Food & Wine Festival Questions

[Meetmeinmontauk]

DBF & I are going to our first Food & Wine Festival the first week of October. We would like to have a plate or 2 from each country. I am just wondering how much time we should allot to eating around the world. We have 8 day Park Hoppers and plan on visiting Epcot for 4 half days & then 1 entire day just dedicated to touring Food & Wine.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. We know to avoid weekends & we also have a nice chunk of change set aside because I know how pricey the booths can get... I've poured over the menus on the disney food blog!

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

bump

 

[DOOM1001]

Sounds like you'll have plenty of time assuming your plan is to be there 4 half days and a full day.I'm assuming you'll finish off your days at Epcot at least 2 of those half days giving you at least three nights at the festival.I think weekends can be done as I've been there on some nights that haven't been that crazy crowded but I've also been on some that have so it is better to avoid it just in case it does get very crowded.Also check out the Eat to the Beat concerts.

 

[SoonipiLady]

for repeats of our favorites or to see things we overlooked. We have done a Thursday-Monday stay and usually spend one day and one evening touring the booths. We haven't found the weekends crazy busy, but we do avoid first, last and marathon weekends. We are staying at the Dolphin this time so I have a feeling we will be much more relaxed, being this close. We usually stay at the PO French Quarter, which is our favorite, but requires a little more work and pre-planning, because of transportation back and forth.

A bit of advice.....

Wait until.the END of your touring plan to do Mexico's tequila flight seminar....that way you'll actually remember what you did/ate/tasted later!

 

[MichaelH]

4 half days and a whole day should be plenty for the Food and Wine. One way we keep up with how much we have spent is to get the card you can put money on. We usually do $100 at a time. You can get them at most of the food stops. It is a card on a braclet and is very good way to track how much you spend.

I believe that if you are on the Dining plan that you can use your snacks at the Food vendors at the Food and Wine. Someone correct me on that if I am wrong, I know you used to be able to.

 

[jezebel73]

I did one full day last year and would definitely have preferred doing 2-3 half days instead. Just wasn't an option for our trip. It was very humid and 90+ degrees, so I ended up eating and drinking a lot less than I planned on. Multiple visits would have helped that immensely! Also I wished we could have more time to stop and eat more slowly and people watch in between booths and watch more of the concert. OK I'm officially jealous of your multi-day adventure!

We went on a Monday and while the park was moderately busy, the food lines moved quickly. No complaints on that. Most of what I had was pretty good, a couple of duds. The grapefruit beer, which I hear is there all the time now, was fabulous and very refreshing in the heat. In one day, I think I spent about $75 and was full and tired at the end, though not really tipsy. I think you can spend a little less if you share more items, especially drinks. I planned to spend more than twice that, though!

Last note - disneyfoodblog.com is a great resource for F&W. They have full menus and some pictures from 2013 and will add in the 2014 info as it gets closer, including the cooking and beverage events. If you plan to do any of the cheaper ones, only about $15 pp, reserve early! Last year they released Aug 9, but that may be earlier this year since the festival starts earlier.

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

Thanks for all of the replies! We really want to be able to eat around the world & not rush it. Epcot is DBF's favorite park & my 2nd favorite so we always spend the majority of our time there anyway We are doing FD so I plan on using a lot of snack credits. We also don't plan on eating any CS or TS meals on our full Epcot day!

 

[Figment_Fan]

I second the Food Blog. And, I agree, better for 1/2 days over several days rather than cramming it into 1 or 2 full days. There is so much there. And, if you share, more that you can try.
Yes, you can, and probably will, use all of your snack credits. On the days we did purchase (after snack credits were used) it was easy for 3 of us to spend around $80 in a day.
We will be going back next fall, but FD is not available on our days. And, don't for MNSSHP. We already have our tickets for that as well. Have a great time.

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

I second the Food Blog. And, I agree, better for 1/2 days over several days rather than cramming it into 1 or 2 full days. There is so much there. And, if you share, more that you can try.
Yes, you can, and probably will, use all of your snack credits. On the days we did purchase (after snack credits were used) it was easy for 3 of us to spend around $80 in a day.
We will be going back next fall, but FD is not available on our days. And, don't for MNSSHP. We already have our tickets for that as well. Have a great time.

Sounds great! We will be doing MNSSHP on our last night so that we can sleep in (Disney sleep in, which is still early ) have a nice breakfast at Kona & then drive back home.

 

[goofy47]

DBF & I are going to our first Food & Wine Festival the first week of October. We would like to have a plate or 2 from each country. I am just wondering how much time we should allot to eating around the world. We have 8 day Park Hoppers and plan on visiting Epcot for 4 half days & then 1 entire day just dedicated to touring Food & Wine.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated. We know to avoid weekends & we also have a nice chunk of change set aside because I know how pricey the booths can get... I've poured over the menus on the disney food blog!

We go every year and we share plates around the world! We pretty much try everything they have to offer... Depending on crowds and the lines it should not take you more then 3 to 4 hours to make it all the way around. That's with bathroom breaks and resting and disgesting.. LOL.. No need to rush.. Enjoy...

 

[BwoZoo22]

Since there are two of you, I highly recommended sharing everything the first time you buy it. Not only does it save lots of money, but that way you are not as tempted to eat all of something that may taste just ok. We also like to use the free passports to keep track of the items we really liked so we can go back for a full (not to be shared) plate or glass. Sharing saves time, money, and room in the stomach! We always share drinks too, for the same reasons. And I don't recommend walking and eating. Find a nice place to sit or stand (frequently the top of a trash can) to discuss the food/drink while people watching. Almost better than Disney character watching!

And our number one rule, after 13 years of Festival going, is if you don't like it, THROW IT OUT! Too much good food available to waste space on not so good things! You will have a blast; I can't wait for this year's trip!

 

[Meetmeinmontauk]

Since there are two of you, I highly recommended sharing everything the first time you buy it. Not only does it save lots of money, but that way you are not as tempted to eat all of something that may taste just ok. We also like to use the free passports to keep track of the items we really liked so we can go back for a full (not to be shared) plate or glass. Sharing saves time, money, and room in the stomach! We always share drinks too, for the same reasons. And I don't recommend walking and eating. Find a nice place to sit or stand (frequently the top of a trash can) to discuss the food/drink while people watching. Almost better than Disney character watching!

And our number one rule, after 13 years of Festival going, is if you don't like it, THROW IT OUT! Too much good food available to waste space on not so good things! You will have a blast; I can't wait for this year's trip!

We definitely planned on sharing drinks because I don't think I could make it all the way around if we didn't! Lol