Do children like the Food & Wine Festival?

[forgetyourtroubles!]

I've never been to F&W before. What do you like about it? Let me guess...Food and Wine. What is the atmosphere? Are there free samples? Cooking classes? Samples like they have at Sam's or Costco only much better? Do you watch them cook it outdoors? Most of all, is it something that is primarily for adults?
Thanks!

 

[kda]

We went for the first time last November and enjoyed it --- just because it was something different. In addition to about 20 food stands with small servings of food from many countries, there are special lunches and dinners. But everything did seem to combine both food AND wine, and we don't drink --- so we chose not to participate in the special meals. There were also cooking demonstrations under tents, which were fun, and programs on wines, which we skipped.

We thoroughly enjoyed 'eating our way around the World Showcase' and did lunch and 2 dinners this way and tasted pretty much everything we wanted. Think of it as "sampler size" not samples. There are not samples, with the exception of a small taste of wine or beer that we saw some folks get, to try to help them decide if they wanted to buy it. The foods are for sale, and the cost can add up fairly quickly. Even though everything was just a "sampler" size, we usually split the servings so that we could each try a lot of different things.

We're really glad we got to experience this and would like to do it again. Someone with kids can give their opinion, but I'm not sure it would really appeal to most kids.

 

[RUDisney]

My kids loved it! The samples were big enough for all of us to have a bite to taste whatever it was and small enough to not intimidate the kids into thinking that if it was yucky, they'd have to eat more.

Mine really liked the sesame noodles in Asia and the duck in Eastern Europe/Russia.

The best part of it for me was having France right inside of the International Gateway... with champagne samples. One time I stopped at the booth with the kids after DH had left us in one of the parks. After several hours of alone time with the kids, my DS asked why we were stopping at this booth. When I told them that this was Mommy's salvation after being with them so long, everyone else in line laughed and I heard a few, "amens."

Now, we didn't do any special dinners because we didn't want to leave the kids with a sitter (family vacation, and all that...) and I never did get to go to any wine seminars. That was a little disappointing, but it was really because of our schedule and not because I couldn't have broken myself away from family time for an hour.

We'll be doing this again in October! I can hardly wait!

Here's a link to more of last year's events and to preliminary info on this year's event that starts on October 1st, instead of mid-October. http://www.allearsnet.com/tp/ep/foodwine.htm

 

[jcemom]

Is Epcot a lot more crowded than usual for the F&W Festival?

 

[melk]

We went this past year with the kids. I guess my question for you would be, are your kids picky eaters? Mine are and so our first stop was at the McDonalds booth for them. We got all of them chicken nuggets and fries, put them in the strollers and off we went. DH and I would stop and get samples from the different booths. Everything we got was really good.

The only thing we didn't like....the crowds. I don't know if it was unusually crowded that night or what, but it was wall to wall people.

 

[ColoradoDis]

My DD11 is still talking about the "Kids Sushi" that she had in 2001. They took a fruit roll-up and wrapped it around a rice krispie treat with gummi worms in the middle. She's hoping they'll have it again or our trip in October.

They had special kids tasting sections. Sorry can't remember where?

 

[Kallison]

Originally posted by jcemom
Is Epcot a lot more crowded than usual for the F&W Festival?

Yes - especially on weekends. I didn't notice it being too crowded during the week.

 

[iloveeeyore]

I would not do it again with kids (at least not with MY kids). It amounted to one big distraction, DH and I trying to enjoy the food, kids just wanting to do kidcot stops...

Also we were there on a Saturday and it was VERY crowded. Bad move and choices for us all around.

BTW, kids were 5 and 7 at the time.

 

[jcemom]

Originally posted by iloveeeyore
I would not do it again with kids (at least not with MY kids).

Gee, I can think of quite a few things I feel that way about, lol.

 

[pigby]

Always thought Epcot was quietest at weekends - no school groups. This has always worked for us in the past - but I expect that a lot of locals enjoy the F&W Festival. Better rethink our strategy.

Sue

 

[SamanthaL]

I did it with a 4 year old and she loved it because while we sampled we also took her around to make the masks that each country has.

 

[Jaklackus]

I went about 4 years ago...and the food selections were mostly priced around $3-4 a piece..a few were cheaper. I did not partake in any of the wine or beer selections since I was driving so I didn't pay too much attention to those prices. If your kids are old enough to apreciate the adventure of it...eating snails in France it might be a blast..otherwise be sure to load them up with chicken fingers and fries and have some cookies or rice krispy treats to keep them quiet when dinner wears off

 

[laurabelle]

My kids were almost 4yrs and 1 1/2yrs old when we went in 1997. I didn't expect them to like any of it, and they ended up loving so many things, I was shocked.
Their favorite was Morrocan food. They are really picky eaters, now 10 and 7, but still love couscous!

 

[forgetyourtroubles!]

Thanks a lot for your opinions. We'll give a try for sure and try to plan a strategic time to do it. And we'll have a plan B in mind as well if it doesn't work out well. You fellow DIS people make this board so helpful!

 

[eeyore0062]

We LOVE the Food and Wine Festival... went at least once a week this past year. The food was wonderful. Try, not only the wine, but the beer exhibits, as well. The one sponsered by Rose and Crown was fantastic!

Our DD isn't particularly into it, so we usually went while she was in school on a weekday, and the crowds were smaller. Going on a weekend is another story. Some of the lines were absolutely impossible. The evenings during the week got much busier due to the locals coming out after work, too.

 

[tjmw2727]

My girls are 7 and 9 and we have been during f&W the past 3 years. We all like it, my girls aren't much into the "kids meal" type foods so for us it works out great. The sample size is a great meal for a kid and they can try some favorites as well as new foods without ording a great big meal.

We haven't done any of the special meals or wine tastings yet but hope to (sans kids of course!) this year.

One tip that worked for us was to have one adult wait the line for the f&w booth if it was long while the other took the girls to the kidcot station to work on the mast. Then we would meet and eat!!

TJ

ps- if the search feature is up I remember reading a few great trip reports from those participating in the f&W this year. Check out the trip reports board and try searching for first hand reports.