EPCOT during Food & Wine but don't care about it

[Otterhead]

If you're noticing so many drunk people, you're looking for them.

My dad's a teetotaler, and the first Disney park he went to since the 80s was Animal Kingdom. He called me, furious, telling me how awful his experience was because "they sell beer here like it's a baseball game! There's drunk people everywhere screaming obscenities, pouring beer on your shoes, carrying it around in pitchers. It's disgusting! Nothing but a drunken mess!"

I found out later that he tried to get a Coke at Dawa Bar and bumped into someone who spilled some beer on him and said "aw damn" or something. But that was all he needed to see drunks everywhere.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

I love food and wine and I don't drink often. Are there small groups of people who are really drinking...yes. I just move on and enjoy my trip. Are there rude sober people I run into in all of the parks..yes. I just move on and enjoy my trip.

 

[graphite1326]

C'mon he's not making it miserable. He dislikes Food and Whine. So do I. It's like Deansgate on a Saturday night. Try and enjoy the majesty of Reflections of China with drunks who won't shut up. Or the beauty of Impressions de France to walk out to see someone throwing up.

It gets earlier and earlier that now it's unavoidable in our window. And that is annoying. To say the least. All because they've let the parks business plan and appeal collapse.

We have been there several times and never experienced any of this.

 

[mousehockey37]

I think one of the finer points of this thread has gotten lost... That EPCOT is having longer and more frequent festivals.

Food and wine is up to almost 3 months in length now. Flower and garden runs for a decent amount of time. This new festival starting in January is weekends for now, surely will be broadened later.

Not everyone wants to see what Disney is turning the "world" into... Cabanas, kiosks, and upcharge events.

This comment ties into other threads of recent history on here.

The greed of the company is thriving, and in doing so, it's turning those of us who enjoy Disney against each other. Yes, you either like or don't like the things going on, but for 1/4 of the year to be taken up by 1 festival is just too long, IMO.

People like(d) having the options to vacation at times that worked for them. If you wanted low crowds, you went at certain times, if you wanted to avoid certain crowds, you go at certain times, but as these events/festivals have longer and more frequent life spans, it's harder for people to plan around this and you run into arguments like this thread has become.

 

[21stamps]

There are so many things to be annoyed about at WDW (and elsewhere) if you choose to be annoyed.

Drunk people are no worse than screaming kids, slow walkers, center-of-attention people etc.

Getting bumped into by any of them still equals getting bumped into.

People can get drunk at Epcot all day any day with or without a festival.

Nobody has any entitlement to an annoyance-free visit, and it would be impossible to create that. Sometimes in life you're going to have to see things you don't like, and so are your kids, yes even at Disney World.

I believe the OP said they are going Labor Day weekend(?) I think most of us here know that is not one of the busier weekends and no, don't treat Monday like part of the weekend. Monday is probably a great day to go. Do World Showcase early, and then head over to Future World for the evening, where there isn't much "wild drunk behavior" going on.

The exception would be if it is the first day or one of the first days of F&W.

We went a few days after it started last year, on a weekday, and lines were short, and no drunk people bothered us. Nor did we even notice any.

It's not a drunken free-for-all. If you're noticing so many drunk people, you're looking for them. Pay more attention to the attractions.

...or the people in your own party.

DHS and EPCOT might sort of be a tie. DHS has Toy Story, Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars too, which is a thrill for many kids. Candidly, both parks are in absolutely terrible shape.

I have to respectfully disagree with this.

@Tk0021 PLEASE don't let people on these boards discourage you from Hollywood Studios, or Epcot for that matter.

HS is NOT even close to the way people here describe it. It's still a wonderful park..in my opinion it's even better than it was before.

We just spent a lot of time in World Showcase during Holidays Around the World. It was packed, people were drinking (including myself), some had more than others I'm sure, but I was bumped into by strollers quite often, can't say any drunk people bumped into me. Like @Tony the Tigger said, people notice what they want to notice..then they make it sound worse then what it was...or give it more attention than deserved.

 

[marni1971]

Thankfully these long "festivals" have been deemed unsustainable in the long term by senior management. They are now solely being used to prop up the parks bottom line until the makeover is complete. And then we should go back to a theme park again instead of this mess.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I think one of the finer points of this thread has gotten lost... That EPCOT is having longer and more frequent festivals.

Food and wine is up to almost 3 months in length now. Flower and garden runs for a decent amount of time. This new festival starting in January is weekends for now, surely will be broadened later.

Not everyone wants to see what Disney is turning the "world" into... Cabanas, kiosks, and upcharge events.

This comment ties into other threads of recent history on here.

The greed of the company is thriving, and in doing so, it's turning those of us who enjoy Disney against each other. Yes, you either like or don't like the things going on, but for 1/4 of the year to be taken up by 1 festival is just too long, IMO.

