Epcot’s International Festival of the Arts
Italy Pavilion still decorated for Christmas but yet sporting spring flowers for the festival
The Christmas decorations are partially down, and Epcot is getting ready to showcase the arts at the annual International Festival of the Arts. Starting January 17 and ending February 24th, the International Festival of the Arts is a treat for the senses. Vibrant cuisine, artwork by local and international artists, performing arts, and artful photo ops are just some of the many options to explore.
A Culinary walk of colorful cuisine is one of the activities. Each guest who purchases 5 menu items (and collects a stamp with each item) from a select list, turns their palette in to Deco Delights for a festival treat. The menu items are primarily on the sweet side and include: Enchanted rose, Almond Frangipane Cake, Citrus-Braised beet tartare, Chorizo and Potato empanada, Avocado-Coconut custard tart, Raspberry pastry tart, and Deconstructed key lime pie.
Colorful Cuisine Menu
Disney has unveiled a new “limited time” Dole whip creation specifically for the festival. Raspberry Dole Whip is now available at Refreshment Outpost, which is located between the China and Germany pavilions. Of course, we needed to sample it, (for research purposes only-haha). Speaking with the cast members, most people find the raspberry too sweet and the pineapple a little too acidic. We followed the cast members’ advice and opted for a raspberry-pineapple swirl. It was absolutely delicious. The perfect combination of sweet and tart.
Raspberry-Pineapple Swirl Dole Whip
Cast members estimate that 30% of guests purchase only pineapple (after all it is a classic), whereas at least 60% purchase the raspberry -pineapple swirl. Raspberry alone only accounts for 10% of Dole whip sales at this booth.
If you can’t get to Epcot in time to try this limited edition treat, you can make raspberry and pineapple Dole Whip at home. Try purchasing Dole Whip mix from Amazon here.
After our brief snack, we realized there are numerous artful opportunities to engage your creative side. If you check your Epcot International Festival of the Arts guide book, you will find: the learn how to draw a Disney character class, sidewalk art design, and a paint by number mural.
If you want to participate in the festival at home, you can order the following learn to draw Disney characters books from Amazon.
Local Disney artists are busy creating amazing chalk art. We saw the Epcot ball, Stitch, Moana and of course classic characters such as Minnie and Mickey below. Isn’t he incredibly colorful and beautiful?
Artist’s colorful chalk rendering of Mickey Mouse
Another new thing we stumbled upon was a SINGLE RIDER LANE at Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure! Perhaps the single rider lane has been there for while; we don’t know. The wait time for Remy on a typical afternoon is usually 60 minutes. We opted to try the Single Rider Lane just to test it out at 3:45 PM on a weekday afternoon. The regular queue was 55 minutes for our test, but using the single rider lane we were on the ride in 9 minutes! As you can see from the photo below, the single rider line is to the left of the lightning lane.
Single Rider lane at Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Overall, we left very excited to return to the Epcot International Festival of the Arts and participate in additional artful experiences and perhaps even enjoy Disney on Broadway at the American Gardens Theatre.
More to come soon!
All the best,
Jennifer
