Wow.. F&WF here we come!!!

[twinboyz]

Never been.. long time coming to WDW but never for the F&WF. We've decided to go and now let's get everything in place. A nice long weekend at Disney is just what I need!!

Questions: How's the weather? pack jeans or shorts?

For those of you that have been to F&W.. best time of day to go?

Any must do's? Give me your best 'country' to stop at and tell me why.

Planning to go around 10 so we can hit Test Track before hitting the World.

OMG!!! YIPPEEEEEE!!!!

[wdwfan]

It's still warm in Oct., so I'd pack shorts. You may want jeans incase cool evening. I'd pack light jacket too!

Getting there early in the day is better expecially on weekends. It starts getting crowded mid-afternoon, then really busy in the evenings. Take a look at the food/wine offerings and pick which ones you want to try. Disny's Food Blog has all the menus. They also have low cost seminars for wine, culinary & mixology you might be interest in booking. There fun!

Eat to the Beat concerts too, see who's there your weekend.

Just take your time and enjoy, no way to get to everything!

[faline]

Exactly when are you going?

The offerings change slightly from year to year. Be sure to get a guide and then select your food stops depending upon what appeals to you.

Weekdays are less crowded than weekends. Earlier in the day is also less crowded than later in the day regardless of day of the week.

Enjoy!

[SBETigg]

You'll need jeans and shorts. And a sweater or light jacket. It can be summertime warm or late autumn cool.

Best times to enjoy the food and wine without big crowds, opening to mid afternoon. Weeknights aren't too bad. Weekends are very crowded.

France is my favorite. I love the coq au vin and escargot, and they usually have a delicious and fun slushie style drink as well. This year, the coq au vin is out in favor of boeuf bourguignon, which sounds equally delicious. I think the food in France is so good because they usually choose dishes that get better with long simmering time.

Brazil is back and Hawaii is pretty good, too. The new Scotland booth looks great. So many good things!

My advice: You can find the menu listings in advance on other sites, like Disney's own site. Before you go, check it out and make a note of your priorities. Samples add up fast, and three-five will fill you up like a meal (but cost more than some meals).

[Maggie T]

We love middle of Oct. Love Canada and its cheese soup. Most of the food is really good and the adult drinks hit the spot. Don't like the weekends because of crowds. Watch out or Jersey week especially the last weekend they are there. Morocco has great lamb. It is really fun just take your time. Been to about 7 of them so far and will be back this year.

[mdricks]

This will be the first year I miss it in 5 years

Don’t know if you are taking kids but if so don’t go at night, certainly not on a weekend night.

It is tasteful and (mostly) harmless but the weekend nights are best described as one big block party.

I go for the weekend nights

I always have a great time. The beer tents offer some delicious brews, a few of which are harder to find in the states. There is actually an iPhone app that is a big help to beer drinkers going to EPCOT during F&W.

The food choices are excellent and varied although they quit selling my personal favorite (steamed mussels in cream sauce at Belgium. With a Leffe Blond, pure heaven.)

If you don’t have your date picked and you like live music, go on the website and look at the Eat to The Beat concert schedule. They do 2-3 shows a day for about 45 minutes a show. The shows are free with your paid theme park entry and they can be really good if you see the right show.

VH1 “where are they now?” stuff for the most part but fun nonetheless. In my experience the nighttime crowd is younger, particularly when a band like Sugar Ray or someone like that is playing.

My advice is don’t plan anything except for your first cocktail. (cava Tequila for a margarita or shot of the good stuff IMHO)
After that let the spirit take you.

Then come back here are tell me what your favorite was!

[twinboyz]

Thanks for all the great feedback. We are arriving in Orlando on the 9th, so we'll head to EPCOT on the 10th. Only 3 of us going, all adults, the kids went with us in May so now it's our turn. I'm hoping for warm weather since we are from WI, and we really didn't have too much of a summer.

Thanks for the great info on the food and wine.. When the 3 of us girls go, we are usually a bit tipsy towards the end of the World, since we drink our way around. Maybe we'll skip Saki this time..That usually hits us pretty hard. Always see the Drummers in Japan, Mo'Roccan, the the Mariachi Band. Nice slow walk to catch everything EPCOT has to offer. We always share our snacks around the world, this time will be great to try new things. I took your advice and printed out the menus.. So much to pick from, but we have a few things we'd like to try for sure.

I like to start out in Mexico with a Margarita after that.. it's smooth sailing. We LOVE EPCOT.. it's our favorite park without F&W.. Can't wait to experience it. And I promise to come back and post about how we liked it.. being newbies to it and all.

Thanks for the warning/advice about the evening crowds.. we'll skip the weekend. We are used to being spoiled with not too many crowds at EPCOT.

55 sleeps.. but who's counting.

[ILoveLegos]

I prefer early to mid October on week days because it is a lot less crowded than the weekend at the F&WF (lots of locals increase the crowds then).
Like others have said the weather can be a mixed bag. On the most part - it is summer-like in the daytime, but when the sunsets you might like a wind breaker at times (for example especially on the waterway from POR to DTD - it's been either bbrrr or sticky hot - you never know).
I've been to many F&WFs over the years and each year I had a different "favorite" each time. One year it was Mexico's empanadas, another year I loved everything from Ireland. Last time, I was pleasantly surprised by Hawaii's offerings. The fun part is mixing so many samples from so many cultures in one "roaming tapas" dinner or lunch"!
At times , I don't know whether it is the food, the atmosphere or the "eat to the Beat" concerts but their is a certain "electricity" that goes with these events that makes it so much fun. Be spontaneous and adventurous in your sampling & you might find your new favorite there too!
Just a suggestion, I usually have an annual pass, so I don't have a dining plan. I find it easy to put F&WF purchases on a pre-paid gift card so you don't have to fumble with $2, $3, $4, $5 & $6 increments of money - it is easier to swipe and go! Wrist bands are even easier than that too, btw. Enjoy!