2020 Epcot International Food and Wine Festival - Has Now Ended.

I disagree. They can control crowd capacity at both Epcot as a whole and at each event. I guess it’ll come down to whether it’s worth the effort for what will likely amount to half the return.
 


I’m thinking that if they are still limiting attendance through the fall (and I hope they do!), they may be able to still hold the Festival with a few modifications. While I don’t really want them to remove any booths (because I love to eat and drink all the things!!), they might need to take out a few in the areas where they are more packed in, such as the IG, the area where the Cheese Studio and Chocolate Studio are, and maybe in Germany. Then they could add in more standing tables and spread them out more. They could also get rid of the self-serve silverware and napkin dispensers and hand that stuff out at the booth with the food, have more hand sanitizer stations set up around the booths, mark up the lines for appropriate spacing, etc. I don’t typically attend the special events but I think if they cut the number of people down for each and build in appropriate spacing, they could make it work. They’d probably also have to rethink the ones that have a buffet, like the Parisian breakfast... perhaps turn them into plated events or cancel those.

The Festival is a huge money maker so I really think they are going to figure out a way to make it work. I’m one of those people that gladly overpays for small drinks and bites because I just love it so much... and there are many more people like me. 😉 We had to reschedule our March girls trip to October and we have an anniversary trip planned for November, so it just happens to be that this year we’ll be there twice during Festival time. For the October trip, we have one TS ressie for Wine Bar George and we will just roll with QS if there’s no F&W, or check for last minute ressies. For the November trip, my ADR day is Monday so I think we’ll make a few more TS than we normally would as a backup plan, and if the Festival does go on we’ll cancel them.

But if the capacity is limited, is it still a money maker?
 


But if the capacity is limited, is it still a money maker?
I's suspect it is. The actual incremental cost of a F&W booth is pretty small. Yes, they need to be staffed but those CM's are probably minimum wage. The food and preparation cost can't be that great other.
 
I's suspect it is. The actual incremental cost of a F&W booth is pretty small. Yes, they need to be staffed but those CM's are probably minimum wage. The food and preparation cost can't be that great other.

True....I guess I am thinking of training staff--those who cook and those who serve; developing the dishes (maybe they will all be repeats from previous years); staff to assemble booths and decorate the park; lectures and concerts--maybe it will happen without those; more sanitation--staff cleaning, more sanitizer stations; heck even just printing the guides. Lots of little costs add up. Variety costs money too, even in a single restaurant...the more of a single ingredient you purchase the better the price. I put myself through college working in hospitality--hotel, restaurant & catering.
 
I don't think we will hear anything about it until the parks have been open for probably about a month to see how things are.
Hoping it will be almost as good as in the past. Always has been fun.
 
I don't think there will be a festival. It takes a lot of planning months in advance. There is no way they can plan for F&W without even final plans for the park reopening. Then you will be stuck with short notice for scheduling vendors
 
I don't think there will be a festival. It takes a lot of planning months in advance. There is no way they can plan for F&W without even final plans for the park reopening. Then you will be stuck with short notice for scheduling vendors

I am sure they have been planning since last year. Whatever changes they make for the parks can still be implemented with the F & W. Hopefully, it will still happen.
 
I don't think there will be a festival. It takes a lot of planning months in advance. There is no way they can plan for F&W without even final plans for the park reopening. Then you will be stuck with short notice for scheduling vendors

Yes, I agree with you. That's the same reason we just cancelled our big birding festival, even though it's not scheduled to take place until November. The amount of planning and training necessary takes many months and it just wasn't feasible to wait until closer to know (especially since many schools are involved and not really accessible at this time) then scramble around, trying to put things together. However, in the case of the F&W Festival, I'm wondering why, if they're not going to have it, why don't they at least announce it?
 
Hoping it's still on; we're headed down in October and this would be our 3rd festival. If the festival is held, we'll be there.
 
Hoping it's still on; we're headed down in October and this would be our 3rd festival. If the festival is held, we'll be there.
Hoping it happens as well. But not overly optomistic.
If the parks open late June/early July, thats not a lot of time until F&W starts in August (if they keep the same time schedule, maybe they won't).
However, if people are slow to come back to the parks, F&W may be a way to get people into the parks
 

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