Food and Wine Fest as your dinner.

[luvmylatte]

I will be going in September and have booked all my ADRs, with the exception of one night. I was thinking of going to EPCOT and doing the F&W as my dinner. A stop here a stop there, dessert here and there, grab a cocktail. I will be there with my 10'yr old and he is a pretty open minded eater. I told him if there was something he did not like he could toss it and try the next booth that piqued his interest.

I am sure others have done this...how did it work out for you? Fun or PIA.

 

[LSUfan4444]

It's certainly fun, but can get expensive, especially if you're tossing away the things he doesn't like.

Our plan is to hit a relatively big breakfast, then snack through the world, but we do plan on actually eating dinner ate one of our favorite quick service locations.

 

[Kalea]

Last Oct, we had an 8am breakfast at Akershus, and planned on F&W as lunch. With 4 adults and 2 kids, we only managed to try maybe 7 different things before we couldn't eat anymore.

This Oct, I'm planning for F&W for lunch and dinner, lol. We'll see!

My kids are great eaters and loved F&W. They also liked the passport things you can have stamped at the different booths.

Good luck!

 

[luvmylatte]

It's certainly fun, but can get expensive, especially if you're tossing away the things he doesn't like.

Our plan is to hit a relatively big breakfast, then snack through the world, but we do plan on actually eating dinner ate one of our favorite quick service locations.

How expensive? More so than a sit down meal for 2?

 

[Julylady]

Actually, this is a GREAT idea! The first time we did F & W, we also made dining reservations in EPCOT during the nights we planning to be there. We regretted doing so since we found so many interesting options at the food booths. Last fall, we just stopped at any food booth that looked good throughout the day. I think in total, we each bought about 5-6 items, maybe spent about $70 total for the two of us (no alcohol).

One tip...before getting in line to make a purchase, walk to the front where they hand out the food and see what the food actually looks like and the size of the portion. We have found that sometimes the written description doesn't match the reality of what the food looks like. Or, we don't think the portion size is appropriate give the price.

 

[LSUfan4444]

Take a look at some of the prices from last years F&W fest:

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2013-epcot-food-and-wine-festival-marketplace-booths-menus-and-food-photos/

You can get out of places like Biergarten/Via Napoli for around $60. I don't know what you would spend or what interests you during F&W, but they are truly snack portions.

 

[mattmc]

How expensive? More so than a sit down meal for 2?

It depends on how many items you are planning on sampling. My wife and I went to ONE food stand last year and spent over $25 on a beer, a water, a medallion of beef, and a sampling of soup. So, it can be extremely expensive. And, the portions are very small.

 

[ShannonMB]

We are having a big breakfast at Ohana before heading to Epcot and that is the extent of our meal planning for the day. Last year at Flower and Garden, I made the mistake of booking a TS after we had been eating all day and it was just totally over-the-top unnecessary.

We use the dining plan, and since there are 3 of us going for 4 nights this trip, that's 12 snack credits. Those will all be used on F&W offerings (assuming you can still widely use snack credits on the offerings this year). Other snacks we will pay OOP for throughout the trip, because the F&W stuff will be the best value. I imagine we will still spend plenty OOP (especially since I plan on drinking!), but thought I would mention that in case you will be on the dining plan.

 

[LSUfan4444]

I don't think you would need to necessarily make a reservation somewhere because they have some really good quick services back there:

Tangierine Café, Katsura Grill, Boulangerie Patisserie, Sommerfest, La Cantina de San Angel, Yorkshire County Fish Shop etc

 

[Avery's mom]

We did this 2 years ago and are planning on doing it again this fall. My 11 year old adventurous eater, DH and our DS (11mos). We plan NO ADRs that day as we try to hit each and every booth! It took us 2 visits last time and will probably be more this year as DS will slow us down a little

Yes, it does get expensive, but we build that into the budget and we all share from each booth (well....no alcohol for the kiddos!)

