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

[JerseyJanice]

It is always nice to converse with a long time Disboarder, Tess.

We went in October 2010 and 2011. Weather was fine both trips--actually it was near perfect weather in 2010.

This past October, we arrived Saturday, 10/1 and had horrible rain that night. A few days later on a Tuesday, we had another torrential afternoon rainstorm.

Thursday, everything closed at 5:00 and Friday, the parks did not open. It rained heavily both days.

We were supposed to fly home on Saturday, but were able to change our flight to Sunday. That Saturday turned to be the best day of our day. Beautiful sunny day with low humidity and a pleasant breeze. We spent it at Epcot and the F&W.

 

[KiniShakenBake]

Value is what you make of it. As a single-handed person, the package was a tripsaver for me. Without a table to put my food on, eating is impossible. Not to mention I can't get food and drink at the same time, so having those tables with food runner services was amazing. The VIP tables alone made the package "worthwhile" for me. Everything else was just a bonus.

No joke! We didn't know about the VIP package when we booked a Sunday-Friday visit for our honeymoon, specifically with F&W in mind. When we saw it, and had experienced the joy of eating off of a variety of trashcans throughout the park on our first visit, we knew that was going to be one of our three splurges for our trip. It was perfect. The seating with runners was 100% worth it. When our lamb chop was more like chewing boot leather, the runner went and got us a different one. Same thing with the Venison tenderloin that wasn't at all tender. We got to sit and enjoy our food in shade, with other friendly VIP package peeps, and one heron. Also, because we were using the VIP areas to pay, and we had free dining, we were able to use our QS credits in a silly efficient fashion, getting the most expensive items from each booth represented at that kiosk and paying for them all with one snack credit. It was divine, and quickly became a game for me to figure out the best way to pay for whatever it was we wanted to eat: snack credit, QS credit, gift card, package entitlement.

This year we are bridging a weekend, so we might try for a Party for the Senses instead, or a few of the specialty dining things. This thread was absolutely invaluable when I was planning our honeymoon, and we did several things differently because of it. I think my best advice for F&W is to minimize the ADRs as much as humanly possible. If you're truly going for F&W, you'll be either eating lunch (a really good idea, believe it or not) in Epcot and heading back for the evening, or you'll be eating dinner at Epcot after a day out and about elsewhere. Or it's a day at Epcot, which is not a bad thing, either. Just think that through, and put "F&W" in that spot on the spreadsheet. Because of the free DDP for the deluxe resort, I ended up scheduling THREE signature meals for us in a week (Yachtsman, Narcoossee, and Le Cellier, in case you were curious) so that I could use all of our table service credits but not take up too many meals with table service.

 

[dgbg100106]

We will be there Oct 1-4, at Beach club, can't wait to get home!

 

[Tess]

It is always nice to converse with a long time Disboarder, Tess.

We went in October 2010 and 2011. Weather was fine both trips--actually it was near perfect weather in 2010.

This past October, we arrived Saturday, 10/1 and had horrible rain that night. A few days later on a Tuesday, we had another torrential afternoon rainstorm.

Thursday, everything closed at 5:00 and Friday, the parks did not open. It rained heavily both days.

We were supposed to fly home on Saturday, but were able to change our flight to Sunday. That Saturday turned to be the best day of our day. Beautiful sunny day with low humidity and a pleasant breeze. We spent it at Epcot and the F&W.

That Saturday was absolutely gorgeous--the sky could not have been more blue! We were there October 5-14, 2016. We have been going around that time since 2010 and will be back this year as well with our grown children and spouses! Hoping for perfect weather and a lovely family reunion!

 

[MKCP5]

The culinary demonstrations and beverage seminars are different every year so it would be hard to say. Many people like Robert Irvine's seminar but often his sells out quickly. If you're interested in booking one of special events, many people like the Parisian breakfast, the Italian food and wine pairings, and the French food and wine pairings. There will be lots of information on these events posted on this thread as we get closer to the start of the Festival.

I will be at Disney in September. We will have one day at EPCOT and I am super excited to take in as much of the festival as I can in that day. I've never been and have no idea what it's like. If I am Lucky enough to be able to get into one or two of the seminars, about how much do they typically run to attend? For the food market where they set that up? Are they small kiosks all around world showcase or is there one central place? I'm so excited !

 

[MKCP5]

Please let us know if you locate any information!

Are eat to the best events additional fees? Or are they playing in the open? Thanks!

 

[Tess]

Are eat to the best events additional fees? Or are they playing in the open? Thanks!

Eat to the Beat concerts are included with your paid admission.

 

[MKCP5]

Eat to the Beat concerts are included with your paid admission.

Thank you!

 

[crazy4wdw]

I will be at Disney in September. We will have one day at EPCOT and I am super excited to take in as much of the festival as I can in that day. I've never been and have no idea what it's like. If I am Lucky enough to be able to get into one or two of the seminars, about how much do they typically run to attend? For the food market where they set that up? Are they small kiosks all around world showcase or is there one central place? I'm so excited !

