food and wine festival

[disney queen]

it just occurred to me we will be at wdw during the F&W festival. i have heard world showcase during this time described as smelling like a brewery. is this true? we do not drink. would it be a waste of time to visit this event?

 

[Snow_White]

My fiance and I do not drink either...however, we REALLY enjoy the food and wine festival! I don't think the world showcase smells like a brewery at all during the event...every once in a while you see a group of people drinking their way around the world, but we've never had a bad experience with it. Go for it....the food is awesome and it's a blast!

 

[disney queen]

thanks, Snow_White!

 

[TeresaNJ]

My husband and I are not drinkers either and we enjoy the F&W Festival very much. It is definitely worth the time, and no, World Showcase does not smell like a brewery.

 

[disney queen]

okay...y'all are making me feel a lot better about this. thanks!!

 

[RAD]

If there's any 'extra' smell it's from all the food being cooked in the booths that are all over the place. On thing is that you might want to avoid it on Saturday/Sunday's since there a good number of local's that come for the event and when we were there last fall the park was packed those days.

 

[js]

I will be at WDW beginning 10/21/06. While I know I will be making one of the MNSSHP, will the Food/Wine Fest. Still be going on?
Thanks!

 

[Bob P]

Hi JS,

While the 2006 schedule won't be out for a while, I think it's safe to say yes. F&W usually runs till mid-November.

Bob

 

[buddy&wooz]

We went to the F&W festival three years ago and the only place that even hinted of smelling like a brewery was a tent near the American pavilion where Samual Adams was doing beer tastings. Very easy to avoid that area without feeling like you're missing anything!

If you like to eat, don't miss it! It did get just a little crazier in the evening with more "partiers", but during the day it was so fun to go from cart to cart trying samples, and talking with CMs about the food and about their countries. I lucked out that they extended it back into October so I'll be able to go again this year.

 

[malibuconlee]

Our anniversary is in October, during the F & WF. That's when we've gone the last two times. I seem to be the only one who doesn't enjoy it. I think it was ruined by my first experience.

We went one late afternoon back when Tapestry of Dreams was still going on. We picked a spot and were just relaxing and people-watching. There were a couple of large groups of drunk, annoying, and obnoxious people (DH and I do drink). I think that along with a very rude woman who pushed herself in front of us before the parade, ruined it for us.

I LOVE EPCOT. I think it's a great place to spend an evening.

 

[Ted and Holly]

Hi JS,

While the 2006 schedule won't be out for a while, I think it's safe to say yes. F&W usually runs till mid-November.

Bob

The dates have been released for quite some time. The 9th Annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival runs from September 30, 2005 through November 13, 2005.

Some of the Eat to the Beat schedule can be found here.

I have not seen any information about the Dinners or other events yet.

Last year, the demonstrations schedule did not come out until about a week before the Festival. It was not widely released until the Festival began.

Ted

 

[Bob P]

The dates have been released for quite some time. The 9th Annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival runs from September 30, 2005 through November 13, 2005.

Ted

Ted, thanks for that but if you look closely the poster JS was asking about 2006 and that's what I answered!

Bob

 

[Ted and Holly]

Ted, thanks for that but if you look closely the poster JS was asking about 2006 and that's what I answered!

Bob

Oops! I missed that detail.

If I were to guess, I'd say that the 2006 dates should be September 9th through November 12th.

Not disagreeing at all.

Ted

 

[Jestocost]

We were at Epcot during F&WF last year and it was a madhouse on a Saturday night. I have been known to have a beer or two (or eight) and it was not a very nice place to be even for me. It was difficult to get through the crowds in many places and there were many obviously intoxicated people stumbling around. Not happy-fun intoxicated; but staggering-slurring-rude-"Oh, did I have some kids with me when I got here" intoxicated.

How or why you would drink so much with the prices they charge for cocktails is beyond me. I think Epcot ranks close to major sporting events and above airports on the BPI (beer price index) scale.

My wife and I both felt it wasn't the best environment for our kids (DD10 and DS7). This was during Jersey Week too, so maybe that had something to do with it (the crowds, not the drunks, so no flames, please). Maybe weekend nights are worse too. I can't imagine the Eddie Money concert was entirely responsible for the mayhem, but maybe "Two Tickets to Paradise" is a big draw for the Central Florida crowd.

Glad to hear other people have had better experiences (especially since we'll be back during F&WF this year), so maybe our timing was just bad.

 

[Ted and Holly]

I agree. One weekend, last year, we were there and my friend almost got jumped by two drunk guys because he accidentally stepping in front of them during Illuminations.

If I was there with kids, I would stay away from the Beer Garden in the UK pavillion and probably Germany. I know there are beer and wine booths all over the place, but there are some places where the real party people congregate.

Luckily, we usually just go to Jon Ashton on Saturday nights and then leave when that is done.

Ted

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Hi!

I was looking at the link for the entertainment and I noticed half of them said "Epcot" and the other half said "Disney World". I can't imagine the Gap Band will be playing at MNSSHP, so I am assuming ALL of them will be at Epcot. If anyone has any other info that would be great!! Thanks!

 

[Ted and Holly]

Yeah, those are all Epcot dates. Of course, those are not officially released from Disney, they could change.

Ted

 

[cheyita]

Nothing against Edgar Winter band, but I'm so bummed I'll be there during that instead of Kansas, who will be there the week before.

We enjoyed F&W, particularly because of the extra food options and the free concert. We were planning on being there on a Saturday, but now you guys are getting me nervous.

I've learned a lot from the DIS, but things were so much more simple when I was ignorant.

 

[Ted and Holly]

Go and have fun. Just be more aware of your surroundings.

We rarely make the trek over to the American Adventure to see the concerts. But we are addicted to the Food Demonstrations, so we spend most of our time in line.

Ted

 

[ReggieB]

The food is great. I think we manage to try something from every booth, which gets a bit pricey, but so worth it. Not noticed any bad brewery smells, but I spent some of my childhood living in a pub, so perhaps I'm not the best person to ask!! We have had no unpleasant experiences with the slighlty more tanked up guests. Though some American visitors outside of The Rose & Crown were having a slight problem with volume control, which got worse after every drink. Aside for that, we stayed late for Illuminations one night, and everyone was on their best behaviour. Unfortunately, you can get obnoxious guests drunk or sober anywhere at WDW!