Any best time for food/wine festival?

[mowog]

We're planning on food/wine festival for 2006 and am thinking end of october or first week of november. Are there any pros/cons for when to go. Are there any weekend specific events or are weekdays OK.

TIA Jean and Bob

 

[athenna]

I would love to know this also!
Am planning a big vacation to celebrate my dbf 1st trip to WDW and want to go during this time. I have never been to the F &W before.

 

[Figment2]

Having gone the last week of Oct. for the past 5 years, it has been getting more crowded each year. What we like is that not only do you get the F&W festival but also MNSSHP. Last year we had about 45 of us all dressed up. And, although WDW is not having it this year, the Happy Haunts Ball is usually held the last week in Oct. It's a haunted mansion merchandise event. It is 1-3 days depending on what package you choose.

There are F&W seminars and dinners throughout the week however I believe the party of the senses are only held on Saturdays. Party of the Senses is a private hard ticket "dinner." Last year we were in the old Millenium Village.
There are many, many food and wine stations where they give you a sampling of different foods. My favorite was Thai Duck with Asian slaw and mashed potatoes. I think I went back five times. The desserts were excellent too. I'm not a wine drinker but Sam Adams beer were there and you could also get glasses of water. Cirque du Soleil was there as entertainment. I believe the cost was about $100 but worth every penny.

Cyn

 

[MiaSRN62]

Figment2 says : Having gone the last week of Oct. for the past 5 years, it has been getting more crowded each year.

We've gone the last week of Oct into the first week of Nov on at least 4 occasions. I agree as well. Seems to be getting more and more crowded each passing year. First week of Nov '04 seemed almost like summer crowds on most days. I can tell you Jersey Week falls somewhere in the area of the end of the first week into the second week of Nov and this can draw some serious crowds.

 

[snyderla]

We've noticed October is more crowded than it used to be. We will always go in October when the Beach Boys will be there though!

It seems the end of October is busier than the rest of the month.

 

[lovethattink]

We've found the best time (least crowed) to go around and sample the food is weekdays and lunchtime. The concert series are in the evening. We went several different evenings and found the promanade around WS to be very crowded. In the past, weekday evenings were way less crowded than weekend evenings. However, I did not find that to be true this year. Each evening seemed crowded, especially between Germany and Morrocco, and the Canada F&W stand.

 

[pigby]

We usually go to WDW in the summer - end October/beginning of November was much quieter last year than we are used to - apart from Epcot for the Food and Wine (and the Great Movie Ride in MGM for some reason!)

I would agree that the best time to experience F&W is right when World Showcase opens at 11am - later in the day the crowds build up. Weekdays are also better as it is popular with locals at the weekend. However right at the end of the day before the booths close - just before Illuminations, we found that the vendors were giving out larger portions - try Ireland!

We will be going again this year - only for one week this time from 21st to 28th October.

 

[Merriwind]

Our visit last year encompassed the last week in October and the first week of November. I liked the last week of October because in addition to the F&W fest, we got to do MNSSHP, see the decorations, enjoy the Boardwalk's halloween party, etc. I enjoyed having more special event to do. If you are only interested in F&W, you may find early November less crowded, when the Halloween people go home. You can also check when the Eat to the Beat concert series is announced for next year. Maybe there's an act you want to see more than the others. Either way, it will be a great time! Enjoy!

 

[Lindamary123]

I went last year the weekend of Columbus Day and yes it was really crowded. The weather was wonderful on Sat. (though I remember rain on Monday) and we hit WS as soon as it opened. We had no problems with lines until later in the day.

 

[AnnB]

I went to Food and Wine the first week of November last year. Wed-Thursday the parks were as quiet as I've ever seen them. There were few lines at the food kiosks throughout EPCOT. By Friday it was more crowded, and Saturday was kind of busy. The Party of the Senses on Saturday night was fantastic. So good that I've already booked a room for the first week in November this year.

Enjoy!

 

[LoriMistress]

We went to WDW during November 9-15th 2003 and we had so much fun. The weather was great, and there was little crowds. The longest we had to wait for a ride was twenty minutes. But other then that, we walked on the rides.

 

[fizz13]

Just wanted to let you know that here in the uk, our school mid-term break is usually the last week in October so we could be contributing to the crowds. I have booked next year for 21 -28 Oct. and I know that one of the flights is sold out already in economy class. I always thought October would be a good time to go for crowds and weather combined, but maybe things are going to be busier than I thought.

Claire

 

[MiaSRN62]

AnnB says : I went to Food and Wine the first week of November last year. Wed-Thursday the parks were as quiet as I've ever seen them.

Wow, just goes to show how two different people can have an entirely different experience ! We were there the same week last year. I've seen the parks much quieter during this week in '99 and '01. MK on Thursday was insane. Waits of 90 min for all the most popular rides (Peter Pan, Space, Splash, BTMR). HM/Buzz weren't too bad at 30-40 min. We actually ended up leaving the MK and hopping over to Epcot which was better crowd-wise. Then we hit the AK on Friday (Nov 5) and thankfully we did EMH, because by noon it was crazy and we ended up having to leave. The only day that week I felt was good was Wed (Nov 3). Granted, we just hung out at OKW on Nov 2. Maybe we were just hitting the wrong parks on the wrong days ! LOL