gardengalB4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2008
Is there a Chase lounge during this festival?
Oh wow. The food and the mural look great. If I may ask 2 questions, Which item was sold out when you went? I'll get there early if it's something I really want to try. And did you notice if the AP shirts had a good size stock? We won't be there until 2/5. Thanks!
I didn't sorryThanks for all the details, @yulilin3! I'm really glad I've scheduled a little extra time in Epcot for our trip.
It looks like that margarita is regular size - did you happen to notice if any of the other beverages were?
No, this festival is not Sponsored by ChaseIs there a Chase lounge during this festival?
I just bought the AP shirts in innoventions today. They had the larger sizes- XL, XXL, and XXXL. Someone said they went to Odyssey and only had the the smaller sizes- S, M, L. The CM said they were selling them very quickly and will more than likely sell out.
I've done the 5:30 and 6:45 and it's the sameDoes anyone know if the three daily shows in the American Gardens theater have the same playlist? I imagine they likely do, but if they're singing different songs each show, we may want to catch a second show.
yes the animation academy is free. Starts at 12:15pm and the classes are on the hour until 6:15pm, they take 33 people per classDoes anyone have any information concerning the classes you pay for? The one that is on the day we are there sounds interesting, but for a family of 5, costly. So I was wondering if it is worth it? Everyone (except DH) is psyched for the animation studio. That was our favorite part of DHS. That is free, correct?
I asked once before and never got an answer so I'll ask again since it was on the first few pages. Does the dining package for the concert series accept the dining plan? I thought perhaps it was like candlelight processional.
Those that went this past weekend and did animation academy what was the wait time...similar to when in HS?
TIA
We just got back from our trip last night so I thought I'd mention a few things about our first Epcot festival experience. We checked out Epcot for about five hours on Saturday night and two hours yesterday afternoon.
Compared to our full Epcot day on Monday (01/09), crowds were kind of insane. I expected big crowds because of the festival's first week + MLK weekend, but seeing long lines for everything (as opposed to almost no lines on Monday) was still a bit surprising. It probably didn't help that the weekend was much warmer than it was earlier in the week.
We participated in the 5:15 Animation Academy class on Saturday. We were told each class could accommodate 32 people, but as yulilin mentioned, I think 33 is the actual count since there was an empty seat next to me. The CM started turning people away just before 5:00. We drew Goofy, and while it was neat to see the animator's process, the class wasn't quite as fun as I'd hoped. We didn't have time for the class on our first HS visit, and by our trip last year, the class was gone, so we were so excited to see it come back for the festival. All the reviews I'd seen made the class seem like a must-do (esp. since 2/3 of my party are artistically inclined), but it was just okay. When you leave the class, you're offered a bag to keep your drawing safe. We took the bag but ended up just folding our papers because we were pretty sure they wouldn't survive the rest of our day anyway.
Out of all of the festival food available, we only tried the wild mushroom risotto from Canada and the gingerbread funnel cake from the US. We are fairly adventurous eaters, but nothing else really appealed to us, especially for the prices they were asking. We did enjoy both of the things we bought though! The wild mushroom risotto was SO good, even if it was only half a small cup for $9. Split between the three of us, it definitely wasn't enough, but for one person, it could be. We especially enjoyed watching the chef take out the tweezers for the garnish! The gingerbread funnel cake had only a hint of gingerbread flavor, but we thought that was better than having it taste like a Michaels store. We devoured it pretty quickly!
The three of us each got a map for the scavenger hunt so we could get three of the Figment prizes. When we purchased the maps, we gushed over how much we liked the prize pins, and the CM let us know that they were actually magnets. He also mentioned that a lot of people had already expressed their disappointment over the prizes not being pins. I figured I could always just turn them into pins, but now that they're on our fridge, I think they might just stay there!
We started the scavenger hunt on the Canada side, and that ended up being the only one we couldn't find (though tbh, we gave up on that one pretty quickly). Once we realized we were looking for Figment frames (wish they'd sell small versions of these!), it made the hunt a lot easier. We probably wouldn't have found the China one either if the Kidcot CMs hadn't offered their help in Chinese. We must have looked very lost, and very Chinese - both accurate. The "painting" is right at the main doorway of the gift shop. If you walk through that door, you'll have to turn around to see it.
We didn't spend a lot of time looking at the art booths, but we did ooh and ah over a lot of the art as we passed by. We were particularly impressed with the chalk art! We got to see one being worked on and one completed. Anyone know how long the completed pieces will stay around? I'm thinking they start over each day, but that seems like such a waste.
We really loved the photo ops with the art backdrops! There were long lines for all of them (including the ones in Future World), but they moved quickly.
Of all of the festival's events, we were most excited for the Broadway performances. Unfortunately, we didn't realize how long it would take us to walk around World Showcase on Saturday, so by the time we got back to America, the final performance was more than half over. We really enjoyed what we saw/heard though, and the Frozen finale blew us away! There were plenty of seats available, and we were able to sit somewhere in the middle without squeezing past anyone.
There wasn't as much festival-specific merchandise as I'd hoped, but I suppose Disney wanted to play it safe for the first year (or they couldn't get it in time). We really wanted pins of Figment holding a paintbrush (like on the tote bags), but there were, surprisingly, zero event pins. That was probably our biggest disappointment for the festival.
And I'm going to end the novella here!
Those that went this past weekend and did animation academy what was the wait time...similar to when in HS?
TIA
Thanks so much for the review! That'll help me plan. Quick question, did the long lines for food seem to stay pretty steady throughout the day or worse as it got towards evening? Thanks!
They sent an email to apholders with a link to follow and I believe all the spots are taken by nowI've tried looking for the answer to this and probably am overlooking it, but how did the AP reserved seating for the show work? I've got to buy my AP later this week, and I'm trying to figure out of its worth buying the AP now vs buying tickets and upgrading when I get there next month. Or I can just try to book the dining package for the late show. I only have from 2-close on the last Sat of the festival. I was considering flying in a day early, but then my car broken down in a very expensive way.