2018 Food & Wine - Newbie

[Jimmy Mouse]

We were at F&W last year. Never ever again will I take my kids on a Friday or Saturday night. I didn't have any encounters with drunks but I did run into quite a few disrespectful adults. I know F&W is geared towards adults but WDW is a family place and I shouldn't have to alter my plans because of the language. I think I heard the F bomb at least 2 dozen times plus all the other common swear words. I know, freedom of speech yadda yadda yadda. Bottom line, Adults should be adults and respect their surroundings. Swearing in front of little girls just goes to show what kind of trash they really are. Now on a good note, the time we were there in the day time on a weekday was awesome! So we are planning our Epcot days on Sunday and Thursday.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We were at F&W last year. Never ever again will I take my kids on a Friday or Saturday night. I didn't have any encounters with drunks but I did run into quite a few disrespectful adults. I know F&W is geared towards adults but WDW is a family place and I shouldn't have to alter my plans because of the language. I think I heard the F bomb at least 2 dozen times plus all the other common swear words. I know, freedom of speech yadda yadda yadda. Bottom line, Adults should be adults and respect their surroundings. Swearing in front of little girls just goes to show what kind of trash they really are. Now on a good note, the time we were there in the day time on a weekday was awesome! So we are planning our Epcot days on Sunday and Thursday.

WS on a Saturday night is something I won't do again, no matter what time of year it is.

 

[Lilsia]

There is sooo much more to the F&WF then just the food booths. They have the festival center in the old "life" pavilion that has food and drink seminars for a small fee. Also on the weekend they have free little product demonstrations where the company comes in and talks about their product and you usually get a free sample. Not to mention the bigger events like the party for the senses and what's cooking with. Celebrity chefs do those events and they are really neat if you enjoy those types of things. Some of the non- park restaurants have special events too. Follow the disney food blog for all of the details.

 

[rkstocke5609]

WS on a Saturday night is something I won't do again, no matter what time of year it is.

Wow, really bad even when not food & wine? Wow!

 

[goofyintoronto]

Definitely go to F&W right when they open, 11am, to avoid too many crowds.

Also, if your goal is to try as many food booths as possible, beware of the portion sizes for some dishes. I remember at one booth this one couple ordered a quiche and a dessert EACH. The quiche was HUUUUUUGE! So was the chocolate dessert. Honestly the size of a steering wheel (ok maybe that's exaggerating a bit Lol). But lets just put it this way, after eating those two items, they'd probably be too full to try anything else. Their jaw hit the floor once they saw the portion size. Lol. So don't fill up at one booth. Get two portions between the four of you, or even one. Depends how big it is. Take a peek at other orders before ordering, if possible. Again, it depends on what your goal is. If you want to try a lot, this is the way to do it.

For me, since I go to F&W alone, often if the portion is too big I force myself to only eat half just so i can avoid getting full too soon. I like to try as much as possible. And if i don't like it after one bite, I throw it away. That doesn't happen often though. Maybe only once or twice. Yes its a waste of money, but its not too bad.

One of the gross dishes I threw away was ravioli in the chew collective booth. I found a pic and review from the disney food blog CLICK HERE . It was watery and just gross. I loooove pasta, so this was disapointing for me.

My faves are the boeuf bourguignon and creme brulee from the france booth. For the beef dish CLICK HERE . Its a really yummy dish. I have many faves to be honest, but those are just a couple that stood out at the moment. BTW, the waffles from Belgium was amazing too.

Lastly, my trips are normally about a 6-7 days. Im at F&W almost every single day. Its certainly fun trying to eat at every country...but if your there only on one visit, check out the booths online beforehand and pick your faves.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Wow, really bad even when not food & wine? Wow!

Yep. Lots of bachelorette and bachelor parties, 21st birthday groups, people standing in the walkways in clumps drinking and being very loud. I don't begrudge them their fun, so I will just avoid weekends in WS.

 

[hjvigz72]

So in reading all of the great advice, and knowing that our plan was to go on Friday 9/7 (after the holiday) should we reconsider the day we plan on visiting? This will be our first time as well, & we're traveling without kids. (yessssssssssssss! ) We've been during NYE and July 4th so we're just wondering how crowds would be in comparison to those two days. Still debating on whether or not we will have the dining plan.

 

[Lilsia]

So in reading all of the great advice, and knowing that our plan was to go on Friday 9/7 (after the holiday) should we reconsider the day we plan on visiting? This will be our first time as well, & we're traveling without kids. (yessssssssssssss! ) We've been during NYE and July 4th so we're just wondering how crowds would be in comparison to those two days. Still debating on whether or not we will have the dining plan.

I would say that if you have the option to go on another day then I would do so. The lines get really long starting friday afternoons going into the weekend.

