Food And Wine Tips For A Newbie

[Missyrose]

Have a budget and be prepared to blow it, by a lot.

 

[Duffjk]

Pace yourself. I drink around the world twice each year and it takes three days or more to experience all of F&W. Also enjoy.

 

[hiroMYhero]

What are your best tips/suggestions/ideas for folks attending the Food & Wine Festival for the first time?

Thanks!!!!

Merging to the F&W for Newbies thread.

 

[Nancyg56]

We are going on a Wednesday after the first weekend. How busy do you think it will be? We have gift cards that we purchased at Sam's at a discount and are on the Dining Plan (was able to get Free Dining). We really wanted to try to eat our way around World Showcase starting about 12:30 and finishing up around 5 before heading to DHS for the Star Wars fireworks. We also have a FastPass for Frozen Ever After and will do that. Is that enough time to eat several things or do we need to budget more time? We would probably like to try 5-6 things apiece. Would this be enough to serve as lunch? Any help would be appreciated.

I think this is optimistic. The food can certainly stand as lunch, but that may be a lot to eat, and a lot to accomplish in a relatively short period of time unless that is all you focus on. Look at teh menus ahead of time and make a list of the kiosks you want to try and begin with them.

Have a budget and be prepared to blow it, by a lot.

LOL! Yes. My family generally travels together, and we are blessed with my DSIL. He will eat whatever we start and cannot finish, so luckily we know we (me) have someone to share not only the food and drink, but also the cost with! LOL! It adds up quickly!

 

[allybabba98]

Prices for food ranged around $3-$7 last year. If you can avoid weekend nights, lines are really long (so Friday and Saturday night). Weekday, earlier in the day like 11 am when it starts is the best time for lines. Here's our review last year - many of the food items are the same this year.

PeasandCarrots your video was great! I have never considered going for the Food and Wine festival but perhaps DH and I should do a quick trip one year for just the two of us. Great information.

 

[PSUGuy]

If possible, I recommend going on a weekday. Weekends can get extremely crowded with long lines at each pavilion!

Generally true but we only avoid all day Sat., sardines from start to finish. Sometimes we'll leave WS early on a Fri but Sun is not as bad as Sat. Oh, don't miss the Eat to the Beat concert series, we'll see 4 new (to us) acts this year.

Bill From PA

 

[BeerMe]

Unless you like sardine can crowds avoid WS on Sat., crazy busy then. Prices vary from about $2.75 to around $6, the Fisherman's Pie in Ireland is among the most expensive but worth it (to us).

Bill From PA

True, BUT I love people watching when it's crowded. Especially when I've had 8-10 beers!

 

[BeerMe]

If you are a music fan, check the bands that will be there for Eat to the Beat. We plan visits around that. We added a week at the beginning of our trip to see Starship! One more week is a good thing.

 

[PeasandCarrots]

PeasandCarrots your video was great! I have never considered going for the Food and Wine festival but perhaps DH and I should do a quick trip one year for just the two of us. Great information.

Thank you!

 

[Virtucomp]

Make sure to plan multiple days/evenings for the festival. One year we went early and the F&W was not open until the last few days. It turned out to be all day down pours. We got a half a day without rain on our last day before the flight.

You can use snack credits for food but not alcoholic drinks.

We don't like the dining plan with F&W since you get so much to eat at EPCOT. There is no time or space for a table service diner. If your there for the festival your not going to want to run off to reservations and fill up.

We usually split most food samples so we can both try it and save a little.

I can't think of any food we got that we did not like. Some was better than others but all was good.

Don't be afraid to try something strange. Some countries offer foods you would never order at a restaurant but a $5 sample is worth a shot.

We got the regular Disney gift cards from wholesale clubs and doing surveys. They worked great at the festival.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I found the Yard Bird chicken to be inedible. YUCK! But that's the only disaster I have had in several years.

I agree that noon to 5 won't really work if you are 'Eating your way around the world' Generally for lunch I have maybe 3 "plates" and I am done. I would think that after a couple of hours everything would start to run together.

 

[billsfan]

Don't forget to get a "Passport" when you start and have it stamped at every place you stop to get something to eat.