2017 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival: August 31, 2017 - November 13, 2017

[AngelDisney]

Should be if they follow the schedule from previous years.

Thanks! I will stop by Epcot today before hopping to DHS to check it out.

 

[Tess]

It should be happening today

Not if the information provided in this post is to be believed. See the last post.

 

[wdwloverz]

Not if the information provided in this post is to be believed. See the last post.

There is usually a soft open of at least some of the booths.. what is relevant in the last post?

 

[DVC4US]

There is usually a soft open of at least some of the booths.. what is relevant in the last post?

The last post of the link provided someone is at Epcot today and asked a CM who said no soft opening this year. Now they might be required to say that but that's what is being reported.

 

[wdwloverz]

The last post of the link provided someone is at Epcot today and asked a CM who said no soft opening this year. Now they might be required to say that but that's what is being reported.

Oh wow, well they very well may not be doing it this year..

 

[Tess]

There is usually a soft open of at least some of the booths.. what is relevant in the last post?

The last post of the link provided someone is at Epcot today and asked a CM who said no soft opening this year. Now they might be required to say that but that's what is being reported.

Yes, as DVC4US related--the final post is what I was attempting to relate. Soft openings at F&W used to be on Thursdays when the Festival opened on a Friday--it appears from this year and last, as I recall, that now the Festival is opening on Thursday and there is no soft opening.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Hi, this will be my first time to F&W, and I'm going with a friend for a girl day, no kids. I wasn't quite sure, do *all* the F&W booths open at 11, even the ones in Future world and Showcase Plaza? I was just making sure.

And then, do you have any suggestions on strategy for this? I went through all the menus using lists I found online, correlated what booths we thought we were interested in to reviews. Now I'm narrowing it to a priority list. But really, how much do you eat? Honestly, we don't drink at all, neither of us. Is the food in the stalls enough that as you eat at booth after booth you're like oh, that was good, now I'm full? Or do I still need lunch and dinner reservations? I have lunch at Les Chefs, where I thought we could just split an onion soup and croque monsieur, and then I have dinner at Le Hacienda. I had seen it last time (January) and wanted to try it. I also thought maybe there was some merit to having meal reservations just to get out of the heat, rest, plug in the ECV...

Is there anything else I need to know/realize? Mainly, do I want a solid meal on top of the scraps and pieces from the booths, or are the booths enough? Oh, and the other thing is, I don't eat beef or shellfish of any kind. Almost everything I'm finding for *me* is desserts. I think I could survive it for lunch with the booths in Future World West. Like I think that might be pretty filling. I don't know, I wanted to go but now I don't know what this is like and how it's going to work out, lol. Do you literally just eat a little at EVERY BOOTH and keep going? Or do people pick just a few and then hit a restaurant?

Is Chocolate Experience in the Festival Center worth going to? It seems sort of out of the way. Does it open at 11? I was interested in the Ghiradelli Drinking Chocolate there. Is anything interesting in that building BESIDES the chocolate? Does that stuff open up earlier and then the Chocolate Experience booth opens at 11??

Drop the restaurants. Lots of other AC is found in the Festival Center, rides/shows/shops around WS. Definitely have a priority of priorities list and then do all the booths you have room for! (Idk about the ECV though- does it have to be charged half-way through the day? disAbilities forum might be able to help with that one if you're not sure)

 

[Sona99]

Question: How do you all store your information as you head to F&W? I've got my selections on a spreadsheet at the moment, but I'm not going to walk around with a printout. I know there is a booklet but we'll be hitting Epcot our first day, first thing in the morning, so we won't really have time to go through and mark the booklet.

 

[Tink10]

Question: How do you all store your information as you head to F&W? I've got my selections on a spreadsheet at the moment, but I'm not going to walk around with a printout. I know there is a booklet but we'll be hitting Epcot our first day, first thing in the morning, so we won't really have time to go through and mark the booklet.

I'm prolly the exception, but we don't...

We normally spend a portion of almost each day during our trip in Epcot & whatever strikes our fancy at the moment, is what we have.

 

[Tess]

I'm prolly the exception, but we don't...

We normally spend a portion of almost each day during our trip in Epcot & whatever strikes our fancy at the moment, is what we have.

We get a festival booklet, but only to mark off what we tried so we remember the next time. Otherwise, we do the same as Tink10--wander and graze each day for lunch and dinner or at least a portion of each day if we have other dining plans.

 

[patster734]

I'm prolly the exception, but we don't...