 

[JennyDrake]

I've been the last 5 years! Things to note:

Friday night, all day Saturday and Sunday crowds are INSANE and thicken as the day/night goes on.
Prepare to set a budget and/or appreciate that you can go through a LOT of money in a little time, especially if you are a foodie (as I am!) or want to dry much alcohol.
IF you go on a Friday or Saturday night (in particular) be prepared that there *may* be lots of drunk people with varying degrees of civility.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

So in reading all of the great advice, and knowing that our plan was to go on Friday 9/7 (after the holiday) should we reconsider the day we plan on visiting? This will be our first time as well, & we're traveling without kids. (yessssssssssssss! ) We've been during NYE and July 4th so we're just wondering how crowds would be in comparison to those two days. Still debating on whether or not we will have the dining plan.

I’ve been to F&W many times over the last 10 years and just did my first NYE this year. At the worst I’ve seen it, F&W doesn’t compare to NYE crowds. NYE was pure insanity. That said, it does get crowded and if I could easily adjust my touring plan, I’d try to avoid Fri and Sat nights from a pure crowd standpoint (I’ve not seen the debauchery others have). I think Fri during the day you should be absolutely fine. Friday night will be measurably more crowded but not unmanageable as long as you go in with the expectation that there will be crowds, lines, etc. Have fun!!

 

[rkstocke5609]

Yep. Lots of bachelorette and bachelor parties, 21st birthday groups, people standing in the walkways in clumps drinking and being very loud. I don't begrudge them their fun, so I will just avoid weekends in WS.

Yeah, I have seen that as well. Worst I saw was F&W in the evening near the Mexico area (seems more narrow there). The sea of people pushing (you literally couldn’t break away and were strictly confined to whatever the mob was doing - very unsettling) along with the rude behavior just made me decide it wasn’t a good spot for kids. 21st birthday parties? Man, there has to be a cheaper place to get lit up than Epcot somewhere in Orlando...

 

[JerseyJanice]

I’d been to F&W twice before 2016, and up until then, I felt that reports of drunken shenanigans at Epcot were grossly exaggerated here.

But then in 2016, a clearly drunk young man threw up on my sister’s leg. He was with several inebriated friends, and we were in the WS waiting for the drawbridge to go down after Illuminations.

Last year, a woman who was feeling no pain got loud with me because she thought I was trying to cut in front of her in a line for one of the food booths.

There is a lot of access to alcohol in the area. Most people control themselves and don’t get visibly drunk in public, but there will always be some who get carried away.

 

[Christi Rose]

I’ve been going to Food and Wine fest for over a decade, and never experienced anything that anyone could ever reasonably or even facetiously describe as “scary crowds of drunks,” but I suppose it’s possible your experiences have been different.

I agree, I've never seen actually drunk people and I've been there on weekend nights when the locals are supposed to be there specifically for F&W. Lots of shirts with drunk references though. My DS10 asked about the shirts last year, I just explained to him that some people like to drink a lot of alcohol during the festival. We are planning on going back with the kids (youngest is 5) this year.

 

[Christi Rose]

I tend to be an overplanner, so my tip is to check out the menu list before you go, read some reviews, and make a food wish list. I type up the wish list so I can print a few copies to carry with us. DH and I split everything so that we can try more stuff without filling up, but we still never make it through our list (partially because there are some non-F&W favorites in the WS that we can't bear to skip!).

 

[nkereina]

I've heard that Thursday (8/30) would be a good day to go. Especially with it being the Labor Day weekend following and the locals usually go during then.

Opening day prior to a holiday weekend? I'd expect it to be nuts. We arrive on the 31st, but don't plan on hitting EPCOT before Tues. at the earliest.

We went on this same day last year - opening day (Thursday) prior to Labor Day. It was actually not busy at all, quite the opposite of what I expected. We were at Epcot at rope drop and made our way over to World Showcase by 11am when everything started to open. Hardly any lines and the booths that had lines were manageable. We tried everything we wanted and left full. The weather was also great, no rain, so that was not a factor for the crowds. We got to check out the exclusive merchandise before things sold out and were picked over. And all the Disney bloggers were there so it was fun to see some of the people from the Dis Unplugged podcast, among others.

ETA: another benefit of being there on day 1 is that the staff is really well prepared. The lines and food were quick and efficient. Everyone was ready and waiting, more overly prepared than under-prepared!

My advice would be to read the blogs as the booths' menus start to be announced and make a list of all the booths and items you want to try. By doing this, we were able to easily walk past the booths that did not interest us, and we weren't jockeying to try and look at menus as we approached the different booths. We got right in line and walked right up to order what we wanted with no hesitations. I would also prioritize your list of what you want to try most, because you fill up faster than you might expect!

 

[dachsie]

I am planning to go on Sat Sept 22 but will leave by 2pm. I have something off site to do at 4. That evening will probably go to DS

 

[Nakkira]

We go every other year and avoid opening week, for no reason other than it's too hot early on. In 2016 we were there for all of F&W except for the last week. We are not going this year but will be there in 2019. Have a long trip in February 2019 planned for Princess half. We will spend all of October for F&W. My favorite time.

ETA: I'll be 74 then - hopefully I can still complete the Beers of the World Tour.

We are going back for the first time in 5 years... DH wanted to give the menus time to evolve a bit...