes it possible to eat standing up. However, I find that kind of balancing act to be awkward and tiring.

It seems there are two ways of handling the logistics at Party for the Senses. You can plan on standing for two and a half hours, making the rounds of the tasting stations and perhaps grabbing a spot at a random table from time to time. Clearly this is what Disney intends for you to do. What we did (and we saw many others doing likewise) is to nab a place at a table and then have one person hold down the table while the other "forages" and brings back two plates or two glasses to taste. Mike and I took turns doing the "foraging" and managed to try almost everything that was offered, but needless to say we didn't have much time for conversation with each other... not that we could have heard it over the music anyway.

One side note: there is a "business casual" dress code for this event, which was completely ignored by some. We saw people wearing everything from shorts worn with beer t-shirts and gimme caps, right up to cocktail dresses and nice suits. This didn't bother us, but I think it's fair to say that you should not expect a consistent level of elegance at this event.

If you love "grazing" on outstanding food and drink, a loud cocktail party type of atmosphere, and table-hopping, you'll love Party for the Senses. Overall I found the atmosphere too noisy and crowded for my taste, so frankly I was torn about whether I would attend again. (Mike was more positive about the experience overall.) The food was surprisingly innovative. For example, a surprise "best of show" in my mind was the "Chilled Cantaloupe Cappucino with Lobster Salad" presented by Einav Gefen of ICE, New York. The wines were excellent. However, I couldn't help thinking that for $100 a head we could have had a lovely and intimate dinner at a fine restaurant. It all comes down to what you find more enjoyable.

Needless to say, you won't want to drive after attending many of the Food & Wine Festival events. We used Disney transportation and on one occasion got a cab back to our hotel. Next time we'll stay at one of the Epcot resorts so that we can just stagger back to our room!

Festival of the Masters was an unexpected delight. This art show is held one weekend in mid-November each year at Downtown Disney's West Side and offers a chance to interact with dozens of artists showing their work, including painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, blown glass, ceramics, woodworking and jewelry. Festival of the Masters is a juried show put together by Disney, which obviously has very high standards, so the work is top-notch, with artists coming from all over the US. A folk art show is sponsored by House of Blues and we saw some spectacular work in that area.

We had a wonderful time wandering around Festival of the Masters. We bought a couple of beautiful items and collected information from several artists whose work we want to follow. If you are interested in art or high-level craftsmanship at all, I highly recommend Festival of the Masters. There is no charge for admission and it's a great way to spend a few hours. Be sure to pick up a program at the information booth.

We had never before purchased a Walt Disney World vacation package. For one thing, vacation packages always include a hotel stay and admission tickets, which we normally don't need because we buy Annual Passes. However, recently Disney has been offering some very tempting deals on packages, and we've been wanting to try the Dining Plan, which is only available as an add-on to a Magic Your Way vacation package.

It is possible to buy a vacation package that includes only a one-day ticket per person, which is what we did. Mike's last Annual Pass had expired, so he used the two admissions included with our package, borrowing my room key one day to use up the one-day ticket that was encoded on it. I used my Annual Pass for admission as usual. Probably this is not what Disney intends, but it can be done very easily and it's one way for Annual Passholders to take advantage of special package discounts and/or purchase the Dining Plan.

(If everyone in your party has Annual Passes and you want to buy a vacation package, just add one-day tickets as we did, but don't use them. The tickets will be encoded onto your room keys. Save the room keys until it is time to buy the next Annual Pass. At that time, buy a new Annual Pass and have the value of the one-day tickets credited toward the new pass.)

I had some misgivings about trying the Dining Plan on this particular trip, since this was only a 3-night/4-day vacation and we had prebooked three Food and Wine events, plus we had a previously scheduled dinner off-site. However, it worked out fine. As it turned out, we well exceeded the $210 we paid for the dining add-on to our package, even though we didn't use up all of our meal credits. We had three unused counter-service meal credits left over, but the cash value of the meals and snacks we consumed was still over $255.

Here's how the Dining Plan works. The add-on costs $35 per night per adult and $10 per night per child ages 3-9. (Prices will rise slightly in 2006, to $37.99 and $10.99). For each night you stay, you get one table-service meal credit, one counter-service meal credit and one snack credit. The credits are "pooled" and can be used by anyone in your party, at any time during your vacation from the time you check in, until midnight on the day you check out. You can use the credits in any order, so for instance if you want to use all of your snack credits in one day, you can do that. In addition, there is a fair amount of flexibility in how you use the credits, as I'll explain further on.

