How Expensive is the Food & Wine Festival?

[kittyab]

How much $$$ will it cost per night on average?

Is it kid friendly?

 

[JenniBugInPink]

Start here:
Disney Food and Wine Festival 2014 Thread

 

[Zooshoveller]

How much $$$ will it cost per night on average? Is it kid friendly?

I would guess anywhere between $5-1000. Seriously - it depends on how much you want to sample.

Sorta kid friendly. There is a lot of alcohol, and people will be drinking.

 

[freckles04]

We went "around the world" one night last October and started with a $150 gift card for three of us (2 adults, one 9 year old boy). We got one dish (sometimes 2) from almost all of the booths (we skipped a few that were unappealing) and shared each one between us. I also had a margarita so one alcoholic beverage. We spent around $120-130 if memory serves. I know we had enough left on the gift card for a souvenir. Obviously the cost goes way up if you purchase more adult beverages.

As for the kid friendly part, I have heard to avoid it on weekends because things can get a bit rowdy. We went on a weeknight and it was fine until around 8pm when things did get rowdy. We got stuck on Maelstrom with the loudest bunch of drunks ever who were spouting off some inappropriate things.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I spent 200.00 over a day and a half. I didn't book any ADR's and just ate and drank my way through.

During the day I would think it's good for kids but I saw some things in the evening that would make me think twice about having younger kids there. (Someone getting sick in the bushes, lots of extra swearing and in one case - a large group of drunk folk stumbling their way around bumping into stuff which was kind of funny but I was worried for them that they were going to end up with alcohol poisoning.)

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Expense totally depends on how much you eat & drink. Last year, I want to say we spent about $75 cash, plus a bunch of snack credits.

Whether it's kid-friendly is very subjective. There is a lot of alcohol involved and thus, a lot of drinking. We've had years where we weren't comfortable having our kids there anymore by 6 p.m., but last year it stayed tame until about 8 when we finally left. Monday nights both times. We've had times were we've witnessed puking, and stumbling, and inappropriate behavior, and times when it didn't seem any worse than any of the parks that serve alcohol. I think the key is just to be aware that it could turn into a rowdy night, and be prepared to leave if it does, but to go in assuming it will be fine.

 

[figment_jii]

I agree with the estimates that it can anywhere from no-cost (if you won't eat or drink anything and just go to look around) to hundreds of dollars if you try to make a meal out sampling the kiosks. If you add in any of the special events or seminars, the cost will quickly escalate.

In terms of being kid friendly, it depends a little on what you are asking. If you kids like to try different foods, then yes, I think F&W can be a lot of fun. If they're not into food sampling, then there isn't really a lot for them to do. I've gone to F&W lots of times over the course of many years (varying days of the week) and I haven't really noticed the bad behavior mentioned above. I have seen folks that looked like they were buzzed, but that's the extent of it. So I think it can vary considerably by night, location, and how much you are looking for it. I've only ever seen one person falling down drunk in WDW and that was during an early December trip!

 

[kittyab]

You can use snack points? What about meal points?

 

[figment_jii]

You can use snack points? What about meal points?

In the past, they have allowed guests to use snack credits to purchase the non-alcoholic items. CS and TS credits were not accepted.

 

[BigMommaMouse]

How much $$$ will it cost per night on average?

Is it kid friendly?

I did not think it was very kid friendly (2012). The toilets (mens) were gross with the stuff drunk people do in them . We plan on visiting it during the day this time.

 

[itsthatdisneygirl]

I did some calculating based off the the menu pricing last year and used that as well to guesstimate the prices for the new items this year that I would want to try. My final estimate is:
$171.70 for one of each food item that I want to eat and $191.75 for one of each adult beverage I want to have.

I will say that this year is the first year that every booth has at least one item I want to have to eat so that may have driven up food cost. Also before anyone gets "concerned" that I will be one of those said highly intoxicated people I'm a local and go every weekend for the entire festival so my drinking will be spread out

 

[ktlm]

DD was 7 last year and she loved it. She is not exactly an adventurous eater, so she liked that she could try new things, take a bite, and if she didn't like it pass it to DH for him to eat and get something else. I was surprised at how much she was willing to try when she knew she would not be stuck with it as her meal if she took one bite and did not like it.

