Disney World cuts a month from EPCOT's food & wine fest

I'm a bit surprised by this. August continues to be a pretty slow month at WDW, and the earlier kickoff of the F&W Festival was a way to add appeal to the park during a pretty slow time of year. Also, I can only imagine how many more frozen cocktails they sell in August with regular temps in the low to mid 90's.

With Halloween being such big business and causing the parks to near peak capacity in October, I'm not sure why WDW chose to start this festival later instead of ending it sooner. An early August to mid-October run would make far more sense in my book, but perhaps it's more difficult to get acts to play the Eat to the Beat in August than it is in October.

This long time fan is still waiting for the EPCOT F&W Festival to return to it's full pre-pandemic glory. However, despite the completion of Communicore Hall, I'm still skeptical that the event will be anything more than it's been the past 3 years.

Bring back Party for the Senses!

I finally attended the Food and Wine festival this past year. I was completely underwhelmed. None of the stands can serve hot food hot. Most sitting under heat lamps. Maybe the exception was Cheese soup at the shack by Canada.

Just very poor execution. Would never go back during that time - only increases crowds.

I finally attended the Food and Wine festival this past year. I was completely underwhelmed. None of the stands can serve hot food hot. Most sitting under heat lamps. Maybe the exception was Cheese soup at the shack by Canada.

Just very poor execution. Would never go back during that time - only increases crowds.

I finally attended the Food and Wine festival this past year. I was completely underwhelmed. None of the stands can serve hot food hot. Most sitting under heat lamps. Maybe the exception was Cheese soup at the shack by Canada.

Just very poor execution. Would never go back during that time - only increases crowds.

I finally attended the Food and Wine festival this past year. I was completely underwhelmed. None of the stands can serve hot food hot. Most sitting under heat lamps. Maybe the exception was Cheese soup at the shack by Canada.

Just very poor execution. Would never go back during that time - only increases crowds.

I finally attended the Food and Wine festival this past year. I was completely underwhelmed. None of the stands can serve hot food hot. Most sitting under heat lamps. Maybe the exception was Cheese soup at the shack by Canada.

Just very poor execution. Would never go back during that time - only increases crowds.

I finally attended the Food and Wine festival this past year. I was completely underwhelmed. None of the stands can serve hot food hot. Most sitting under heat lamps. Maybe the exception was Cheese soup at the shack by Canada.

Just very poor execution. Would never go back during that time - only increases crowds.

I finally attended the Food and Wine festival this past year. I was completely underwhelmed. None of the stands can serve hot food hot. Most sitting under heat lamps. Maybe the exception was Cheese soup at the shack by Canada.

Just very poor execution. Would never go back during that time - only increases crowds.

@jastein69 - I don't think what EPCOT does is any different than other theme park food festivals. The kiosks are pretty limited in terms of the type of equipment that they can work with inside each kiosk, which means most ingredients are prepared ahead of time in the traditional commercial kitchens located backstage. Many items are brought from those kitchens to each kiosk in a hot box, kept warm at each kiosk (they will typically put a time on the box when the contents need to be served or discarded), and finished/garnished when ordered. Some kiosks will use heat lamps for a limited number of ingredients that are prepared fresh (i.e. fried in deep fryers - where those can be installed, or sautéed using induction burners), and sometimes if there is a fresh-carved protein (though pretty rare to see anymore) or items batched in large casserole pans.

I think it can be easy to have a poor experience at these festivals because the quality is very dependent upon the menu items (let's face it, some things just don't travel well in hot boxes, yet planners still try to push them despite the difficulty in consistently executing them in a festival environment), even can be highly variable based on staffing, popularity, and just pure luck. It's also true that a park's food festival can make crowds almost unbearable, with the prime example being EPCOT F&W on a late Saturday afternoon when there's a popular performer playing Eat to the Beat. If you were expecting a typical weekend park day in a situation like this, you're likely going to be shocked and frustrated with the crowds and the lines for the kiosks, particularly during dinner time. However, I still think EPCOT F&W provides some of the best people watching in any theme park, and it's far more economical to Eat/Drink Around the World during one of the festivals than it is to try to do it by eating at the normal restaurants and stands.

FWIW, if you really like the cheese soup at the Canada kiosk, that's actually one of the few traditional F&W Festival menu items that can also be found at a year-round EPCOT restaurant (Le Cellier). Personally, I try to stay away from the items that aren't unique to the festival, but agree that it's definitely worth it, especially since it's one of the cheaper savory menu items.