What is your plan for the food booths?

[travelbuffnj]

We will have 2 days to visit the food booths at Epcot, a Thursday and a Monday in November...trying to avoid the weekend!! I was planning on heading in one direction Thursday and the opposite direction Monday and just seeing how much I could fit in before feeling ill! Do you have any favorite strategies to hit all the food booths or maximize time?? I have spent so much time planning ADR's, FP's and Touring Plans, I just think I'm all planned out!!! Thank you!!

 

[nkereina]

Following because I'd love to know the same! I'm interested in how many booths you can reasonably expect to get through in a typical day. Are lines to the point where 3-5 booths is the norm? Or could you get through all of them if you wanted to?

 

[jaysmom4285]

We only did F&W booths during lunchtime on weekdays when they have basically no lines. If you can plan your time , and your appetite, so that you get to the World Showcase when everything opens at 11, you'll just about have the place to yourself. I would review the menus in advance and see what I wanted to try, so that I had a sort of plan.. There were obviously some booths where I didn't really care for anything they had, so I would bypass those. I could do four or five booths if I got a couple things at each, or may be another one or two if I only got one thing at some. It really depends on your capacity. But after several booths, even though the portions are small, you do start to get filled up. I found that I could sample everything I wanted to sample in two visits like this, again with a plan about what I wanted and where they were.

 

[travelbuffnj]

I am already planning on splitting drinks and dishes with my husband so we can try more. I have a vague idea of my "must-have's" from the pix and menus. Guess it depends on how long this lines are too, which is why I am avoiding the weekend. Although I checked Kenny the Pirates website and it had Thursday as red (worst for Epcot), thought that would be the best day given the Marathon. All of the crowd calendars are different, which is confusing.

 

[bc7ate9]

We get an extra passport book and go through it and mark all the things we want to eat. Then, we see if there is anything we'd like to drink at those same places. If we know we are going to do multiple days, we try to spread things out so we don't end up with 10 booths in a row that have food we want to eat.

 

[loves to dive]

There are some who do the start one way one day and the other the next. Personally, I just started to the right and went from there. I would get something and eat it, then wander around til I wanted something else, etc. Mind you I was there for 6 days and have an AP so I was at Epcot every afternoon. When I got about half way around, I started in the other direction. Sometimes I came in through IG and that would determine which direction I went. Basically my plan was the no plan plan. For me, I got full after about 3 booths, I'm a tiny woman. I manged to actually get something from every booth before it was all said and done. In some case sit was something to drink and not eat since some of the food didn't appeal to me. In most cases it was food and not wine since I had seminars booked every day and was getting lots of wine at those. I stayed at YC so hopping over there was quick and easy for me.

 

[china mom]

I have done a solo trip to F&W twice and indulged in a self imposed challenge to eat at least one thing at each booth in a day and a half. I started to the left both years. I managed to try everything by starting right at 11 after skipping breakfast. It almost killed me but I did it both times. My strategy was to bring my Kindle and take sitting/reading breaks while I digested.

This year, I will be stuck with family so I plan on wandering aimlessly trying random foods with my indecisive family.

 

[Hibiscus]

I can't eat very much at one time (especially in the heat) & there are things I definitely want to try, so I put a few groupings of booths together in both directions, and I'll hit as many of those groupings as I possibly can.

For example, I have:

Ireland - France - Germany
Mexico - China - Italy
Cheese Studio - Hawaii - Brazil

etc.

 

[BrianL]

I have looked at the full menus with pictures and reviews, ranked each item on a spreadsheet according to interest, sorted by priority and a numbered location on the WS starting from left to right so I know approximately where items will be. I have printed all this out on a wallet-sized card with prices to carry with me. I will make sure to fit in my top priorities then go with the maybes as I see fit.

Okay, that's probably WAY more planning than most people do.

 

[dallastxcpa]

I have looked at the full menus with pictures and reviews, ranked each item on a spreadsheet according to interest, sorted by priority and a numbered location on the WS starting from left to right so I know approximately where items will be. I have preited all this out on a wallet-sized card with prices to carry with me. I will make sure to fit in my top priorities then go with the maybes as I see fit.

Okay, that's probably WAY more planning than most people do.

You might be a DISer if..... You make complicated spreadsheets.

 

[ktlm]

We will have 2 days to visit the food booths at Epcot, a Thursday and a Monday in November...trying to avoid the weekend!! I was planning on heading in one direction Thursday and the opposite direction Monday and just seeing how much I could fit in before feeling ill! Do you have any favorite strategies to hit all the food booths or maximize time?? I have spent so much time planning ADR's, FP's and Touring Plans, I just think I'm all planned out!!! Thank you!!

That is how we did it on our trip a few weeks ago. It is a good plan. However, we started at the Mexico side our first day and the chiaquiles were my favorite thing in all of the F&W food, so I had to get back there our 2nd day to get those again. I will say if there is anything in the middle that is a top priority for you, you might want to make a real effort to save some space because that is about where we were so full that absolutely nothing sounded good anymore!

 

[Reimagineer]

We went this past Saturday and managed to do all but 3 booths, despite the crowds. The waits were terrible but we were determined!!

Our plan was to go left and all the way around, buying one food item at each kiosk and the occasional beer flight. This was fine until we hit the very long lines in the back of WS. If you are going over two days, i'd suggest starting in the back of WS and working your way back to FW one direction one day, then the other direction the next. Also, keep in mind the kiosks with dual lines.

The only way we pulled this off with the long lines was to split up...so we'd have 2-3 people scattered in nearby lines. We'd get the food and convene after to share. Then move onto the next cluster of kiosks.

Oh yeah - sharing the food was key. We were able to sample nearly everything and were not overstuffed in the end!

Worst lines (based on our observation on a Saturday):
1. Brazil
2. Japan (no shade)
3. Mexico
4. Belgium (no shade)

Dual lines (hope i don't miss any)
1. Mexico
2. Hops and Barley
3. Japan
4. France
5. Craft Beer

 

[travelbuffnj]

Wow, BrianL, that's impressive!! Love the groupings Hibiscus, that's more my speed, thank you. What do you consider the back...toward the IG??