Hey Pete, we don't like "Food & Wine".

[WDWRNTLK]

Pete said he's never heard anyone say they don't like "Food & Wine", but we really don't like it and here's why!
One word: crowds.
Normally when we go to Epcot we don't have to fight crowds to see and do the things that we are excited about, but F&W changes all of that. We didn't do the boat ride in Mexico because of the insane line all the way back to the booths. We didn't linger in many other pavilions because they were wall to wall people. No pearl in Japan or Pokémon cards either. For sure no Agent P or Pokémon Go that day.
I don't drink alcohol at Epcot because I get dehydrated really quickly no matter how much water I drink when I'm in hot weather. My family would rather sit down to eat a meal than stand in line for small bites. So for us there isn't a big appeal to F&W. For us it's just a crowd of people in the way of our normal park experience.
I know 99.9% of people will disagree, but Pete's comment made me want to share our perspective.
Unrelated- We were there the same day that the guy tried to enter with the loaded gun. Holy crap!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Just a quick question - did you attend on a weekend or a weekday? Weekends, particularly Friday nights and Saturdays are just nuts as far as crowds for Food and Wine and I will never do that again - but during the week, particularly earlyish, the crowds are very low and I find it to be a very enjoyable experience

 

[hedberg1661]

Just a quick question - did you attend on a weekend or a weekday? Weekends, particularly Friday nights and Saturdays are just nuts as far as crowds for Food and Wine and I will never do that again - but during the week, particularly earlyish, the crowds are very low and I find it to be a very enjoyable experience

I agree. I completely avoid Friday and Weekends at all costs during F&W...not a bad time to visit another park!

 

[disneysteve]

DW and I did F&W last year for the first time without our daughter and it was kind of fun to wander around and try different things but we also spent way more than we would normally spend on food. I don't think it's something we would do regularly, or maybe we would just grab one item as a snack as we were walking around but still have our meal at a restaurant. We'd rather hit a counter service restaurant, sit down in the AC, and have our entire meal at once for $10/person. Plus going to a booth, standing in line, and then eating the 2 bites you get, before moving to the next booth and doing the same occupies a lot of time in the park. I can totally understand why the locals love it. For folks who are there for a limited amount of vacation time, though, there's always something else we'd rather be doing.

 

[Aerin75]

We've done Food and Wine twice - it was part of why we planned the trip then. As a result, I still haven't made it all the way around World Showcase. We kept stopping and sampling and between reservations and getting wiped, we couldn't do all the pavilions.

Having said that, I did enjoy it, and it wasn't wall to wall people on those weekdays.

 

[Biceratops]

I went to F&W last year for the first time, and I didn't mind the crowds despite the weekends being the busiest. I guess I'm used big crowds after going to Lollapalooza in Chicago for so many years (and yes the food and restroom lines are as long as you think).

 

[CampbellzSoup]

New York City is kinda food and wine all year long so paying $7.99 for a sample /small portion doesn't interest me.

I do think it's a fun festival though!

 

[Accident]

I don't really like the food at food and wine. It's all wintery heavy don't want to eat when it's 80 out stuff. Maybe the last couple weeks on some evening when it's cooler, then it makes more sense.

Some of the special meals are nice but it's getting to pricey and not really worth it. I can travel to nyc and live it up for a week at the prices they want for a couple dinners.

Now flower and garden, that show has really become something great. better food, fresher food, food that matches the weather. better prepared, more consistent and epcot is in it's sunday best landscaping and to a degree, the hidden gem of WDW as it's not the crowds you see at f&w yet.. (I should shut up here).