I actually decided to add the Dining Plan to our package after I learned it was possible to use the snack credits at the Food & Wine tasting booths around Epcot's World Showcase. Since plenty of items at the booths cost $3 or more, using snack credits for them is a great value. (The normal "snacks" allowed by the meal plan -- items like bottled soda, popcorn or ice cream -- are priced around $2.00 to $2.50.) Mike and I stayed 3 nights, so we had 6 snack credits (3 nights x 2 people) to be used anytime we wanted. We walked around World Showcase sampling the goodies and using our snack credits as payment for the most expensive items we selected. We got about $21 worth of food items for our 6 credits and paid cash for a few items that were only $2 or less. (We also paid cash for the wine and beer we tasted, since dining credits cannot be used for alcohol.)

We also planned to eat two table-service meals during our long weekend, including one at Citrico's, a restaurant in the Grand Floridian that we hadn't previously tried. Citrico's is a "Signature" restaurant and a meal there requires 2 table-service credits per person instead of the usual single credit, so this meal alone used 4 of our 6 table-service credits. However, it's worth it. The Meditarranean-inspired food was outstanding and the view of the fireworks from our window table was excellent. Our meal for two, including tax and tip, would normally have cost over $120, and we did not even select the most expensive items.

My intention had been to use our counter-service meal credits for breakfast each morning. As it turned out, we really only had enough appetite to do this one time, at Gasparilla Grill in the Grand Floridian. The food was mediocre, but if we'd paid cash, it would have cost over $22.50 for the two of us.

One afternoon we returned to the hotel in the afternoon and wanted a couple of soft drinks. We had used up our snack credits but had a bunch of counter-service credits left. I grabbed two soft drinks and two Mickey rice krispy treats (which we carried home in our luggage) and asked the Gasparilla Grill cashier if we could use counter-service credits for them. Each counter-service credit normally entitles you to an entree, side dish, dessert and soft drink, so I figured we would just skip the entree and side dish. No problem. In fact, she only charged me one counter-service credit, which was really pretty fair since the snacks I selected would have cost around $10.

Similarly, I've been told you can use table-service credits for counter-service meals. In general it seems that a "downgrade" is fine. As long as the dollar value is the same or less, most Cast Members are willing to be a bit flexible about how your credits are used. You just can't "upgrade" -- for instance, you can't use a counter-service credit at a table-service restaurant, or a snack credit for a counter-service meal.

On our final day at Walt Disney World, we spent the morning checking out Festival of the Masters at Downtown Disney. When we were ready for lunch, we decided to try Wolfgang Puck Cafe, another "first" for us. Naturally it was very busy due to the Festival, and we didn't have a reservation. However, it turns out the bar serves the full menu, so we sat at the counter and enjoyed outstanding food and service. Since our remaining table-service credits included an appetizer, entree and dessert per person, we really pigged out, ordering anything that took our fancy. We couldn't begin to finish all of the food we ordered, but it was fun to try a lot of different things on the menu, since we'd never eaten there before. (The sushi was outstanding and the creme brulee sampler was especially delicious.) If we had paid cash, our bill would have been almost $83, plus alcoholic beverages.

Clearly the value we received from the Dining Plan was good. We ordered whatever we wanted and didn't worry about price, which was a lot of fun. I think we ate more adventurously because we didn't worry about ordering something we didn't like and paying a lot of money for a bad choice. So much for the "pros" of the meal plan. Now for the "cons." The biggest issue is that the meal plan tends to dictate your choices. For instance, because we had counter-service credits remaining, we ate breakfast at Gasparilla Grill. It wasn't very good and we would have preferred a sit-down meal in a nice restaurant, but we felt we needed to use up those credits. To feel you're getting your money's worth, you may order more food than you really want. If you take full advantage of the plan, you get a LOT of food at each meal -- far more than most people can manage. If you are really big eaters, or you don't mind sharing meals or leaving a lot on your plate, then this isn't a problem.

