Food and Wine Taste Sampler

[Mrhappyplace]

It costs $65 for 8 food or drink items. To be worth the value, choose items that are $8.13 or more. To really come out ahead, print out a menu with costs ahead of time and choose the 8 highest priced items you would like to try.

That math is only correct if you assign no value to the F&W pin.

 

[JohnD]

That math is only correct if you assign no value to the F&W pin.

Fine. Even better. Figure out the value of the pin, subtract from $65. Divide the difference by 8.

 

[Eddie Garrison]

So the Taste Sampler for this year's Food & Wine is $69.23 (including tax). 8 tabs at $8.65 per tab. And there is no discount for buying two sets this year as there have been in past years.

Somethings you CANNOT use the tabs on are:

• ALL Tasting Flights
• Artist Palette of Wine & Cheese
• Dom Perignon Champagne
• ALL Beers Over 6 ozs.

 

[JohnD]

So the Taste Sampler for this year's Food & Wine is $69.23 (including tax). 8 tabs at $8.65 per tab. And there is no discount for buying two sets this year as there have been in past years.

Somethings you CANNOT use the tabs on are:

• ALL Tasting Flights
• Artist Palette of Wine & Cheese
• Dom Perignon Champagne
• ALL Beers Over 6 ozs.

I'm waiting on prices to be posted. That way, I can pick items $8.65 or more. Unless you want to figure out the value of the pin, subtract from $69.29, and divide the difference by 8.

 

[JohnD]

AllEars.net has posted the prices of all Marketplace items: http://allears.net/tp/ep/fw17/2017-epcot-food-and-wine-festival-global-marketplaces.htm

Now, you can start doing the math to get your best bang for the buck with the sampler.

 

[BuddyThomas]

So the Taste Sampler for this year's Food & Wine is $69.23 (including tax). 8 tabs at $8.65 per tab. And there is no discount for buying two sets this year as there have been in past years.

Somethings you CANNOT use the tabs on are:

• ALL Tasting Flights
• Artist Palette of Wine & Cheese
• Dom Perignon Champagne
• ALL Beers Over 6 ozs.

Wow, that seems like a true rip off, not to mention a blatant and cynical cash grab. In all probability, people may not want the most expensive thing on the menu at every booth, and Disney is likely to win this little game by getting everyone who buys this to pay more than they would by buying individual items. But of course that's why they did it.

To close on a positive note, at least the little tasting card is extremely cute.

 

[danyoung56]

I've never understood the sampler card, nor do I understand the little charge cards that you wear on your wrist. It's not at all inconvenient to use your Magic Band to make purchases, and you don't have to worry about either the price of items and getting your money's worth or having your card run out. But then I don't budget any particular amount for a F&W meal - it'll cost what it costs, and when I'm stuffed and tipsy, THEN I'm done.

 

[larandtra]

There are plenty of top line items ( particularly the mixed drinks if you enjoy those) that these are great to use on. We did it last year and just picked out 8 items in advance we wanted to try and we knew would be at least 8 bucks and used them on those. When you see that some of the mixed drinks ( margaritas, Thistle, Steak at Canada etc.) . Its mainly a huge benefit for those who want the mixed drinks. as an example for this year: Bleu Spectrum 9.00, Lenotti Recioto 10.00, Mojito 10.00, MaiTai 9.00, Taste Of Greece 8.00, Margarita 10.75, BaiJo Punch 10.5, Italian Margarita 10.00, Sake 8.50, Caparhina 11.00, Martini Slush 10.75, Thistle 10.00, Steak at Canada 8.00. As you can see, it really is beneficial to those who want to try the various drinks and can actually save a great deal of money. If you use it for 8 drinks priced at 10 bucks or more, which is easy to do, its well worth it. Only a couple of food items on the list. Ill be using it, as last year, specifically for drinks.

 

[dreamfinder]

Fine. Even better. Figure out the value of the pin, subtract from $65. Divide the difference by 8.

But does the pin bring any value if you wouldn't want it otherwise? If you wouldn't want the pin, it's useless no matter how much it is worth.