We normally spend a portion of almost each day during our trip in Epcot & whatever strikes our fancy at the moment, is what we have.

Basically what we do also. I'll study the booths and their items like I'm prepping for a test.

However, like tests, no documents are used at the event except for the passport picked up at the entrance gate.

 

[karrit2000]

Basically what we do also. I'll study the booths and their items like I'm prepping for a test.

However, like tests, no documents are used at the event except for the passport picked up at the entrance gate.

This is what we do also. I have speadsheets with all of our special event reservations notated, all seminars & demos listed along with other F & W happenings & hours for all the parks. But we only really view the sheets at night while planning for the next day and in the morning to remind us what we have scheduled. I may try to upload it to my phone this year so I don't feel compelled to take the pages with me each day.

 

[pepperandchips]

Question: How do you all store your information as you head to F&W? I've got my selections on a spreadsheet at the moment, but I'm not going to walk around with a printout. I know there is a booklet but we'll be hitting Epcot our first day, first thing in the morning, so we won't really have time to go through and mark the booklet.

I am a planner nut and always make a list of must-try dishes in google docs or google sheets so I can refer to it on my phone on the fly!

 

[Tink10]

Lol...Ok. So I'm not the only one.

I think having been to F&W so many times & WDW so many times, we have pretty much stopped making ADS's and with the exception of FP's, have stopped planning all together. Not planning has made our trips so much more relaxed & enjoyable & actually, living by the seat of our pants & the length of the lines at WDW has provided a lot more opportunities to try things that we probably wouldn't have in the first place.

 

[Sona99]

Lol...Ok. So I'm not the only one.

I think having been to F&W so many times & WDW so many times, we have pretty much stopped making ADS's and with the exception of FP's, have stopped planning all together. Not planning has made our trips so much more relaxed & enjoyable & actually, living by the seat of our pants & the length of the lines at WDW has provided a lot more opportunities to try things that we probably wouldn't have in the first place.

We have FPs for the morning and then the rest of the day is F&W and shopping.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Question: How do you all store your information as you head to F&W? I've got my selections on a spreadsheet at the moment, but I'm not going to walk around with a printout. I know there is a booklet but we'll be hitting Epcot our first day, first thing in the morning, so we won't really have time to go through and mark the booklet.

We brought our print outs, got Passports first thing and then went through and marked everything we were interested in from the print outs onto the passports. Threw out the big papers after and ran our gameplans from the passports.

 

[loves to dive]

We get a festival booklet, but only to mark off what we tried so we remember the next time. Otherwise, we do the same as Tink10--wander and graze each day for lunch and dinner or at least a portion of each day if we have other dining plans.

Yep, me too, I do look at the menus and the prices in advance, silly me thinking I might be organized and make a budget and all that. I immediately forget all about it when I walk through the gates and get to the first booth. I kind of look at what people are walking away with but really, I just go with the flow.

 

[Templemom]

Question: How do you all store your information as you head to F&W? I've got my selections on a spreadsheet at the moment, but I'm not going to walk around with a printout. I know there is a booklet but we'll be hitting Epcot our first day, first thing in the morning, so we won't really have time to go through and mark the booklet.

I plan on using the google docs on my phone then taking a screen shot of that and making it my phone wallpaper to be able to look at it quickly while touring.

 

[loves to dive]

Lol...Ok. So I'm not the only one.

I think having been to F&W so many times & WDW so many times, we have pretty much stopped making ADS's and with the exception of FP's, have stopped planning all together. Not planning has made our trips so much more relaxed & enjoyable & actually, living by the seat of our pants & the length of the lines at WDW has provided a lot more opportunities to try things that we probably wouldn't have in the first place.

This is us too, except we rarely even make FPs. Basically if we really want to ride a ride and there is a long wait, we wait or don't ride. I have booked FPs the morning of and probably 80% of the time, we've cancelled them because we didn't have anything else we wanted to do at that time and just stood in the line.

 

[Doug S]

Question: How do you all store your information as you head to F&W? I've got my selections on a spreadsheet at the moment, but I'm not going to walk around with a printout. I know there is a booklet but we'll be hitting Epcot our first day, first thing in the morning, so we won't really have time to go through and mark the booklet.

If you have an iPhone, WDW Food&Wine is the best app out there. You can add stuff to a wishlist, mark them as tasted/favorite, and view previous years' (and Flower & Garden) menus. The data is also downloaded (but still periodically updated) so you can turn off cell/Wi-Fi to save battery. I used it last year and it was a life saver.