In the afternoons it is definitely kid-friendly. Most evenings aren't too bad. We didn't see anything at all troubling the weeknights we were there. The only time we had any kind of issue with it was on Saturday nights. We were there 2 Saturday nights last year and one was significantly wilder than the other. The first Saturday we were there until closing. We saw some clearly intoxicated people and some drunk stupid behavior towards closing, but we used some of it as a teaching moment for DD as to why she should not drink too much alcohol when she is older (basically there were some early 20s guys trying to climb in a birdbath who looked like total idiots and DD was totally perplexed as to what type of person would act like that!). There wasn't anything I saw that night that made me sorry DD was there, but we aren't exactly uptight about that kind of thing either. The second Saturday we just stopped in for dinner before hitting the pool for the evening at BC because DD was asking for something she had eaten at one of the booths that week. It was probably 6 or 6:30 p.m. and the whole place seemed totally wild already. Lots of clearly intoxicated people being loud and obnoxious. We were kind of glad we weren't sticking around that night. I later saw some reports on the boards of people complaining about that night and the behavior they observed. I would say if you are worried about your kids observing that kind of behavior, then stay away from Saturday nights.


The cost just depends on how many items you want to try and whether you are buying alcohol. This should give you a good idea of the food and prices:

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2014-...val-marketplace-booths-menus-and-food-photos/

 

[Mousemommy1]

Most of the foods are between $5 - $10 so it just depends on how many snacks you plan on eating.

Drinks are on average about the same (except for fancier ones).

We wouldn't hesitate to bring our kids to food and wine, but that's just us

 

[karensi]

Just looked at the menu for the F&W festival and I have to admit there were many items that caught my eye, but I'm wondering how you manage to eat the food while walking through Epcot.
In other words, are there any tables set out to sit at? Maybe benches?
Many of the offerings look like mini meals, beef, shrimp, etc. A plate of food plus a beverage would be difficult, for me anyway, to manage while standing up, walking.
How does this work?


Thanks,

Karen

 

[figment_jii]

In other words, are there any tables set out to sit at? Maybe benches?

There aren't many tables to sit out. There are some tables added for the festival (though, those might be used for the Premium Access areas this year), but not huge numbers. Most folks either walk and eat or use railings, trash cans, etc. as substitutes for tables. My family tends to "base" at one location (e.g., the Liberty Inn at the American pavilion) and then send a "runner" to get food items and bring them back to the table.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

I have to agree with others. How expensive it is depends on what you're interested in.

I took a friend one afternoon and dropped $200 on the two of us. But we were purchasing everything in sight, including beverages. Some festival related, some always available like the infamous Grey Goose Slushies. BTW, they're not something I'll order again. The orange one tasted like really fake orange, and like it had no alcohol at all. Not worth the money in my opinion.

I did not think it was very kid friendly (2012). The toilets (mens) were gross with the stuff drunk people do in them . We plan on visiting it during the day this time.

I can't help but wonder how much time you were spending in the men's restrooms "Momma".

 

[JennyDrake]

I am not much of a drinker, but I am a Hard Core Foodie; I can drop $75 in a (long) day at F&W.

As far as kids--here is a different angle: some of the lines are ridiculously long. I counted 42 people in line ahead of me at Canada. That can be a long time to expect kids to wait over and over and over..... As for me, I would remove kidlets once the rowdy behavior started.

 

[Raenstoirm]

Just looked at the menu for the F&W festival and I have to admit there were many items that caught my eye, but I'm wondering how you manage to eat the food while walking through Epcot.
In other words, are there any tables set out to sit at? Maybe benches?
Many of the offerings look like mini meals, beef, shrimp, etc. A plate of food plus a beverage would be difficult, for me anyway, to manage while standing up, walking.
How does this work?

If you buy the ungodly expensive VIP package you get a private area with tables (no chairs as far as I can tell though) and a "runner" to go and get you select items. You have to pay for the items, but $50 gift card is included in the package. Its new this year, so dh and I will be the first guinea pigs. I will report back in 2 weeks.

 

[BigMommaMouse]

I have to agree with others. How expensive it is depends on what you're interested in.

I took a friend one afternoon and dropped $200 on the two of us. But we were purchasing everything in sight, including beverages. Some festival related, some always available like the infamous Grey Goose Slushies. BTW, they're not something I'll order again. The orange one tasted like really fake orange, and like it had no alcohol at all. Not worth the money in my opinion.




I can't help but wonder how much time you were spending in the men's restrooms "Momma".

I knew as I typed it did not look right. The complaint was on DS behalf (11) at the time. I took him while DH was buying something at a booth.

 

[bwang123]

Is it kid friendly?

Last October, we found ourselves at Epcot almost everyday (weekdays only) and my 7 year old daughter loved trying different offerings at Food and Wine.

One Saturday, the kids really wanted to play the Great Piggy Bank Adventure so we walked into Epcot through the International Gateway mid afternoon. World Showcase was packed unlike any crowd we experienced during the week. I would imagine it would be much more difficult to take our 3 and 7 year old through that.