One of the best things about EPCOT is the various festivals throughout the year. But if we had to choose our favorite one it would have to be the International Festival of the Arts (presented by AT&T). While all of the festivals have food, this one has food that looks beautiful. There are so many opportunities to interactive with art and it is the best way to buy a memorable piece for your home. (By the way if you are looking for an overview guide of the festival in general you can check out our article here.) This week we were invited by Disney Parks to a Media Event to get a sneak peek at new additions to this year’s event. Let’s dive in and explore all the fun new artful offerings…
Figment’s Inspiration Station
About the Building
A new addition to this year’s festival is Figment’s Inspiration Station. The Odyssey building (located between Test Track and the Mexico Pavillion) has been transformed into a space dedicated to Epcot’s favorite mascot: Figment! One of the coolest things was seeing that artwork, artifacts, and music from the original 1982 attraction have been pulled in to create the space. Make sure to check out the neon rainbow lights, Figment projections, original pin tables, and even a hidden Figment! This building actually has a few festival uses this year:
· This is the official place to get a Figment popcorn bucket (see more details below)
· Colorful food and drinks available (see more details below)
· You can find a huge booth of Disney art for sale
· (We also loved this interior bathroom spot that had Figment attraction music playing)
A New Way to Get your Hands on a Figment Popcorn Bucket
If you remember last year there was quite the craze over the most adorable Figment Popcorn bucket. This year Disney is setting things up a little differently to avoid the lines. This year you can mobile order your bucket and receive a time to pick it up at Figment’s Inspiration Station. We think this is a great update to handle the popularity of the item. This year’s bucket includes a new 40th anniversary anniversary strap too!
Figment themed treats
Figment’s Inspiration Station is also a food and drink booth offering some colorful and tasty items…
Fruit Pizza $3.75
Watermelon, Compressed Cantaloupe, Berries, and Berry Balsamic
sfgdgh This was a refreshing little treat which was a nice break from other sweet desserts. While simple in nature the presentation and refreshing flavor were great. It’s good to note that the cantaloupe almost had a gummy candy like texture. We also thought this was a great value option price wise.
Pop’t Art $4.50
Sugar Cookie with Blueberry Filling
This treat was like a Pop Tart but better as it was more flaky and like a bakery item. The blueberry flavor was fun and the colorful outside was cute.
Rainbow Cake $4.75
with freeze dried SKITTLES® bite sized candies
This cake was beautiful. It’s good to note it is one flavor and not a mix. It is a good vanilla flavor cake and buttercream, we found it is cute for a pic, but not something that is unusual or unique that you can only try here. However the Skittles on top were fun to try.
Grape Smoothie $5.50
with freeze dried SKITTLES® bite sized candies
This drink tasted JUST LIKE a purple skittle. Very grape candy in flavor and sweet, fun to try but hard for us to get through it all with all the other sweets at this spot. The cup was super cute that it comes in, and it seems a good price for the size.
Rainbow Cider Flight $10.00 (or $5.50 for a 6oz/$9.50 for a 12oz)
3 Daughters Brewing Black Cherry Hard Cider (St. Petersburg, FL)
3 Daughters Brewing Blood Orange Hard Cider (St. Petersburg, FL)
3 Daughters Brewing Passion Fruit Hard Cider (St. Petersburg, FL)
Rainbow Beer Flight $10.00 (or $5.50 for a 6oz/$9.50 for a 12oz)
81Bay Brewing Co. Green with Envy Blonde Ale (Tampa, FL)
81Bay Brewing Co. Blue Butterfly Lager (Tampa, FL)
Urban Artifact The Gadget Raspberry & Blackberry Midwest Fruit Tart (Cinncinnati, OH)
We loved seeing all of these colorful drinks. If you get both flights you can create a whole rainbow too. We found some beers were pretty standard (like the blonde ale and lager) where the ciders were certainly more fruity.
New Festival Food Booth & Dishes
We also got to see a display of new featured items this year. While we didn’t get to sample them at the event, we hope to go try them during the festival soon. We are certainly excited for some of these dishes!
Three-Meat Meatloaf with Peas and Carrots
The Artist’s Table (American Pavilion)
Green Pea Pudding, Carrot Ketchup, Shaved Carrot Salad, and Snap Peas
Duck and Dumplings
The Artist’s Table (American Pavilion)
Smoked Duck Breast, Ricotta Dumplings, Petite Vegetables, and Duck Jus
Hummingbird Cake
The Artist’s Table (American Pavilion)
Banana Cake with Pineapple, Coconut, Pecans, and Cream Cheese Frosting with Banana Sherbet
Compressed Watermelon Tataki
Moderne (near Test Track)
Pickled Watermelon Rind, Yuzu Pearls, Watermelon Foam, and Wasabi
Angry Crab
Moderne (near Test Track)
Whole Cripsy Soft-Shell Crab with Green Papaya Salad, Mango-Sriracha Fluid Gel, and Coconut-Lime Foam with Pomegranate and Mango Crush Pearls
The Tropics
Moderne (near Test Track)
Lilikoi Mousee, Guava Cake, Coconut Crèmeux, Compressed Pineapple, and Mango Gel
New Park Exclusive Merch
With every new festival comes fun new merchandise to buy. We got a peek at some of the new items available this year:
Three new Festival Figment pins
Festival Chalkboard Mug
Festival Tumbler
Figment Fruity Fig Bar Munchling
Create Your Own Magic Spirit Jersey
Figment’s Brush with the Masters Scavenger Canvas (This game is always so fun and the prize this year is a paint your own ceramic character!)
New Art
We always love perusing all of the fun art. We saw many new pieces we haven’t seen before as artists release new prints each year. We also loved seeing one of our fave artists Jason Ratner with his new Epcot piece too. Did you know what you can meet artists and have them sign your purchases during the festival?
This year’s lineup of Broadway
The Festival of the Arts offers so much entertainment. One awesome offering is the Disney on Broadway series. Actual Broadway performers with perform a variety of songs on stage. While this is a free show to attend we do recommend if you want to avoid the line to consider getting a dining package with reserved seating. (These seats make for some great views too!) Here is the schedule for this year’s performances.
We had a great time exploring some of these new offerings and event space. We even got to try our hand at some animation classes and chalk drawing, which was so fun! We can’t wait to get out and enjoy more of this year’s festival. A big thank you to Disney Parks for inviting us out.
