When to go -- F&W or F&G?

[Pesky]

I was previously set -- and I mean SET -- on October 2016. What wasn't to love? Kids would be on break so we'd be pulling them for at most a day or two. Food & Wine festival (DH and I are fans of both). Still warm enough to swim but not hot enough to melt. Oh and I forgot a big one -- MNSSHP offering.

And then I have been reading that actually the crowds at those times are pretty bad. Which made me begin to question the October time frame.

The other option is F&G earlier in the year (when the kids are still 6 and 8) or in 2017 (so I can still get DD in before she becomes a Disney "adult"). Upside, lower crowds, cooler weather, pretty flowers, some additional fun food booths and wine offerings. Downside, not as many food booths or wine offerings, we'd have to pull the kids out for about a week and a half of school, and while I like flowers, I'm not a big gardener by any stretch and DH has zero interest. And we miss out on the special party for Halloween.

Given all of that, what would you recommend? TIA!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Both! That's what we did in 2013. Both are great events.

 

[Pesky]

LOL! I can only hope to talk DH into that!

 

[Feberin]

I haven't done food and wine but we went last May and had a wonderful trip. Crowds didn't seem too bad although I have nothing recent to compare. We didn't really do any of the F&G events we actually were there for the first Star Wars Weekend, which was awesome for our Star Wars loving family. It was hot but not unbearable in my opinion. My oldest was just in preschool so missing school wasn't an issue for us.

 

[mm1971]

I was previously set -- and I mean SET -- on October 2016. What wasn't to love? Kids would be on break so we'd be pulling them for at most a day or two. Food & Wine festival (DH and I are fans of both). Still warm enough to swim but not hot enough to melt. Oh and I forgot a big one -- MNSSHP offering.

And then I have been reading that actually the crowds at those times are pretty bad. Which made me begin to question the October time frame.

The other option is F&G earlier in the year (when the kids are still 6 and 8) or in 2017 (so I can still get DD in before she becomes a Disney "adult"). Upside, lower crowds, cooler weather, pretty flowers, some additional fun food booths and wine offerings. Downside, not as many food booths or wine offerings, we'd have to pull the kids out for about a week and a half of school, and while I like flowers, I'm not a big gardener by any stretch and DH has zero interest. And we miss out on the special party for Halloween.

Given all of that, what would you recommend? TIA!

For our family it would be October. We LOVE the fall in Disney. F&W is our favorite time to go and always do MNSSHP when we are there at that time. It is more crowded based on the calendars, but has always been manageable.

I suggested to the family that we go during F&G this year and it as met with moans and ugh's. No interest in the flowers and they prefer to go when swimming is needed to the the warmer temps.

It sounds to me like your family has similar likes and dislikes. I would say stick with October unless the most important part of your vacation is lower crowds.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I've never been to either, but food and wine plus mnsshp sounds better than f&g. I don't let crowd levels dictate when I vacation. WDW is crowded, whether it's an 8 or 4, and we schedule enough days that we can relax and take it slow. No worries about getting it all done in a day. My only exception is Christmas and New Year's weeks. I don't think I'd like to be there when Magic Kingdom reaches capacity.

 

[hokieinpa]

Our last trip was in October 2014 and our next trip is planned for May 2016, so we have the same thoughts as you!

We loved October because the weather was warm but mild enough not to be miserable, the fall decorations are cute, and the Halloween party was FUN for everyone. It didn't seem overly crowded to me.

However, we didn't really get to enjoy F&W the way I had hoped. Lines for each booth were about 15 minutes. Then to sit and actually enjoy what you had - 15 minutes? We stopped after the 2nd booth because our kids were bored out of their minds and getting restless. They were 1.5, 2, and 4 on this past trip. It was just too much sitting around and waiting for them. The crowds in WS in the evening were also pretty heavy.

Our next trip is in May 2016. I'm excited to see the topiaries and play areas. We may try some of the food booths but who knows. It will just be nice to see Disney at a different time of year.

I would love to go in October again but only for the Halloween aspect. At least until the kids are older or we can have some "adults only" time at F&W. For us, it's not something that we could really enjoy while still making sure the kids were having a good time.