Food and Wine Festival?

[army_mom]

ugh. I just noticed the Food and Wine Festival goes all through October...we were planning on going Oct 24-28 (M-F) Is this going to significantly impact the crowd levels during the week? :(
We are really only planning MK and AK and see how DD does and plan the other park days based on that (or huge crowds) ;).

[egoldber]

I think the only park it really makes a difference in is Epcot, where all the F&W festivities are held.

ETA: We have been many times during F&W and we actually like that time.

[liz]

We went during the Food and Wine Festival. Just use the crowd predictors through easywdw.com (or others). That really helped us decide what parks to visit with the least crowds. Also, start really early in the morning to beat out the crowds.

[TwinFoxes]

We went, and it wasn't unbearably crowded. The festival was really fun actually. Are you doing the dining plan? You can use your snack credits at the festival booths. It was great getting things like an appetizer portion of lamb chops from the Australia booth for a snack credit (who needs popcorn when you can have lamb!)

[Moneypenny]

We went last October (it was a very pleasant time to go!). I had heard that Epcot gets very busy on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons and evenings due to locals coming out to enjoy the festival. That was our experience, but since you aren't there for a weekend, it shouldn't impact you. We had one weekday and one Saturday at Epcot and it was definitely crowded and rowdy on Saturday. The weekday was fine. None of the other parks seemed to be impacted.

[maydaymommy]

We're going then, too (22nd - 28th)!

Everything I have read just says stay away frm Epcot Friday - Sunday.

I'm looking forward to it!

[army_mom]

whew! I feel much better now. Thanks. DH hates big crowds and if it's horribly crowded it will be very hard to convince him of all the future trips I have planned in my head :rotflmao:

[kbud]

We were pass holders for three years and always went to the Food and Wine Festival. It gets really crowded in the evenings, especially Friday and Saturday where there will be large groups drinking their way around the world. Other than that you'll be fine weekdays during the day.

You should go to the festival. It's one of my favorite things Disney has. I love, love, love it. Of course I usually try to go once or twice without kids to really enjoy it. The Eat to the Beat concerts can have some decent concerts too which are included in the theme park ticket. But it would be different if you were there for a family vacation. We used to do it as a girls night/day out with friends or a date day with DH. My dd loved it too though. My mom took us and she just ate desserts at every stop:)

Oh and overall it's a very slow time of the year there. The MK will be closed earlier on some days due to the Halloween party. I have found MK to be a very light crowd earlier in the day when there is a party as many people opt not to go there as it closes early. The crowds will pick up around 4 when party-goers arrive.