Epcot Festivals: Stick with food booths or schedule TS?

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

I am interested in what other people do when visiting Epcot during Festivals. We love festival booths and we now have 3 small children in tow. We are hoping the DDP is back by next December since we are only planning on getting it for 2 days on the front end of a split stay. If not, no big deal. Either way, we wanted to know other's thought process. Do you fit in a table service meal at Epcot or do you prefer snacking around the world for multiple meals? I have heard tell of the wonders of DDP snack credits at the festivals and we would like to take the kiddos to a character meal on a different day which would be the major reasons for the DDP.

 

[DebLovesPooh]

We do only food booths for the afternoon. A few snacks and a couple of beers and I am full! I look forward to the different types of snacks available during festivals. We save the regular table service meals for non-Epcot days or Epcot table service when we go during non-festival time (end of February).
Deb

 

[Lumpy1106]

I had never been to EPCOT during F&W so did not know what to expect. In fact, in the past I have avoided going during any festival due to crowds. We ate @ Via de Napoli, but looking back, would have been a lot better off just eating at the food booths. I grabbed a snack @ the Germany booth, my daughter would not eat the pizza (just doesn't like pizza) so I walked he back to the crepe stand in France, and my son was obsessed with the maple popcorn in front of Canada. The reservation time really put a kink in our day and it was PRICEY! Snacking off the food booths would have worked much better.

 

[HikingFam]

With small kids, eating from the booths never works as well in reality as it does in theory. We always find we need to sit down at a table and actually eat a “meal” at some point in the day. We’ve learned to save “eating around the world” for the rare occasions that we don’t have our kids with us, but maybe it would be more enjoyable with different kids- lol!

 

[lovin'fl]

Not sure if you mean for our Epcot days or the whole trip. We would usually do park hopping to hit another park plus Epcot and either do the booths for lunch or dinner. And do a TS in the other park for lunch or dinner. Takes us a good 3 rounds to cover all the stuff we want to try...meaning 3 visits where we hit like 6 booths each time. Then we may go back to just grab something we really liked at other times. We stay at BWV and can pop in and out of Epcot. So we do book a handful of TS meals for the trip.

One time we went with BIL and SIL. We each had a studio at BWV for 4 nights. We got to deluxe DP on one room (split the cost) and shared the TS credits to do 3 signature dinners for the 4 of us. Then used the snack credits at the booths. Still had to pay OOP for more at the booths. But worked nicely. And each couple got a refillable mug to share.

 

[Krystal659]

With small kids, eating from the booths never works as well in reality as it does in theory. We always find we need to sit down at a table and actually eat a “meal” at some point in the day. We’ve learned to save “eating around the world” for the rare occasions that we don’t have our kids with us, but maybe it would be more enjoyable with different kids- lol!

I would agree that if you have young children or picky eaters I would certainly encourage exploring the menus ahead of time to ensure everyone has something they will eat.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Pre-children, when we went to the festival while on vacation, we would often just eat the booths. Now we have a young toddler who needs a solid meal and a highchair so it wouldn't work if we wanted to.

If money plays a role, I think table service restaurants are often cheaper. We are local now and visit a lot during festivals and since the menus don't change much, we might pick up a favorite once or twice a festival but skip most booths because they get real pricey real fast.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

If money plays a role, I think table service restaurants are often cheaper. We are local now and visit a lot during festivals and since the menus don't change much, we might pick up a favorite once or twice a festival but skip most booths because they get real pricey real fast.
[/QUOTE]
I got that sense last time my wife and I ate around the booths, we brought gift cards to budget our spending and I want to say that the 2 of us burned thru $300 in two festival days last time. It definitely adds up! I was hoping the dining plan snack credits might help us out with budgeting/ saving money in that regard. I usually only have about one snack a day in the other parks, but in Epcot, I have a list of regular places we always hit for snacks even before the booths.

 

[Avery&Todd]

Our upcoming trip in February will be the 3rd trip we've had in 6 months ( ) and we've really enjoyed eating at the booths for lunch/snacks and then having a dinner later in the evening - we've done Via Napoli twice and then Biergarten once - and that's our plan for Feb. too!

We REALLY enjoyed the food booths in October -and found that Dec had quite a few more sweet items and we're looking forward to see what February has to offer!

