A Gastronomical Magical Adventure At Epcot...

we visited all times of the day and all different days last year and I don't think we came into contact with many long lines at anytime but I know other people on here have had better experiences on different days and times so they might help with that

the best advice about touring the booths I can give you is try and move from the back of world showcase to the front if you can we found the booths at the front of WS were the busiest so we would walk around a bit then stop where it was quieter - even with longer queues though they get through everyone very quickly so you are never waiting more than 5-10 minutes even in the biggest of queues

Best advice I can give you is to just go wherever the wind takes you! we didn't have a strategy or anything last year and we haven't this year just make sure if you have a lot of things to try, try and spend as much time at EPCOT as you can allow because believe me you fill up quick!!!!!

Well last year the only evidence I saw of that was somebody swaying on one of the buses back to the resort and you could tell he had drank waaaaaaay too much - but it never had a negative impact on the festival to us

I think we are there either a Saturday or Sunday night so when I come back ill report back on the crowds and rowdy people!

In my experience, the lines at the festival booths are shorter during the day than they are in the evening, and shorter on weekdays than weekends. The worst WDW crowd I EVER encountered was at Epcot on the final weekend of the Food and Wine Festival three years ago. But your trip is long before the final weekend, so you shouldn't run into crowds that huge.

My strategy for navigating the F&W Fest is this:

First, I make a list highlighting things I most want to try. Everything is color coded: top items in bold red text, next best bold blue text, next after that in bold green text, and things I might try if I've run out of the good stuff in non-bold plain black text. I've attached a PDF of the 2012 file for your perusal.

Everything on the list is organized in booth order, going clockwise around the World Showcase. So, for our first tour of the booths, we go to the lagoon, hang a left, and start eating as we make our way past Mexico, then China, etc. and focusing exclusively on the top tier (red-letter) choices on the list. When we're full, we're done (for that meal at least). But on our next time around, whether it be dinner later that evening or a different day later that week, we go in reverse order, counterclockwise around the World Showcase, to be sure we hit booths we missed first time around. When we've tried all the red-letter items, we move on to blue-letter items, once again touring both clockwise and counter clockwise. Same with green-letter items. And if we do F&W often enough to even get to the items in plain black text, same thing - but by that point we might be revisiting favorites, and might never get to the last-tier items.

It's a bit complicated, but during our first F&W visit we pigged out on whatever we encountered first and then missed out on stuff we would've rather tried. This way we know we've tried the stuff we'll like best.

I agree with Amy 100%!

I always hear reports of Friday and Saturdays being very crowded and rowdy but in the past 3 years of me going I haven't experienced anything awful.. The only bad aspect was on the Saturday of our trip the Italy booth's line was RIDICULOUS! So we skipped it that day and came back on Sunday and it was more than manageable.

The booths in the front tend to be more crowded but really the lines move so quickly its not noticeable. Our plan of attack is usually to do Mexico first and make our way around to Canada. We have in the past gotten a margarita while at Mexico so we can enjoy it while we wait in line in other booths. We've also done with the same with the Singapore Sling which is at the (obviously) Singapore booth that was located right outside of Norway last year, but it was up by Germany the year before so you never know where the booths without normal World Showcase countries will be.

It will definitely be busier in the evening so if you really want to avoid most crowds go in the afternoon on a weekday.

My main advice is don't stress. One of the reasons I love F&W is because it just adds something extra to World Showcase which I already adore. We take our time, doing the things we want to do even when F&W isn't there and as we meander we stop at the booths that tickle our fancy. I feel like trying to go in with high expectations and structure just leads to disappointment when the booths are busy and the crowds are large. Have fun. After all you're in Disney

CCP can I steal your menu plan?????? with around 60 food and drink items I think I need to prioritize!!!!

I think it's all about managing your expectations. Our first day at F&WF in 2012 was a Saturday evening and we expected it to be HORRIBLE and while it was rowdy, it really wasn't as bad as we had expected. So if you go in knowing that it is going to be more crowded and crazy then normal and are prepared for it, you might be fine. I also suggest when there is long lines at a booth to check and see if there is a second line on the other side of the booth. When we were there one night there was a crazy long line for Canada on one side, but then we walked over to the other side of the booth where there was a second window and only 3 people were ahead of us!

This is so true! We did the same thing at France. People just follow the crowds and don't even look for an alternate line.

On our last visit, during free dining & FW, the wife and I found Disney portions to be large enough, we barely touched our snack credits. So one day for lunch we spent our snack credits having lunch "tapas style". Made a journey of it sampling from country to country. It was one of our favorite days! It also freed up a couple of CS credits for breakfast another day.

Looking forward to doing it again in November.

Although it's crowded on a weekend, there is also a more festive atmosphere. It is definitely more "party-like". There have been reported instances of bad behavior but I haven't encountered any in over 10 years of going to F&W.

And I always plan to be there three times at least. There is way to much to eat and drink in one visit. And I can't wait to cap off the evenings with After Hours Wind Down and the Epcot Late Night Party.

Have at it.

Thanks!!!!

We have been several times to F&W. We love going during the week because the crowds can get kinda bad Sat and Sun. I like to be able to move and look at the food before I try it. The days are a little better than the nights, but it wasn't bad at night.
Just go where your nose takes you, watchmaker! Lol. You will want to try it all!
The passports are a great way to have a souvenir of your trip. We never buy the prepaid wrist ticket though. It would be a great way to keep your spending in check.

Watchmaker I have been known in the past to be a picky eater (and still am a bit) and my nose got me into all sorts of trouble the first year we went (and to think I only went to keep my mam happy!) but Boomer is right follow your nose!!!