If you are an Annual Passholder and generally prefer table-service dining, your best bet is to purchase a Disney Dining Experience (DDE) card. For $50 per year, this card entitles you to 20% off food and beverage (including alcohol) for your entire party of up to 9 persons at almost all table-service restaurants at Walt Disney World, most of the Moderate and Deluxe resort lounges, and a few of the counter-service locations in areas that don't have a lot of table-service offerings, such as Animal Kingdom Park and the Value resorts. We have a DDE card and we did use it on this trip to cut the cost of alcoholic beverages at Citrico's and Wolfgang Puck, since those weren't included on the Dining Plan. If we hadn't been on the Dining Plan we would have used the DDE for the food portion of those meals, too. That would have saved us around $40 if we'd ordered exactly the same meals -- but we definitely wouldn't have ordered as much food if we had been paying cash.

Basically you need to evaluate whether the Dining Plan fits your personal style. If you prefer to eat a table-service meal (or Character meal) and a counter-service meal every day, you can certainly at least break even on the cost, and you'll have the pleasure of ordering whatever your little heart desires, without looking at the price. If you are like us and prefer to "graze" and/or eat table-service meals instead of counter-service, the Dining Plan may not fit your needs so well.

Mike's Report: Grazing Around the World

So here we are approaching the end of the year. And quite an exciting year it's been. We moved from California to Colorado, where the temperature has been known to drop below the point where water remains a liquid - what a mind blower! And where the air has neither a color nor a taste, which seems almost unnatural.

We did the westbound Panama Canal cruise on the Disney Magic in May and survived the melees for pins with all of our limbs intact. We put the money down on a DVC membership in October. And I managed to convince Mary to spend yet another year with me (I believe that my chicken and sausage gumbo is the secret of our happy marriage).

So with the holidays fast approaching and hordes of in-laws on the march, I expected to spend that last couple of months getting the house in order and decorating. Alas - or Hurray, as the case may be - Mary had other plans. She planned a three day trip to Orlando to check out the Food and Wine Festival, which we had never participated in before. She also booked us into the Grand Floridian, which we also hadn't tried before.

It was a tough decision - 3 days sampling comestibles and alcoholic beverages from around the world while staying in a first class resort, versus shoveling snow and hanging lights on the outside the house. After I looked in the box that contained the lights and noted the tangles I had left them in from last time, I enthusiastically endorsed the Food and Wine Festival idea.

So Orlando in November - excellent! The weather was quite nice, cool at night and warm during the day, and the humidity was laying low. This might become one of my favorite times to visit Orlando - we'll see how our upcoming January trip stacks up.

After the fact I realized that I should have tried another session with Magical Express to see how it performed now, almost a year after rollout. Unfortunately I didn't think of it till too late to sign up for it. I promise that I will try and check it out again in January and file a report then.

Anyhow, Orlando weather in November - nice. Grand Floridian - quite nice. Previously we had just visited and checked out a couple of the restaurants. I always found the resort, which we had typically visited during the summer months, a little too bright and hot due to the separation of the buildings and the lack of shade trees. This visit changed my mind completely. I still don't think I would like to stay here during the warmer months but during the winter I think the Grand Floridian really comes into its own - at least for me.

Mary has given a pretty decent rundown on the resort itself so I won't do much but add a couple of comments. The minibars were, I think, a nice touch considering how spread out the resort is. If you stay in a building that is farthest from the main building, where the majority of the facilities are located, having the option for getting a quick beer or soda without having to walk all the way back to the main building is nice.

One complaint I did have with the resort is the incredible number of gas powered carts in use by the staff. Gasparillas is the fast food court restaurant of the resort and it has a number of tables located outside, overlooking a marina. It could be a wonderful place to enjoy a quick breakfast or a late night snack. However there is a concrete pathway right through the center of the seating area that is constantly traversed by staff with gas powered golf carts towing racks and bins.

The noise, especially for those carts whose mufflers are defective, was astounding. If I had one recommendation for the resort management it would be to replace all the carts with battery powered ones and restrict use of them to off hours if at all possible.

We had dinner in Citrico's the first night. We had never actually dined there before so it was a new experience. Citrico's is the second-highest-end restaurant in the resort, with Victoria and Albert's at the top of the range. We had previously dined at V&A's and enjoyed it immensely. So we looked forward to Citrico's with anticipation.

I had one not-so-minor quibble with the restaurant. We arrived for our meal at exactly the time we had reserved. We were told there would be a small delay and if we liked we could wait in the bar. There were probably three or four other groups sitting in the foyer also waiting for a table.

Fine, it's understandable that they may be busy and therefore we weren't too unhappy with going to the bar. Except from the bar we could see at least a half dozen tables unoccupied… and they stayed unoccupied while we waited for 30 minutes.

