Day 3: Festival of the Arts! / Four Resorts, Two Festivals 2019
Home » Everything Disney » Walt Disney World Trip Reports »Day 3 of Four Resorts, Two Festivals 2019, the latest of my Disney Trip Reports, is here! Today we visited the final day of Festival of the Arts at Epcot – which was also the first time we have ever been to this festival!
The Four Resorts, Two Festivals 2019 Trip Report Index tells you a bit about the planning of this trip, as well as some info about us – me, Michelle; and my husband, Steve. It also, of course, has the full list of days for the trip.
Day 3: Festival of the Arts
Epcot International Festival of the Arts; Dinner from Roaring Fork
February 25, 2019
After yesterday’s fun and games, our mobility minivan was replaced in the early morning and we were on our way to Epcot to visit the final day of the Festival of the Arts!
As an advanced comment, we really enjoyed Festival of the Arts (FotA) and wish we had been able to spend more than just the one day visiting. Definitely, something we would revisit again in the future.
Today I wore purple – because of course I did – including my new Purple Potion Minnie Ears that I just LOVE!
We love visiting Epcot – especially World Showcase. It feels like an adult theme park with the various food and drink options, as well as all the festivals that they have throughout the year:
- Festival of the Arts – mid-January to end-February
- Flowers & Garden Festival – early-March to early-June
- Food & Wine Festival – end-August to mid-November
- Festival of the Holidays – mid-November to end-December
We can now say that we have visited all four!
Epcot also has some great rides and attractions but World Showcase and the different festivals seem to be where it is at!
When you are parking at any of the theme parks (Disney or otherwise) take a photo of the name of the parking lot and the row number so that you can find your car at the end of the day.
Trust me when I say you will forget by the end of the day! Even after all of these years I will still take a photograph. The one time I didn’t we had to do quite a bit of searching as we couldn’t remember what row our car was in!
We were parked in the Amaze lot, so a quick shot on the camera to remind us and we strolled towards the main entrance for the usual security check.
Security lines have been stepped up around the theme parks for a few years now, so in addition to a bag check (have your bag unzipped/opened ready for searching, including any smaller bags inside for easy and quick searching), you may also be selected to go through the metal detector or have a pat-down.
If you don’t have bags you can go through the no-bag line, but you may still be subject to the metal detector.
Once through security, we stopped to take a photo of the Figment topiary in front of Spaceship Earth (the giant golf ball!).
Figment, a small purple dragon, occasionally seen sporting a yellow sweater, is the mascot of the “Imagination!” pavilion at the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World Resort. He is extensively seen in Epcot merchandise.
Wikipedia
Figment was the center of the FotA’s display, or to give it its official name, Epcot International Festival of the Arts.
He was holding an painter’s pallet and paintbrush and was surrounded by rainbows.
Figment sat above the FotA sign, and there was a hashtag to use on social media too – #ArtfulEpcot.
The area in front of this display was busy (as it usually is) with people wanting to get photographs of it, or people posing for photographs (there is mostly always a Disney Photographer there too).
Not wanting to wait all day to get a photo I had to do a bit of stealthy and patient photography to minimize the amount of people in my photos, unlike my husband who took a photo with everyone and it’s mother in it ha!
We took a quick selfie and made our way past Spaceship Earth and into the park!
The Festival of the Arts is the newest of the annual festivals held at Epcot, and in 2019 it was just the 3rd time it was being held.
Of just the one short day we were able to visit we were really impressed with all that we laid eyes on!
It is a festival that celebrates:
- Culinary Arts
- Performing Arts
- Visual Arts
For more details about the festival check out the Walt Disney World website.
So there are food and drinks booths dotted around Epcot World Showcase, a variety of different performers around the park (check the time guides for those), and lots of artists sharing their artwork which is also available to purchase.
In addition there are quite a few topiaries on display – I guess they are put up in advance for the Flower and Garden Festival which follows quite quickly after FotA ends.
With just one day to see as much as possible, we made a beeline for the number one thing that we wanted to do – the giant paint-by-numbers mural!
We had seen this (free) activity on lots of different Disney YouTube channels and wanted to make sure we could be part of it too!
The mural is changed once it is completed and you receive a postcard of the finished design, which is pretty cool!
To take part join the line and you are given a paintbrush and a small pot of paint with a number on it.
You are allowed to paint up to five squares on the design, and then give the brush and pot back to the Cast Member at the end of mural to receive your postcard.
Don’t forget to check back during the day to perhaps see the finished design!
With our “one thing we must do” thing done, we made our way around Epcot World Showcase and the rest of the festival.