I've never understood the sampler card, nor do I understand the little charge cards that you wear on your wrist. It's not at all inconvenient to use your Magic Band to make purchases, and you don't have to worry about either the price of items and getting your money's worth or having your card run out. But then I don't budget any particular amount for a F&W meal - it'll cost what it costs, and when I'm stuffed and tipsy, THEN I'm done.

The card is popular for the same reason why people buy the dining plan knowing it will cost them more than OOP, some prefer the convenience factor. And the little gift card doesn't require a pin and doesn't need to be dug out of a wallet and can have a preset limit IE what you load on the card. To each their own.

 

[Mrhappyplace]

But does the pin bring any value if you wouldn't want it otherwise? If you wouldn't want the pin, it's useless no matter how much it is worth.

To me it depends on what the pin looks like. If I like the pin I could put the value to me as high as $20. Anybody seen a pic of this years pin?

 

[JohnD]

So the Taste Sampler for this year's Food & Wine is $69.23 (including tax). 8 tabs at $8.65 per tab. And there is no discount for buying two sets this year as there have been in past years.

Somethings you CANNOT use the tabs on are:

• ALL Tasting Flights
• Artist Palette of Wine & Cheese
• Dom Perignon Champagne
• ALL Beers Over 6 ozs.

Anyone have a full list of the exclusions? I pulled up the menu from AllEars.net and hardly anything is $8.65 or more. But that's taking the full cost and dividing by 8 without factoring the cost of the pin. I just looked up "pins" on the Disney Parks app. Unique F&W pins run $14.99 and $15.99.

So let's say $15 for the pin. $69.23 - 15.00 = $54.23 / 8 = $6.78 per food item. $6.78 is more manageable.

Or as someone else did, calculate $20 for the pin or $6.15 per Item. $69.23 - 20.00 = $49.23 / 8 = $6.15

So let's split the difference and say, choose items $6.00 or more. You might break even or come slightly under. In which case, get the sampler ONLY if you want the pin AND choose items that are at least $6.00.

Otherwise, you're throwing your money away. And my thinking is that is what WDW is literally banking on.

 

[JohnD]

But does the pin bring any value if you wouldn't want it otherwise? If you wouldn't want the pin, it's useless no matter how much it is worth.



The card is popular for the same reason why people buy the dining plan knowing it will cost them more than OOP, some prefer the convenience factor. And the little gift card doesn't require a pin and doesn't need to be dug out of a wallet and can have a preset limit IE what you load on the card. To each their own.

If you're looking to get your money's worth, you calculate the value of the pin. But you really have to be strict with the math on that and the 8 items (see post above). Otherwise, you're probably more ahead paying direct. (I count gift cards in this as it's transferring cash directly to the card.)

 

[Mrhappyplace]

My wife and I went ahead and purchased the sampler, mainly because we liked the pin that came with it more then the other F&W pins we saw available. We valued the pin at $15 and hit some booths. First stop for us was Hops & Barley we both wanted to try the Smoked Beef Brisket and Pimento Cheese but considering the price we just swiped the magic band. Next stop was Italy I wanted the Calamari and she wanted the Beef Stew with Polenta with those two items costing $15.50 we figured we already got nearly half the value out of the sampler. We continues to use it on items that cost more then $7 including two drinks, the Grey Goose Slush($10.75) at France and the Happy Peach($8.95) in China. Our last 2 samples we used it on were not great values but our brief trip was coming to a close and we both felt we had gotten our money worth out of it. It is a total waste of money if you are only going to use it on $5 items but if you like the pin and use your samples wisely it is worth it.

 

[lisacat]

I've never understood the sampler card, nor do I understand the little charge cards that you wear on your wrist. It's not at all inconvenient to use your Magic Band to make purchases, and you don't have to worry about either the price of items and getting your money's worth or having your card run out. But then I don't budget any particular amount for a F&W meal - it'll cost what it costs, and when I'm stuffed and tipsy, THEN I'm done.

Not everyone is staying onsite and can charge to their magic band. Some are local and some are staying offisite. I love the little wristband gift card! (staying offsite)

 

[danyoung56]

If it works for you, go for it!