Food and wine festival

[IloveJack]

We'll be at EPCOT for the F&WF for the first time this October. What's it like? Is it free to sample things, or is there a cost? DH is really looking forward to it, so anything you could tell me would be great!

[johnO]

We were there last year. Not a lot of free things. Mostly small booths added to World Showcase that sell samples of food and wine from many countries.

[Polynesian Dweller]

We've gone since it started and enjoy it. But there is very little that is free. There are many booths, far more than the number of country pavillions, that offere snack size portions of foods and wines from those nations for a price, around $3-$5 range.

There is usually a wine tasting area from a specific country (Australia the last couple of years) but it requires a separate cost ticket for tasting about 4 wines. There are concerts (free) in the American theatre and special dinners with celebrity chefs and culinary related seminars, the latter two being expensive but some seminars can be free.

BUt really, look to pay for most things.

[artyboy]

We've gone before, and we're going again in October. There's about 26 booths, and like others are saying, not a lot of free stuff.

We plan on using the Festival as as a lunch on at least a couple of the days...it's really not that expensive if you don't go wild, and it's a lot of fun.

If they have the Lobster Roll in the American Pavilion...get it!!!

[BluewaterBrad]

Poly Dweller nailed it pretty good. Food and wine fest is our favorite time of the year (besides xmas) to visit. We will be there the last week of Oct. On July 11th the website for the fest will have the schedule up so you can plan Your time there. Last year we went all out and did the fri night "City Tastes" and Sat nights "Party for the Senses" both were absoluty AMAZING!! (also expensive, but well worth it) All the different booths and the Sam Adams beer school are great. I have learned one important thing if you want to have a bang up time at the Fest. Expect to spend a lot of $$! It is worth it though.:mickey:

[savvychic]

We went last year and I desperately hope we get to go again this year.

Most food items cost about $3-6 ($4 being the typical amount), wine $4-7, and sparkling wine $6-10.

The appetizers are the size of like... half a cup of soup. They're at least equal to a single person's share of a split appetizer for the nice restaurants around DW.

That being said, it's a pretty good deal. HOWEVER, since you're walking so much... you stay hungry! It's an evil cycle!

Last year, I gave my hubby and me a budget of about $100-120 per person, we drank and ate SO much. We stopped at every country, got one drink and one or two samples (and split it all).

To me, that's a good deal. We had and etouffee, (best!) escargot, they serve a sample of Le Cellier's famous cheese soup, yummy sparkling wine and beers. Fabulous day! Worth every single penny, to me.

But, if you want to enjoy the day, put aside a good chunk of money for it. Otherwise, it's just too crowded to be worth going in it for one or two things you wanted to try.


There are a FEW free samplings that happen, but, for them you'd have to stand in line for hours or get REALLY lucky.

[savvychic]

OooOOooo!

What were the "City Tastes" and "Party for the Senses" like?

How much food/drink is offered? What type of stuff? How long do you get to try the samples? How many people are there/how bad are the lines for it?




I wanted to go, but had read reviews of people saying you only got an hour or so to taste things, there being too many people at it, so you didn't really get to try that much, and there not being that big of a selection... so we opted out of going and instead mentally added the amount we were going to spend going to it upon how much we were allowed to spend walking around sampling. ;)

[megustamex]

Food & Wine Festival is our favorite time to go. The park can get a bit crowded, but it always seems like Epcot can handle the extra people without it feeling too jammed. We love it because one of our favorite things to do at Epcot is to try the foods from the countries, and this is an opportunity to do that on a grand scale. I think they usually have about 20 extra countries represented. Yes you have to pay for the food, but I think for what you get it is priced appropriately. We usually get 4-5 things between my husband and I, along with wine tastings and beer, and are full. So we spend about $20-$25 for a dinner or lunch plus wine/beer - not bad, and yes that's kind of a light dinner, but we're satisfied. It's a worldwide tapas crawl. Selections are always interesting and tasty, and even if the lines look kind of long we've never waited more than 5 minutes. They have it down now where you pay first at the cashier and then go pick up your food, so it's much more efficient than it used to be. Have fun!

[beksy]

Thanks for starting this thread...I had a lot of the same questions and a few extra! This is our first time going and we love to eat so are very excited! My mom and sister can be a little picky about foods so are there some things that aren't too far out there that they will enjoy? Beef, chicken, seafood are all good. Also, how do you pay? Do the stands take the room card or is it cash only? Finally, we have a day and a half planned for Epcot. Will this be enough time to enjoy the event without being rushed? Ok, one more. Do the tents open when WS opens or is it later and are they open during evening EMHs? Thanks!

[thrillme]

Do NOT go on Columbus Day weekend. If you go...go on a weekday NOT a Friday or Saturday and try to stay away at night. It was sooooo jam packed it was frustrating. MUCH worse than I EVER EVER EVER experienced going in mid July.

They have lots of stuff that look tasty but I guess I thought the "samples" were a little "sparse" for $4.00 and we really couldn't get close to them. HOWEVER...I guess just avoid Columbus Day Weekend and you'll probably be fine. Actually more specifically avoid the area in the "evening". I think everybody goes there and "camps" out for the pending fireworks.

I enjoyed going to Disney for the Halloween Party but I won't go to the FWF ever again at night on a holiday weekend.

[Disney Doll]

We've noticed the evening crowds too. When we go at lunch WS is almost vacant, but by nightfall it's a different story. I think because DHS and AK close early a lot of people head over to EPCOT for the evening. The concerts are a big draw too which I didn't expect. We much prefer the F&WF in the afternoons.

[DisneyFr33k]

We've gone to Disney the past 3 trips in the Fall and are going back again this October! We LOVE the F&W festival.

Tip - if you are on the dining plan, save you snack credits up and use them all on the samples of food at the kiosks. We've done that every trip and ate so much food that it counted as our lunch! And we had snack credits to spare!

We also bring $50 in cash for DH and I to use on wine and beer. :thumbsup: :beer: :wine:

[IloveJack]

Tip - if you are on the dining plan, save you snack credits up and use them all on the samples of food at the kiosks. We've done that every trip and ate so much food that it counted as our lunch! And we had snack credits to spare!


Thank you for that info! I doubt we'll even use our snack credits, so this will save us some money. Thanks!

[DisneyFr33k]

Thank you for that info! I doubt we'll even use our snack credits, so this will save us some money. Thanks!

And it saved us a quick service meal we can use for breakfast at our resort the day we leave. It's nice to be all packed up the night before and not have breakfast foods sitting out.

[seanyred]

Do NOT go on Columbus Day weekend. If you go...go on a weekday NOT a Friday or Saturday and try to stay away at night. It was sooooo jam packed it was frustrating. MUCH worse than I EVER EVER EVER experienced going in mid July...



I agree with this recommendation. We were at WDW in 2005 around Columbus Day Weekend. And all of the parks were packed especially EPCOT. Its best to go during the week. If you really take your time you can truly eat and drink (responsibly) around the world. The Plum wine from China was outstanding...