Food & Wine Festival @ EPCOT & Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party???

[KyleRayner]

I just returned from WDW on Saturday (12/10) and had a wonderful time. I usually go the 1st week in December. But next year I would like to go sometime in October. I know in the month of October, there is usually the Food & Wine Fesitival @ EPCOT and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party @ the Magic Kingdom. I just wanted to get some feedback from anyone who has attended either or both of these events. Also if anyone has any pictures from Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party they would like to share, I would love to see them. Thanks!

 

[debbie in Seattle]

Went to the F&W for the first time this past October and had such a great time, have already booked for 2006! Didn't do the Halloween stuff, kids are grown up. If you do go to the F&W festival, be sure and do the Party for the Senses

 

[MdmMim]

I usually go to both the F&W and MNSSHP, as both are great! Our kids are grown, but we still have fun trick-or-treating! The F&W is very enjoyable, as we just stroll around WS, sipping a beverage and tasting the many foods offered. I have already booked BWV for next year and can't wait!

 

[crisi]

We were in the world for both this year.

MNSSHP - not terribly impressed. It starts at 7:00 and it was a great way to do a lot of rides quickly - no line at all for the mountains. But our kids (just turned 6 and just turned 7) were pretty exhausted - they are used to going to bed by 9:00 and settling down at 8:00. So we really only had about an hour of good "kid time" before the kids were too tired for fun (my daughter in particular gave out, my son was doing ok and it was worth it for him). Lots of small kids. They handed out a ton of candy. The parade was "cute" but we aren't big parade people. Most people seem to be much more impressed than I was, however. We may, however, do it again if our kids end up "mountain" kids in a few years. $30 a person for "as fast as you can get in line" Splash, Space and Big Thunder is a good deal. $30 a person for trick or treating and a parade wasn't.

F&W - this would be ALOT more fun without kids. With kids it just made Epcot more crowded (people, but more importantly, booths interfering with traffic flow) with a lot more drunk people. There are a bunch of booths selling small tastes of food and samples of wine - which was really great although we didn't eat much from the booths. It could get expensive really fast though. We didn't do any of the events, which from postings appear to vary in quality.

 

[Scratch42]

Both are Great Fun!

Food and Wine ~ Events, Food to try! Drink to try also! Concerts! I've heard the Party of the Senses is great but as DD is of the teenage persuation, it was advised not to partake in the event since the Drink flows and not always a good environment for such to witness.

MNSSHP ~ The Best! Most get dressed up and all are allowed to go Trick or Treatin! The parade is Awesome! And then this year the Fireworks was the Best! Even impressed DD!

Next year will be our third year going! Also, if you plan to go for Halloween Night, buy your tickets early and make your ADR for Liberty Tree Tavern at the same time! LTT is the only restaraunt where the Characters are dressed for Halloween also!

janet

 

[cobbler]

We went for F/W and MNSSHP this year. They were fun but it rained every freaking day we were down there it did put a damper on things. It was also quite muggy afterward.

We enjoyed the F/W very much. It was neat to get to sample all the little foods and eat your way around the world. Although Epcot felt naked to me without all the holiday decorations that we are used to.

MNSSHP was fun too, neat to see the characters in costumes and get to trick or treat. We have some candy left!! Although it was soooo much busier than any MVMCP I have ever been too. All we did was get our picture taken, do the trick-or-treating and found characters in costumes and had pics with them. We didn't have time to do much of anything else because it was sooo packed and the lines for characters were quite long.

I would do it again though and hope next time is a little less busy (wishful thinking I know) and not so darn rainy

 

[stampinshauna]

My husband and I did MNSSHP for the first time this year and loved it. We don't have kids yet, so we didn't bother waiting in lines for characters. We both ended up with a ton of candy (we still have a little left). We dressed up like Peter Pan and Wendy and had fun playing the part. It was fun to hear kids say "Look, there's Peter & Wendy" and we would just wave to them and say hi. We didn't do any of the other parks on that trip as we went the night before our DCL cruise, so I think the admission was definately worth it. The longest line we waited in was 10 minutes for Space Mountain. We were able to ride everything we wanted, we saw the fireworks, watched the parade, got our picture taken, got our Dole Pineapple floats, and trick-or-treated--what more can you ask for. I'd go again in a heartbeat. If you're taking kids, I'd just be sure they have an easy day ahead of this so that they don't get worn out.

 

[Cinderpals]

Hi!

I went to the Halloween Party last year** it was the best!! I'm going again next year and will also make time for the F&W Festival that I keep missing!

