vinotinto
Just Keep Swimming
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2009
Hi all!
DH and I went to Party for the Senses on Oct 12th. I had looked for recent reviews and had come up empty handed. Found multiple reviews from a few years ago, but they were from when the price was about $100 less per person and there were three entry categories, including one that did not include seating. I also found a few rumblings from folks who had done this party in the recent past and had been disappointed because of the increased price and decreased offerings. This was our first time going, so I cannot compare the experience to previous years, but I will say that my DH and I *really* enjoyed our evening, and the food, wines and entertainment more than met our expectations.
This year, there were two seating categories: 1) the more expensive wine view, which were the tables right in front of the stage and had access to some additional perks like Minnie Vans, a special wine and cheese table and 2) the cheaper reserved seating, which is what we reserved. It was $486 for 2 people, including tax. Note that this reservation is pre-paid, non-changeable and non-refundable, so make sure that the date and time will work for your party before booking. Also, there were no AP or TiW discounts.
Because I was trying to decide if booking this party was "worth it" and because we were trying to coordinate/convince some friends that were going to be at WDW at the same time as us to join us, we wound up booking tickets very last minute - 4 days prior to the party. So, there was still availability literally just a few days prior.
The day before the event, I received in my email the menu for the event. We were already at WDW and only casually glanced at it before the party, but it was a very nice touch to receive this in advance!
Menu:
We checked in at around 6:50 for the party. We were given our wristbands and the CM wrote our table number in it. We were in the "Coral" section. To make it easy to find tables and offerings, there were 4 color-coded sections. Our table was just for the two of us. Our wine glasses and plate carriers were waiting for us at our table. We were enjoying our first glass of prosecco at 7pm.
There were 16 food sample stations, 2 cheese stations, 5 dessert stations, 17 wine stations (yaasss!), 3 beer stations and coffee/tea stations.
I tend to eat lower carb, which I relax quite a bit when I'm at Disney, but I do tend to avoid things like sandwiches, pastas, and breaded foods. One of my concerns booking the party was whether we would find a large proportion of these types of items. I was hoping that it would be mini, plated entrees. I was happy that there were only a few items to avoid and the rest were mini plated entrees. Overall, the presentations were beautiful and the food was delicious.
Some of our favorite tastings:
Pan Seared Duck Breast (Chef Nguyen, Be our Guest)
Autumn Harvest Pupusa (Chef Harboyan, Cali Grill)
Herb Roasted and Chilled Beef Ribeye (Chef Tio, The Belfry in MO)
Braised Halibut with Pea Puree and Chile Oil (Chef Meese of "Behind the Plate")
Ricotta Cavatelli with Braised Rabbit, Leeks and Truffle Jus (Chef Seidel, CO)
Assorted Chocolates (Viktoria Richards Chocolates)
We could have gone for seconds/thirds, but we had so many tastings, we only had one. The service was excellent throughout. The servers cleared our plates promptly. We could have chatted and taken pics with the chefs, but we preferred to just sample their food.
Note that Chef Meese also did the same dish at the Food and Beverage Pairing Seminar the day before. We also went to that seminar. I had booked the seminar before making the decision to attend PFTS. Rookie mistake. Next time, I will look through the list of invited chefs and will probably not book the other events taking place during the PFTS weekend. I will say though, he was very entertaining, and his dish was yummy. Very delicate.
The Wines:
We were impressed with the overall quality of the wines. We were afraid it would be the same quality was the outdoor kitchens, but these were quality wines. Or worse, that it would be mixed drinks (I find 99% of mixed drinks at Disney to be too sweet and really undrinkable). But, we were very happy to see wines and good ones. Some of our favorites from this evening:
Emblem Cab, Napa
Muga Red, Rioja
Fess Parker, Santa Rita Pinot Noir, CA
Ferrari Carano Pinot Noir, CA
St Francis Old Vine Zin, CA
Banfi Brunello!
I think there were others we liked, but as the tasting pours started getting more generous as the night went on, my mind started getting bit foggier...
Entertainment
We absolutely loved the "Femmes of Rock." 4 violinist accompanied by a drummer, a guitarist and a bass player. They played Hard Rock anthems from the 80's (think: GnR's Paradise City, Whitesnake's Still of the Night, Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer, Journey's Don't Stop Believing). They were fantastic.
At 9:30, we were promptly kicked out. LOL.
All, in all, a great evening with quality food, wine and entertainment. It is a bit of a gamble because you book it without knowing what the menu and wine offerings will be, but it turned out to be one of our favorite events at WDW.
