Strategy for F&W?

[drenalin'junkie]

We (6 adults and an infant) realllly love food and are heading for a weekend @ F&W in Epcot.Has to be a weekend and we have no intentions of eating anything not from a kiosk other than a snack breafast in our room.All meals will be consumed from opening to 3pm(baby needs to get back for a nap) and then again from around 5pm to close.

Any ideas on any kind of strategy that'll allow us to sample something from every kiosk ?We don't drink so that'll cut down on a few issues.We have from dozens to over a hundred trips inside WDW of experience but are stymied by any approach other than eat from Mexico to Canada or Canada to Mexico.TIA

 

[AmberI]

I would like to know too. I wil be there only one day; the opening day sept 28.

 

[mickeysaver]

We are planning to do the F&W festival over the course of two and a half days. We too are taking the from one end to the other end of the WS approach. Since we have no idea how the booths will be lined up, it's a bit difficult to say the exact order of attack. We will devote several hours nibbling our way through both of the full days and wander around for alcohol mostly during the EMH night. Some items we will share and others will be all mine or all her's. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I am allergic to scallops and Gabby is allergic to all shellfish, so there will be several items excluded completely.

We do plan on having some wine along the way too though. We know that we need to drink a bottle of water or Gatorade for every serving of alcohol that we drink otherwise, we know that we run the risk of becoming dehydrated and ill.

Our choices of items to try are listed below....roughly $225 worth of badness without alcohol and after using our snack credits.

Dominican Republic
Asopao de Mariscos (Rice and Seafood)
Coconut Flan

Peru
Causa with Crabmeat
Alfajores de Lucuma

Canada
Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup
Maple Glazed Salmon with Arugula and Roasted Corn
Maple Custard with Almond Crumble

New Zealand
Lamb Slider
Kiwi and Custard Roll

Greece
Spanakopita
Karydopita (Coffee and Walnut Cake)

France
Escargots Persillade en Brioche
Quiche au Fromage de Chèvre (Savory Goat Cheese Pastry)

Oklahoma - Route 66
Pecan Pie
Native Peach Buckle

Oklahoma - Native American
Three Sister Soup
Seared Buffalo with Scalloped Wild Onions

Morocco
Bastilla (Chicken Pie)
Kefta (Beef Pockets)
Walnut Baklava

Japan
Spicy Tuna Roll
California Sushi Roll
Sukiyaki Beef Roll
Vegetable Roll

Australia
Grilled Lamb Chop with Caramelized Onions
Macadamia Nut and Chocolate Bar

United States
Maine Lobster Roll
BBQ Pork Rib with Cole Slaw

Hops & Barley Market
New England Crab Cake and Barley Lentil Salad
Glazed Chicken Drum

Poland
Cabbage Rolls with spiced beef
Kielbasa and Potato Pierogies
Paczki (Doughnut)

Italy
Lasagna al Forno
Pizza
Zuppa Inglese (Rum Cake with Vanilla Cream and Candied Fruit)

Germany
Spaetzle with Creamy Mushroom Ragout
Debriziner Sausage and Sauerkraut in a Pretzel Roll
Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce

South Africa
Bobotie with Mango Chutney
Durban Spiced Chicken on Skewer
Spice Cake with Rooibus Vanilla

China
Chicken Sha Cha
Pot Stickers
Caramel Ginger Ice Cream

Turkey
Meze - Eggplant Puree, Bostana, Turkish black olives with pita bread
Manti with Yogurt Sauce
Authentic Pistachio Baklava

India
Samosa with Tamarind Sauce
Coconut Indian Rice Pudding

Spain
A Taste of Spain: Spanish Olives, Marcane Almonds and Chorizo
Papas Con Chorizo (Potoatoes with Spicy Sausage)
Stew with Saffron Rice

Ireland
Chilled Potato Leek Soup with an Irish Cheddar Cheese Stick
Boxty with Bacon Chips and Kerrygold Garlic and Fresh Herb Butter
Irish Cheese Plate and Brown Bread with Apple Chutney and Kerrygold Irish Butter

Champagne
Duo of Chocolate Truffles: Dark Chocolate and Malted Milk

Argentina
Spicy Beef Empanadas
Grilled Beef Sirloin with Chimichurri Sauce

Mexico
Chilaquiles
Quesadilla con Chorizo y Pollo

Chile
Tomatican with Manchego Cheese

 

