There are 29 booths at the 2013 EPCOT Food and Wine Festival including the new refreshment booth and Scotland booth. With this many booths filled with incredible food, it is no wonder we can overspend before blinking. There are a few simple way to save money at the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival without feeling emaciated or missing out on anything you love. Follow these five tips on How to save and you are sure to leave with a full tum and full wallet!
Plan Ahead
Like most money saving methods, planning ahead for the Food and Wine Festival is a primary way to make sure the budget stays. Planning ahead does not mean figuring out which country you will start in and having a game plan for the day- thank goodness. Instead, we are talking about knowing how much you can spend and where you want to spend it. If planned well, a couple can get a ton of food and have a great time with as little as $25!
The best way to do this is to first, decide on a budget. Once a budget for each person is put in place, go check out some of the food that will be offered along with the prices. The Disney Food Blog does a great job of listing all the foods along with prices and items that are new. This food list is one of my biggest commodities during the festivities; there is nothing worse than picking an item that is more than you want to spend, trying it, and realizing you got it last year and hated it just as much. Spending fail. Looking at the food options ahead of time will keep you from some of the most expensive and worst tasting pitfalls.
Note: Be sure to write down the foods that you want to try and take this list to the park. It can be as simple as a list on your phone, but it will be a handy reminder of all the amazing things you want to try... And all the not-so-great ones to avoid.
Gift Card It
EPCOT has started an amazing gift card program that can be worn around your wrist and purchased inside the park. These gift cards even come with art from this year's Food and Wine Festival! Gift cards can be purchased at almost any gift shop inside EPCOT and can have more money placed on them at almost any gift shop as well. These gift cards are great for lines when you have food from the previous booth still in your hands and feel completely embarrassed rummaging through your bag. Been there. Plus, these handy guys will keep your spending on track and make payments a breeze. Every receipt will also have the current balance left on your gift card. A bookkeepers delight.
If you and your friends/family/significant other want different food items from the park, I highly recommend getting separate gift cards for each person. This will help ensure that both are getting the same amount of food and responsible for there own spending. The hubs and I each agree on a budget, plan what we want, then go to the parks and make it happen. This is so much easier than trying to figure out how much Mary Jane spent and what we have left per person.
Time Your Meals
There is not a bad time to start your EPCOT feast, it all depends on what you want from the day. If lines are the bane of your existence, get there earlier and plan for a lunch around the World Showcase. Lines usually start picking up around 5:00 PM, so try to be finished around then.
If you prefer late eating rather than early, that is fine too. The key is to plan to eat when you would normally eat. By seeing these little mini meals as your lunch, dinner, or both, you will save a massive amount compared to those who eat around the world, then go out for a Disney meal afterwards. Personally, I enjoy getting to the park around 2:00 PM, starting my World buffet, and taking some breaks between. By doing this we are able to get enough food to count as lunch and dinner, but are not simply eating the entire day away.
Share
Let's go back to kindergarten and remember the rules of sharing with friends. When it comes to the Food and Wine Festival, sharing is the best way to try it all and stay in budget. If you and your tasting buddy are wanting to try the same thing, take this moment to save a few and share it instead. The hubs and I alternate paying for what we share to make sure that everything stays fair.
Yes, this does take some group planning or at least a little talking before each booth, but it can be totally worth it for your wallet. If the food is bad, you just saved a few on something everyone hates. If the food is too good to share another bite, you have only lost some time in line. Not the worst outcome in the history of the universe.
Savour
Finally, enjoy your time at EPCOT's Food and Wine Festival. This event only happens once per year, so take the time to enjoy it. We have done this festival in two hours and in an entire day. The moments I remember most and the times that were the most fun were those that we slowed down to enjoy. There is a ton of delicious food here and it can be hard to not run from booth to booth like Tommy Boy on speed, but taking things slow is guaranteed to make the whole day better. Savouring each booth will make each mini meal a little more tasty and stop that not-so-great feeling of eating too much too fast. When we slow down to enjoy the festival rather than the food alone, we tend to leave with a few bucks remaining on our wrist cards and our bellies quite satisfied. Now that is what I call and Food and Wine Festival win!
