Food & Wine Festival

[Chuckus95]

I need some advice and was wondering if some of you F&W veterans could help me out. We will be going to WDW Nov. 7 - 11 (Thursday - Monday). We want to go to Epcot/F&W Festival at least three times. We will arrive early enough to go on Thursday, and we will attend the private party after the Wine & Dine Half Marathon on Saturday night. Monday is out of the question because we will be flying home mid-Afternoon. We've been the the Festival once before on a Saturday, and it was very crowded so we likely will not go on Saturday (plus my wife is running Saturday evening so I doubt she will want to hit the festival during the day).

So, my question is: of Friday or Sunday, which would be the least crowded day to go? My assumption is Friday, but would appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks for your help.

[Amy]

I would guess Friday as well, but I'm thinking that if the run is that weekend, it will all be busy due to the amount of people coming in to run. You might just need to prepare yourself for longer lines...and go as early as you can

[Cardinals314]

It's going to be busy all weekend. However, the Friday will be the best day to go during the weekend. Many locals know how busy Saturdays of F&W Festival are and they will wait until Sunday to visit. Also while a lot of Marathon runners and their families will be sleeping in after a late night, you can expect some to show up later in the afternoon for one of the two last opportunities to hit the food/wine booths on Sunday.

Friday is the better day

[wewantsdaredhead]

Touringplans lists epcot as a park to avoid on Friday with a 7.7 out of 10 crowd level. (10 being the most crowded)
And it gets the "best park" rating for Sunday with a 5.9.

For what it's worth...

[yodiwan1]

with the Marathon Sat. Friday is the better day. Touring plans is usually spot on, but if the race was on a different weekend last year, the numbers wont reflect the race for this year. Most people that will be running the race, or attending the after party, wont be going Friday, and Locals will be at work. Sunday will still be very crowded, especially after the race on Saturday.

[Zillerzap]

I have attended this event several times including last year. The weekend is very busy, Thursday is the least then Friday as some of the runners (like us) turn in early to do the morning 5K on Saturday. If the Food and Wine after party tickets are still available I would do that instead of a Saturday park ticket. Epcot is open unto 4am for the runners that cross the finish line and people who purchased the special event ticket, and many of the attractions are open including the food & wine kiosks. If memory serves me right, you can get in as early as 7pm, but the park does sort of close down between 9 & 10 to get the day crowd out, then it is extremely empty until the runners start showing up mainly after Midnight.

[Chuckus95]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I was leaning towards going on Friday, and that's what we will do.

[Chuckus95]

Touringplans lists epcot as a park to avoid on Friday with a 7.7 out of 10 crowd level. (10 being the most crowded)
And it gets the "best park" rating for Sunday with a 5.9.

For what it's worth...

I used Touringplans our last trip in early June, and I was not that impressed. For the first two days, we went, at rope drop, to the recommended park, rather than going to EMH, which is what we normally do, and the recommended park always was very crowded. So, we abandoned Touringplans, went to the parks with EMH, and got a lot more done.

I was really disappointed after paying for the service, but, I know a lot of people swear by it, so maybe my experience was an anomaly.

[Chuckus95]

If the Food and Wine after party tickets are still available I would do that instead of a Saturday park ticket. Epcot is open unto 4am for the runners that cross the finish line and people who purchased the special event ticket, and many of the attractions are open including the food & wine kiosks. If memory serves me right, you can get in as early as 7pm, but the park does sort of close down between 9 & 10 to get the day crowd out, then it is extremely empty until the runners start showing up mainly after Midnight.

We are Annual Passholders so the park tickets are not an issue. We are attending the after-party, but were looking to couple a couple of other times during our trip.

[jderoche5]

We go every year and it is ALWAYS crowded. The crowds depend more on a time of day thing. During the day is much less crowded that the evening. Check to see when Mickey's Not So Scary Party is going on and avoid that day.

[Belle1082]

We are also going around that time. Sat Nov 2 - Sat Nov 9. I'm guessing that we should do the majority of our EPCOT/F&W adventures at the beginning of our trip and save the end of the trip for the other parks.
Better adjust my spreadsheet.