2016 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival: September 14 - November 14, 2016

[randumb0]

That was not our experience.

We had very short wait times of less than 5 minutes at most every station and we were there from kinda busy times to VERY busy times. I don't know if we just hit everything right. There seemed to be an obsession with speed at almost every station.

Definitely cancel ADR. I would have burst if I had eaten a meal anywhere. We did do one quickservice and split it amongst the four of us a snack...but very filling food.

wow i have never seen a 5 minute wait in the middle of the say on the weekend

 

[hopemax]

We just got back. We visited Epcot on 9/30, 10/2, 10/8 and 10/9. Our experience was that we never had more than a 10 minute wait for anything, except for one of our trips up to the Chase Lounge. And even 10 minutes might have been generous. Most queues weren't very full. If we saw one that was full, we skipped it and came back later. Most lines were maybe 3-4 people in front of us, and longer ones like France and Belgium maybe had 7-8 groups, but with 3 or 4 cash registers it went quickly. And from those dates you can see we were visiting Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, which should have been busy days.

Editing to add our favorites:

In general, I felt like the food was a lot tastier than our last visit in 2014. We walked away from that F&W feeling like it was just bland. I don't have my book handy, so I'm short handing the names

We really liked:

Short Ribs from South Korea
Beef Skewer from Patagonia
Escargot Croissant from France
Duck Confit from Greenhouse Guru
The Schinkennudlen from Germany is like comfort food to me now, it reminds me of something my Mom used to make.

I did forget something. Venison from New Zealand. It was super tender, good sized piece and a better value than the lamb or mushroom filet from other booths.

There really wasn't much we didn't like. Most was due to prep/sitting out I think.

Worst was the cheese bread from Brazil. It was just a rubber, chewy ball.
My Barbacoa taco from Mexico was really mushy
Chocolate Flan from France had gotten too warm, or wasn't set properly it was almost liquid
Didn't care for the Jamaican Beef Patty from Caribbean
DH didn't think much of his gyro from Greece

I really liked the topping to the Hummus fries, but the falafel part, one we had was soggy and one was over crispy. It was good, but we didn't think it was worth all the raves.

I'm probably forgetting something. It was blazing hot, and Hurricane Matthew cut one of our days, so we didn't quite get to everything

 

[escriven75]

View attachment 200779

I guess I better budget in $$s for a cookbook this year....
The one I have looks like this:

 

[Straughn]

It depends on when you go. If you are there on the weekend, plan on 20-30 minutes in a line. If you are there during the week closer to the time when the festival opens for the day, maybe two to five minutes. Dinner time during the week, 15-20 minutes.

We avoid the weekends. During the week, lines are approx 3-5 minutes. Some of the more popular kiosks, (France for one), may be longer. If it is an Extra Magic Hour morning or evening, lins may be a bit longer but not 20 minutes. Note that the kiosks still close on 9PM on Extra Magic Evenings.

 

[supersnoop]

That was not our experience.

We had very short wait times of less than 5 minutes at most every station and we were there from kinda busy times to VERY busy times. I don't know if we just hit everything right. There seemed to be an obsession with speed at almost every station.

Definitely cancel ADR. I would have burst if I had eaten a meal anywhere. We did do one quickservice and split it amongst the four of us a snack...but very filling food.

wow i have never seen a 5 minute wait in the middle of the say on the weekend

We avoid the weekends. During the week, lines are approx 3-5 minutes. Some of the more popular kiosks, (France for one), may be longer. If it is an Extra Magic Hour morning or evening, lins may be a bit longer but not 20 minutes. Note that the kiosks still close on 9PM on Extra Magic Evenings.

My experience is the same as @magic458's. We were there on September 23, 24, and 25 (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) and I don't think we ever waited longer than 5 minutes in a line.

 

[ChrisNY2]

Hummus Fries...delicious.
Actually I like them but my family didn't.
View attachment 200766

Was that the whole portion? One fry?

 

[tony67]

Was that the whole portion? One fry?

