Food & wine festival- lowest attendance?

[Mysttree]

Greetings,
My husband & I are planning a trip in 2011 in November. We are concerned if the food & wine festival makes the crowd levels worse- or not. We are considering either the 1st week of November OR the 2nd week of November.
The food & wine festival in 2011 is Sept. 30th- Nov. 11th.
Would it be better to catch the last few days of festival or is that when it is the most packed??
Your help is greatly appreciated!

[WDWCrazyKaren]

Epcot is so very busy during the food & wine festival, however we did notice lesser crowds during the weekdays vs. the weekends. I would gather that the locals go on the weekends, and that some folks who are close enough will go for a long weekend.

Have a great time and take it slow! Enjoy!

[BugeyedMuggy]

2010 we attended in both early Oct and the last week of the feast in early Nov. Both were just as busy on the weekends and a bit less crowded during the week. We had beautiful weather both times so that may have contributed to the higher crowds. I think each year it has gotten more busy due to popularity. It is well woth going to tho. We try to get there very early in the day (11 am) and leave by 3 pm.

[Gregandmel]

I agree with the others - get there when it opens around 11am (mid week) and leave mid to late afternoon and you'll avoid the busiest times. We went both mid-week (mid day) as well as the weekend (evening) and there was a noticeable increase in crowds during the weekend. But well worth attending!! Enjoy!!

[Victor Kelly]

We were there this year for opening day and the first week of the festival.

in a word: PACKED solid.

My wife came up with a brilliant idea for Disney though. Since most people we saw were boozing more than eating, she suggested a line for just food and a line for food and booze. Several times we waited 45 minutes behind hundreds of people who were just buying alcohol, and we were there just to eat.

Weekends were the worst. But considering everything, it really is a must see thing just to try all the food from around the world.

Some suggestions:
Cheddar cheese soup from Canada is the best I have ever had.
Greece and Morocco everything is great.
Australia had great lamb
Mexico had killer overloaded nachos

While we did not eat at the France booth, we do the bakery, I had chocolate mousse, which was excellent by the way.

Do not miss this festival, it is worth the time and in some cases aggravation

[dmallan]

As others have said, if you arrive in WS right at 11:00am the crowds are minimal. We were also there the first week of the festival; we avoided the weekend and went on Monday and Tuesday. At 11:00, there were little to no lines at many of the booths. At most we had two or three people in front of us.
By comparison, when we returned in the evening for our dinner ADRs, the place was packed and many booths had very long lines.

Also in the evenings, the crowd was noticeably louder and more obnoxious, since many people had been "sampling" since early afternoon.

[SBETigg]

\
My wife came up with a brilliant idea for Disney though. Since most people we saw were boozing more than eating, she suggested a line for just food and a line for food and booze. Several times we waited 45 minutes behind hundreds of people who were just buying alcohol, and we were there just to eat.


Not really that brilliant, from a marketing standpoint. What if you're buying both? What if you got to the end of the line and wanted to add one or the other to your order? It's a sales loss for Disney overall to have two separate lines, making those who want both and therefore spend more money overall stand in line twice.

World Showcase gets crowded during F & W, more on weekends. But overall crowds are usually pretty manageable at that time.

[Tick-Tock]

Remember that November 11 is a federal holiday (Veterans Day). That makes a three-day weekend for a lot of folks. It looks like the Festival of the Masters is scheduled for Downtown Disney that weekend as well. I would imagine that the weekend before would be less crowded.

[AHOTE]

If we go to the Festival in November we usually go the last full week. As many have said the crowds are less during the week. We have found that Tuesday through Thursday are the best times with short wait times. Beginning around 4PM on Friday and into the weekend it can get extremely crowded. Another plus is that many of the show souvenir items are on sale the last week. I also like the fact that most of the Christmas decorations are up too. The only drawback we’ve encountered, and it’s minor, is the nights can be cold in even in mid November. Enjoy :wine:

[Mogie]

Yeah my experience was that Epcot was very busy during the Food and Wine Fest, especially at night round dinner time and after. But maybe as a result the crowds in the other parks would be less?

[CaptSmee]

We were there the 2nd week of Nov this year and caught the last weekend of Food & Wine Festival as well as the 1st week of all the holiday celebrations (except Candlelight Processional). It is a FANTASTIC time to go!

[lynnek]

We were there for the last weekend of F&W as well; Festival of Masters also was going on. Epcot actually was very busy all day--we were there 11ish until 5ish--and the lines were quite long for the food, unfortunately. We are planning on going again:) next yr, same time, but will do Epcot during the day on Friday--before the last weekend. Also, hitting Festival of Masters was a wonderful plus for us and are looking forward to it again next yr. The chalk art was amazing--watching these artists complete their work was lots of fun--Sat a.m.

I do like the idea of a separate line for food, one for wine and how about one for both!! Of course clearly marked would probably be too much to ask--I am sooo good at being in the wrong line!

[SandmanGStefani24]

i was there oct 24-27 (sun-wed) and while MK was very packed i found Epcot to be pretty manageable. I never had to wait long for food, lines weren't too bad and there was still plenty of places to sit and eat. I agree with the comment that weekdays are better crowd wise. That's why I always visit during the week!:D

[Victor Kelly]

Not really that brilliant, from a marketing standpoint. What if you're buying both? What if you got to the end of the line and wanted to add one or the other to your order? It's a sales loss for Disney overall to have two separate lines, making those who want both and therefore spend more money overall stand in line twice.

World Showcase gets crowded during F & W, more on weekends. But overall crowds are usually pretty manageable at that time.


Read my post more carefully it says a seperate line for food and booze. This goes under thik before you act and personal responsibility. Trust me Disney will not miss out on any money. Because I have seen people chow down and go right back into line. We did several times because the food was just too good.

[DisneyFr33k]

Epcot is so very busy during the food & wine festival, however we did notice lesser crowds during the weekdays vs. the weekends. I would gather that the locals go on the weekends, and that some folks who are close enough will go for a long weekend.

We 100% agree. We've gone to 5 F&W festivals in the past 6 years and we noticed if you go on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday the lines are very long at the food kiosks.

[SBETigg]

Read my post more carefully it says a seperate line for food and booze. This goes under thik before you act and personal responsibility. Trust me Disney will not miss out on any money. Because I have seen people chow down and go right back into line. We did several times because the food was just too good.

I read it more carefully. Thanks. I still don't think it's a particularly brilliant idea, unless they add a third line for people who just want the beverages. And then three separate lines is just ridiculous. It makes more sense to just add more servers, have two lines in general serving both needs. It's the Food and Wine Fest, not just the food fest. So the pairing of these things is planned and anticipated and offers a rounder experience of food complemented by wine/beverage. If they separated the lines, they would be discouraging the potential last minute sale of more items to a customer. A lot of people might get in the food only line and decide to add a beverage on as they near their turn, and then they couldn't. A lot of people don't drink, true, but why should they take priority, get a special line, over say the drink only people? Sales is the bottom line and I don't think it makes business sense to discourage the potential extra sales by adding lines that exclude the buying of anything offered at any particular kiosk.

And of course, drinking responsibly is a whole different topic and we can all hope that everyone does act responsibly.

[CaptSmee]

We were there for the last weekend of F&W as well; Festival of Masters also was going on.

This was the 1st time we had caught Festival of Masters, which was WONDERFUL as well! Some stunning street art was being done when we were there!

We went to Epcot on Friday evening and found the food line's to not be bad at all. It was a little earlier than dinner time because we caught the 1st performance of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, but we then watched American Adventure and the line's were still not bad after that even.