People like(d) having the options to vacation at times that worked for them. If you wanted low crowds, you went at certain times, if you wanted to avoid certain crowds, you go at certain times, but as these events/festivals have longer and more frequent life spans, it's harder for people to plan around this and you run into arguments like this thread has become.

The sad thing is, these festivals aren't bad in themselves at all. Au contraire. Arguably, F&W ties in exactly into what EPCOT is all about. F&G is a bit more of a stretch, but it does draw attention to the fact that EPCOT is a magnificent garden itself (but it needs some work and tidying up), complements that well. Art festival is fitting too.

It is more that they feel like a lame excuse to turn the place into an open air bar nowadays, and to create upcharge events. Overpriced and overcrowded too. They suffocate the park as much as they reinvigorate it.

Would that Disney Springs and the Boardwalk took over many of these functions. As Pleasure Island and the Village once did too, on a smaller scale.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

My dad's a teetotaler, and the first Disney park he went to since the 80s was Animal Kingdom. He called me, furious, telling me how awful his experience was because "they sell beer here like it's a baseball game! There's drunk people everywhere screaming obscenities, pouring beer on your shoes, carrying it around in pitchers. It's disgusting! Nothing but a drunken mess!"

I found out later that he tried to get a Coke at Dawa Bar and bumped into someone who spilled some beer on him and said "aw damn" or something. But that was all he needed to see drunks everywhere.

One can draw attention to your dad's reaction. But the fact remains that he visited a Disney Park for the first time since the 80s, and right the very first park he visits he gets beer spilled over him to sounds of "damn".

Swell.

 

[Otterhead]

But the fact remains that he visited a Disney Park for the first time since the 80s, and right the very first park he visits he gets beer spilled over him to sounds of "damn".

I think my point sailed a bit past you, sadly.
The point was that people often see what they're looking for. My dad had heard that they'd been selling beer at Animal Kingdom, and expected horrible public displays of drunkenness. He didn't see it, but his one glimpse of someone at a bar drinking a beer set him off.
If you've heard that F&W is a drunky fest, that's what you'll be looking for when you go.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I think my point sailed a bit past you, sadly.
The point was that people often see what they're looking for. My dad had heard that they'd been selling beer at Animal Kingdom, and expected horrible public displays of drunkenness. He didn't see it, but his one glimpse of someone at a bar drinking a beer set him off.
If you've heard that F&W is a drunky fest, that's what you'll be looking for when you go.

No, I got the point. I pointed out another point. Namely, that regardless of whether people may or may not see what they want to see, the fact remains that in the very first WDW park your dad visited after his years of absence he got beer spilled over him.

I realise you were trying to show that Disney parks are not full of drunks, but me and your dad may think otherwise about alcohol problems at Disney. Overreaction? Perhaps. But if your dad hadn't seen a Disney park since his clean and friendly WDW of the 80's, then modern WDW parks would look like a toilet to him.

Has he gone back much?

 

[Otterhead]

Has he gone back much?

He loves the Disney parks, had a wonderful time, and goes back every other year. He was having a bit of a tantrum. He also drinks beer now in the parks and loves the Food & Wine Fest. He actually hates going to other theme parks because he says that compared to Disney they're all dirty and trashy.

I never said that he thought the parks "looked like a toilet". I said that he overreacted based on the anticipation of having a bad experience with drunks (which he never actually saw).

 

[thomas998]

Not having park hopper I wouldn't recommend going to EPCOT even if it weren't food and wine festival time. Not because adult couldn't find things to interest them but because your kids at that age are not likely to last the whole day without getting cranky from boredom.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Thankfully these long "festivals" have been deemed unsustainable in the long term by senior management. They are now solely being used to prop up the parks bottom line until the makeover is complete. And then we should go back to a theme park again instead of this mess.

I'm glad to hear this, but do you have any details as to why they deemed them unsustainable? I suppose that despite the "help" to the bottom line, they feel they can get even more people in the park with actual new attractions and experiences? What a concept.

 

[Chef Mickey]

...or the people in your own party.


I have to respectfully disagree with this.

@Tk0021 PLEASE don't let people on these boards discourage you from Hollywood Studios, or Epcot for that matter.

HS is NOT even close to the way people here describe it. It's still a wonderful park..in my opinion it's even better than it was before.

We just spent a lot of time in World Showcase during Holidays Around the World. It was packed, people were drinking (including myself), some had more than others I'm sure, but I was bumped into by strollers quite often, can't say any drunk people bumped into me. Like @Tony the Tigger said, people notice what they want to notice..then they make it sound worse then what it was...or give it more attention than deserved.

I wasn't so much discouraging him from visiting either DHS or EPCOT as I was explaining that EPCOT at night is more kid unfriendly than DHS. I suggested he get Park Hoppers and do EPCOT during the day and hop somewhere else at night. I don't think Disney has a kid unfriendly park, but if I had to choose one of the four, it's EPCOT at night in its current state.

 

[Otterhead]

EPCOT at night in its current state.

