Would you rather: FD vs. F&W?

Free Dining or Food & Wine Fest?

  • Free Dining

  • Food & Wine fest


Results are only viewable after voting.

Buckimion

Purple Heart Park Commando
Joined
Dec 29, 2003
Messages
859
Would you rather go in mid-September when there is usually free dining or Columbus Day week when the F&W fest is going on without FD?
 
It's not really fair of me to answer, because I don't like the dining plan at all! And I don't like "free" dining, because I can usually get some sort of discount that works better for us, rather than paying rack rate. I do room-only reservations.

But we're taking another trip to the World for the sole purpose of doing F&W! The week after Columbus Day (also blacked out for FD).
 
Personally, I'd opt for free dining. I like food and wine, but generally just get a couple of items, as opposed to the food I eat the entire trip. So I'd opt for the money saving free dining. Also, F&W starts in Sept, so if you time it right you could still hit a couple days of F&W and use the snack credits for the food there.
 

No contest. The Food & Wine Festival is our favorite time to go to the World, and we don't care for what the dining plans offer anyway.
 
I would do the FD. I LOVE the Food and Wine but we save a whole load of money with the FD offer as we are normally at WDW for 21 days at a go. If I was only going for say 7 days or so then I would prob do the opposite!:)
 
I'll take the FD thank you, and not just for economic reasons. I'll no doubt be flamed big time for this, but we really disliked our last F&W experience. It was the second day it was open, 2 yrs ago. HUGE crowds. LOONNGG lines. Just trying to get from one country to the next was worse than an EMH day in July. The straw that broke the camel's back (for us) were the number of obnoxious drunks around even in the middle of the afternoon. We eventually retreated to FW, and ended up leaving the park before Illuminations. Since then, we've planned our visits to avoid F&W. Of course this was just our experience and YMMV.
 
I'll take the FD thank you, and not just for economic reasons. I'll no doubt be flamed big time for this, but we really disliked our last F&W experience. It was the second day it was open, 2 yrs ago. HUGE crowds. LOONNGG lines. Just trying to get from one country to the next was worse than an EMH day in July. The straw that broke the camel's back (for us) were the number of obnoxious drunks around even in the middle of the afternoon. We eventually retreated to FW, and ended up leaving the park before Illuminations. Since then, we've planned our visits to avoid F&W. Of course this was just our experience and YMMV.

I completely agree with this. I purposely avoid F&W at all cost. Too crowded, weekends there are many drunk folkds..... I have NO interest in it whatsoever. And I cannot resist a deal....so naturally I'd pick FD!!!
 
I would try and get to plan it so I had free dining during the F&W. The bounce back offer right now ends on 9/27/12, I think F&W will start on 9/28 next year. It would be very easy to go at the very end of free dining and be there for the start of F&W.

I've also never seen any really drunk people at Epcot. I think if people want to get drunk, they will, but Epcot serves alcohol year round, and I don't think the people trying the small samples served at the booths are what causes these masses of drunk people others always seem to see. And it does get crowded on weekends, especially on Saturday, but if you can go to the other parks those days, and do Epcot during the week, crowds shouldn't be a huge problem.

Right now I'm actually considering a split stay next year, with one week of the deluxe dining plan, followed by one week with no plan that I can just focus on F&W.
 
I completely agree with this. I purposely avoid F&W at all cost. Too crowded, weekends there are many drunk folkds..... I have NO interest in it whatsoever. And I cannot resist a deal....so naturally I'd pick FD!!!

I'll take the FD thank you, and not just for economic reasons. I'll no doubt be flamed big time for this, but we really disliked our last F&W experience. It was the second day it was open, 2 yrs ago. HUGE crowds. LOONNGG lines. Just trying to get from one country to the next was worse than an EMH day in July. The straw that broke the camel's back (for us) were the number of obnoxious drunks around even in the middle of the afternoon. We eventually retreated to FW, and ended up leaving the park before Illuminations. Since then, we've planned our visits to avoid F&W. Of course this was just our experience and YMMV.

I totally agree with these two posts.
 
We always visit WDW when the F&W festival starts and we have had free dining each time.

Had one experience over the years where an inebriated young man made a sexually suggestive comment about one of my kids. He was escorted out along with his apologetic fiance. I'm sure they're still together ;)
 
I absolutely LOVE the Food & Wine Festival and would normally vote for that over Free Dining anytime. However, what swayed me with this particular poll was the Columbus Day week. Any type of school holiday is going to be incredibly crowded, not to mention the crowds of locals that F&W draws. I would opt for free dining and lighter crowds over a holiday week at Food & Wine.
 
We arrive on Sept 27, so we get FD for our 9 night visit, plus we get to go to F&W.

:cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:
 
We go to the Food and Wine Festival almost every year and we've never used the dining plan, free or not, so there you go.

I much prefer room-only discounts, anyway. The dining plan is too rigid for us.
 


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