Second guessing visit during Food and Wine...

[100acreHiker]

I have an airfare credit that needs to be used in the next 11 months, so even though we've visited twice in the last year (early December and late April), I'm considering taking my mom to Disney--she hasn't been in 32 years--along with my boys. Hubby would probably sit this one out. I feel a little indulgent considering going again, given we were just there, but I do love the Parks in the fall. So i'm considering doing a short trip (4 days) in November (9-13), but it falls on the last weekend of Food and Wine. I'm worried it will be a zoo. Anyone with experience that last week of F&W? We plan to stay at Boardwalk Inn. Our other option is the final week of April 2017. We liked that week this spring, but it was really hot (90 degrees every day of our trip). Upside is we could stay a bit longer that week as the kids will be out of school. Downside is it's a year away.

I guess I'm wondering if that last weekend of Food and Wine will likely be insanely crowded; because it would be a short trip, big crowds would be a bummer. We are not commando tourers--we mostly want to ride the new Soarin' and the new frozen ride a few times and see the Star Wars fireworks show, show Mom MK for a morning. Should I delay our trip and look to go next spring? Is there anything special in the works that delaying would make sense for? Which week (Nov 9th 2016 or last week of April) do you think will have lower crowds? TIA!

 

[Marionnette]

I have an airfare credit that needs to be used in the next 11 months, so even though we've visited twice in the last year (early December and late April), I'm considering taking my mom to Disney--she hasn't been in 32 years--along with my boys. Hubby would probably sit this one out. I feel a little indulgent considering going again, given we were just there, but I do love the Parks in the fall. So i'm considering doing a short trip (4 days) in November (9-13), but it falls on the last weekend of Food and Wine. I'm worried it will be a zoo. Anyone with experience that last week of F&W? We plan to stay at Boardwalk Inn. Our other option is the final week of April 2017. We liked that week this spring, but it was really hot (90 degrees every day of our trip). Upside is we could stay a bit longer that week as the kids will be out of school. Downside is it's a year away.

I guess I'm wondering if that last weekend of Food and Wine will likely be insanely crowded; because it would be a short trip, big crowds would be a bummer. We are not commando tourers--we mostly want to ride the new Soarin' and the new frozen ride a few times and see the Star Wars fireworks show, show Mom MK for a morning. Should I delay our trip and look to go next spring? Is there anything special in the works that delaying would make sense for? Which week (Nov 9th 2016 or last week of April) do you think will have lower crowds? TIA!

Every weekend during F&W will be busy at Epcot. The last weekend, the World Showcase will be packed solid! IMO, doing Frozen and Soarin' "a few times" in the same day will not be possible unless you're willing to stand in long lines. Both attractions will be Tier 1 FP+ choices, and the SB lines will be long. If you go, do Epcot on a weekday. It will not be as crowded.

The other parks will not be affected by F&W but pay attention to the MVMCP schedule. The MK will close to regular visitors on 11/10 and 11/11 at 7 PM and guests with party tickets will begin to enter the park at 4 PM. Since the MK will close early on those days, many guests will opt to visit on other days of the week, making the park more crowded than usual on those days.

April weather can be very nice and F&G will be taking place in Epcot at that time. Easter will be April 16 in 2017, so you would probably want to avoid the week leading up to it. But if you can work around that, my choice would be to wait until April.

 

[anniemae]

I think both are good. Nov is my favorite time to go, so I would pick that week.

 

[DisneyHardin]

That is when we are going to be there We have gone the beginning of November the last 2 years and have really enjoyed it. 2 years ago the weather was PERFECT; 80's during the day and cooler (jacket weather) in the evenings. Last year it was very hot - but that was not the norm - several locals told us it was the hottest November in 20 years.

We love the Food and Wine Festival, but do try to only go to Epcot on weekdays and avoid it on the weekends.

 

[AmberVDM]

My husband and I went during the food and wine festival (during the weekday) and it was crowded, but not that crowded.

 

[100acreHiker]

Thanks, everyone. I took a closer look at our school calendar and realized that we wouldn't be able to go the last week in April, but rather Easter week/spring break (the days immediately after Easter) and that will definitely be a zoo, so it's looking more like Nov 8-12 is more appealing, even though it's Food and Wine AND Jersey Week. Not sure my mom (or I) can handle Easter crowds! Hopefully those week days leading up to the last weekend of F&W won't be too bad.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

My sister and I went November 6th last year. It was the only time we can go. The Giants were playing in Tampa and we'd visit Grandma and swing by Disney for our first F&W experience.

Everyone said we were crazy. It was "Jersey week," the 5k was that Saturday and it was a weekend. People told us to be prepared for crazy crowds and waits. We figured that if we can survive Christmas at Disney, we can survive this.