I'm really unsure what people are experiencing at night in EPCOT that makes it at all kid-unfriendly. If anything, it's more friendly then, with fireworks, sparkly pavements, and relief from the heat.

What I will say, having done the parks with smaller kids, is that its sheer physical size can be a challenge for young ones, whenever you go. Heading from Soarin' to do your Frozen FastPasses in Norway is a heck of a trek for a 5 year old. Your kids might think they're too old for strollers, but walking from one end of EPCOT to the other will tire them out quickly.

 

[21stamps]

I'm really unsure what people are experiencing at night in EPCOT that makes it at all kid-unfriendly. If anything, it's more friendly then, with fireworks, sparkly pavements, and relief from the heat.

What I will say, having done the parks with smaller kids, is that its sheer physical size can be a challenge for young ones, whenever you go. Heading from Soarin' to do your Frozen FastPasses in Norway is a heck of a trek for a 5 year old. Your kids might think they're too old for strollers, but walking from one end of EPCOT to the other will tire them out quickly.

I rented a stroller at Epcot when my kid was 5 for this very reason. Problem was, we left it parked near soarin' and walked to WS. Heat index was 103 that day. Needless to say by 6pm he was done and asked to go back to the resort and swim after we ate at Garden Grill, so we did.

This year we went later in the day, stayed til close, temperatures were much cooler, and we had a wonderful time in WS and Future World.

 

[Tk0021]

My original plan was to skip EPCOT and just do MK for the the four days. We did a trip back in June and after 3 hours at EPCOT my 5 year wanted to go back to MK. They were not impressed with AK either. They like to ride and because of my 5 and 3 year old size they can't ride all the rides at EPCOT. We missed the new Frozen ride by 2 days on our last trip and I thought it might be nice to catch it, but then I found out that the F & W was even earlier then last year, so I created this thread to get opinions.

I get the point made about getting the park hopper and possibly leaving before evening. I was trying to keep cost down due to me paying for my parents trip, but that might be the way to go. We can do our rides and attractions during the day and if we don't like what we see when it gets later we could go to MK.

 

[21stamps]

My original plan was to skip EPCOT and just do MK for the the four days. We did a trip back in June and after 3 hours at EPCOT my 5 year wanted to go back to MK. They were not impressed with AK either. They like to ride and because of my 5 and 3 year old size they can't ride all the rides at EPCOT. We missed the new Frozen ride by 2 days on our last trip and I thought it might be nice to catch it, but then I found out that the F & W was even earlier then last year, so I created this thread to get opinions.

I get the point made about getting the park hopper and possibly leaving before evening. I was trying to keep cost down due to me paying for my parents trip, but that might be the way to go. We can do our rides and attractions during the day and if we don't like what we see when it gets later we could go to MK.

Have you been to Hollywood Studios? The Disney Junior stuff is great!

Obviously I'm not paying for your trip..but if Frozen is the main draw at Epcot I wouldn't spend money on hoppers. HS has the Froxen Sing along which is adorable.

 

[Tk0021]

Have you been to Hollywood Studios? The Disney Junior stuff is great!

Obviously I'm not paying for your trip..but if Frozen is the main draw at Epcot I wouldn't spend money on hoppers. HS has the Froxen Sing along which is adorable.

We skipped HS on our June trip on advice from my uncle who went the month before with his son. He said he felt like with the construction HS was a half day park.

We have kicked around going for a day. We heard the Beauty and the Beast show is great and my 3 year love Belle and the Beast, but again we are concerned about there being enough to do for the whole day.

The tricky part with this trip is I am trying to make my kids and my parents happy. My kids will love to just go to MK for the four days. My parents are willing to do that, but I can tell they would prefer to go to at least one other park and EPCOT is their favorite.

I am sure others have run into this before.

 

[21stamps]

We skipped HS on our June trip on advice from my uncle who went the month before with his son. He said he felt like with the construction HS was a half day park.

We have kicked around going for a day. We heard the Beauty and the Beast show is great and my 3 year love Belle and the Beast, but again we are concerned about there being enough to do for the whole day.

The tricky part with this trip is I am trying to make my kids and my parents happy. My kids will love to just go to MK for the four days. My parents are willing to do that, but I can tell they would prefer to go to at least one other park and EPCOT is their favorite.

I am sure others have run into this before.

I know everyone's preferences are different, but we were at HS from open til close (7pm) and didn't even get to do "everything." You wouldn't have that same problem if the Star Wars stuff isn't important though.

I'm sure it's tough planning for all ages in your groups..but you may want to look into what is actually offered at HS..especially with the ages of your children. Disney Junior breakfast is wonderful too. Anyway, just food for thought

Do you need to do open to close parks all day, or do you ever go early, leave early evening, and then relax back at the hotel.. dinner..pool etc?
Maybe just do a half or 3/4s at Epcot or HS and then head hack. Both are wonderful parks. Good luck with whatever you decide!