Food & Wine Fest....please help me decide!

[leagirl12]

Because of other commitments the only time we can get down to WDW during the Food & Wine Festival is the very last weekend. This is not only the last weekend of F&W but it is also a holiday and marathon weekend. Is it worth our time or should we wait until a year when we can go at a different point of the festival?

Thanks in advance for input!

 

[jimandami]

All I can tell you is we made the mistake of going to Epcot on the last day of Food and Wine in 2012 and I would NEVER, EVER recommend it to anyone! It was our arrival day so we got there around 1ish. The WS was a literal madhouse. You could barely walk due to all the people and the lines at the kiosks were just outrageous. We ended up waiting for 45 minutes for a hot dog and beer at the African outpost (DS8 was starving!), headed out the IG and hung out at the Boardwalk for a while. Now, we did have an 8 year-old and a 14 year-old with us, so maybe if it had been adults only, it might have been more manageable, but yikes!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Because of other commitments the only time we can get down to WDW during the Food & Wine Festival is the very last weekend. This is not only the last weekend of F&W but it is also a holiday and marathon weekend. Is it worth our time or should we wait until a year when we can go at a different point of the festival?

Thanks in advance for input!

I echo jimandami's advice. Go another time and not the last weekend. It does start a week early this year, maybe Sept 19 or so. Could you go then?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Avoid Friday night and Saturday like the plague. Not such a big deal on the other days. Though it will be crowded it may not be totally shoulder to shoulder like Saturday.

 

[jessicabb]

Take this FWIW because I've never been to WDW at any other time than during the Food & Wine Festival/marathon weekend. My sisters and I have ran in the 5K for the past two years. So I have no idea what the crowd levels are like at any other time, but I didn't think it was that bad at all. We will probably go again this year.

Now, if you're going w/ children that might make things different. As adults, we didn't do a lot of character meals and we just kind of went w/ the flow, didn't have a plan. We weren't set on doing anything specific and didn't mind waiting, although I don't recall any of the waits being unGodly long.

 

[LucyBC80]

I arrive on Sunday, November 9th. I decided to forego going to EPCOT that Sunday and will be there on Monday which is the last day. It'll be crowded, yes but I refuse to not go because of that.

 

[kayemgi]

Personally, I'd probably try to go at another time. But we hate crowds, so if you're not averse to them, it might not be so bad. Certainly not as bad as Christmas or Easter.

 

[jimandami]

Take this FWIW because I've never been to WDW at any other time than during the Food & Wine Festival/marathon weekend. My sisters and I have ran in the 5K for the past two years. So I have no idea what the crowd levels are like at any other time, but I didn't think it was that bad at all. We will probably go again this year. Now, if you're going w/ children that might make things different. As adults, we didn't do a lot of character meals and we just kind of went w/ the flow, didn't have a plan. We weren't set on doing anything specific and didn't mind waiting, although I don't recall any of the waits being unGodly long.

Just to be clear, I don't think that's a bad time to go to WDW in general. Ride/character wait times are very manageable, especially at the other 3 parks. I was specifically referring to the World Showcase.

 

[leagirl12]

Thanks for the info. I think we will try to go a different time or maybe a different year when our schedule is more suitable to going during the week instead of just on the weekend.