By the end of the 2nd day as we limped out of Epcot (16 miles walked that day according to Fitbit) my DH was desperately searching gift shops for Tums. We didn't feel the need to eat again for quite some time the next day. So, while Epcot has some great restaurants, we forgo them all in favor of filling our Passport Books with stamps and our bellies with yummy goodness!

 

[gtpoohbear]

We haven't done F&W, but did exactly that with the food kiosks at F&G. (I've never been in the fall to be able to compare, but I've heard the offerings are similar).

Last year, we did this for lunch, and liked it so much that this year we did it for both lunch and dinner (same day). Even my DH who is a BIG eater had more than enough. Like some PPs have mentioned though, it does get expensive! We spend around $35/pp for each meal. Definitely worth it for us though, and if we ever make it to WDW during F&W I'm sure we'll do it there too!

 

[gorkt]

This is my favorite "meal" of any trip I take in Oct/Nov. Yes, it is expensive but it is just so fun walking around world showcase and nibbling on snacks and mini meals the whole time. I take it slow, taking about 3-4 hours to circle WS and eat anything that looks good, so it counts as both lunch and dinner. I had a gift card with Disney Reward points and I used most of that - about $225 worth for 3 people - food only. My daughter loved it too and discovered a lot of foods. If you add the drinks to it, it can pricey very fast.

 

[Cold71]

We plan on doing this as well in Oct. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe during the last F&W Dis Unplugged they said planning for about $100 per couple wasn't unreasonable if you really wanted to get a meals worth of food and drink.

 

[nkereina]

We attempted this one year but found it cost prohibitive and it was difficult to find a place to sit and enjoy. Plus on the day we were there, the lines were pretty long so it was time consuming to try more than one place. I'd do it again for a snack, but I wouldn't do it as my dinner from my own experience.

 

[U2_rocks!]

Yes it is expensive, but that kind of eating suits me better than one big meal. I like to graze, and it doesn't take much to fill me. That's actually going to be my problem - I'm going to need to spend all day there and make it my lunch and dinner, otherwise I just won't have the space to try all the things I want to try!

 

[JoeA]

Wife and I have done it both at F&W and just recently the F&G show. Yeah, it can get expensive, prepare to spend ~$8 an item. And I spent almost double that...had to taste the adult beverages, too!

We knew the deal going into it and "just went with it" in regard to cost. We had a blast trying different things. Buy my poor head wasn't too happy with my decision making process (or lack thereof) the next morning.

 

[surferdave]

Be sure to take a table top to attach to a garbage can!

 

[POOHsie]

If you use your Dining Plan Snack Credits, then grazing around F&W can be cost-effective. Also, look at menus prior to going. Some plates are expensive if bought OOP, but a real bargain with a Snack Credit, like the Lobster Roll at the Kiosk (not sure of name) at the America Pavilion.

 

[disney meema]

We are doing the same thing for breakfast and lunch at F&W. We are coming from the west and our first full day so probably arrive at Epcot at 11 ish and eat around the WS and the we are having dinner late at Narcoossee's Same thing as your thinking except at a different time ... I think you'll be well fed and if not many CS to try : )

 

[ktlm]

It's a great idea. We did it with my 7 year old picky eater last year. It worked out great for us because she was much more willing to try new things that she usually will not since she knew that if she didn't like it she could throw it out and get something else (well technically DH is a human garbage disposal, so if she didn't like it, pretty much he would eat it). She found several things she liked at F&W. To my surprise she was absolutely nuts about the trick'n chick'n curry at the vegetarian booth and we had to go back and get more of it another day for her (FYI- I wasn't a big fan of it).

I would suggest if you can to do it at lunch instead of dinner. The lines are much shorter during the day at F&W than they are during the evening. We did a TS ADR for lunch one day and F&W for dinner, and wished we had flipped them. We enjoyed F&W much more when did did it for lunch just because it was so much less crowded. It is fine for dinner if that is all you can fit into your schedule and we enjoyed it, but it was much easier the day we grazed for lunch and then were inside at TS at night while WS was crowded with long F&W lines.