F&W-first week

[actopp1017]

How busy is the F&W festival the first week? We are going Sept 20-27. Trying to plan accordingly with going to Epcot

 

[deakam]

If you are not into drunks puking in the bushes and peeing in the sinks I would avoid the food and wine festival on Friday and Saturday night. Last year I witnessed a very obviously stupid drunk man drop a tray full of tequila shots onto a baby in a stroller. We had dinner at Rose and Crown and I was forced to leave the building and go across the street to use the restroom because of the mess that the drunks had made in the one on premise. I am going to be there this year the last week of September which I think is the second week of Food and Wine. We plan on attending EPCOT on a Wednesday.

 

[actopp1017]

If you are not into drunks puking in the bushes and peeing in the sinks I would avoid the food and wine festival on Friday and Saturday night. Last year I witnessed a very obviously stupid drunk man drop a tray full of tequila shots onto a baby in a stroller. We had dinner at Rose and Crown and I was forced to leave the building and go across the street to use the restroom because of the mess that the drunks had made in the one on premise. I am going to be there this year the last week of September which I think is the second week of Food and Wine. We plan on attending EPCOT on a Wednesday.

Yikes! Thanks for the tips. I guess it will work out anyway because the dates we will be there will be sat-sat. For being a low peak season are the crowds moderate at Epcot during F&W?

 

[Msmithmd]

F&W is busy every weekend because it is very popular with local residents. Monday-Thursday are the better days to go as a vacationer.

If you must go on a weekend, plan to get there at rope drop and park hop elsewhere in the evening. It gets busy enough every weekend evening that it can be difficult just to walk from country to country, much less experience the food and drink from the countries themselves.

I've seen weekend evening lines long enough that you couldn't even see the food stand they were waiting for from the back of the line. Not my idea of a relaxing vacation.

All that said, food and wine is a lot of fun, and well worth your time on your trip. Just don't go on the weekend if at all possible.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Yikes! Thanks for the tips. I guess it will work out anyway because the dates we will be there will be sat-sat. For being a low peak season are the crowds moderate at Epcot during F&W?

Don't let the "scare tactics" work

I go every year and on weekends. Yes, it's PACKED but you won't be seeing fall down drunks everywhere. Some folks just get fixated on things. And honestly the lines on Sat nights are often too long to get that drunk

Not to mention that some of the "drunks" aren't drunk at all, but just having a good time. But of course if you have decided "everyone is drunk" you will see this as proof. I once saw a guest get several CMs including secuity to try to "arrest" 4 16 year old girls who were SOBER but dancing like wild children at one of the concerts. When told that they were doing nothing wrong she stormed off screaming about how she was never coming again and exposing her kids to drunks (all the while her kids were running around nearly knocking folks over LOL!)

The drunkest person I ever saw at WDW was a DisBoard member (during a meet) who got good and wasted in her room BEFORE we hit Epcot (Took us a while to figure out how anyone got that drunk on two beers! And this was NOT during Food and Wine!)

 

[Goofy DVC]

The weekends are indeed very crowded as stated. Therefore, one of the things that we do is hit the booths during the week but make a dinner reservation in Epcot for one of the weekend nights and go to another park the other night. We find that having a reservation is a nice way to temporarily get a break from the crowd. I would also agree that for the most part the large crowd is about just good ole fun. F & W is our favorite time of year.

 

[LSchrow]

our experiences (have been going to the F&WF for many years) have been an average of the pps' experiences .....

there are some ppl having a "good time", some are loud.....but rarely have we seen totally wasted (sadly, the few we have seen at the F&WF were adults with children...not young adults).
we avoid crowds whenever possible, and find mon-thursday crowds/wait times reasonable, and the first F&WF weekend tolerable.

and don't miss the "eat to the beat" concerts - they're usually really good

 

[Bellecruiser]

Hi All

Thanks all for your comments. We too are going to F&W from Sep 26- Oct 3, after our Panama Canal cruise. We have never been before, and are looking forward to it. I wondered about the crowds also. This thread will help our planning. Any other thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[PixieJenna]

If you are not into drunks puking in the bushes and peeing in the sinks I would avoid the food and wine festival on Friday and Saturday night. Last year I witnessed a very obviously stupid drunk man drop a tray full of tequila shots onto a baby in a stroller. We had dinner at Rose and Crown and I was forced to leave the building and go across the street to use the restroom because of the mess that the drunks had made in the one on premise. I am going to be there this year the last week of September which I think is the second week of Food and Wine. We plan on attending EPCOT on a Wednesday.[/QUOTE

I agree. We went on a Friday night and witnessed a fight outside of San Angel were beer was being thrown all over people.

 

[schoen]

The last few times we have been to F&W we have been forced to visit during weekends. The lines are quite long, but to be honest, they move REALLY fast. The walkways are crowded, and eating can be tough if you need to use a fork, but it is a fun atmosphere.

It is a food and WINE festival. There are going to be folks who consume copious amount of alcohol, the vast majority of people are well behaved. If this is something that folks want to shield themselves and their children from, than MK is an excellent option.