Epcot Festival of the Arts thoughts

[disneysteve]

We were there for day one also. We enjoyed it, but I agree with some of the negative points that have been made. It is a lot of Disney art already available around property, like in the Art of Disney stores or Marketplace Co-Op. That was disappointing. But there is also a reasonable amount of other art not sold on property.

I loved that they are using Odyssey and that they've actually remodeled the building inside. I think the Mary Blair and Herb Ryman exhibits are a bit over-hyped as both just have a handful of items. They are great to see. I just wish there were more of them.

The photo ops are run. I agree. that The Scream and Mona Lisa should be two separate things.

The CMs didn't seem organized. When we went to buy our AP t-shirt, she just had a carton of them and had to dig through to get our size. They could have at least spread them out somehow. We also spoke to Craig who said that at the media event, they were given gift cards to go around and sample the food. At the first booth, they went to pay and were told they couldn't accept gift cards.

The paint by number was fun and the CM working the booth was great.

We did not sample any food as we find those things way overpriced. We did get a drink (the sidecar with a twist) in Canada. That was tasty.

I think the overall experience was marred by the bad weather. There were supposed to be more artists set up working on art onsite but they had to stop due to the rain. Overall, though, I think the event is great. It's a nice addition. I wouldn't plan a trip around it but I'd definitely enjoy it if I was going to be there anyway.

 

[yulilin3]

Sorry, I only just saw this! I was going to say that I didn't know, but you can probably answer better than me now! Did you get to see them?

Yes, amazing performance. Same set though.

 

[Missyrose]

I have been following along with the festival offerings on Twitter and I have to disagree. The food items look more inventive than the F&W kiosks. The art classes seem really cool. The paint-by-numbers mural is an incredible community-building project. The Broadway concerts may be among the most entertaining things Disney's ever put on in a park. And the photos of artists creating art for sale in the park has seemed pretty interesting.

I don't know, I'm just thankful that Disney is spreading its wings with a completely new event that has elements for everyone.

 

[Melissa<3Disney]

I know it's still early, and I've seen some menu photos where only a few things count as snack credits from the dining plan. But did it seem like a lot of the items were available to use snack credits on or only a small amount? Just trying to budget our EPCOT day. lol

 

[Hopefully]

OP I think some of what you experienced that you did not like was secondary to really bad weather and the fact that it was the first day.
The DIS team also did a food review and found the food presentation (like art) to be great.
I have seen lots of good reviews of something just getting started.

 

[yulilin3]

Here's my review from yesterday. It started with gloomy weather but ended with blue skies, lots of artists came out to do their thing
http://disboards.com/threads/epcot-...uide-on-post-61.3564482/page-12#post-56979181

 

[yulilin3]

OP I think some of what you experienced that you did not like was secondary to really bad weather and the fact that it was the first day.
The DIS team also did a food review and found the food presentation (like art) to be great.
I have seen lots of good reviews of something just getting started.

I agree that day 1 weather was just bad. And while the food is part of this festival it is not the only part.

 

[tb1972]

I'm attending a professional conference in Orlando the week of Feb. 19th and am excited to be able to have a bit of spare time at Disney to use my DVC AP. I will have some personal time at Epcot to spend the last couple of days at the Festival. Looks interesting to me and the photos of the food seem to be more creative than F & W.

 

[disneysteve]

while the food is part of this festival it is not the only part.

True. In fact, I think it's a pretty small part. There aren't that many food kiosks. We enjoyed the festival even though we didn't buy a single food item from the festival kiosks.

 

[LittleDreamer]

So I went for the afternoon today and sadly my opinion has not changed much despite the beautiful weather.

Let me address the food, while some of it is good and some of it is well themed, it doesn't make the event for me. At most it could be 25% of the total grade since unlike the food and wine it is not the focus of the event. As I mentioned before I don't see the food kiosks as special anymore, just carts with rotating menus. This lessening the impact of good food even more for me, in evaluating the event.

While I did 2 artist out painting today, the lady in Norway and Rob Kaz by Germany. There was also a completed chalk drawing in Japan, I don't understand why they aren't doing more of them. They have started a new Paint by Numbers but it was the same picture. The wall I though was a graffiti wall actually turned out to be a professional mural that's underway. Sadly I didn't see any changes in the art tents. I was hoping that some of the Disney art was just place holding, but no they were all on the time sheet. Only 3 artist were original, Fairy House Lady, Boiled Books, Carlos Cuba. 6 others were non Disney products but available on Disney Property, Luis Sottil/Wayland Galleries, Pop Galleries (The one attached to the movie theater at Disney Springs), NameWorks, Eye Catchers, Toms, and kinda Rob Kaz (Kaz paints some Disney piece but seemed to be focusing on this non Disney character line at this event). All the others were Disney themed art lines. I really hope that in up coming weekends there is more variety or at least more exclusive pieces. What about paintings of the different pavilions somethings more uniquely Epcot. I said it felt garage sale because it felt more like stuff the mouse wanted to move instead of offering something new.

As for entertainment I haven't been able to stay for the night show, but the school bands and living statues are nice. Both these events also leave me wanting though. Art is more then just whats on a canvas. Why weren't there more musical or dancing acts? This event is the best fit out of the four events to highlight such unique cultural sounds and dances. As for the Broadway show, I grew up with musicals so I enjoy the idea of such a revue. It reminded me of when Stomp or Blast playing at the American theater, I would of loved a larger production like that.

In the end I still feel like Disney was trying to get by with doing the least with this event. I will keep my eyes open to see if the artist change in future weekends. I also hope that Disney will refine it during the run instead of waiting until it over to make decisions.

 

[Accident]

I was going to wait for next week but I had time to explore this thing today so I spent some time.. and left early.. great idea but it's 1 too many food festivals.

I liked the scattered picture spots they had, something different, people were smiling and getting their picture taken but didn' tneed a special festival.. The hidden figment thing my daughter is excited to try and intersting htat it's all indoors instead of the normal food festival outdoor hide and seeks. again didn't need a festival, they could make this a summer extra just as easy.. Kiosks.. not a single thing I would reorder, I struggled to find things I even wanted to try and what I got was deconstructed smaller than food festival portions and really out of wack seasoning wise. Just something on the plate that was too strong. nothing was throw it out bad that I tried but again I won't be going back expecting to eat at the kiosks..

Now the art.. If go to disney springs, between the 3 main places to get art you can find everything for sale, slightly lower cost and much much much more to pick from. I can't say meeting the artists was special because they've all been in town at least monthly since august so that wasn't special. If you wait it out and see one of the small towns art and wine nights (like celebration), even more from teh same artists at much much lower prices.

I didnt stay for the performances but to be honest, they didn't need to waste money creating the rest of the show..

I'm hoping the way this sounds where next week will be different art will make this special and for some reason they should opening weekend should have been everything any local has seen 100000 times sold around disney is beyond me...

My recommendation to disney.. Throw out the kiosks, invite many many many more artists to have booths, put even more singing and dance performances on the stages and you have something.. this, it's just normal disney with crazy food that nobody wants.

EDIT: I forgot about some of the art like the chalk that littledreamer mentioned. those wer einteresting, need much more of that.