food and wine fest.

[jann1033]

having never gone in Nov before any hints on the f&w fest.? good or bad days to go, what the weather is like( can we swim or not, we usually go in jan or dec so swimming is debateable)any pointers on what to do or avoid?

Thanks

 

[Eeyore1954]

My DW and I went to the F&W Festival in Nov. (right after Jersey Week). During the day, Epcot crowds were light. Almost no booth had lines and those that did had a very, very short wait (under a minute). The wine sessions were crowded and popular.

Fri. and Sat. evenings Epcot (WS) was packed -- sometimes shoulder-to-shoulder people. Long lines at every booth; hard time walking; hard to find a place to sit down. Hint: avoid these evenings unless you enjoy getting really up close and personal with strangers!

We stayed at the BC and enjoyed Stormalong Bay pool every day. A couple of evenings it cooled down a little -- if you consider 70 "cool".

As usual avoid MK on Saturday, but otherwise, we found the crowds very manageable to even light on some days. Several FastPass booths were closed because they were not needed. Longest wait we did was maybe 15 mins.

It's a great time to go.

 

[Grumpy92]

The first weekend it starts tends to be one of the busiest. This is a fabulous festival. We plan visits to do this the seminars and special dinners are incredible. We always eat our way around the world and sign up for one of the wine or beer tastings.

You will really enjoy it.

 

[Celestine]

We were inadvertently there for the first w/end last year & according to the CM on the tram the crowds were comparable to those on July 4 - hence FP for MS & TT were gone by lunch. We were only in Epcot for a few hours before catching our flight, so didn't experience much of the festival

 

[webmomom]

We were there the second day of the festival last year. It was busy, but not to the point that we would not stand and wait for the food. (My DH is the kind who will not wait more than 10 minutes for a tabel at any type of restaurant). Everything was so good. There was one dish I did not care for, but that was my own personal taste. Take plently of small change with you, i.e. one dollar and five dollar bills. Most of the food costs betwee 2 to 5.00 dollars. Most of them will take the resort card also if you are staying on property.

I can't advise you on the swimming as we live in South Florida and most of the time in the winter months we feel it is to cold to swim, whereas the northerns feel it is fine to swim.

Hope you have a great time

 

[ToTLaugher]

We went in 01, and are possibly going back this year!

We loved the F&W festival. Weekends at WS get more crowded, and there is more of a pub crawl feel as more people are going station-to-station eating and drinking. But its great - so many fun snacks to try. One day we just snacked our way around WS for lunch.

There is also a Kids station with fun stuff kids (including a gummy worm, rice crispy treat, fruit rollup "sushi").

We never hit any of the special dinners/tastings/seminars because we had kids in tow. But we still loved it!

 

[jann1033]

thanks for all the responses...for some reason i never got an email of any so I just found them when I went to bump it up! we will definitly skip weekend nights and the first weekend for sure....winter crowds have us spoiled rotten so could not take wall to wall people...

 

[Jill Schwartz]

Are the Food & Wine Festival dates only on weekends? Or do they have the tasting booths open on weekdays in Oct/early Nov as well?
Jill
PS- Sounds like to avoid crowds in late Oct/early Nov we should go to Epcot on a weekday, right? I"m guessing many locals enjoy the festival on the weekends.

 

[safetymom]

Tasting booths are open daily. Much better to go during the week.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

This sound like so much fun! I'd really like to give it a try some year.

Which countries are represented? All of the ones in WS or do they add some more for variety?

 

[DizBelle]

How are the crowds at Epcot on the last day of the F&W festival? This year the last day of the festival is Nov 14. Should I avoid Epcot on that day?

 

[safetymom]

I don't think that because of Food and Wine you need to avoid Epcot.

 

[PatriciaH]

Originally posted by MaryKatesMom
This sound like so much fun! I'd really like to give it a try some year.

Which countries are represented? All of the ones in WS or do they add some more for variety?

In 2003 they had food from the countries already in WS as well as Spain, Australia, Greece, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, etc.. Check this out:

http://allearsnet.com/tp/ep/fw03c.htm