 

[Dug720]

Being gluten-free (and a non-seafood eater), I'm limited on what my options are at the booths, so I try to make at least one TS so I know I'll have a meal. And then I supplement with snacks and/or a QS if there is not enough I can eat/want to eat from the booths.

 

[gharter]

Our approach is usually booths to graze late morning to mid afternoon, the a TS in the evening.
Or if Food and Wine has a wine and food pairing seminar at noon, then graze in the evening.

 

[sethschroeder]

hoping the DDP is back by next December

I would not even think about dining plan. Highly doubt it comes back until 2022.

I would go with a mixture. Also study the menus before you go so you know exactly what you will get.

That way the parents can split the kids, hit two different booths and meet back to eat if you need more food at once if the kids don't like snacking.

 

[Lizgistix]

We did food booths from when they opened until around 4p and then had a dinner ressie in the evening.
it was my first F&W and I went a little overboard with the food booths (but still came in under budget!) so I think next festival I'll just be a little more selective on my booth choices and maybe not do my booth planning spreadsheet while hungry.

 

[cjlong88]

We snack our way around the food booths all day during the festivals. I find that there is so much I want to try that I end up not having any room for a table service meal.

In general, though, I would say I'm someone who eats several smaller meals/snacks throughout the day rather than eating the 3 traditional breakfast/lunch/dinner meals. So I think our eating habits at home might influence our approach to eating in the parks, particularly at Epcot during a festival.

 

[Heather07438]

My answer would either 1 on 0 TS depending on length of trip. The nice thing about food booths is you can stroll and try a bunch over the course of hours but that's going to compete with your appetite at a sit down.

Our next trip is 8 nights with only 1 Epcot day. No TS planned that day. We have hoppers and staying at Beach Club so we'll visit Epcot other evenings. Our last night we'll hop to Epcot TS LeCellier from HS.

If we were only doing 1 day at EP, we'd skip TS and mix food booths with a QS at Sunshine Seasons or Regal Eagle.

 

[Moliphino]

We've done it both ways. We had three Epcot days last trip during Food and Wine - on two of them we had late dinner ADRs, one we just ate at the booths. Since we had three days we could spread out the booths we wanted to hit and not completely stuff ourselves.

 

[happymommy]

With three small children, the booths might not always be so convenient. There might not be ample spots for all or some of you to sit down to enjoy the small plates, so I’d likely book a TS meal a day for the kids to sit and have a meal, or browse the CS options as well. Then hit up a couple of booths, but not rely on them solely with kids. I also tried to keep to my kids’ normal meal times on vacation when they were little (in winter time, we always headed back to the resort by 7pm or so to get them to wind down and get ready for bed at close to their usual bedtimes, which was pretty early. If I didn’t, they’d be cranky the next day, and that’s just no fun for any of us). Just throwing that out there; I know some folks keep their kids up late but that never worked for us. We also found sometimes counter service was quicker, and there will be more options as things open up I’m guessing.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

I would not even think about dining plan. Highly doubt it comes back until 2022.

I would go with a mixture. Also study the menus before you go so you know exactly what you will get.

That way the parents can split the kids, hit two different booths and meet back to eat if you need more food at once if the kids don't like snacking.

Any particular reason the DDP won't come back in '21? Not arguing, it just seems like a big moneymaker for Disney (We usually don't get it because the math doesn't work out) but in this case it would potentially save us some money.

 

[happymommy]

There has been no talk by Disney of bringing back the dining plans as of yet. As they negotiate the plan with the restaurants the year prior (many are not Disney owned), this hasn’t been done in 2020 as far as we know. Likely, if it’s brought back, we won’t see it next year most are thinking.

 

[sethschroeder]

Any particular reason the DDP won't come back in '21? Not arguing, it just seems like a big moneymaker for Disney (We usually don't get it because the math doesn't work out) but in this case it would potentially save us some money.

Limited capacity in restaurants is going to continue for a while (sit downs have no problem filling up). These DDP contracts seem to typically match calendar years so its unlikely they would negotiate a shorter contract. The restaurants likely make more money by selling the actual food vs the flat rate they get from Disney (where Disney pockets a bunch of profit) during full capacity this reduction in profit is offset by DDP driving more butts in seats which is not as big of a problem right now.

I don't expect restaurants to be back to 100% capacity until 2022.