Did anybody visit EPCOT on the weekends in August last year?

[mp2bill]

Anybody who's seen my posts in the last few weeks knows that I'm a bit of a crowd-size queen; or king in my case. Anywho...I've been reading up on tips to avoid crowds, and a recurring theme is "DON'T GO TO EPCOT ON THE WEEKENDS DURING THE FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL!" During my upcoming August trip, Touring Plans has the crowd levels at a 4 on the Sunday and Saturday (6 days later), so I was wondering where the disconnect was.

Then I realized that their crowd size calculator is based on popular attraction wait times between 11 & 5, so while the attraction wait times may be low on these days, actually getting to the attractions may be difficult due to the crowds there for Food and Wine.

Additionally, as far as I know, Food and Wine used to start at the end of August, and now my visit will be taking place smack dab in the middle of it. So I'm wondering, with regards to my particular trip, if this is outdated information (but applicable to September - November visits) and just how bad the crowds were on the weekends in August 2021?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

You really can't put much faith into crowd calendars at all right now.
You definitely can't base anything off 2020 or 2021.
I was there in August last year and the parks were empty. Amazingly empty!
I'll be there again in August and I expect it to be much more active than last year.
My opinion has always been plan your days around what you want not a number on a crowd calendar.

 

[mp2bill]

I was there in August last year and the parks were empty. Amazingly empty!
I'll be there again in August and I expect it to be much more active than last year.

So EPCOT was empty too? What day(s) of the week did you go on?

My opinion has always been plan your days around what you want not a number on a crowd calendar.

The problem is I want to do it all (in the parks anyway). I'm kind of using the crowd calendar as a starting point, and I have to keep reminding myself that it's probably splitting hairs to worry about a #4 day over a #6 day, but at the same time, even outside of Disney I'm not a fan of crowds. So I just don't want to go in expecting low crowds, only to find out that there are heavy crowds, but they weren't accounted for when formulating said crowd calendar. I'd rather go in expecting slightly heavier crowds due to Extra Evening Hours, and then be pleasantly surprised that the crowds were lighter than I expected. You know what I'm saying?

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

So EPCOT was empty too? What day(s) of the week did you go on?


The problem is I want to do it all (in the parks anyway). I'm kind of using the crowd calendar as a starting point, and I have to keep reminding myself that it's probably splitting hairs to worry about a #4 day over a #6 day, but at the same time, even outside of Disney I'm not a fan of crowds. So I just don't want to go in expecting low crowds, only to find out that there are heavy crowds, but they weren't accounted for when formulating said crowd calendar. I'd rather go in expecting slightly heavier crowds due to Extra Evening Hours, and then be pleasantly surprised that the crowds were lighter than I expected. You know what I'm saying?

I cannot recall the days of the week I went last year but I've gone the first weekend of F&W a few times and it wasn't a big deal.
You should go into it expecting crowds. It's Disney.
Even if lines aren't long there are people everywhere you turn.
Expect it and chose the parks based on what day you want to go to each park not based on the crowd calendar.
EPCOT being a 4 or 6 isn't going to have too much of an impact on how many attractions you can fit in.
If we were talking August vs NYE yeah yes there would be a difference but Friday vs Saturday in August there is not enough of a difference to notice.

 

[mp2bill]

I cannot recall the days of the week I went last year but I've gone the first weekend of F&W a few times and it wasn't a big deal.
You should go into it expecting crowds. It's Disney.
Even if lines aren't long there are people everywhere you turn.
Expect it and chose the parks based on what day you want to go to each park not based on the crowd calendar.
EPCOT being a 4 or 6 isn't going to have too much of an impact on how many attractions you can fit in.
If we were talking August vs NYE yeah yes there would be a difference but Friday vs Saturday in August there is not enough of a difference to notice.

Gotcha. Thanks!

 

[Bastet]

I went to Epcot on a Saturday during F & W in 2019 , it was the worst day ever (for me). Would not do it again!

 

[Weather_Lady]

Last year was a complete anomaly, with record-low crowds, particularly during the latter half of August. We were there in the third week of August 2021 and we did visit EPCOT on the weekends. The F&W crowd was more manageable than we'd ever seen and it barely made a dent in observed crowd attendance, but we're talking about a week with so few guests in the parks that you could do Slinky Dog Dash in the middle of the afternoon with a 25-minute standby wait!!!

If you want a better idea of what it will be like going forward, definitely look to pre-COVID accounts. Also, be aware that even during F&W weekends, the majority of F&W-bound guests will arrive to the park later in the day, and stay concentrated in World Showcase. If you can knock off your World Showcase rides early in the day and then stay in Future World, you won't see too much of a bump in crowds as you enjoy the attractions there. I just wouldn't recommend making a dinner reservation, or formulating a touring itinerary, that will force you to wade your way through much of World Showcase in the evening, when it's likely to be packed.

 

[mp2bill]

I went to Epcot on a Saturday during F & W in 2019 , it was the worst day ever (for me). Would not do it again!

That’s what I’ve heard, but in 2019, F&W started in late August right?

I’m wondering if the fact that it started earlier this year and last has any effect on what the crowds are like. I think I landed on switching my days anyway, but I’m still curious.

 

[mp2bill]

Also, be aware that even during F&W weekends, the majority of F&W-bound guests will arrive to the park later in the day, and stay concentrated in World Showcase. If you can knock off your World Showcase rides early in the day and then stay in Future World, you won't see too much of a bump in crowds as you enjoy the attractions there. I just wouldn't recommend making a dinner reservation, or formulating a touring itinerary, that will force you to wade your way through much of World Showcase in the evening, when it's likely to be packed.

Yeah, I had read that somewhere. We usually do a day in World Showcase and one in Future World, but I’m thinking that maybe we could do two split days.

I’ve pretty much already settled on switching days (the plus side being that we’re going to switch to the day with Extra Evening Hours), but I am a little concerned about the ADR we are planning for at Biergarten.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Magicmom203]

If you are planning on doing an extra magic night hours then you must be staying at a deluxe hotel. Are you getting park hopper passes? I would do early entry one day. Then do park hopper on the extended hours day. I wouldn’t use two days off Park Reservations on Epcot.

 

[mp2bill]

If you are planning on doing an extra magic night hours then you must be staying at a deluxe hotel. Are you getting park hopper passes? I would do early entry one day. Then do park hopper on the extended hours day. I wouldn’t use two days off Park Reservations on Epcot.

DVC resort, but no. We’ve always historically used two days to tour Epcot. Tried to do it in one day once, but because we like to really explore World Showcase, we definitely need two. Plus we have two kids now, so I’m assuming touring is going to be even slower.

 

[Magicmom203]

You don’t have to be DVC to use Extended Night Hours but you do have to be staying at certain deluxe hotels.

 

[jimbojones]

As others have said you cannot use August 2021 for comparison. Last August you had a new variant surging, lots more unvaccinated people, no kids vaccine, and lots of travel restrictions. People were just not traveling last August, especially families with kids and Disney was empty by all accounts. I think the safest assumption for those of us visiting this year is that WDW will be packed to the brim every day. COVID is as bad as ever and no one is skipping a beat about that anymore, wages and employment are fantastic right now so folks have lots of money to throw around, and lastly people are still doing "revenge travel" . Unless there is a recession is going t be a good while before any type of predictability or low season returns to WDW.