I must say the aesthetics Hawaiian both reminds of something from Discovery Cove.
Food & Wine Festival
- Thread starter bgbackdoor
- Start date
While driving home from work today I happen to look up at the electronic billboard that's at the foot of the High Rise bridge in Chesapeake on I64E and there was an ad for the F&FW. I also have heard a radio add for it occasionally on a couple of the stations I listen to. So it seems like the park is promoting the event pretty well. At least in this area.
Can confirm it's on an electronic billboard in Raleigh, NC.
The park has brought back a sampler option for the Food and Wine Festival! There is a 10 or 15 dish option. If you get the 10-dish sampler the average price per-dish is $3.50 (not including tax), and if you get the 15-dish sampler it is approximately $3.33 (also not including tax) per dish. Considering most dishes are $4-$5+ (not including tax), this is a really good deal. However, it does not seem that pass discounts apply. You can purchase the sampler here.
Here are some of my tweets from yesterday's previews. I was most impressed by the Hawaiian kiosk. There were no flaws with the food their that I could tell. I also tried most items from the Virginia kiosk except for the hush-puppies, which I heard were over-cooked. However, I thought the She-crab soup was some of the best I've had.
[tweet=https://twitter.com/CastleOSullivan/status/733699774923341824]
[tweet=https://twitter.com/CastleOSullivan/status/733713990744965120]
[tweet=https://twitter.com/CastleOSullivan/status/733698744928063489]
[tweet=https://twitter.com/CastleOSullivan/status/733699774923341824]
[tweet=https://twitter.com/CastleOSullivan/status/733713990744965120]
[tweet=https://twitter.com/CastleOSullivan/status/733698744928063489]
Yay! I love she-crab soup, so as long as the weather isn't too hot I'll be trying that next month!
Matthew said:
I just saw the email too. It doesn't look like there's a restriction of having to use it one visit, which if true is awesome. We're going for Memorial Day weekend and so it'd be great to have it to use throughout the weekend.
CastleOSullivan - was there any potted landscaping around? I ask because I've always loved how the Carribean booth was given a pseudo-plaza area with palms and tropical pots.
Edit: Just saw the windmill palms in the background - looks great!
Edit: Just saw the windmill palms in the background - looks great!
Sky said:
Yes, landscaping put out two pots with giant windmill palms. They have colored pots unlike the Caribbean booth's palms. The palm trees at the Hawaii booth are really tall though, they must have been growing backstage for years now. In fact, I noticed they got a new shipment of windmill palms that will probably be growing backstage for years before we ever see them. (You can see the long-term greenhouse and plant care area behind FHP on the train.) Anyways, they also have pineapple plants with mini-pineapples growing on them planted at the base of those palms.
Additionally, there are apple trees and specially-made planters at the Virginia booth with some native VA plants that aren't necessarily related to the food.
Landscaping has really expanded their scope in the F&WF. It started out the first year as mainly just the ingredient-based plantings, and then became more focused on including native plants in the decor in later years. Such as the Cacti at the American Southwest booth, and the hanging fern baskets at the French Quarter booth. That's on top of everything they have already done, and decorative, normal planters branded for the F&W all over the park.
Sorry that I went off on a tangent there, but I am very excited for the Food & Wine Festival to open next weekend!
Right now they just have Virginia flags on the food and wine garlands, along with the small landscaping decorations, which Matthew mentioned earlier. Also, they have a white fence which may or may not be part of the Virginia theming. It's probably the most basic kiosk we've had so far.
It's the food that matters though. I love the She-crab soup, an am happy to report that the hush puppies were delicious today. The rest is good, but you could buy it in almost any grocery store.
It's the food that matters though. I love the She-crab soup, an am happy to report that the hush puppies were delicious today. The rest is good, but you could buy it in almost any grocery store.
Sky said:
Really, that's about it. I question whether or not they are done with the VA booth yet, actually. They're missing a prominent sign. Otherwise, the rest of the decorations are nice, but minimal. (at the moment, at least) It's mostly some white wood-work with some bottle cap art and the state flag. It blends in just as well as it can with Heatherdowns. I should have more pictures coming soon.
Matthew said:
Thanks for this post. I ordered one pack of 15 for this weekend. They offered a similar deal in 2014 for about a week. Before I ordered in 2014 I went back and forth on if I should order before hand because of no annual pass discount online. I thought there might be a discount onsite. In the end, I ordered 6 of the trio passes before I went (18 samples total). I was happy I did. By the time I got to the park later that week they were no longer offered online or at the park. I just checked my order history. The original deal was sold as a 3 pack for $12. I was happy with my purchase back in 2014 and this 2016 deal is even better than that price. There appears to be a little difference in the redemption process. The 2014 sampler packs had to be redeemed at the self service kiosks. These sampler packs say that they can be redeemed at any of the food and wine booths in the park. That actually is a good thing to me. I always get to the park early and use the employee/platinum parking entrance. I did not want to have to go back up the hill to redeem these at the self serve kiosks.
jpcommons said:
Just as a FYI, there is also one self-service kiosk at the front gate.