[katypop]

There'll be larger lines in the evening than during the day, so I would go to the booths that you think might be more popular with others during the day, and to the ones that might get a little less traffic at night(more unusual foods). If you take a look at the menus ahead of time and get a map of where each booth is when you arrive, this should help. Also, since there are a few adults, you can line up at more than just one booth at a time, each person can get a few things for the whole party(for the booths that are close together of course). Have fun I have 6 more weeks to wait

 

[phyllis1966]

When we've done the F&WF, we use the "Mexico to Canada" approach...can't think of a better way! We really don't buy any of the alcoholic beverages (they make me overheat), other than Canada'a Ice Wine (delicious!), and we do this for lunch and dinner of the full day we allot for dining around the WS. It's amazing how quickly you get full when the portions are appetizer sized! DH and I usually will get 2 of the offerings at a kiosk and share them. DD, who was only 5 1/2 y.o. during our last F&WF, was more adventurous than I ever thought she'd be, and she tasted quite a few of the offerings, including food from Morocco and South Africa. Her favorites were the chicken tacos (not on Mexico's menu this year) and the rice cream in Norway. It is so enjoyable to spend a day trying all the wonderful samplings - it's been 3 years since our last F&WF and I'm so looking forward to going this November!

Hope everyone here enjoys it as much as we did!

 

[jenelope]

When I went with my parents a few years ago, we shared almost everything we tried and took turns buying at each kiosk. We stopped at nearly every kiosk, because we wanted to try everything that looked tasty. We went Mexico -> Canada direction. Even split in three, I was full by the time we got to Morrocco. I remember thinking the quarter cup of couscous I was attempting to finish would probably taste better if I wasn't so full of everything from boxty to golden shrimp. At that point, we decided it would be in our best interest to take a break from eating for a little while. Then we finished off the kiosks after we'd gotten our second wind. We asked for two extra forks at the first kiosk we went to and just kept them.

It actually worked out very well. With that many kiosks, I'd never be able to try everything I wanted to without sharing. This year, I'm going with friends who won't be as into F&W, so I have to prioritize.

 

[ElizabethB]

Since you're doing a weekend, if I were you I would plan to sample the booths for lunch and do something else for dinner. Why? Because, in our experience, Friday and Saturday evenings get very, very crowded and very, very rowdy due to lots of beer and drunks.

We can't imagine doing the booths without also tasting the wines. Even so, we never go on a Friday or Saturday night because we don't like the "environment". In our experience, on a Friday or Saturday night, any booth serving beer will have a line of people 20 or so long and many of them will be extremely happy and loud if not outright drunk.

If you don't drink, I think you'll like Friday and Saturday night even less than we do. You might consider doing Party for the Senses on Saturday night if you want a "booth" type experience without so much heavy drinking (although that may not be worth the price to you if you're not tasting the wine.)

 

[drenalin'junkie]

Thanx,
We are very seasoned travellers so crowds,drunks and waits are part of the game.We do from Dec 26 to Jan 2 every year and nothing can compare crowd-wise .

I like the idea of splitting up to nearby kiosks and regrouping.I print out menus and itineraries for every trip after consulting everyone.We try to make as much as we can out of the time we have.If you're the park you can find us by looking for a pink flamingo backpack,we'll be the 6 people who are doing the happy food dance .

 

[MickeyNicki]

The last few F&W on a weekend have always been mobbed...go to the counties right when the open...have a menu in hand (available from the entrance) and get to it

 

[ElizabethB]

Glad to hear crowds and drunks don't bother you! Given that, you should have alot of fun on the weekend nights.

We thought the food at the kiosks was very tasty last year -- in some cases better than ever.

Enjoy!

 

[richard_andmel]

Our choices of items to try are listed below....roughly $225 worth of badness without alcohol and after using our snack credits.

Goodness! I hadn't stopped to think what this was going to cost. I am sooo glad I read your post. Definitely would rather know this up front.

We use our room card for charging priveledges mostly. Is it easier to carry a crapload of $5 bills for this sort of thing?

Thanks,
Mel

 

[AmberI]

Since you're doing a weekend, if I were you I would plan to sample the booths for lunch and do something else for dinner. Why? Because, in our experience, Friday and Saturday evenings get very, very crowded and very, very rowdy due to lots of beer and drunks.

