Food and Wine half marathon weekend crowds

[PrincessAndrea'sMom]

Hello all! I am planning on doing the Halloween 5k, that is held the same weekend as the Food and Wine half/beginning weekend of the Food and Wine Fest. I have gotten advise on here that it would be best to do a Disney race before the Princess Half in 2/2012 to get a feel of the atmosphere. We plan on going to WDW in October, but have not picked the dates yet. I will be traveling with my husband, our two children, and my mother and father in law. They are concerned that with it being the open weekend of the FW fest, the crowds will be huge and that it would be best to go in mid October instead. I would love to do the 5k, but I am not sure it is worth my family complaining about the crowds all week. What has your experience been with the FW fest/half marathon weekend crowds verses crowds in later October? Thanks!

 

[marathonmommy]

Hello all! I am planning on doing the Halloween 5k, that is held the same weekend as the Food and Wine half/beginning weekend of the Food and Wine Fest. I have gotten advise on here that it would be best to do a Disney race before the Princess Half in 2/2012 to get a feel of the atmosphere. We plan on going to WDW in October, but have not picked the dates yet. I will be traveling with my husband, our two children, and my mother and father in law. They are concerned that with it being the open weekend of the FW fest, the crowds will be huge and that it would be best to go in mid October instead. I would love to do the 5k, but I am not sure it is worth my family complaining about the crowds all week. What has your experience been with the FW fest/half marathon weekend crowds verses crowds in later October? Thanks!

It was an inaugural event so there is not much history to base it on. Crowds were not bad, but im sure there are much less crowded weeks to go!

 

[DizGirl20]

Hi - I am planning on being there for the Halloween 5K as well. Not sure if this is much help but it's good info to know!

http://**************.net/2009/11/20/2011-weeks-to-visit-walt-disney-world-ranked-in-order/

 

[Duanerice]

Why chance it? If they are already complaining, it will be no win situation for you.

If it is the first weekend of Wine and Dine then it will be a bit on the crowded side.

enjoy,
Duane

 

[figment82]

It depends on your plans and how long you are going to be there for. I was there the week leading up to wine and dine last year (Sunday to Sunday - Saturday night of the race was my last night at Disney) and the parks were EMPTY during the week.
However, food and wine fest will be packed no matter what weekend you go. So if you aren't going to be there very long after the weekend, you may want to try a different week where you at least have a chance of it being slightly less crowded than opening weekend.
I've been to 4 food and wine festivals, though, all in different weeks in October, and so far they've all been very crowded on weekends and not crowded at all during the week. If you can, schedule the other parks for the weekend and you'll be fine!

 

[PrincessAndrea'sMom]

Thanks for the great info! You have given me some things to think about.

I want to go Sept 30 to Oct 7, so we will be there for the race. The point about being busy for the weekend, but not so much during the week just may be my best selling point!

 

[jeanigor]

The Food and Wine festival has historically always been crowded on weekends by locals and folks that are within reasonable driving range. If you stay clear of Epcot on Saturday and Sunday, you should have no problem. It was pretty empty the Monday and Tuesday after opening weekend.

Hope to see you there!

 

[FireDancer]

The Food and Wine festival has historically always been crowded on weekends by locals and folks that are within reasonable driving range. If you stay clear of Epcot on Saturday and Sunday, you should have no problem. It was pretty empty the Monday and Tuesday after opening weekend.

Hope to see you there!

This is what I was going to say. When I lived in FL Food & Wine was packed on the weekends and pretty slow during the week. Epcot was really the only park effected.

When I went down for the race in 2010 I only spent a few hours on Saturday in the parks because it was a quick trip just for the race (down Friday afternoon and back first thing Sunday), but Epcot wasn't too bad during the day on Saturday. It usually picks up about 3 or 4 and I was out by 1.

Have a good trip.

 

[stitchfan18]

I agree that the crowds weren't too bad that weekend. I didn't go into Epcot, but crowds in other areas were very reasonable. I'm not sure what the total number of runners was, I'm thinking it was around 12,000 for the half, but that many people spread out around the whole resort won't have as big of an impact as one would think. I would suggest maybe staying at a hotel that isn't a host resort if you can. We stayed at OKW, and saw several runners, but the main areas like the pool were not busy at all.

 

[Rose&Mike]

We were there for W&D and I didn't think the crowds were too bad. I would avoid Columbus Day weekend. We were there the week before in 2009 and by the end of the week the crowds were crazy with everyone arriving for the holiday weekend. We were happy to leave.

 

[LadyDooley]

I think everyone hit what I was going to say right on the head!

Hope you make it for the 5k, and hope to see you there

 

[PrincessAndrea'sMom]

Wow, thanks for the great advice! I think my family will have to make the compromise for me this time. As long as we avoid Epcot on the weekend, we should be fine. I usually plan our trips around what is good for everyon else, but this time is my turn! I love you guys!