food and wine fest

[Gomez Gang]

I have never been to WDW during food/wine fest! I have noticed that people plan their trip specifically to go during this time. I thought that this was a slow time of year...does it affect crowds very much?
I was under the impression that during the event that there are kiosks at each country in Epcot selling sample sized portions of food and drink. Is there anything else going on?
Are there certain aspects that are not to be missed?
I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about WDW during other times of the year but I am at a loss for our upcoming week in November (11/6-11/14).
Our "gang" consists of myself, DH, DD-age 8, DS-age 6, and DD-age 5. My youngest and I will be celebrating our b-days during the trip ( I already know about the buttons and free dessert!) If you can offer any tips for us I would be so very grateful!

 

[Debi]

Last year was my first year travelling to WDW during the Food and Wine Festival, and while the weekdays weren't bad, the weekends were very crowded. Seems as if a lot of the locals come in on weekends for Food and Wine. It was a lot of fun - good food and drink, good shows, but just crowded on Friday/Saturday/Sunday.

 

[Gomez Gang]

thanks for the heads up on Fri/Sat/Sun.......I guess we will do Epcot during the week!

 

[cmwilson523]

We plan our fall trip every year around the Food and Wine Festival. There is so much going on that you can take advantage of -- and a lot of it is at no additional cost! (You do have to pay admission to EPCOT.)

Check out this website for information on last year's events:
http://allearsnet.com/tp/ep/foodwine.htm

The wine seminars are great - very popular. If you are interested in them, you should plan on being in line 30 minutes to an hour before they begin. They are restricted to a certain number of participants (depends on the venue) and some of them fill up very quickly. This may not be an option for you, though, because they will not allow children in.

The event called "Party for the Senses" is well worth the price (about $85 per person) if you are into great foods and wines. You would want to arrange for child care for this event (21 and over).

Disney releases the schedule of special (ie. not free) events in June. The Signature Dinners usually sell out very quickly, and other events are not far behind.

Something you may like to do with the kids: the Eat to the Beat series. They are free concerts by bands that you will be familiar with and can introduce to your kids. Past performers have included Chubby Checker and The Fifth Dimension.

There are some kiosks geared toward kids on eating healthy, etc.

We were there in Mid-November last year and didn't notice the crowds being incredibly high (they were nothing like summer), epecially during the week. We practically walked on Mission: SPACE twice in a row! On weekends it was a bit more busy, but again, not terriblly crowded.

 

[Gomez Gang]

cmwilson.....
thank you for your detailed information....exactly what I was looking for! Unfortunately, we will probably opt not to get child care so I'll have to miss those exciting adult only gatherings (maybe someday hubby and I will go!)
The idea for the eat to the beat sounds great--thanks!
I will plan on visiting the link you provided too