You know your friends at the DFB recommend making Advance Dining Reservations before you depart for your fabulous Walt Disney World vacation — 180 days ahead of time, if you want to be sure to snag your must-have table service reservations.

But what if you’re planning to spend time at Epcot during the International Food and Wine Festival? Do you need ADRs if you’ll be noshing around the World Showcase?

Here we share some thoughts on whether or not you need Advance Dining Reservations during the Festival!

2017 Epcot Food and Wine

Check those food booth menus!

You’re planning to attend the Festival, so you’ll want to do some advance planning by checking out our food booth menu pages, where we list all of the confirmed items for the Festival food booths — and pictures to go along with them!

Croissant Doughnut with Chocolate Hazelnut Cream and Gelato

When you’re trying to decide whether or not to make an additional ADR, you’ll want to thoughtfully consider just how many booth items you really want to try.

Not into the typically-creative, sometimes-unusual eats at the food booths? Maybe you want to ensure you get a great meal that you’re guaranteed to enjoy by making a reservation for an old favorite restaurant (or one with lots of grub for picky eaters).

Pizza at Via Napoli might be just what your picky eater needs!

Think you’ll want to try “one of each” throughout the Festival booths? Ooh, we are right there with you — but in that case you probably don’t need an ADR.

Food booth items are appetizer-sized, as a general rule, but once you start pounding back those items, they accumulate until you. are. full. It would be a shame to then have a table service ADR that you can’t even enjoy!

Refreshment Port Poutine — one of each please!

Feel the beat!

If you’re a music-lover (or just a lover of Hanson…), you might find yourself stoked for the musical portion of the Festival: Eat to the Beat! In that case, an ADR that includes an Eat to the Beat dining package might be right for you! Booking a dining package ensures you’ll get a seat for the show you want to see — and that could be an invaluable experience well worth the ADR!

And remember — this year you can get a first come, first served, counter-service Eat to the Beat Dining Package at Liberty Inn. On the day you’re at the festival, arrive at Liberty Inn at 11:30AM to lock in your dining package for that night — while supplies last!

Eat to the Beat 2018

Get into character!

Traveling with kiddos who want to meet their favorite characters (or jonesing to meet them yourself)? You might still want to book a character meal, regardless of your Festival food booth plans.

But remember that character meals can be had in all of the parks, so you might still choose to book your character meal elsewhere and save Epcot for Festival eats.

But if you must see Mickey in his overalls at Garden Grill or meet princesses in the Akershus dining hall, try to book an early morning ADR. You can enjoy the offerings, then work off some calories chasing rides until the food booths open at 11AM.

Mickey Mouse at Garden Grill in Epcot is hard to resist — even during Food and Wine!

And remember, this year at the Food and Wine Festival there’s a special character dance party for the kiddos — so that might be a way to get the characters and the food booths in one fun day!

Epcot’s International Food and Wine Festival has taken on epic proportions, so we feel your pain when it comes to deciding what to eat in addition to the food booth bites themselves. But advance planning can go a long way toward ensuring you and your family have a delicious time at the Festival.

What’s your ADR strategy during Food and Wine? Give us the skinny in the comments!