My wife and I traveled to WDW for the long holiday weekend and our anniversary. Just so you know, I am a regular lurker on this site, don't post much, but have been extremely skeptical of all of TDO's offerings lately.
I can honestly say this festival was done very well.
We had lunch for the two of us, including 2 drinks, for $62 eating solely at the kiosks. Now, while that may seem a lot, we were amazed by the quality and moreover the artful presentation of everything and definitely felt like this was worth it. We also, if anything, probably overate a bit, but really wanted to try a number of dishes, so couldn't help ourselves! I'm a pretty big eater (my wife not as much) and I was definitely satisfied.
We started out over at Odyssey on Sunday at around 11:20 am and shared the croissant doughnut trio (we got the little donuts, not the cut up bigger ones) and the Figment white chocolate puzzle. They both were tasty (the donuts were really good and very creative!). The puzzle was similar to kids desserts I've seen at some of the signature restaurants and was so-so, but the presentation really set it apart, as it was on an artist palette with 3 different colors of frosting "paint" and some blue M&Ms for accent. We had fun painting the puzzle, although you really couldn't tell it was Figment (no purple paint available!). We also had a bottle of water and the sample pour size of the chocolate stout (which was really good) to drink.
We then went over to E=AT^2 and got the reuben which was extremely well done, tasty and pretty to look at. Next stop was Decadent delights for the gigantic artist palette chocolate chip cookie, which was also cool looking and tasty too. This was followed by Pop Eats! for the veal and the shimmering sparkling wine (Cloudem wine). I didn't get the souvenir flute as it was rather generic looking and definitely not worth the upcharge for a piece of plastic. The veal was phenomenal in terms of the varied flavors that were mixed together, and the pickled turnip was a great accompaniment.
Finally, we stopped at Masterpiece kitchen and got the charcuterie plate which was very good and well presented as well. I also got another bottle of water, as I was quite thirsty by this point.
So, for those keeping score, that's 4 food items, 2 desserts, 2 drinks and 2 bottles of water for $62. Considering a quick service meal probably runs about $15-20 with dessert and more like $25 with dessert and a non-alcoholic drink, that's not too bad.
I could have been smarter and brought water and not have had to pay $6 for 2 bottles of water, so that would have cut it down to $56. All these prices include tax too, btw.
All in all, I definitely think it was worth it. Some of the items were extremely tasty and well presented and you could tell a lot of effort went into designing them. Also, as they say in the promotional material, a lot of the fun was in watching them prepare the food and the care the chefs took in making sure each item was just so. Even though much of the items took time to prepare, they were trying to be efficient about it (making 6 charcuteries at once and placing them in the fridge so they would be ready ahead of time for the next guests).
I've been to F&W before and my experience was the crowds were way worse and more obnoxious. We spent most of the day at EPCOT on Sunday and I didn't get the obnoxious drunk crowd vibe there like I did during F&W. Also I think the food was much better done here.
The Holidays around the World though I think are a bit better due to all the varied options, but of course, you have to deal with Christmastime crowds and all the upcharges that come with it.
Would definitely consider a repeat trip around this festival in the future if they continue it. I expect with the guest feedback they receive it will only continue to get better.
My only negative comments are twofold. First I noticed at Odyssey that they were telling DDP guests that the donut trio was not on the dining plan as a snack even though the menu clearly showed a DDP icon next to it. I don't know if that's a last minute change ($9 is definitely a high price point for a DDP snack, and way worth it if true!), but I thought that was bad show and that if the menus say it's DDP, they should honor it.
Secondly, apparently the Pop't Art was a big seller and was nearly impossible to find. My wife and I weren't too interested in it, but it was on the menu at Odyssey and I overheard cast members saying they didn't have it and that patrons should try the Pop Eats booth where it was also on the menu. Later when we were ordering food at Pop Eats they were telling people to go to Odyssey, because they didn't have it. So, not quite sure what was going on there.
