Food and Wine 2014 - They added a week in Sept.

Can't for the festival

So exciting that they've added an extra week - I wish I could go!

September is slow. They want to draw more in mid September. Good move.

Tempted to move my vacation back a week so I can experience at least a day of F&W but then I looked at Josh's tentative crowd calendar and saw 1's on the majority of the week I'm planning and thought noooooope I'll stick to my initial week as the only day I'd be able to do it was on the first Friday.

I'll do F&W eventually, though! Maybe next year!

This is the main reason we are going a couple weeks before my birthday. FOOD AND WINE! Has anyone heard horror stories or experienced first hand the "drinking around the world" I've seen people post things such as people drunk and puking in EPCOT... Does that REALLY happen???

My husband and I have never done the "drinking around the world." But we have been to Epcot on 4 different occasions that we have seen very drunk people stumbling around. One time we were sitting in Italy back by the fountain and about 8 very drunk young guys(I'd be shocked if they were older than 22) came through screaming and yelling, like young, drunk people tend to do. Then one of them threw up right beside the fountain!!! It was disgusting and we got out of there ASAP. I don't know if any of these people did "drinking around the world" intentionally, but they obviously had done it unintentionally

We've been to Epcot about 80 times though, so that's not too bad of a percentage, considering how many yummy alcoholic drinks are served there

JMed, yes it does happen, we have also experienced some rather unpleasant sites also at the F & W F. Just stay away from the world show case on the weekend evenings and you should be okay. They seem to be the worst times.

It's like Disney knew I was arriving the 21st and changed the date just for me. It's very magical!

I've seen an older gentlemen so drunk that he passed out on the bus back to Pop Century and they had gotten the emts on scene to make sure he was okay. But this wasn't during Food and Wine. I think it was just a regular day at Epcot.

Agreed. When we were there in October 2012 the only time we experienced this was on a Saturday night. The rest of the trip we never saw a single person over intoxicated.

We saw a couple of people, during the smash mouth concert, that definitely had too much to drink. But nothing disgusting, just rowdy dancing that was actually quite entertaining and laughable. Other than that, we didn't see anyone out of line.

we are going to EPCOT early week so hopefully we will be good!

There were a couple guys at Epcot tonight that were pretty drunk. We saw them twice. The second time, a woman who was with was in a wheelchair. She wasn't the first time. My cousin heard someone say she was supposed to race this weekend.

Thanks for the info everyone.... Some sites you read make it sound HORRIBLE (people passed out and puking all over the place) I didn't think it could be that bad. I'm all for having a good time and I'm sure after a couple Gran Ma Slushes I will be ready to pass out... not act a fool!

I really like F&W and I'm so glad it fits in with our vacation dates now. Last year I ate at Hawaii, Canada, New Zealand and a few more. The sausage from was really good, didn't care for its accompaniments though.

Apparently, I've been living under a rock. I just realized yesterday that I would be at WDW for this year's F&WF. We're going from Sept 17th to Sept 22nd. I've never been during this event so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Opening day for F&W, we'll be heading to Universal, but we'll still have 2 days at Disney for F&W.

Is it a "can't miss" event or would my time be better spent at another less crowded park for those 2 days? What are some things that I absolutely have to try and what are some things that I shouldn't even bother with?

Can I use any of my DDP snack credits or CS credits at any of the food kiosks?

Ooh. ..Well after reading these little stories,maybe after our 7.00pm ADR at VN, we will finish our night off at MK..It's funny but in all my past five Disney vacations, I've yet to get even tipsy..In fact apart from having a bottle of vino with a nice TS meal, I think the only daytime beer I've drank was at Rose & Crown and a Molson beer at Canada..I do enjoy a nightcap back at our resort, hence I'am looking forward to WL this year with our wee balcony..

BarbaraB, for me the Food and Wine Festival is a can't miss. Others don't like it at all.

Would you enjoy grazing little appetizer samples of international food instead of eating a regular meal? Do you have at least a moderately adventurous palate? Would you be okay with standing up trying to eat off a cardboard "plate" with your drink perched on the curb beside you? Good news, you'll enjoy F&W Fest.

Do you want to sit down, relax, and enjoy a full meal for both lunch and dinner, preferably with someone serving you at one or both of those meals? You might still be able to enjoy a sample or two between meals, but in general F&W isn't going to be your thing. Still, I would suggest at least trying it - maybe just Sunday lunch - to figure out for yourself whether it's something you'd enjoy.

As for what's a "must try," that will depend on your personal tastes. And also on what's on the menu this fall, since it hasn't been announced yet. Many people rave about Canada's beer cheese soup, but I won't touch it (ick cheese ewww gross). I loved the Hawaiian tuna poke, but others won't touch that (ick raw fish ewww gross - not my thoughts, I love raw fish, but many people don't).

I've been to F&W every year since 2002. I love Disney, Epcot, eating, drinking and The Beach Club. Its a perfect storm of pleasure for me.

I agree with you crazycat, it is a can't miss for me. This will be my 4th in a row and I couldn't imagine not going. Its definitely something you have to adapt to, but we even hit it on the dreaded Friday and Saturday nights (thats how much we love it). I am a total small plates girl so its right up my alley. And yes that Tuna poke is what dreams are made of! Oh how I hope its back this year.

I know I'm in the minority, but we skip F&W as much as possible. DH and I hate any kind of sea food, and I don't eat beef or pork. So that narrows down our food choices quite a bit. I can't even drink any alcohol, so that's out too. We love to go out to eat and enjoy a good meal, but not when we are at WDW. We view our food at Disney as "a means to an end." We have to eat, so we just grab whatever CS meal or snack that we can eat while we walk around. We go every few weeks to WDW, but we only get to go 2-3 days at a time, so we look at eating as a waste of time in WDW.
For us, F&W is a really crowded waste of time. BUT, I think Disney did a great job with F&W for the people that enjoy different foods and drinks, it just doesn't fit us or how we personally visit Disney.

Thanks for your input, everyone. We're not really adventurous eaters, just meat & potato kind of people. If they give out samples, I can graze as I walk along, but I don't really want to shell out money for something that I'm not sure I'll like. Plus I don't really like crowds. I find that the bigger the crowd, the more rude people can be, and I can't stand rude people. So maybe I'll take Skunk's advice and skip Saturday night.

No samples. They're sample-sized portions, but they ain't free.

There is a "soft opening on Thursday 18th but our park and resort ADRs put us at Epcot for Fri and Sunday, but since we aren't in a rush, we don't have to worry and we know escape places to eat and talk in peace.