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

[Hopefully]

My wife and I were also there 10/26-10/31, and felt it was very crowded. World showcase was very busy, but we never waited more than a few minutes at the booths. The halloween party was packed, very hard to find seats for the parade, but the longest we waited all week for a ride was 30 minutes for 7dmt. I will say that the crowds never ruined anything and we had a great time. Weather was perfect. Also we are used to going in February where the crowds are a lot less but have to deal with the tour groups. All in all we are already planning on going back next October.

Like the OP, I would ask what you expected. "Very Crowded" and "never waited more than a few minutes at the booths" is an oxymoron to me. And the rest of the post has nothing to do with F & W. Like the OP I would be interested to see "hard numbers" after the event, although I do not expect those to ever be published.
Bottom Line: We had a great time and I felt it was more manageable than the recent past

 

[leebee]

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.

 

[ORMom2Four]

It seems like the vast majority of the posts have mentioned "low-crowds" no matter what day of the week they went. Some have mentioned it being "kinda crowded but very manageable" during some weekends but that's about it.

Dh and I went earlier in October and it was not too busy during a weeknight.

We went today though (11/2) arriving around 2pm, and it was insanely packed with wall to wall people. The world showcase was awful--it reeked of fried food and booze and was a sea of people packed like sardines. We waded through the crowd only about 100 yards and then turned around, deciding to leave the park.

 

[DOOM1001]

Boys II Men are scheduled this week.

Yeah Boyz II Men are very popular,my issue are the new acts this year are not amazing.Pretty much all the returning groups are great,the new groups have no wow factor at least for me.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Being as this was a Saturday evening, and over Columbus Day weekend, I expected it to be PACKED, but it wasn't.

Wow! That empty on Columbus Day weekend Saturday?!?! That's insane.

 

[mbednarek]

We went today also and I agree with ORMom it was insanely packed. There were spots where it was a total people traffic jam. Most stations had insane waits and I overheard a gentleman say that this was his 8th F&W trip and he has never seen it this bad!

 

[cleophus12]

We were there on Saturday, October 18, and outside of New Year's Eve, that was the most crowded I have ever seen Epcot. But it was fun! We were only there to eat, but I did manage to snag an evening FP for Soarin before we left home.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

This is typical of the vast majority of the reports that I have read coming out of F&W 2014. No matter what day or time it seemed like it was all "lite, lite, lite" or "very manageable". I was surprised enough to start this thread. Many of the people responding to this thread are painting a different picture.

I'd love to be able to see the official numbers!

Not surprising on a Wednesday but Friday nights and Saturdays have been socked as usual. At least the ones I saw, I admit I was not there on Columbus Day weekend. Saturday was OK until about 12:30 and then it was time to get out. The line for the Mexico kiosk was out to the Duffy gazebo thing.

"Very Crowded" and "never waited more than a few minutes at the booths" is an oxymoron to me.

Shouldn't be. It's about the staffing. On weekends they will have 3 registers working or even 4 registers at some booths. On weekdays, you will often find only one register open. They know how to move em through. However, the volume of people in the showcase is much higher on weekends (particularly Friday/Saturday nights) and that is obvious when walking around. The new scanners for the gift cards and the use of magic bands to pay also is helping to move the lines along.

 

[PSUGuy]

'Crowded' is a relative term. We were there this year from 10/17 through 10/24 for our 5th F&W. Last year we spanned Columbus Day weekend and that 8 day stretch was noticeably more crowded than this year's 9 day trip. We avoid Saturdays at WS during F&W always, the other days this year seemed less jammed than last year, we had no waits at the food kiosks of more than 4 or 5 people and got good seats at all our concerts, getting there 10 mins in advance for Billy Ocean, Smash Mouth and Night Ranger.

Bill From PA

 

[OasterP]

I'm one who reported that to me, it wasn't as busy as I expected. That said - I had never been before, so I was picturing wall to wall people.

When I went early afternoon it was pouring and pretty dead.

We went one night on a Saturday night (I hadn't realized it was Saturday - love vacation brain). It was definitely busy but not the wall of people I had expected. I did have to navigate around people and lines were long(ish) but I had a stroller and didn't have an insane amount of trouble. I definitely felt it was manageable. For sure busy - but I had pictured much worse.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

We were there on a Thursday and part of Friday..........Friday was crowded, ll by 2100 went we gave up .almost wall to wall and Thursday normal for a week day.

AKK

 

[LaurenT]

Right now I'm standing in an extended queue for La Cava Tequila waiting for my mandatory avacado margarita .... On a Monday at 1 pm. So I think F&W is alive and well!

