Food & Wine Festival

[Rachel0922]

Let me preface this by saying I know little to nothing about the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. I do know, however, that we have ADRs at Epcot the evening of Sept 29th which I believe is the day that the festival kicks off. Is this going to have an impact on the crowd at Epcot? Would I be better off avoiding Epcot all together or does the festival take place in a pretty contained area and not impact the rest of the park? Like I said...I know little to nothing about this event so I would love some input from anyone who knows anything about it. Thanks!

 

[MinnesotaChill]

I am sure that someone will give you more info, but this is what I know:

The FW is throughout all of World Showcase. There are booths set up where you can sample food and alcoholic beverages from around the world, not just the normal WS countries. It is sort of a grazing event where you can move around freely and not commit to having to sit down anywhere if you don't want to.

That being said, if you read further on in the resturants thread, you will find that there are virtually no ADRs available that weekend anywhere else. It is a busy weekend for eating at TS restaurants throughout WDW due to free dining. You might have trouble finding a replacement adr.

This will be my first year at FW, so I can't comment to whether or not you should stay away. My thinking would be that if you already have an adr for a restaurant you really want to eat at, EPCOT won't be so crowded as to ruin the experience for you. Once you are seated, enjoying your meal, how bad can the crowds be around your table?

 

[rkujay]

The food and wine festival is quite fun. Go from booth to booth, country to country, and sample foods you love and ones you've never tried. Wines and beers from distanl locales. Not cheap by any means, but fun. Crowds will be a little more than you may be used to, but September is the least crowded month, or so I was told by a cm on the friendship from YC to Epcot. I told him I didn't really know when it was "less" crowded, since it always is quite full of revellers.
Enjoy

 

[PureTcrazy]

at Epcot on the 29th at Chef's de France! Maybe we'll see you there?? We figured it was best to do Epcot on the 29th because it is Friday and we figured it would be worse on the weekend with local people coming for F & W, but this is just an assumption on our part. I'm sure it will be fine regardless, maybe everyone will be eating and we will be able to walk on to the rides

 

[ccw]

I'd cancel the ADRs and take advantage of the Food and Wine booth offerings...very fun and very filling!

 

[llqool]

we were there on a Saturday afternoon last year during the F&W festival. It was crowded, but not nearly as crowded as the MK had been that morning. It's very spread out, so there's not one single place where ppl are massed. there were a couple of booths that had long lines (I think Italy was one of them), so we skipped those. otherwise there were about 4 or 5 ppl at most in front of us. since our kids are very young, we didn't do any of the ticketed events or the lectures, so i can't say how crowded they were.

i have heard, though, that it *can* get crowded on weekend afternoons. that was not our experience on that day. and of course the inevitable FL afternoon/evening thundershower helped clear out the park, too!

the best thing is if you are on the dining plan, you can use your snack credits at the various food kiosks!

 

[muffy0110]

Does anyone know who showed up on 10/6 from the
Food Network?

 

[PrincessKitty1]

DH and I spent were at Epcot last weekend for the first weekend of the Food and Wine Festival. Saturday was very, very crowded but there seem to be many more food/drink kiosks than there have been in past years. We did the booths on Friday (not too crowded) but walked into the Rose and Crown on Saturday at 6:30 rather than go booth to booth. ( There were no ADRs to be had at the Rose and Crown on Saturday but we were able to walk right in, apparently because they can accomodate a group of two more easily than larger groups).

 

[byoung]

I'll be there on the 20th, cann't wait.

 

[ImprovGal]

Does anyone know who showed up on 10/6 from the
Food Network?

I'm waiting to hear about the 10/6 Kitchen Conversations, too, as I have a reservation for the 11/3 one. References to the Food Network were removed from the description of this event on Disney's web site. The festival guidebook has the following minimal description: "Culinary demonstration, tasting and an autographed copy of a celebrity's book included."

Other than getting the signed copy of the book (and the specific chefs themselves), I'm wondering how this event differentiates itself from the complimentary culinary demonstrations at the Odyssey. $75 is rather pricey for an autographed cookbook.

I've been in email correspondance with an individual in management of the festival and am patiently awaiting the response to my question.

 

[citymouse]

i am staying at the board walk villas in Oct and wanted to go to the fwf for my first time. When i called to buy tickets i thought they woulds be close to sold out but instead he said they are not even out yet. When do they go on sale and about how much are they?

 

[Eeyore2142]

The food and wine festival itself is not a ticketed event (you need to ticket into Epcot). It is held throughout the World Showcase and you purchase tasting samples at the various booths. There are special events held along with the festival (like party of the senses) that are ticketed and fairly expensive. I think they go on sale in July or so

 

[Leanne1977]

We were at Epcot last year for the opening night of the Food and Wine Festival. It was a Friday evening and also an EMH night and it was very crowded. But there was a brilliant atmosphere. I don't mind crowds at World Showcase as you aren't standing in queues for rides, you are simply strolling around soaking it all up.

We went again the following Tues at 11am and it was very quiet, we were practically the only ones there!!

We are planning on going to opening night again this year and will stay on for EMH. We are having lunch at 12pm at Jo-Jo and Goliaths, so come the evening we should be hungry enough to snack our way around the World!

Just realised the OP posted this thread in August 2006!!

 

[mickeymousemom]

Do you mean tickets for the special events at the Food and Wine Festival??
There is no cost for the Festival itself. Booths from several countries are set up all around World Showcase. Prices range from ABOUT $2 to ABOUT $6 for the food samples(some of which are good sized and some of which are tiny). The wine/beer prices vary and are usually served in small 2-4 oz cups, I believe. We go every year and love it!

 

[mickeymousemom]

Okay EEyore, you beat me to it!

 

[Eeyore2142]

But you gave prices

 

[NancyIL]

I really enjoy "grazing" at the food booths during Food & Wine, so I never eat at the restaurants in Epcot at that time.

 

[muffy0110]

i have gone every year. the tickets to all events will go on sale
around july 15, but if your not doing events you will not need a
tickets other than to get into the park- last year was the first
years that many many events were available for much longer
periods of time.