The beverage seminars and culinary demonstrations were $15 per person last year. Each of these seminars usually run 40 to 50 minutes. Most of the global marketplace booths are set up around World Showcase Lagoon. In 2015, they started to set up a few booths in the Future World section, in the area between Innoventions West, Imagination, and The Land.

There is a dining package offered for the Eat to the Beat concerts which include reserved seating for one of the concerts.

Here's a link to the map for last year's festival. It will give you an idea of where the global marketplace booths are located.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/guides/epcot/events/foodandwine-map.htm

 

[MKCP5]

Thank you so much!!!

 

[gottalovepluto]

... Because of the free DDP for the deluxe resort, I ended up scheduling THREE signature meals for us in a week (Yachtsman, Narcoossee, and Le Cellier, in case you were curious) so that I could use all of our table service credits but not take up too many meals with table service.

Thanks for the run down! I'm debating right now how much TS to add to our weeklong trip over F&W, though no dining plan for us. Staying BC CL I know we'll be at F&W a lot and breakfast and evening appetizers are taken care of. It's my fam's first trip to WDW (my second, but my first was only 2 days for F&W so I didn't dine anywhere besides BOG) so I want to hit the TS highlights but not go crazy... this FW+ADR balance is turning out to be trickier than I thought. And I know it could all change when they release the schedule for special F&W dining events!

 

[JerseyJanice]

Thanks for the run down! I'm debating right now how much TS to add to our weeklong trip over F&W, though no dining plan for us. Staying BC CL I know we'll be at F&W a lot and breakfast and evening appetizers are taken care of. It's my fam's first trip to WDW (my second, but my first was only 2 days for F&W so I didn't dine anywhere besides BOG) so I want to hit the TS highlights but not go crazy... this FW+ADR balance is turning out to be trickier than I thought. And I know it could all change when they release the schedule for special F&W dining events!

So far, I have 1 ADR for our week long trip in September and it's dinner at Ohana. If I can get a dinner at Be Our Guest, I'll make that. But that's all I'm making ahead of time. Hurrying to make a bunch of ADRs is a pain. Plus I love snacking at the F&W booths.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We had the VIP Package in 2014, and we thought it was nice. I read that they changed it significantly in 2015, and got rid of it entirely in 2016. It will be interesting to see if they offer it this year.

 

[kariandy6698]

It is always nice to converse with a long time Disboarder, Tess.

We went in October 2010 and 2011. Weather was fine both trips--actually it was near perfect weather in 2010.

This past October, we arrived Saturday, 10/1 and had horrible rain that night. A few days later on a Tuesday, we had another torrential afternoon rainstorm.

Thursday, everything closed at 5:00 and Friday, the parks did not open. It rained heavily both days.

We were supposed to fly home on Saturday, but were able to change our flight to Sunday. That Saturday turned to be the best day of our day. Beautiful sunny day with low humidity and a pleasant breeze. We spent it at Epcot and the F&W.

I've been wanting to attend this event. This may be the year!

 

[crazy4wdw]

Menus for the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic have been released. The menus are listed in post #5 on the 1st page of this thread.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-resorts/swan-dolphin/food-wine-classic.htm#menus

 

[Civicsixxx]

We are going to be in WDW from 8/26-9/2 and planned 8/31 as our Epcot day. I just noticed that this is the first day of the Food & Wine Festival.

How crazy are the crowds on the first day? Bad enough that we should consider changing it to 9/1?

 

[OKW Lover]

How crazy are the crowds on the first day? Bad enough that we should consider changing it to 9/1?

The first day will be very busy, especially with locals. However that's all around World Showcase and would not seriously impact the Future World section of Epcot, or the actual attractions in WS either for that matter. People are there for the booths. Changing to the second day (9/1) won't make much difference as that will be pretty much the same.

 

[crazy4wdw]

We are going to be in WDW from 8/26-9/2 and planned 8/31 as our Epcot day. I just noticed that this is the first day of the Food & Wine Festival.

How crazy are the crowds on the first day? Bad enough that we should consider changing it to 9/1?

The first day will be very busy, especially with locals. However that's all around World Showcase and would not seriously impact the Future World section of Epcot, or the actual attractions in WS either for that matter. People are there for the booths. Changing to the second day (9/1) won't make much difference as that will be pretty much the same.

That's also Labor Day weekend so the parks are going to be more crowded over a holiday, especially a long holiday weekend.

 

[Tonyz]

This is my first year doing Food and Wine! Any idea how consistent the food offerings are each year? I'm looking at last year's choices and drooling already!

 

[crazy4wdw]

This is my first year doing Food and Wine! Any idea how consistent the food offerings are each year? I'm looking at last year's choices and drooling already!

They usually change several items at the Global Marketplaces. Sometimes this involves just changing the recipe of an item or offering something new. It will also depend on which countries are represented. Each year, usually at least one country or region is added and an older one will be replaced. There are several favorites which return each year: Cheddar Cheese soup and Filet Mignon from Canada, Fisherman's Pie from Ireland, Belgian Waffle at Belgium, Beef Bourguignon from France,Apple Strudel from Germany, mussels from New Zealand.