When I was there it was 4 (weekend of the 16th) - I heard it was now 3 - It looks like they ate some of them before they took that picture

 

[magic458]

Was that the whole portion? One fry?

I was so excited about eating these in checking them down so fast that I forgot to take the picture until the last one. I think there are four in the serving.

 

[tony67]

I was so excited about eating these in checking them down so fast that I forgot to take the picture until the last one. I think there are four in the serving.

This is the portion with four:

 

[Dikran]

Did anybody try the Culinary Adventure with a Master Chef at the CR? We will be doing it in November but haven't seen any reviews yet.

 

[RyMickey]

I will readily admit that I have not read through the pages on this thread, but I did a quick search of the boards and couldn't find an answer based on my search criteria (although I'm sure it's here).

I just wanted confirmation that annual passholders can only receive (1) food and wine glass with their annual pass. Last year, it was every three visits, you could get the wine glass, but this year, the material seems to indicate (1) glass per annual pass. Is this the case?

 

[randumb0]

I will readily admit that I have not read through the pages on this thread, but I did a quick search of the boards and couldn't find an answer based on my search criteria (although I'm sure it's here).

I just wanted confirmation that annual passholders can only receive (1) food and wine glass with their annual pass. Last year, it was every three visits, you could get the wine glass, but this year, the material seems to indicate (1) glass per annual pass. Is this the case?

1 glass total

 

[RyMickey]

1 glass total

Thanks for the quick response. I thought that was the case, but wanted to make sure. We have a very relaxed trip coming up with very little planning and I just wanted to make sure we didn't need to walk into Epcot from the Boardwalk more days than we needed to.

 

[Hikergirl]

We were there for the first weekend and I cant compare it to all weekends, it was our very first time going to it. We never really had a long wait, i dont think ever waited anywhere close to 10 mintes. We cancelled a few ADRs because we ate enough at the booths.

 

[iona]

When I was there it was 4 (weekend of the 16th) - I heard it was now 3 - It looks like they ate some of them before they took that picture

We were there more recently and it does indeed appear to have been reduced to three. They were nice though!

 

[Hikergirl]

Can anyone with the cookbook tell me if the recipe for Brazil's Escondidinho de Carne is it in? I really appreciate it!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Can anyone with the cookbook tell me if the recipe for Brazil's Escondidinho de Carne is it in? I really appreciate it!

Sorry - I don't see it in this year's book.

 

[Hikergirl]

Sorry - I don't see it in this year's book.

Thanks so much for looking. I skimmed through it when I was there but forgot what was or wasn't in it.

 

[Doug S]

Any recommendations for booth items that would be able to survive 1/2 day in storage containers in my luggage? I usually bring back something from the French bakery, but I would love to bring back some of the festival items.

 

[conandrob240]

We have been here a few days. Getting ready to head over to Party for the Senses. We've had a good time but I really have to say this year has been a disappointment. No "wow" items for us, although most things have been good to very good. Prices have really gotten out of control especially for the little splashs of wine and beer (at most a very "light" 2- 3 oz). $4-5 is average and it's really just not worth it. If I remember, the wines used to be $2.50-3.50 average for that small tasting glass which was where it should price. I don't remember the beers ever coming in those tiny glasses except when buying a flight. I remember getting a full 10 oz (?) cup of beer for the $5-6 maybe $7. Not a tiny tasting cup for $5. Food was overpriced as well- most tastes were $5-6 which seemed too high for the small portion. But the food didn't feel as out of whack to me as the wine/beer. The drinks at $9-10 for a tiny cup (6oz?) were also ridiculous. We were also disappointed that most were pre-made and sitting out. Yes, a margarita on the rocks sitting there with the ice melting for $9.50 for a 6oz Dixie cup! I don't think we'll make this an annual thing anymore- every few years is sufficient. Maybe not even.Crowds seem high but even so, no huge long waits for booth items. China, France, Caribbean and Mexico seem to have the longest lines.