Being able to work Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival was amazing. What was especially amazing was that, in Special Events, you get to work a variety of positions in different locations around Epcot. I'll go over what positions were available to us for the Fall of 2015. *Keep in mind that not all positions are available each season as the festival has different offerings each year.
In order of which positions CP's worked the most:
Cranberry Bog: Ocean Spray brings a cranberry bog to Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival when enough cranberries are available. For this position we had to attend a training class in the Coral Reef Restaurant event space (which is awesome by the way), where representatives from Ocean Spray taught us all about cranberries and how they are harvested each year. For part-time and seasonal Special Events Cast Members training for the cranberry bog was voluntary. For CP's we were all trained in the cranberry bog. Well all except my lovely Kevin, who happened the be the only CP in or group to take classes offered through the College Program and had a class that morning, so he never got to work a bog shift! Sad!
After training we all went to a warehouse to get fitted for waders! These were obviously very sexy. Big, heavy rubber waders that we would get to wear for our time in the sunny cranberry bog. We also had to wear a different costume under the waders. This was a plain white collared shirt with dark blue shorts or pants. Oh! And a white, wide brimmed hat!
For these shifts, there were usually 3-4 guides working at a time, each taking turns in the bog and out of the bog (handing out sample packets of craisins). While in the bog, you were expected to engage with guests walking by. There was a spiel to recite and lots of random cranberry facts to give! Most guests were incredibly interested in the bog and what you had to say. Some guests were a bit tipsy from the festivities and would threaten to do thing like dive into the bog. Luckily, I never had to call security over a guest getting in the bog, it definitely happens though. Rotations between bog and craisins usually lasted about an hour. The Florida heat and the bog waders created an ungodly amount of sweat in every part of your body. This got very uncomfortable. I probably drank more water during these shifts than any other time in my life.
Chase Lounge: The Chase Lounge is a space where guests can "escape" from the heat and chaos of the Food and Wine Festival. It is located above the American Adventure in the World Showcase. To enter, guests must have a Chase Disney credit card. The Chase Lounge usually had at least 6guies working at one time, usually more. These positions usually consisted of standing in a spot until it was time to rotate to another spot. You also answered any questions guests had for you. You might have gotten little tasks to do during these shifts such as, filling the ice in the soda machines, restocking cups and napkins, handing out wristbands for Eat to the Beat Concerts, greeting guests, controlling the number of guests able to enter the lounge, plus some other random tasks. This position got a bit boring and repetitive but it was also really fun if you were able to work with cool people.
Food and Wine Seminars: These were two different kinds of seminars. You would either be scheduled for a Wine Seminar or a Food Seminar. I personally really liked the Food Seminars.
For Food Seminars there would usually be about 5-6 guides working per shift. You were expected to set up place settings for the ~100 guests that would be coming in and tasting food and wine while listening to a guest chef. Guides would also serve the wine and food to each guest. After serving, guides were able to try whatever the guests were served in the back. Usually the food was AWESOME. After the presentation, we would clear all the settings, clean, and reset for the next seminar. There were usually 3-4 per shift. I like how fast-paced this shift was. And free food. I love free food.
The wine seminars were similar to the Food seminars but minus the food. Guests would usually get 3 samplings of whatever wine/liquor/beer was being presented that day. Guides were expected to set glasses and pour the beverages before guests arrived. Then we would clear and clean each setting once the presentation was over. During down times we stood backstage wiping down glasses with coffee filters. This shift was slower-paced and a bit boring. You were usually able to clock out at the end of your shift and come back to try something (21+ only) if there were leftovers, but not always.
Compound: Compound was by far my FAVORITE position during the Food and Wine Festival. Compound was a tent and trailer setup behind the Germany pavilion. This is where all of the alcohol for the festival is delivered and then distributed by lovely special events guides. I was not originally trained in this position, as only the male CP's were. I will try not to get into how *cough*sexist*cough* that was. I get it though. The compound requires a LOT of heavy lifting and can be exhausting. After a few weeks of working the festival, I started getting super jealous of Kevin and the other guys getting to work shifts that I thought sounded really fun. I asked a few leaders if I could be trained back there an at first they didn't believe me. I asked a few more times and they finally scheduled me to work compound! Yay! Compound would get shipments of wine, beer, and liquor and we would unload it, store it in large coolers, and deliver it to the various pavilions throughout the festival (YES we got to drive our own little golf carts around backstage all day). It was dirty, hard work but you got tons of freedom to explore backstage. People also brought us lots of candy and food. I didn't get to work nearly as many of these shifts as I would have liked but I thoroughly enjoyed the shifts I did work.
Annual Pass Holder: Fall 2015 Annual Passholders were able to collect a free commemorative wine glass for attending the Festival three times. I worked one of these shifts. They might have been the most stressful shifts because there were a lot of rules to follow to get the wine glass and when guests don't get what they think they're entitled to, they get ANGRY. This position involved lots of yelling (from guests, not cast members). Basically, you would rotate between queue control, stamping passports (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3), and Checking ID's/scanning Annual Passes.
Craft Beer: Craft beer was a pavilion available during the Fall of 2015. It was delicious. I thoroughly enjoyed this stop on my days off! Two guides would work at a time. Their job was to click guests coming in and help control the queues. That's it! Super easy, definitely on the boring side.
Joffrey's Coffee Garden: This stop might be gone forever. It was not very popular. I only worked this position once. Two guides would work at a time., usually along with a representative from Joffrey's. There was a little garden with coffee plants and various information about coffee productions and its history.
Eat to the Beat: Eat to the Beat is the concert series in the American Pavilion. I actually never worked one of these shifts. Guides would assist in controlling he queues and getting guests seated in the appropriate areas based on whether they had wristbands or were standby guests.
Wow! That ended up being pretty long! I am sure there are many more things I could talk about when it comes to Food and Wine, but I will keep it that for now.
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