Food and Wine 2015 advice

[hsmamato2]

Possible that we may visit while this is happening....but I have heard reports that conflict...is it the best or worst thing ever? It sounds interesting, but I have heard there are good/bad times to check it out, like times of day. Any advice?

 

[JrKr]

We avoid the weekends because it's so much busier. We go Monday thru Thursday and have never had a problem.

 

[rwdavis2]

It gets crowded on weekends. We did it once but would not do it again. It's expensive for what you end up getting. But you do get to try some foods you may not normally eat. Try to find a past menu of foods offered and take a look. It really depends on the types of restaurants you have around home. We're spoiled here with virtually every type of cuisine in places from Baltimore to DC so there is nothing that exotic to us at F&W.

 

[hsmamato2]

thanks! does it start earlier in the day, like when WS opens? would it be possible to get in and see some of it right at opening without the huge crowds?

 

[holden]

Yes, it starts as soon as WS opens. We go every year and have a great time. Our kids love it too!

 

[hsmamato2]

Yes, it starts as soon as WS opens. We go every year and have a great time. Our kids love it too!

do you ever experience problems with crowds....lots of drinking,etc? That's some of the negatives I have heard....

 

[MakiraMarlena]

It's fine. Avoid Friday nights and Saturdays if you don't like big crowds. Yes there is going to be drinking, it's a food and wine festival.

 

[PSUGuy]

Been there several times, we switched our WDW trips from March to Oct to be there. We only avoid Saturdays due to crowds and we dislike being crowded as much as anyone. Don't miss the Eat to the Beat concerts, 3 shows every evening. Kiosks open in World Showcase at 11 (I'm pretty sure). Consider getting a Disney Gift Card, it's a tiny credit card-like thing on a wrist band, you pre-load money on it via actual cash or your credit card. When you get food, or wine, from a kiosk you just swipe it and you get a receipt telling you how much you have left, beats walking around with a pocket full of change. You can use the card anywhere in Disney and if you don't use it all it never goes away. We have on from last Oct with some bucks on it.

Bill From Pa

 

[MakiraMarlena]

You don't swipe the gift cards anymore. They have scanners now. So you don't even have to take them off your wrist. But I prefer using the magic band anyway.

 

[PSUGuy]

You don't swipe the gift cards anymore. They have scanners now.

Swipe, scan, whatever, they beat cash.

Bill From PA

 

[Kathryn777]

We went last year on an EMH night (although f & w stopped at 9, it was a weeknight) we did rope drop and stayed until maybe 2 pm, saw absolutely nothing outside of normal park behaviour, no drinking. It was busy but not at f&w, very quiet until 1:30 or so, it started at 11.

We went back at 6 and it was crooooowded. I wouldn't have wanted to wait in line for rides. The actual f & w areas and lines weren't bad though . didn't see any drunk behaviour at night either

 

[PeasandCarrots]

Possible that we may visit while this is happening....but I have heard reports that conflict...is it the best or worst thing ever? It sounds interesting, but I have heard there are good/bad times to check it out, like times of day. Any advice?

I think it's the best thing ever! However, you're right in that there are better times to go. Earlier in the day is better (keeping in mind they booths don't open until 11am). Also Monday - Thursday is better than weekends. Friday and Saturday night have the longest lines and the most openly intoxicated people. Not that the last thing is necessarily bad, depends on how they act when they are drunk.

The choices of foods and drinks is really great and I just love strolling around world showcase and eating/drinking at a leisure pace. We schedule our vacations whenever we can to make sure we hit this festival!

 

[AquaDame]

We love it - in fact we are going back for the third time this year. I haven't seen worse behavior than other times of year at Epcot (there always seem to be a couple inebriated folk at night, but they don't seem to bother anyone). We live in a large enough city that we can eat from whatever region too, but this is still fun. If you like going to food festivals at home its like that - but, IMO, better. I LIKE the small portions because I want to have a lot of tasty things though!

 

[loves to dive]

went last year and loved it, plan on going again this year. My only complaint was I just didn't have enough time to get everything done I wanted to do, I went to a number of seminars. I was a little bummed that some of the seminars were only offered on certain days and wouldn't you know it, not the days I was there but I lived with it.

 

[lauradis]

Never ever go on a Friday or Saturday night total madness unless that is what you are into..

Pre plan what you to try, getting a pre loaded wrist gift card seem to be the easiest way to pay,, but that was 2013 oct and MB where just being completely rolled out.

 

[darkwing818]

October is our favorite time of the year to hit the WDW. Our DDs used to be in "Year Round" school & had a 3 week Fall break, so for us the F&WF was an excelllent addition. Our DDs have graduated college now but DW & I still hit the F&WF faithfully. In fact we'll be there again this October.

 

[POOHsie]

We love Food & Wine so we plan our vacations for Fall every year. I don't find the food costs bad. If you have DDP, snack credits will cover most every food item and non-alcoholic beverage (not alcohol). You will probably be full, so a TS isn't necessary on F&W days. That's a savings. The music concerts are fun, and there are also cooking demos you can sign up for (not published yet). Also in Fall is MNSSHP, which is the best special ticket party at WDW. Hope you decide on a Fall WDW trip.

 

[ksromack]

I know you can use snack credits on F&W (usually).....can you ever use Quick Service credits or are the portions really just "snack" worthy?

 

[typhoonlagooner]

I know you can use snack credits on F&W (usually).....can you ever use Quick Service credits or are the portions really just "snack" worthy?

Just snack credits... but... you can stretch them a long way with certain offerings...

Take the Canada booth for instance...

 

[patster734]

FYI - Although WS opens at 11am, I believe the F&W Event Center, located at the Wonder of Live Pavilion, is accessible at 9am. Also, Craft Beers, located at the Odyssey building between Mexico and Test Track, opened at either 10 or 10:30am. I assume it isn't considered part of WS, which is why it was able to open before 11am.