The Top 5 Must-Dos at the Epcot International Festival of the Arts

Recently I told you about the 2nd annual Epcot International Festival of the Arts kicking off at Walt Disney World on January 12. Now that I have had the opportunity to enjoy a day at this year’s festival, I thought I would share with you the newest installment in my Disney Must-Dos series, The Top 5 Must-Dos at the Epcot International Festival of the Arts.

5. Watch Art

I love this festival because it focuses on visual arts, performing arts, and culinary arts so there is something for everyone to enjoy. At the Fountain View Plaza in Future World you can watch art in several forms from 9:50am-5:00pm. The week we visited you could see “Art Defying Gravity”, “Disney Performing Arts Showcase”, Visual Art in Performance”, and “Living Statues” on this stage.

In Future World East you can watch the chalk artists create masterpieces on the walkways. There are 4 new chalk art pieces created each day Friday-Thursday, if you visit on Thursday you can see all 28 pieces for the week before they are washed away!

4. Create Art

There is a community art wall aka Expression Section in World Showcase Plaza where everyone in the family can get involved and help paint part of a wall mural. We were given a color and a number and asked to paint any 3 squares of that number, I was #7 yellow and Ron was #11 which was a red-orange. It was fun to be a part of that project, no real painting skills required.

In the Odyssey Festival Showplace there is a free Animation Academy held intermittently daily between 2pm-8:30pm. Daily seminars are offered at 1:30pm and 4:30pm where guests can discover tricks of the trade and find out more about the basics of art. Topics for these seminars include From Animated Films to Theme Parks, Food as Art, Photography 101:Take Better Photos with your Cellphone, The Art of Disney Topiary, and many more. There is also a daily workshop for $39 + tax per person. The topics vary by day but include topics like Animation, Cartoon Portraits, and Calligraphy. These workshops can be booked onsite or by calling 407-WDW-TOUR

The easiest way for guests to create art is to step into the famous paintings that are a part of the Artful Photo Ops! We had very short waits to take part in George Washington Crossing the Delaware, The Scream, and Mona Lisa. Artful Photo OPs are listed in your park map.

3. Eat Art

No Epcot Festival would be complete without creative food choices. Food studios including The Deconstructed Dish, Decadent Delights, The Painter’s Palate and Pop Eats! showcase the beautiful and delectable culinary arts and prove, yet again, that we eat with our eyes first.

2. Buy Art

I’ve already made a note to bring more money to next year’s Epcot International Festival of the Arts. Throughout the park there are artist tents where you can view and purchase not only Disney themed art, though there is a lot of that 🙂 but there is other art as well. I picked up some small pieces by Jerrod Maruyama, and I am still haunted by one I had to leave behind. I also fell in love with pieces from Karin Arruda and Michelle St Laurent. Most of the pieces I loved were reasonably priced, between $40-300, with some going into the tens of thousands. I would say there is something for every budget though.

1. Listen to Art

The highlight of the festival is the Disney on Broadway Concert Series in the American Gardens Theater. I wish I could travel from Florida to NYC to see a Broadway musical a few times a year but that just isn’t a reality. I do get to be transported to Broadway, albeit way too briefly, when I attend the Disney on Broadway Concert Series. This visit we got to hear the husband-wife duo of Kara Lindsay (Newsies) and Kevin Massey (Tarzan). They sang songs from Disney on Broadway’s Tarzan, Newsies, and Frozen. They were wonderful! I am hoping to return the first weekend in February to catch Kissy Simmons and Alton Fitzgerald White, both of The Lion King. The concert series is only offered Friday-Monday with shows at 5:30pm, 6:45pm, and 8:00pm nightly.

The Epcot International Festival of the Arts is included in park admission, there are some premium activities that have additional fees. The 2018 festival runs from January 12-February 19. I hope you make plans to attend. If you need help with those plans, I am a Disney travel agent so please “Email Me and we will get started.