We were fine. We pulled into the Swan and Dolphin around 9:30am. As we checked in and sorted through our list of things we wanted to try, someone in front of us (who was checking out) started making recommendations. We got to the park around 11am and it was empty. We started with the favorites and most popular booths. It got a little more crowded as the day went on, but nothing crazy. Some lines were longer than others, but Disney CMs did a great job of getting people in and out.

It was crazy hot and there was a storm coming, so we went back to the resort to relax and shower up. When we returned around 7pm the crowd was definitely different. It had a very "Happy Hour" feel to it and it was definitely much more crowded BUT, we still managed to get popular items like the filet in Canada and the Hawaii booth.

Overall - a great experience and time was had. The crowds were never overwhelming and we tried ALMOST everything we wanted. We were stuffed, though, so I do recommend leaving 2 days if you want to eat a lot. Also, I recommend splurging and staying at an EPCOT resort. We did the Dolphin and loved the ease of simply walking back over to our resort to hit the pool and at the end of the night.

 

[JimmyV]

That is pretty much a perfect time to go. Don't let wall to wall people in World Showcase on the weekend dissuade you from enjoying all of WDW. All in all, you might experience intense crowding in one part of one park for a few hours. That is not enough reason to avoid what is otherwise an great time to go.

 

[ars0525]

Go to Epcot on the weekdays. The lines for the food booths should be shorter than a weekend & less people during the day versus a weekend or evening. It doesn't sound like you are trying to commando tour & if you have your game plan for the few "must do's" on your list you will get them done plus some other things along the way.

 

[hsmamato2]

we were at F&W the last weekend last year... we got there so at 11 am we could start visiting the places we wanted, as crowds got bigger the later in the day it got...and weekends weren't a huge deal,just plan for an early visit on your days at boardwalk, then maybe park hop to MK later on if it looks better there? IDK we aren't commando either but I think lunch into night hours is when it's busiest

 

[nacho113]

I have an airfare credit that needs to be used in the next 11 months, so even though we've visited twice in the last year (early December and late April), I'm considering taking my mom to Disney--she hasn't been in 32 years--along with my boys. Hubby would probably sit this one out. I feel a little indulgent considering going again, given we were just there, but I do love the Parks in the fall. So i'm considering doing a short trip (4 days) in November (9-13), but it falls on the last weekend of Food and Wine. I'm worried it will be a zoo. Anyone with experience that last week of F&W? We plan to stay at Boardwalk Inn. Our other option is the final week of April 2017. We liked that week this spring, but it was really hot (90 degrees every day of our trip). Upside is we could stay a bit longer that week as the kids will be out of school. Downside is it's a year away.

I guess I'm wondering if that last weekend of Food and Wine will likely be insanely crowded; because it would be a short trip, big crowds would be a bummer. We are not commando tourers--we mostly want to ride the new Soarin' and the new frozen ride a few times and see the Star Wars fireworks show, show Mom MK for a morning. Should I delay our trip and look to go next spring? Is there anything special in the works that delaying would make sense for? Which week (Nov 9th 2016 or last week of April) do you think will have lower crowds? TIA!

My son (25) and I visited Oct 2015 and did a hopper day (on a Monday) DHS in the am, MK for the afternoon and Epcot for supper at the F&W in the evening.

DHS was fairly quiet. 8am Rope drop and straight to Toy Story, 4 trips through Star Tours, Muppets, Tower of terror, single rider 3 times to Rock n Roller Coaster, caught the Indy show and then over to MK for lunch.

MK crowds starting to pick up but tolerable. This is where we used our FP+. Hit all 3 of the mountains, Pirates twice, Jungle Cruise (just gotta), Haunted Mansion, 4 walk-ons in a row to BuzzLightyear, and Small world (drives my son crazy but I love it) . Headed to Epcot at 7pm for supper at F&W

Future World was VERY busy 90+ minute waits for Soarin' and Test Track.
World showcase was INSANE, you couldn't move, there was soooooo many people in the area lined up at the booths.
So bad in fact that we gave up on the idea of having supper from the booths and headed back to Future World and ate at the Garden Grill (which was surprisingly quiet)
We did Test Track 3 times single rider with very minimal wait, then waited in line 90 minutes for Soarin (almost 9:30pm before we finally rode, but worth the wait).
The crowds had thinned a little around the World Showcase so we grabbed a couple of pints in Britain and watched Illuminations from the tables behind the pub. Perfect ending to a very busy day.

Think what I was trying to say was that F&W shouldn't be a problem in any of the other parks. Epcot (World Showcase area) was crazy busy, don't think I would try it again (not in the evening anyway). It may have been quieter in the morning but this wasn't how we had our day planned out

Wow, this just got longer and more detailed, guess I should have made it a trip report.