I don't normally have much of a problem with restaurants trying to jack up the tab somewhat by having people wait at the bar for a short time. But those restaurants are usually a little more subtle about concealing that they have open tables. And since we were the only people in the bar, with everyone else waiting in the foyer, this strategy was obviously not working.

We experienced the same situation during a previous visit to V&A's - for the very first seating of the night - so there was no excuse about not having a table available. This is intensely irritating to me and really detracts from the experience.

With all the griping out of the way, I will go into commendation mode. Citrico's is a wonderful restaurant. The food, especially the seafood, was prepared perfectly. I would recommend any of the seafood dishes highly.

The service is efficient, though a little strange. We encountered a total of 5 separate servers and bus persons who brought dishes, took orders, refilled water glasses, etc. I'm going to assume that tips are put into a common pool.

We were fortunate to be seated at the windows overlooking the lagoon and much to our surprise we had a superb view of the fireworks. I can't remember this location being mentioned before as a place to watch the fireworks, but in my mind it actually was better than California Grill because we didn't have a couple of dozen people rushing over to get between us and the window. So I would recommend this as an alternative for fireworks watching for those who enjoy a good meal at the same time.

Our first night's dinner behind us, we repaired to our room to rest up for a strenuous day of drinking and eating on the morrow.

I might consider the possibility that we overdid the food sessions the first day, but that hardly seems possible. Not for me at any rate.

There are a number of different special classes, tastings and the like during the Festival that are available for an additional fee. Sometimes this is quite a substantial fee, as in the "Lunch and Learn" session with the chefs from the Magnolia Grill from Durham, NC. Seventy-five dollars for lunch is pretty darn expensive, but in this one case I would call it justified.

First, we received a full lunch, appetizer, entrée, and dessert and tastings of three different wines from Silver Oak Vineyards. Second, the chefs in this case were quite comfortable with an audience and their talk while preparing the meal was very instructive.

The food was excellent - on par with the best we ate during the event. The wines presented were also well paired with the food and good enough to go on our must-purchase list. By the way, the session we attended appeared to be sold out - there were no empty chairs in evidence.

Mary and I both concluded from the audience questions that there were a number of fans of Silver Oak in attendance. So this seems to be a chance to attend a tasting for a winery you like without having to go all the way to Napa or South Africa or wherever.

Overall I'd say that this type of event is right at the top of my price range. In this particular case I thought it was worth the price, but if the chefs had not been up to the standard exhibited in our session, I might feel like I did not receive my money's worth.

So much for the good news - now for the bad. The second session we attended was a "Food and Wine Pairing," this time located at the Coral Reef restaurant. As Mary mentions in her article we expected that the since the session was in the Coral Reef we would be served seafood paired with a white wine. What we got were two meat dishes and a cloyingly sweet dessert.

The most irritating thing, though, was the wine selection at this event. All three offered were from a single vineyard, and all were Pinot Noirs. Now I love Pinots. Always have, even long before the movie whose name must not be spoken. Since that movie came out the popularity of Pinots has exploded. Again, I don't have any problem with this - I'll just move on to other wines till the hubbub dies down.

But why in heaven's name would they offer us pairings with three different vintages of a single Pinot Noir and then tell us that the first two are completely out of stock and the third will almost certainly be sold out before the end of the year?!? So even if we had fallen in love with these vintages and desperately wanted to add them to our wine cellar (or in my case my wine shelf), we could not do so. It's downright sadistic, is what it is.

Fortunately for us we didn't actually care for the wines offered so we will not be suffering from any kind of Pinot envy.

After the disappointment of the second session we decided to leave the World and partake of some of the other culinary offerings of Orlando. We waddled over to Seasons 52, the flagship restaurant for a fledgling chain. Mary had dined at the restaurant before and liked it a lot, so I was looking forward to it. I like the concept - the 52 refers to the fact that the menu changes weekly and they concentrate on seasonal dishes. There are of course stand-bys that are on the menu all the time but you can always find a new dish you haven't seen before.

The décor is similar to other high end theme restaurants that have sprung up in the last decade, like P. F. Changs and Biaggi's. Which means lots of wood, indirect lighting and booths along with regular tables. I like it - your mileage may vary. And objects in the mirror may be closer then they appear, and so on.

Anyhow, the meal coupled with a respectable wine list restored our faith in humanity and fortified us for the next day where we would face our biggest challenges yet.