 

[fluffykalie]

We went to food and wine on October 20th and October 25th. It was slow on Monday the 20th we stayed till close, I never waited more then 5 mins for food. We did stopped buying food in the late afternoon though. Then when we went on Saturday the 25th it was packed in the early afternoon. We didn't wait in any lines and left shortly after doing a few non food wine things it was just too busy.

 

[IamJBo]

We were there from 10/05 - 10/12. Sunday (10/05) was slammed. We got there in the afternoon - did our fastpasses and left.

Before we continue please note I was doing the F&W Premium package and lets just say if I had the chance to shell out 200$ per person to skip out on lines... I would do it again in a heart beat.

Tuesday (10/07) Evening was not nearly as bad. World Showcase was slammed at night but that's to be expected I suppose. Wednesday (10/08) same as Tuesday.

After this point our tickets to the VIP section had expired so we were grouped in with everyone else.

Friday (10/10) was worst than Sunday (10/05). We didn't snack on anything because of our ADR at Akershus but getting around the crowds was pretty bad.

Saturday (10/11) was the worst of the bunch. We barely got through 2 lines before I was over it. The crowd was comparable to July 4th weekend on World Showcase imo. I was just glad we did the dessert party just to get away from the masses during Illuminations.

I can't imagine attendance was a bust this year. From what I've read before, after, and living through my trip - the crowds seemed fairly busy.

I've only ever known the crowds during July 4th week so this was definitely slow to me overall but World Showcase at night on the weekends was comparable to that.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

'Crowded' is a relative term. We were there this year from 10/17 through 10/24 for our 5th F&W. Last year we spanned Columbus Day weekend and that 8 day stretch was noticeably more crowded than this year's 9 day trip. We avoid Saturdays at WS during F&W always, the other days this year seemed less jammed than last year, we had no waits at the food kiosks of more than 4 or 5 people and got good seats at all our concerts, getting there 10 mins in advance for Billy Ocean, Smash Mouth and Night Ranger.

Bill From PA

PSUGuy...yeah...that's what I thought. It seems that there are some responding to this thread that hit a Saturday or whatnot and felt like it was *kind of crowded*. But your input is much more in line with what most have been saying these last few weeks.

People are still coming...but in less numbers than before.

 

[ethanwa]

I have been four times this year to Food & Wine from September through late October. We ALWAYS go in the morning.... right at 11AM on the weekdays for lunch when the kids are in school. The crowds are next to nothing!

Then it really starts to get crowded around 1PM when we are leaving.

At night for F&W is the WORST. We won't go for dinner... it's just insane most of the time.

#OrlandoLocalProblems

Ethan

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

I have been four times this year from September through late October. We ALWAYS go in the morning.... right at 11AM on the weekdays for lunch when the kids are in school. The crowds are next to nothing!

Then it really starts to get crowded around 1PM when we are leaving.

At night is the WORST. We won't go for dinner... it's just insane most of the time.

#OrlandoLocalProblems

Ethan

ethanwa...here's a little anecdotal observation. We were in WDW July 13-21 2013 and had a few evening ADR's at World Showcase and not only were our TS Restaurants half-empty but the whole Epcot park was as well.

Mid-July is still supposed to be a busy time at WDW and it wasn't at all.

 

[ethanwa]

ethanwa...here's a little anecdotal observation. We were in WDW July 13-21 2013 and had a few evening ADR's at World Showcase and not only were our TS Restaurants half-empty but the whole Epcot park was as well.

Mid-July is still supposed to be a busy time at WDW and it wasn't at all.

I'm just referring to Food & Wine. We go in the evening all the time to the parks for dinner and stuff... just not to F&W because it's always crowded.

 

[Lzylitnin]

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!

 

[jahber]

We went the Sunday after the Tower of Terror 10 miler and it was insane. We parked in the LAST row of the parking lot and both sides were full (it was late afternoon, though, so they started the fill-in up front a few cars after us). It was a sea of people through England and all the way around to about China. Masses and masses of people and long lines (although as a pp said, they moved relatively quickly).

We also went on Saturday, Oct 25, and the parking lot was well on its way to filling up when I arrived at 11:30. Same as before, just masses and masses of people.

I know, I know. Weekends. I'm a local, but I had visitors in town. We usually avoid weekends because we expect it to be so busy (and it WAS), but friends visiting make it worth it.

I also went on some random week night the week after Tower of Terror and it wasn't quite as bad.