Can't wait**

 

[reesecup]

Thank you guys for all of your input. I'm really not sure what to do. I was considering trying to get a grand villa or a couple of rooms and take my sisters and their families as a Christmas gift for next year. I think they would enjoy the time of the F and W festival but I'm past the 11 month window for booking that now and probably won't get the rooms I want. But, then I'm just afraid Thanksgiving is going to be so extremely busy. I guess I better decide something soon! Thanks guys. Any other input would be great. Has anyone taken a large group (about 10 or 12?) around these times? And is there anything you would suggest? Thanks

 

[Deemarch]

We were planning on treating our married kids to a Grand Villa @ OKW for September 2006 but had so much fun at the Halloween Party that we all decided to go the 1st week in Oct. instead! We had a ball at the party and enjoyed seeing all those who dressed up. We also had rain and didn't get to see the parade (they cancelled the late parade). But we still did lots of rides and Trick or Treating and the fireworks were out of this world!!! Loved it so much that we're all (8 of us) going next year and dressing as Snow White (our 9 year old granddaughter) and the 7 (large) dwarfs! Can't wait!!

Food & Wine is good but can be VERY costly. And we never have a budget!!!You just stroll along trying this and that and before you know it you've spent $45+ dollars on lunch!!!! And you're not really full!

It's great to try a special treat or two, but way to much money for us to have lunch.

Next year we're going to get the meal plan, which we think will fit our eating style much better.

 

[dsneygirl]

We are huge fans of both events. We were planning on going in Oct 06 to get one more trip out of our AP's but Baby had other plans.

We were there Oct 14-21 this year and the crowds were really quiet after the weekend of the 15& 16.

MNSSHP is a blast. The parade and Hallowishes alone were worth the price of admission. Also if you are trick or treating you will get tonnes of candy.

 

[dsneygirl]

The Headless Horseman at the start of the Halloween parade

Rabbit on the Pooh float

HM gravediggers

Dapper Dans...er Cadavre Dans

 

[byoung]

We have gone to both the last 2 years. Plan on doing both for years to come.

 

[Mandabella]

This is one of our favorite times to go. We purposely alternate between the end of October with the beginning of December to do all our favorite events.

BTW, this year was the first time we tried Party for the Senses....LOVED IT!

 

[athenna]

Very much looking forward to my 1st F & W Festival and MNSSHP in 10/06. It will be boyfriends 1st EVER trip to WDW and I know he's gonna love it!
Now if only this ticker would go faster
Luckily I only have to wait a couple of months to be back in the World again!

 

[dsneygirl]

This is one of our favorite times to go. We purposely alternate between the end of October with the beginning of December to do all our favorite events.

BTW, this year was the first time we tried Party for the Senses....LOVED IT!

We did the Party this year as well and had a great time!

 

[ttfn3]

October at Disney is a great time to go. The Food & Wine Festival is my favorite event at Disney. My DS (age 9) had a blast. (We all scratch our heads when people say their children do not like Epcot. We've had some great moments in the WS area). We like to hit WS when it first opens. We all enjoy the entertainment at the various lands and sampling the foods. We avoided F & W festival on the weekends, when it gets much more crowded because of the local residents. It's really nice to stay at the Boardwalk (or Beach Club) and be able to walk to this event.

We also really enjoyed MNSSHP - much better than the Christmas event IMHO. We hung out at our resort the day of the event and made sure we were at the gate at 4 p.m. for the event. Our first stop was the Barber shop for special Halloween haircuts for the guys. We then caught a couple of rides and went to dinner at the Liberty Tree tavern. It was very festive - and they had a storyteller in the lobby. We enjoyed riding the rides, and the parade. The headless horseman is SO cool.

Finally, we like to swim so we found the weather much warmer in October than in December.

I can't wait to go next year!!!

 

[donmil723]

DH and I went to the F&W F and MNSSHP in 2003 and 2005 and our whole family went to MVMCP in 2004. Although we loved the Christmas decorations, we prefer going in October mostly because the weather is so much warmer. DD, 21, is going with us in Oct. 2006 as she would like to attend both the F&W F and MNSSHP at least once before she begins her teaching career and because she has heard DH and I talk about how much fun we have! I have some pictures posted on www.webshots.com. Do a search for donmil723.

Donna

 

[jdvm]

We live in Celebration and have annual passes. Our kids (18, 14, 14 and 12) like the Halloween party so much that we went twice this year. My wife and I went to Epcot a couple of times and attended a spectacular special dinner at the Food & Wine Festival. The weather is also usually fantastic in October. Universal has a very different, much scarier halloween party if your kids are old enough.

 

[rigsby25]

My husband and I went without the kids this year for a few days: October 12 to the 16th. We had a great time, great weather. We enjoyed MNSSHP for getting on the rides fast. We were there at 4, ate, and then went in when they opened. We went on rides as fast as we could walk. Then it started to get crowded and we started to get tired. We trick or treated and brought the candy home for the kids. The fireworks were the best I've ever seen. We enjoyed seeing people in costume. This was our second year for F&W festival. Last year we went in the middle of November. It was way more crowded then IMO. And it is true that the food can be very expensive and small portions. But if you want to just try something that sounds interesting its a good way to do it. Its not really food that the kids would enjoy though. At least not ours.