Please don't be discouraged by that. It's often exaggerated on these boards.
First of all Labor Day is a time we go very often, and it is generally slower than you would expect.
As someone else said, don't go to Epcot on weekends during the festival, simply because it will be more crowded and less fun. You'll have to stand in long lines for a little something that on a Wednesday you would have a very short line for.
If you are on a budget, I would recommend reading up on the special new country offerings before you go, or get the passport for free when you get there, which is basically a pocket guide/menu. Find a few items that you think would sound really special and worth tasting. Then go to the appropriate booth to purchase them. They are often tasty and somewhat out of the ordinary food items, but you're probably paying more per bite then you would at a full meal. You are usually looking at somewhere in the neighborhood of six dollars to eight dollars for a few bites. It's a tasting menu, not a lunch menu.
But it is one of our favorite things to do every year.
