EPCOT International Festival of the Arts: Chalk Art, Animation Academy and 136 Festival Menu Items
The EPCOT International Festival of the Arts pairs a 136-item festival menu with hands-on activities that do not cost extra, including Chalk Art, Animation Academy and Artful Photo Ops. planDisney panelists Christina and Mandy worked through the festival, including the Disney on Broadway costume exhibit in CommuniCore Hall.
The EPCOT International Festival of the Arts runs on two tracks: a food festival with 136 exclusive items, and a set of hands-on art activities included with park admission. planDisney panelists Christina and Mandy spent a day working through both, and the free half turns out to be the part families remember.
Key Details
- Where: EPCOT at Walt Disney World Resort
- Festival menu: 136 exclusive offerings, 59 food items and 77 drinks
- New this year: 55 new menu additions and two new Food Studios
- Included with admission: Chalk Art, Animation Academy, Artful Photo Ops and the Disney on Broadway exhibit
- Exhibit: Once Upon A Stage: 30 Years of Disney on Broadway in CommuniCore Hall
- Costumes on display: from Aladdin, Mary Poppins, The Lion King and Frozen
The activities that cost nothing extra
Chalk Art is the easiest entry point for younger guests, and the stencils mean the results look deliberate rather than accidental. Christina's practical tip is to set a timer, so children know in advance when the station is ending rather than being pulled away mid-drawing.
Animation Academy is the other hands-on station, where a Disney artist walks a room through drawing a character step by step. Both panelists came away with a passable Goofy, which is roughly the expected outcome and the entire appeal.
Picture-perfect moments
Artful Photo Ops place guests inside large-scale artwork around the festival, with setups that reward committing to the pose. Disney PhotoPass Service is worth using here for the practical reason that it gets the parent holding the phone into the photo.
Thirty years of Disney on Broadway in CommuniCore Hall
Once Upon A Stage: 30 Years of Disney on Broadway occupies CommuniCore Hall, and admission is included with a park ticket. The exhibit gathers costumes from Aladdin, Mary Poppins, The Lion King and Frozen, with a sing-along component and a Pride Rock photo setup where guests can lift a Simba figure. For anyone with a musical theater kid, it is the single best stop in the festival.
The exhibit runs alongside the Disney on Broadway Concert Series at the America Gardens Theatre, where performers from the stage productions sing the same catalog live.
Art and food around World Showcase
The visual art side of the festival lives in World Showcase, where working artists sell and display pieces across the promenade. The food side is the larger number: 136 exclusive offerings, split between 59 food items and 77 drinks, with 55 new additions and two new Food Studios this year.
What this means for planners
Festival of the Arts is the EPCOT festival that gives the most back to guests who are not eating and drinking their way around the promenade. The activities are included with admission, they run most of the day, and they hold the attention of children who have no interest in a tasting flight. Personalized questions can be submitted at planDisney.com.