We can't imagine doing the booths without also tasting the wines. Even so, we never go on a Friday or Saturday night because we don't like the "environment". In our experience, on a Friday or Saturday night, any booth serving beer will have a line of people 20 or so long and many of them will be extremely happy and loud if not outright drunk.

If you don't drink, I think you'll like Friday and Saturday night even less than we do. You might consider doing Party for the Senses on Saturday night if you want a "booth" type experience without so much heavy drinking (although that may not be worth the price to you if you're not tasting the wine.)

Wow! Does Disney get a lot of DUIs? Thats doesn't sound to good, lots of peoples, rides, cars, and drunks...... I guess i'll be leaving when the party starts.

 

[Kay1]

Wow! Does Disney get a lot of DUIs? Thats doesn't sound to good, lots of peoples, rides, cars, and drunks...... I guess i'll be leaving when the party starts.

It's one time I'm sure it's worth the extra money to stay onsite, and I hope that most of the real partiers are traveling by Disney transportation. Btw, we go every year and I have never seen a single drunk.

 

[SandraVB79]

My approach to "attack" F&W

I don't think I'll be able to try everything without the risk of exploding.
So... I colourcoded the list of offerings. Green: things I really can't live without trying them
Orange: Things I would like to try, but I won't be too unhappy if I can't
Red: Things I don't need/ want to try.

It's based on what kinds of food I like, and about how easy I can get the food at home (it's easy to get German and French food, just 1 hour drive away, New-Zealand i already more difficult)

I intend to use that list to follow-up on where I am with my food
I guess I'll do the Mexico => Cabada approach, with sometimes a walk around the lagoon if I feel too stuffed
Some things my mom and I will share, some things we both will get our own, maybe we'll get seconds of some items, who knows

 

[ElizabethB]

If you go to the Festival in the day, no drunks. If you go on Sunday through Thursday evenings, no drunks. If you go Friday and Saturday nights, you'll see plenty of drunks. And, most would appear to be locals, who no doubt get in their cars after the drinking.

 

[StrwLady]

My hubby and I always split. Then if there is something one of us really like we go back for seconds. We do Mexico to Canada.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

Staying @ YC.My DW had me do as far as googling every menu item we were not familiar with for a description and pic.I like the color code idea.THanx

 

[ZoZo]

If you really want to maximize the number of things to try, I'd suggest splitting some with someone else. Some are true "bites" (smaller portions) but some are definitely big enough to split (like the chilaquilles in Mexico!). Even the smaller portions are fine to split if you just want a taste of something.

 

[Hopefully]

This will be our (DH, DAdultS and me) 5th F & W Festival. We love it. We do the DDP and the F & W festival and this is how we manage it. We do one 2 TS dinner.
For our week we schedule one F & W festival night after a TS lunch (50's this year for lunch) and a second day where we only do F & W "Noshing Around the World" - both lunch and dinner. This allows the 2 TS night, and a CS on arrival day and on departure day.
We use our Snack Credits for what we can. We tend to go from Mexico to Cananada, several times over several days. We taste what we find intersting and go back for what we liked.
Whether it is a weekday or a weekend evening we have never seen a lot of "drunks". To the contrary, people seem to be relatively well behaved.
We do try to do most of our touring during the week however, but we are in EC on the weekend nights, even if only passing through to our BCV room.
Have a great trip

 

[Miss Jasmine]

If you go to the Festival in the day, no drunks. If you go on Sunday through Thursday evenings, no drunks. If you go Friday and Saturday nights, you'll see plenty of drunks. And, most would appear to be locals, who no doubt get in their cars after the drinking.

You would be surprised how many locals do stay on-site during the F&W Fest. DH and I are two of them. Maybe you should take a survey.

Back to the topic...Since we are local we usually go at least twice. This year we will be attending one of the Party for the Senses (and staying on-site) that same weekend we are meeting some friends from New York and will be snacking around that Sunday night. Usually we try to hit as much as we can the first day we visit and then go back to our favorites the second time. This year will be a bit different because of the PFTS.

But yes we have found you can avoid the crowds if you get there when the booths open. We have also found that Mexico is the busiest of all the booths.