Planning your trip around a festival at Epcot? Comparing them?

We've been to all four now.

Flower and Garden
Pros:
- The topiaries and displays are beautiful - gives you a little something more to enjoy than the festival and you can walk away with cool photos and keepsakes
- IMO, March/April/May is the best time to visit Disney. Sure, you may run into the occasional cold front, but April is a typically dry month in Orlando and it's not too hot.
- The food and season mesh a bit more. It's hot outside, and most dishes at F&G are light and refreshing

Cons:
- May coincide with Spring Break - meaning higher prices/airfare, etc.
- Comparatively speaking, not a TON going on at Disney outside of the festival - unless you go during Easter. Even then it's kinda dead. We usually use this trip to really enjoy F&G and relax by the pool.

Food and Wine
Pros:
- The OG foodie festival. The emphasis is very much on the food
- A lot going on at Disney - there's the Halloween Party at MK.
- Usually cheaper given the time of year
- Fall and eating go hand-in-hand. It's comfort food season!
- Potential to be a bit cooler

Cons:
- Potential to be hot. F&W has heavier foods, which don't mesh well
- It's the most popular festival and draws a crowd
- It's during MNSSHP, so MK may close early some nights during your trip.
- Could be hurricane season, depending on when you travel
- Could see some rain toward the end of hurricane season

Festival of the Holidays
Pros:
- It's grown. Disney has added a few more booths and far more interesting dishes.
- Definitely improves the holiday experience
- The Holidays at Disney is the best
- Potential for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Cons:
- Less offerings than the other festivals
- Feels like an afterthought in the grand scheme of offerings
- Could be cold (been there when it's been like 30 degrees at night)
- Not enough offerings for a foodie
- Very few "demonstrations" or showcases
- Could be very crowded depending on when you go

Festival of the Arts
Pros:
- Cool dishes with very cool plating
- Totally instagram-able dishes
- Different offerings than the F&W and F&G
- Feels on-brand for Disney. Shows behind the scenes behind your favorite Disney characters and Imagineering
- During the off-peak time at Disney, so will be cheaper

Cons:
- Not a ton going on during this time
- Can be cold
- Depending on where you're coming from, you could have delays due to snow
- Feels like a giant farmers market or flea market with vendors
 
Another vote for F&G plus....Garden Rock Series will expand to seven days a week — which means there will be 270 concerts over the 90-day Festival!
 
Reading this thread makes me so excited for our upcoming April trip during F&G! I was kinda bummed to be missing F&W next year since we love it so much, but reading all your comments has me really looking forward to experiencing the topiaries and some new food booths.
 
For us it's almost a toss up between the F&W and F&G festivals but still leaning towards the F&W. That being said I'd suggest you go try the F&G to experience it at least once yourself.
 


I have been a big fan of both Food and wine and F@G but will admit I miss a lot of things eliminated over the last 3 years or so. F@W and F@G formerly used the festival center 7 days a week for demos which we loved. there were originally 3 food demos with a wine pairing each day for about 12 dollars plus 3 wine demos and mixed drinks per day. They dropped the wine and raised the price of the food demos, and raised the price each time since. We formerly did multiples each day and loved it, we do 1 or 2 per festival now. Celebrity chefs did the demos regularly, loved the Cake Boss and more and cookbook signings accompanied many. Wine demos from wineries all over the world with bottle signings and really knowledgeable vintners to listen to. F@G had sponsorship from HGTV and others and their stars did demos on plants, garden design etc. Now both festivals reduced to weekend events only for F@G, closed m-th, F@W nearly the same. We still go to both but the draw has been reduced about 50% for our family and friends. Very happy to see bands expanding to 7 nights though and will keep attending but probably once or twice a year rather than 2 trips for each festival.
 
flower and garden is the best of them. crowds are usually pretty manageable and the flower displays are amazing. food and wine is a close second. but, the crowds are always insane making it not as good. festival of the arts started out really good. but, was very disappointing last year when they didn't change anything from the first year and had the exact same stuff from the year before.
 


I love Food and Wine and Flower and Garden equally. The Arts one is lower on the list for me. It was ok, but I would never plan a trip around it whereas I would book just to see F&W or F&G
 
Amazing! I'm so sad to have missed F&W this year, since it's become an annual tradition... but I had no idea that so many people love F&G so much. I always thought F&W was the king of the events and now I might have to go in May!
 
We went to both this year. We were in Epcot last week for F&W and I actually took pictures of how dull the gardens looked.

F&G has great foods and drinks and is so incredibly visually stunning compared to F&W. Both are great - but you will not regret a spring trip!!
 
We normally always go in October and experience Food/Wine. We actually love Epcot during a festival, brings an added excitement to the park (yes, with crowds too). We stay 9 nights total and and stay at the Epcot resort area just to allow us extra time to enjoy it all.

Next trip we are thinking of going during first two weeks of May to do the Flower and Garden festival. We love going to the Botanic Gardens in the neighborhoods where we live, so I thought this would be a great festival.

Those who frequent flower/garden, do you find you spend more days at Epcot due to festival to enjoy all the displays? How are the food booths - I know not as many as food/wine, but are they good?

We also chose May because we like the heat! :)

Let me know your thoughts on Flower/Garden! Do you enjoy it as much as food/wine? less or more?

Edited to add- I'm also interested in the festival of the Arts, but we live in Chicago and I dislike planning trips in January due to the weather here and flying out, but talk to me about that festival too!

I liked F&G much more than F&W. Did both this year. I wasn't super impressed with the offerings at F&W, and even though F&G had less I enjoyed it more and there was far more non-food atmosphere to experience. I also felt much more "marketed" to at F&W.

As an aside, I'm very envious of your proximity to Chicago but less envious of the winter you're about to endure!
 
I liked F&G much more than F&W. Did both this year. I wasn't super impressed with the offerings at F&W, and even though F&G had less I enjoyed it more and there was far more non-food atmosphere to experience. I also felt much more "marketed" to at F&W.

As an aside, I'm very envious of your proximity to Chicago but less envious of the winter you're about to endure!

You know, I'm lucky. We live in the city and our CTA (as maddening as it can be) is actually pretty great. So I honestly love the winter! We are lucky to have a garage spot, so we just leave the car and take the L everywhere when it's bad out! :)
 
You know, I'm lucky. We live in the city and our CTA (as maddening as it can be) is actually pretty great. So I honestly love the winter! We are lucky to have a garage spot, so we just leave the car and take the L everywhere when it's bad out! :)
Oh, I'm a frequent visitor. My birthday visit a few years back (fall) was brutal though. I didn't pack for winter and wasn't expecting snow. We did public transit the whole time and still almost froze. You're made of sterner stuff than I!
 
We have only done F&W and its our favorite and go back most years. The food, wine, beer and number of kiosks cannot be beat. The special meal pairings don't occur any other time that I am aware of. Really crowded on the weekends.
Flower and Garden - the topiaries are amazing and much more plentiful than usual. Love the butterfly house. Fewer kiosks and not as big of variety of food. Not as crowded as F&W.
We spend 3 days at EPCOT during F&W, 1 1/2 -2 at the most for F&G.
 
Speaking of the Flower and Garden festival, when do they typically announce the acts for the concert series for this?
 

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