Short trip - Strategies for F&W

[kermit116]

I'm looking for some advice on tackling Food & Wine on our upcoming trip. This will be our first F&W, so we're hoping to at least get a good sampling of many different items. Our trip, however, will only be three days -- Saturday through Monday.

I've heard that F&W is extremely busy on the weekends, especially on Saturdays. So, we are planning to avoid Epcot entirely on Saturday.

My questions are:

--Should we try to get to Epcot for an early lunch on Sunday to get to some of the booths? Will the crowds be bad as soon as the booths open on Sunday?

--If we try to just do Epcot on Monday, will be able to hit most of the booths if we do an early lunch and then a late dinner? I'm thinking Monday will be the lightest crowds, but I'm also wondering if by the time we visit a good portion of the booths on Monday for lunch, we'll be too stuffed to visit the rest of the booths for dinner.

--How early do the booths usually open? I thought I'd heard 11am but maybe I just made that up. Do all of the booths open at the same time, or are there some that open later?

--Any other strategies? We don't have to visit everything, but it'd be nice to at least try something at most of the booths (even if we just share and each get a few bites).

 

[OKW Lover]

--Should we try to get to Epcot for an early lunch on Sunday to get to some of the booths? Will the crowds be bad as soon as the booths open on Sunday?

The crowds won't be too bad when the booths first open at 11:00 am on Sunday.

--If we try to just do Epcot on Monday, will be able to hit most of the booths if we do an early lunch and then a late dinner? I'm thinking Monday will be the lightest crowds, but I'm also wondering if by the time we visit a good portion of the booths on Monday for lunch, we'll be too stuffed to visit the rest of the booths for dinner.

Monday will be fairly low crowd-wise. However, if you are hitting the booths, you probably don't want to also have a lunch and dinner.

--How early do the booths usually open? I thought I'd heard 11am but maybe I just made that up. Do all of the booths open at the same time, or are there some that open later?

All the booths open at 11:00

 

[kermit116]

Thanks that's helpful. We were actually planning to eat at the booths for lunch and dinner, as opposed to having a sit down or quick service meal. I guess I'm curious if relying on the booths for both meals would be too much or too little food.

 

[OKW Lover]

Thanks that's helpful. We were actually planning to eat at the booths for lunch and dinner, as opposed to having a sit down or quick service meal. I guess I'm curious if relying on the booths for both meals would be too much or too little food.

OK, thanks for the clarification. Unfortunately, we can't help with this question because everybody's appetite is different and we can't foresee how much you'll eat at the booths.

The best I can offer is that many people do just rely on the booths. However, others feel they need a meal as well. Perhaps you should make a reservation for dinner at someplace that doesn't require a cc hold, just in case.

 

[kermit116]

Good idea - thanks

 

[MomofKatie]

Thanks that's helpful. We were actually planning to eat at the booths for lunch and dinner, as opposed to having a sit down or quick service meal. I guess I'm curious if relying on the booths for both meals would be too much or too little food.

Last year, we started out around lunchtime and finished in the late evening. We pretty much just nibbled, sipped, and snacked nonstop and stayed pleasantly satiated (never got "full", but weren't ravenous, either).

We didn't really "do" lunch and dinner, just one long, drawn-out nosh. We got dessert-y stuff interchangeably with entrée type fare- if it looked good, we ordered it. It was lovely! We started around again for some of our faves before settling down to watch Illuminations.

F&W is really fun- we will miss it by a week this year, and I am sad. Have a GREAT time!!