DH and I went to Party for the Senses on Oct 12th. I had looked for recent reviews and had come up empty handed. Found multiple reviews from a few years ago, but they were from when the price was about $100 less per person and there were three entry categories, including one that did not include seating. I also found a few rumblings from folks who had done this party in the recent past and had been disappointed because of the increased price and decreased offerings. This was our first time going, so I cannot compare the experience to previous years, but I will say that my DH and I *really* enjoyed our evening, and the food, wines and entertainment more than met our expectations.
This year, there were two seating categories: 1) the more expensive wine view, which were the tables right in front of the stage and had access to some additional perks like Minnie Vans, a special wine and cheese table and 2) the cheaper reserved seating, which is what we reserved. It was $486 for 2 people, including tax. Note that this reservation is pre-paid, non-changeable and non-refundable, so make sure that the date and time will work for your party before booking. Also, there were no AP or TiW discounts.
Because I was trying to decide if booking this party was "worth it" and because we were trying to coordinate/convince some friends that were going to be at WDW at the same time as us to join us, we wound up booking tickets very last minute - 4 days prior to the party. So, there was still availability literally just a few days prior.
The day before the event, I received in my email the menu for the event. We were already at WDW and only casually glanced at it before the party, but it was a very nice touch to receive this in advance!
Menu:
We checked in at around 6:50 for the party. We were given our wristbands and the CM wrote our table number in it. We were in the "Coral" section. To make it easy to find tables and offerings, there were 4 color-coded sections. Our table was just for the two of us. Our wine glasses and plate carriers were waiting for us at our table. We were enjoying our first glass of prosecco at 7pm.
There were 16 food sample stations, 2 cheese stations, 5 dessert stations, 17 wine stations (yaasss!), 3 beer stations and coffee/tea stations.
I tend to eat lower carb, which I relax quite a bit when I'm at Disney, but I do tend to avoid things like sandwiches, pastas, and breaded foods. One of my concerns booking the party was whether we would find a large proportion of these types of items. I was hoping that it would be mini, plated entrees. I was happy that there were only a few items to avoid and the rest were mini plated entrees. Overall, the presentations were beautiful and the food was delicious.
Some of our favorite tastings:
Pan Seared Duck Breast (Chef Nguyen, Be our Guest)
Autumn Harvest Pupusa (Chef Harboyan, Cali Grill)
Herb Roasted and Chilled Beef Ribeye (Chef Tio, The Belfry in MO)
Braised Halibut with Pea Puree and Chile Oil (Chef Meese of "Behind the Plate")
Ricotta Cavatelli with Braised Rabbit, Leeks and Truffle Jus (Chef Seidel, CO)
Assorted Chocolates (Viktoria Richards Chocolates)
We could have gone for seconds/thirds, but we had so many tastings, we only had one. The service was excellent throughout. The servers cleared our plates promptly. We could have chatted and taken pics with the chefs, but we preferred to just sample their food.
Note that Chef Meese also did the same dish at the Food and Beverage Pairing Seminar the day before. We also went to that seminar. I had booked the seminar before making the decision to attend PFTS. Rookie mistake. Next time, I will look through the list of invited chefs and will probably not book the other events taking place during the PFTS weekend. I will say though, he was very entertaining, and his dish was yummy. Very delicate.
The Wines:
We were impressed with the overall quality of the wines. We were afraid it would be the same quality was the outdoor kitchens, but these were quality wines. Or worse, that it would be mixed drinks (I find 99% of mixed drinks at Disney to be too sweet and really undrinkable). But, we were very happy to see wines and good ones. Some of our favorites from this evening:
Emblem Cab, Napa
Muga Red, Rioja
Fess Parker, Santa Rita Pinot Noir, CA
Ferrari Carano Pinot Noir, CA
St Francis Old Vine Zin, CA
Banfi Brunello!
I think there were others we liked, but as the tasting pours started getting more generous as the night went on, my mind started getting bit foggier...
Entertainment
We absolutely loved the "Femmes of Rock." 4 violinist accompanied by a drummer, a guitarist and a bass player. They played Hard Rock anthems from the 80's (think: GnR's Paradise City, Whitesnake's Still of the Night, Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer, Journey's Don't Stop Believing). They were fantastic.
At 9:30, we were promptly kicked out. LOL.
All, in all, a great evening with quality food, wine and entertainment. It is a bit of a gamble because you book it without knowing what the menu and wine offerings will be, but it turned out to be one of our favorite events at WDW.
