Was F&W a bust this year attendance-wise?

[BelleAriel]

I spent all day today eating around the World Showcase. It is more crowded than I have seen it, for a Monday. I've attended 7 Food and Wine festivals. I'm very glad that we booked the premium package, because of the crowd!

I'm with you, I was there yesterday also and have been going this time the past few years and this is the most crowded I've ever seen it. We also booked the premium package and loved it! Kept us out of the crowds, never had to wait and it was relaxing getting to sit under an umbrella and have our food and wine brought to us without standing in those lines. We probably saw you there. I couldn't believe how empty the premium areas were. Hope you had fun. We will be back there on Wednesday.

 

[Indio]

We were in World Showcase on Saturday, October 11th. During the afternoon, while it was busier than I would have liked, I don't think it was any busier than an August weekend day- lines at the two food booths we experienced were about 5 minutes. In the evening, I was surprised. We went into WS around 8pm (Illuminations was at 10 that evening) and I was shocked at how empty WS was! Very few people walked by while we ate dinner (Tangierine Cafe) and we were able to get a wonderful spot for Illuminations, totally unobstructed view with a wall to lean against, only 5 minutes before the show. Being as this was a Saturday evening, and over Columbus Day weekend, I expected it to be PACKED, but it wasn't. Oh well… maybe it was, for some; it's all a question of perception.

OK, we felt the opposite of this on Saturday, October 11th. While Future World was very manageable, it was a madhouse back in World Showcase. Most booth lines were 15 to 20 people long (during the day). We left WS around 3 and went back to FW. Came back to WS around 6:30 - through the Canada side and you could hardly walk for the people. We got as far as the International Gateway, looked over the bridge and decided to just leave. Booth lines were ridiculous. We still had money left on our bracelet card things, but didn't want to fight the crowds to use it! We just went to Beaches and Cream and finished off the cards with ice cream! We didn't go into any restaurants back in WS so can't speak for crowds in them.