Hello lovely DisFriends, I present to you a cautionary tale that I personally lived through this past weekend at EPCOT.

Protagonist: Me, a hefty 28 year old female Florida resident (who should really know better by now) with skin Snow White could be envious of with dark hair. Also joined by my mom, my brother, and his fiancé (they were engaged Friday at MK, so magical)

Antagonist: The Sun. And possibly the designers of the festival, though the jury is at a deadlock as to whether or not they were purposely negligent.

Okay so it's Saturday, my second time to F&W in a week, I was hoping for a similar experience to my previous visit, kind of hot, but pleasant people, shade available, and lines that were fairly short at the kiosks (I had gone on Wednesday, for perspective).

What did I get? A beautiful cloudless sky and a heat index of a billion degrees. A great day to stay inside. But whatever, my brother was engaged, we had fast passes, and that filet mignon in Canada was calling my name. Ladies and gentleman, I have never in my life been so hot. The park felt like it reached capacity by 11am, and lines were winding from booth to booth and sometimes beyond. Shady spots taken up by people in lines for some kiosks, others were baking in the sun (Greece and Canada respectively) and people huddled everywhere, trying to eat and drink amid the jostle. I myself nearly lost a limb to a unwitting senior on a scooter. We were all sweaty and grumpy by the time we reached France. I bowed out to go home at 2, since I could no longer see straight and felt quite light headed.

I guess my issue is that better planning be done for the festival, to include shade over all lines at the kiosks, more seating with shade, and more places serving soft-serve ice cream. That last one is for my mom. Hi, Ma!

So I guess my tl;dr for this is go to Food and Wine during the week, being an umbrella for the sun (or rain, I suppose), wear lots of sunscreen, especially if you have a bald/balding head with no hat (pride has nothing on cancer, gents), and try to have fun. Don't force yourself to continue if the heat or food gets the best of you. Enjoy!