Returning from a Short 3-Day Trip: Food and Wine Festival Chaos

ThumpersMommy

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Just returned from a short trip to WDW for the Food and Wine Festival and MNSSHP. It has been 3 or 4 years since visiting in the fall. Overall, we had a great time. The weather and atmosphere were good (only one very rainy evening). We went to Epcot on our arrival day- lines for the marketplaces were reasonable and it was crowded but not overly crowded.

Went to MK and MNSSHP on our first day. Very pleased with the party. Crowd levels were not bad (was a Thursday night) and the wait times for rides were much shorter than I expected. We were able to ride BTMR and Splash Mountain twice back to back before 10pm. Lines for the candy were not bad either. I was worried about it being overly crowded because of some of the posts I read about the first few MNSSHP of the season. I'm sure if we would have gone on a Friday night it would have been more crowded.

The only negative part of the trip was that besides arrival day, Epcot was total chaos. The lines for the marketplaces and bathrooms were beyond reasonable. I normally never mind people who may have had one too many but this time, it seemed that some were out of control. Epcot is our favorite park but this trip, it was total chaos because of the Food and Wine Festival. It doesn't pay to be in a park where you can't even get a drink or go to the bathroom in a reasonable amount of time. We ended up leaving and going to MK instead, which is not what we usually do. I do not think we will go again during the Food and Wine Festival unless it is on a Monday through Wednesday. The rest of the days are extremely busy.
 
We just returned and I would agree with your post. Epcot was difficult unless it was midweek - and on nights of the MNSSHP it was really crowded - I assume it was because the Magic Kingdom was closed early, and the Hollywood Studios was only open until 7:30. Made a Thursday night very, very crowded. I think you really have to do some advanced planning around the special events and food & wine festival as the crowds are very much affected by those events.
 
Just back and our next trip will not be during Food & Wine Festival. Otherwise,it was a great time!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!










Top