It should be pretty busy. We have been there for the first day of the Holiday festival and last day of Food and Wine and both had pretty insane lines.With this announcement, F&W starts during our vacation. How bad is it actually to go during the opening day? I'm not that concerned about ride times, just more wondering about the crowds in general. I have some time planned in epcot before F&W starts but we were hoping it would have started already and the crowds would have died down. I now only have two days to enjoy F&W before we leave.
I’m considering cancelling our week long August trip and going elsewhere. We go August 10-17 and with no festival, potential DAS changes impacting my kids, and potentially no Mickey party it might not be worth it especially since wife and kids won’t enjoy the heat and with nothing “special” going on might be hard to keep them content. DVC members, we’d be cancelling Boulder Ridge and three nights at Boardwalk with a Boardwalk view.Anyone think people with a vacation set to start before F&W will change their dates?
Just wondering if maybe Poly will open up for my BB haha.
Only problem is the QS places in Epcot will be uber busy. We went a week between festivals recently and had visitors with us (we live local) who wanted to have lunch and all the QS had LONG LONG lines and chaos. We ate funnel cake and waited for our dinner ADR, starving.
Oh that added to my thought that they crunched the numbers and found those early weeks were not profitable enough to justify all those food booths etc. I mean we never stood in the lines or bought food because it was too hot, we only bought some beers. Now that folks will be paying with dining plan snack credits it would mean even less money coming in.Honestly I found that QS was bonkers with a festival just because the dining plan had returned.
We also booked early June because we are bringing relatives that work in the schools with us. It will be their first trip and I was so excited for them to see flower and garden. These new dates are just so disappointing.So from the end of May till the end of August, Epcot is deadsville, nothing going on. I had gotten used to the long running festivals and will actually miss F&G this year because I changed my normal mid-may trip to late May and early June to accommodate some visiting relatives. I will be there for F&W though in September. Come on WDW, throw us a bone and do something for the early Summer months.
I agree that it is nice to not always have a party/festival going on, but I can sympathize with those who have to plan their trips so early. There was one year, I had to look back at my photos (2015), that I was at WDW and the first Halloween party was Sept. 15! It was very badly run also, massively crowded. Last year my trip was (unintentionally) during the space between festival of the Arts and Flower & Garden. You unfortunately can't count on dates until they are officially released.From reading other posts I think I may be in the minority.
While I did say in a PP that I was sad as I grew accustom to F&W being earlier I do also enjoy EPCOT just being EPCOT.
It means it will be much less of a traffic jam walking throughout the park along with more places to sit and relax.
The part that I'll miss the most is just being able to have sample sizes of food spread throughout a period of time vs taking an hour+ and becoming too full then walking in the heat and going on attractions.
But I do praise Disney for taking control back over how long the festivals are and how early in the "season" parties start and when party dates are announced.
I know it annoys people because they want to lock in their dates and plan their trips according to when certain things are or are not taking place but it had gotten to a ridiculous point especially pre C because you don't need things like MNSSHP tickets and late summer/fall FD to come out January 2nd. And you don't need a Halloween party happening practically in July. Just my opinion.
And again that is coming from someone that enjoys those things but just felt like it was getting out of hand.
Bloggers at WDW on opening days can be a rude bunch making for a stressful crowd, I would not do opening day unless it was my only choice. I’d do it if it was my only choice but I’d go in knowing it was gonna be a zoo.With this announcement, F&W starts during our vacation. How bad is it actually to go during the opening day? I'm not that concerned about ride times, just more wondering about the crowds in general. I have some time planned in epcot before F&W starts but we were hoping it would have started already and the crowds would have died down. I now only have two days to enjoy F&W before we leave.
I think the vloggers are very much a factor on the first day. They won't impact any attraction wait times -- just booth wait times, availability of tables/trashcans. It can also be really fun to see them recording their videos. But honestly some youtubers are respectful of others and others are oblivious. I'd vote Friday am for trying booths .I'll be in WDW 8-23 - 8-31. So for opening day and the next day which is a Fri. Which day do you guys think would be "busier?" We're there for over a week, so we'll definitely get to Epcot another day with no festival which will be nice actually (been 4 times and always during a festival). But we do like to try at least some of the snacks and food options during the festivals. A part of me almost thinks that opening day would be the better bet than the first Fri. But maybe Fri is better cause it probably won't get busier til later in the afternoon.
In my experience they sell out of a couple items but most are still available. I hit the booths at lunch, not dinner. Merch will be pretty wiped out so if you see something you like grab it immediately- the upside is sometimes merch goes on discount at the end of the festival.I am going the week of Thanksgiving and I am excited that Nov 23 it will still be going! We switched our reservations to Epcot... I am assuming it will be crowded... do they sell out a lot of stuff on the last day?