Side note, I did NOT notice that the tequila lunch is $85pp. Ugh. I was still debating on doing that and I still haven't made up my mind.
For what it's worth, the tequila lunch was SO good last year. My favorite of the events we did - also did the Italian Regional lunch, a "Sunday Brunch with" and multiple food and beverage pairings. The food was absolutely delicious, the presentation was interesting regarding tequila and I lucked into some great tablemates. It is $$ but for me it was 100% worth it. Full disclosure I do love mexican food and tequila.
Confession... I am a F&W virgin at age 49. I have a 6 night split planned at BC/YC in early October for my 50th birthday. I have the
DDP for first 4 night, so 32 snack credits. We are AP so plan on hitting Epcot sometime every day. Any hidden gems, advice, secrets, or any down right DONT DO THIS!... info that I would need to know
. I will be forever grateful.
First food and wine AND for a milestone birthday!! How exciting!!! This will be my 13th food and wine I think and absolutely my favorite time of year. Staying at Yacht & Beach is a great choice as it lets you just "pop over" for some snacks even if not intending to spend your full day there.
Weekends. My best advice is to try to plan your park days and meals around the festival. Weekends are quite crowded with the addition of locals coming out to enjoy. I don't think they're unbearable personally (and I've never experienced the "drunks overtaking the park" that some have) but if you're planning to visit other parks or Disney Springs while you're visiting, I'd plan to do those on the weekends -- particularly Fri and Sat nights.
Booth hours. The least crowded time on any day will be at 11am when the booths open (even the booths in Future World don't open until 11am). Side note, in the past some of the booths along the walkway from Future World have opened ~10 min early if they were prepped and ready to go. So if wanting to get some F&W on a Sat or Sun, I'd plan to be there right at 11, hit a few and then head out to the pool or another park as the crowds intensify. Note that the booths have typically NOT been open for extra magic hours in the evening and they shut down right at 9 at the beginning of Illuminations (they are not open throughout the show)
Festival Center. Another side note, I don't think we're entirely sure how things will go this year but it appears that the "Festival Center" of sorts will be in World ShowPlace (between the UK and Canada pavilions). In prior years it was in Future World and opened with the park at 9am. There is a mimosa bar there so I'm hopeful this will open at 9am too. It will be right on your way into the park from Yacht and Beach so worth checking to see if it's open. There may be some food there as well. The bakery in France also opens at 9 and serves champagne (and delicious pastries) so that's another way to kick off a F&W day.
Touring plan. Most are going to come from Future World and either head to Mexico or Canada and just work their way around. If you head back to Morocco, Japan, Italy, America etc. at 11 it will be much less crowded back there.
Gift cards. Not as helpful since you'll be on the dining plan most of the time but I find the small gift cards on an "elastic" that you can wear around your wrist to be the easiest way to pay - no entering a code for your magic band and no fumbling in your wallet. You can load (and reload) these with I believe any amount. There have been times when the readers at some booths are either not working or shut down for lightning in the area. I try to always have some cash with me just in case these infrequent issues coincide with a "must have"
Planning ahead. There is a free unofficial app for iphone ("WDW Food&Wine") that lists all the menus and allows you to select those you want to try. It does this for all festivals not just F&W. The DIS and various blog sites will likely do reviews shortly after opening. I like reading through those to get ideas about what's a hit or a miss (easywdw is my favorite for F&W reviews)-- but everyone's tastes are different so I always encourage anyone to try something if it sounds good to them, despite any negative reviews.
Passport. There will be a small passport sized booklet with the maps as you enter through World Showcase or at most of the booths. It lists out the booths and the menu at each and you can check off what you tried and either mark with a sticker or get a stamp to "prove" you were there. I believe there is some sort of "challenge" this year where if you go to certain booths, you get a free cheesecake. One year we made it a personal challenge to have something from every booth and while it took us many days and was pricey, it was fun and "forced" us to try new things we might otherwise have not.
Remy scavenger hunt. Intended for kids but we get a kick out of it. You basically look for a small Remy figurine with an ingredient "hidden" in each pavilion. They're usually along the main pathway vs. back in the pavilions. It's completely silly but something we have fun with as we are sipping whatever beverage we picked up in that country. You can spend ~$8 to get an official map that you can then turn in to get a prize or just do on your own.
AP gifts - don't forget to get your magnet and also the coaster set after 4 visits
That's all I can think of for now. Please feel free to ask questions. I hope you have a great trip and a happy birthday!!
