Epcot International Festival of the Arts | Walt Disney World Resort

Happy Wednesday everyone! I know it’s been a while since my last post (almost 12 days, yikes!). In fact, I’m pretty sure this is the longest I’ve gone without posting since I first launched this blog back in 2013 (side note, I can’t believe this blog is turning FOUR years old later this year?! Man does time fly by!). I’ve just been super sick lately (I’ve literally been coughing non-stop for the past three days, which is odd because the weather has been beautiful here in Chicago) and although I’ve wanted to post, I just didn’t feel up to it. That’s one of my favorite things about having a blog, I have the powerful (if you read that in He-Man’s voice then you’re awesome) to update as often as I want! As some of you may know (especially if you follow me on Instagram), I spent last week (and a part of the week before that) at Disney World (aka my second home) exploring the (first ever) Epcot International Festival of the Arts. Although I wasn’t planning on visiting Disney World again until March (for the kickoff of the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival), after hearing more details about the Epcot International Festival of the Arts I knew I HAD to check it out (what kind of Disney lover/annual passholder would I be if I didn’t?). So, I decided to take an impromptu trip (I literally planned and booked the trip FOUR DAYS before hand) to Florida! Traveling and Disney are two of my favorite things so whenever the opportunity to combine the two arrives, I JUMP at it!
The Epcot International Festival of the Arts, which runs Fridays through Mondays from January 13 – February 20, 2017, is all about the arts: visual art, culinary art (which just so happens to be my favorite kind of art), and the performing arts.
Is it just me or does anyone else love collecting Epcot passport books?
One of the many highlights of the festival were the awesome living statues (yup, those are actual real life people!). It was so cool watching them set up their little spaces, get into position and pose.
Of course it wouldn’t be a “festival of the arts” without art! There was so much amazing art (both Disney and non-Disney) to see (and purchase) throughout the festival (I really loved that Goofy portrait above!). If you couldn’t tell from my many art museum posts, I LOVE art!
I was so excited when they announced the arrival of a new Figment topiary! Seeing it definitely got me excited for the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival!
There was a lot of awesome entertainment during the Epcot International Festival of the Arts including bands, singers and even an acapella group!
One of the highlights of the Epcot International Festival of the Arts was definitely the Disney on Broadway Concert Series (as you all know, I LOVE Broadway!). The performances vary depending on the week you visit but I was lucky enough to see Ashley Brown & Josh Strickland perform songs from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, Mary Poppins, Tarzan and The Little Mermaid. What made the performance even more special was the fact that Ashley was the original Mary Poppins on Broadway and Josh was the original Tarzan on Broadway!
Another thing that I really loved about the Epcot International Festival of the Arts were all of the different workshops you could attend. I got to attend the Floral Arranging class were we got to design a Tinker Bell-inspired arrangement with a little faith, trust and pixie dust!
How adorable is that merch?
Now time for my favorite thing about the Epcot International Festival of the Arts: THE FOOD! Can we just take a second to talk about how awesome that Artist Palette Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookie is?!These Trio of Savory Croissant Doughnuts (which included a Whipped Herb Cream Cheese with Sea Salt Croissant Doughnut, a Chicken Mousse with Fresh Herbs & Everything Bagel Seasoning Croissant Doughnut and a Spicy Tuna with Sriracha Mayonnaise and Sesame Seeds Croissant Doughnut) were so yummy!
Although I wasn’t a huge fan of how this Almond Frangipane Cake layered with Raspberry Jam and Chocolate tasted, I can’t deny how gorgeous (and arty) it looked!
I was a huge fan of the Classic Reuben with Shredded Corned Beef, Thousand Island Dressing, and Pickled Red (so yummy!).
I was so impressed with the Figment White Chocolate Puzzle Art Painting! How creative is that? After you put your white chocolate Figment puzzle together, you got to decorate it with paint (aka icing), M&M’s and sprinkles!Although there was a lot of delicious food at the Epcot International Festival of the Arts, my favorite definitely had to be the Braised Short Rib with Parsnip Purée, Broccolini, Baby Tomatoes and Aged Balsamic (I may or may not have had it multiple times during my trip!).
Dessert wise, my favorite thing at the Epcot International Festival of the Arts was hands down the Pop’t Art aka a Modern-design Sugar Cookie with Chocolate Hazelnut Filling. It was AMAZING!
All in all, I was super impressed with the Epcot International Festival of the Arts and I can’t wait to see how it develops and grows over the years!