The second day of our trip we decided to devote to sampling the booths set up around the World Showcase. Mary laughed at my plan to try and sample every single booth in the course of a single day and she was right. I only got about 60% of the way through them before the truss failed. There's always next year!

So we started off with the New Zealand booth to celebrate the fact that we have a trip scheduled there next year. "Lamb sliders" is a dish I had never heard of before but I enjoyed it, even though to a Midwestern boy like me, "sliders" has a decidedly different connotation, denoting the offerings of a chain many I'm sure are familiar with - White Castle. I am pleased to announce that the difference between the two products could not be greater.

Mary also scored a glass of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc which was excellent. Having recently discovered Kiwi wines, Mary has now come to the conclusion (after substantial testing) that there are quite possibly no bad or even mediocre Sauvignon Blancs produced in New Zealand. She has resolved to continue her research next year on the ground, as it were.

After New Zealand we sampled Greece, Florida shrimp, Japan, Morocco, USA, Scandinavia, Puerto Rico, China, Australia, and Singapore. To fill in the blanks we also sampled Australian wines and beers from around the world. Then after lunch…

No, even I, aspiring trencherman that I am, had to call it a day after that little excursion. Especially in light of the fact that we had to attend the Party for the Senses that same night. So we repaired back to the room for a nap and a little Tums before the evening's festivities.

Okay, since Mary has given a rundown on the Party for the Senses in her report so I'll just touch on a few other observations of my own. First, she is right that the "Chilled Cantaloupe Cappuccino with Lobster Salad" may have been one of the best things I have ever tasted. In small quantities, mind you. I don't think I'd like a whole bowl of it, but served in a demitasse it was just perfect.

The wine selections were varied and for the most part quite interesting. We ended up the evening with several selections that we will look for in our local wine shop in the future. A recommendation - take a pen with you if you attend this event and then you can mark on the program those wines that most appeal to you for future reference. With so many choices it can be hard to remember which ones were especially worthy later.

I second Mary's comments on the seating. For $95 a head I expect to be able to get a seat, indeed I would expect reserved seating. There really is no excuse for not having enough seating.

I will note however that a couple we spoke with mentioned that they had been at the same party earlier in the Festival and there was enough seating for all. So it is probable that the Festival in October, for instance, would be less crowded. Since we were there the last weekend of the Festival it is almost certain that it would be more crowded then other weekends.

The music was somewhat loud, though since my hearing is not completely up to snuff I might have been able to tune it out better then others. It did make holding conversations somewhat problematical. We never did see any of the Cirque de Soleil acts on the center stage as we were as far from the stage as it was possible to get (not intentionally - that just happened to be where we ended up). I'm beginning to think I'm cursed and will never see a Cirque act as every time we've had tickets or planned on attending a show something has come up to prevent it.

As Mary notes, I enjoyed the party more then her, probably because I'm more of a party animal then her. She is actually a shy and retiring type who is uncomfortable in groups of more then 3 people, poor thing.

I will agree that the enjoyment of the event would be enhanced greatly if it were less crowded. We probably will try it again, earlier during the Festival, to see if this has any impact on the numbers attending.

So - "Food and Wine Festival" - worth the trip? Frankly, we had never attended before as we had expected the event to be mediocre and not worth the hassle. We were wrong. The food is inconsistent but the chance to graze and sample dishes from cuisines that we don't normally get a chance to try is worthwhile in our opinion.

We found the "Lunch and Learn" program we attended worth the price of admission, though this might be a bit of a crapshoot. It's certainly possible that one will attend one that is not nearly as enjoyable as ours. But we would certainly take the chance to do it again. And if you're lucky enough to see one with chefs you're familiar with or a winery you like - then go for it.

The "Food and Wine Pairings," at least as far as we experienced, were not that good. On the other hand the cost is considerably lower. If there was more information on what was being offered on a specific day and location it would help. As it stands it probably isn't worth the time or money in our opinions.

The "Party for the Senses" was mixed. We loved the selection of foods and wines offered (though more beer selections would have been great). We didn't find anything we didn't like. On the other hand the music was distracting and the lack of seating early on in the evening was annoying.

We realize it is difficult for Disney to refuse entry to people who are dressed inappropriately, since they have already prepaid, but it would be nice if there were some middle ground that could be reached. I would attend this event again without question, though next time we will probably try and pick a weekend other than the final one of the Festival.

Overall conclusions: If you have the opportunity to go to the Festival and you like food and wine from all corners of the world - go. We will certainly go again when the opportunity presents itself.