F&W as a meal?

[LJSquishy]

I planned on my husband and I purchasing 2 F&W food items per person as a meal for either lunch or dinner. Is this not enough? My husband will probably be partaking in beer & other alcoholic beverages, but I probably won't be to save money. If 2 items per person wouldn't be enough, I will probably have to skip the F&W excitement and pretend I'm not interested and just get a CS meal instead that's under $12. I estimated each F&W food item to be $6, so a total of $12 for a "meal" is what I have budgeted.

I was really looking forward to F&W but now I'm second guessing if I will be able to try some of the items while we're there. We will have a pretty limited budget for food (by choice) and I'm already going to be eating a few CS Kid's meals myself to save money so that my husband can eat whatever he wants without having to think about being concerned with prices and didn't want to have to miss out on F&W. But, if I have to in order for him to be able to enjoy the yummy foods, I definitely will. The trip itself is what matters, the food is just an added bonus.

 

[JimmyV]

There's no way for anyone else to know what would satisfy you in terms of a "full meal". Speaking only for myself, 2 items from a booth would not do it. 4 would be more like it, but if pressed could make due with 3.

 

[LJSquishy]

There's no way for anyone else to know what would satisfy you in terms of a "full meal". Speaking only for myself, 2 items from a booth would not do it. 4 would be more like it, but if pressed could make due with 3.

Thank you for your input. Is a $6 per food item an accurate estimate, or are most of the items less than that? I'm curious if a $12 food budget per person could yield 3-4 items.

 

[SouthJersey]

I planned on my husband and I purchasing 2 F&W food items per person as a meal for either lunch or dinner. Is this not enough? My husband will probably be partaking in beer & other alcoholic beverages, but I probably won't be to save money. If 2 items per person wouldn't be enough, I will probably have to skip the F&W excitement and pretend I'm not interested and just get a CS meal instead that's under $12. I estimated each F&W food item to be $6, so a total of $12 for a "meal" is what I have budgeted.

I was really looking forward to F&W but now I'm second guessing if I will be able to try some of the items while we're there. We will have a pretty limited budget for food (by choice) and I'm already going to be eating a few CS Kid's meals myself to save money so that my husband can eat whatever he wants without having to think about being concerned with prices and didn't want to have to miss out on F&W. But, if I have to in order for him to be able to enjoy the yummy foods, I definitely will. The trip itself is what matters, the food is just an added bonus.

It depends on your choices. Some selections are smaller and lighter than others, so it's hard to put a figure on it. For comparison, I'd say a large sized burger from Red Robin and fries is more filling than 4-5 items from the kiosk, but that's depending on which items.

 

[roselark]

Take a look at last year's menus and prices. They might go up a little this year, and some items will be different, but this should help.

http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2012-epcot-food-and-wine-festival-marketplace-booths-and-menus/

 

[DLgal]

F&W is not budget friendly, sorry. The portions are small. It's a great experience, but I blew through $100 in two days and it was just me.

 

[SouthJersey]

F&W is not budget friendly, sorry. The portions are small. It's a great experience, but I blew through $100 in two days and it was just me.

^This.

Not to mention the drink specials. $6 ice wine, about a 1 oz. pour in Canada lol.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

I just replied to your post in the other thread. If you'd like to see more pictures that show some scale of the tasting plates, I have a thread here with 2011 photos: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2827896 There are more from 2012 on my blog. I'd be happy to set up an album to show you.

 

[LJSquishy]

Thank you all so much! It looks like I may be passing up on F&W and letting my husband enjoy the offerings but that is okay with me. I will likely pick one thing to sample if something really sounds good. Luckily there is Tangierine Cafe at Epcot which I do love, or I may try something new. We are not going until October of next year (2014) so I'm sure prices will be even higher then. Thank you all! Melissa, I really enjoyed your photos & reviews!

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

My suggestion would be...since you are not going until October of 2014 you have 13 months to save up an extra $100 and you can use that extra money for food and wine samples. If you are only going one or two days that $100 might be enough. That is less than $10 a month between now and then. You could probably come up with that much money just by saving your loose change.

 

[suzimar57]

that is a great suggestion for you to save up $100 over the next year to bring for the F&W

it would be a shame for you to see an item or two you'd like to try, but not have the money for while you're there.....

i agree with the other poster above - going alone over 2 days myself a few years ago, i went thru at least $100 (and only food, no alcohol!)

start a savings jar today!!

 

[TDC Nala]

Two items would not be a full meal as far as I am concerned. Four might. You will run through $100 very quickly, especially if you are purchasing alcoholic beverages as well as food.

Lobster at the booth will run you near $8. Anything with red meat will be in the $6.50 - $7 range. Some seafood and poultry might be a little less. Desserts around $4. Alcohol will be about $6-10 per serving depending on what you select. Portions are small. You can buy a 12 oz or 24 oz beer at many places but most wine pours and cocktails will not be a full glass.

I agree, if you're not going for another year, start a Festival Fund. Put in loose change, or small bills when you have them available. Then maybe you won't have to eat kids' meals while your husband has the festival food.

 

[nessz79]

I'd do 3-4 items for lunch and then do a TS dinner. That's DH's and my preferred method.

 

[LJSquishy]

Thank you all for your suggestions. It isn't that we don't have the money for F&W, we certainly do, I just have a set budget in mind allocated for our dining costs for the week and I don't want to keep bumping it up everytime I see something yummy to try. I would be bumping it up every month!

 

[the who #3]

i usually go to epcot for 3 or 4 days and eat all around the world. there are a few items that i may not like so i do not finish them.

if i buy a f&w pass for 125.00 that will take care of it. i usually eat a good breakfast and head to epcot about 1 or 2 in the afternoon and take my time eating around the world. i don't like beer and only drink a little wine, so my money goes a little farther. that is enough to satisfy my hunger all day and i don't need another meal. the only problem is, it is nice to have a relaxed sit down meal. we do that sometimes just for the relaxation.

when we go for f&w we plan to spend that money for the foods there. otherwise if would go to disney another time.

 

[Tanyabeth8]

Maybe you could split two items from the F&W kiosks and also split one larger counter service meal in your favorite country. It would cost the same as your original plan and you'd still get the F&W experience plus it would fill you up more.

 

[Redheaded Sunshine]

I'm not sure how set in stone your vacation plans are at this point, but you could consider a DDP for your trip....we save a majority of our snack credits for "eating around the world." We usually pick 1, MAYBE 2 things from a booth we like and share it. (Except Australia....we get our own lamb chop) We only get one or 2 bites from whatever you may be trying at the time, let it digest and try another. We do end up spending a good bit on alcohol, but we definitely end up very full from just snacking round the world. You could even do this with a quick service dining plan. Just a thought.

 

[DCDisney]

Some of the dessert and side dish items were less than $6 but anything meal-like was more than $6 and the portions are small. I have food allergies so couldn't try anything but a drink and the 2 teens I was with each picked 4 items to share and that did not replace a meal it was more like a large snack to a teen tummy. A few of the things they picked didn't taste as expected so a bit went to waste though usually if 1 didn't want more the other did. Mostly they picked desserts and cheese/side items. It was fun and memorable and worth the about $30 each of the adults spent for each of our drink and the snacks for our kids to share. If you put $50 towards an afternoon I think you'd be very pleased.

 

[kanadar]

my family and I share almost all of the items from the kiosks. There are a few items that we all want our own (pierogi from Poland bc theirs only one and we love pierogi) but for the most part we share it all. That works for us and we definitely get our fill of food. I don't know how I would only pick 2 items anyway.