News 2018 Epcot Festival of the Arts dates revealed

aandmmagiccarpetride

aandmmagiccarpetride

Active Member
Gomer said:
I was there during the Pro Bowl last year. I wasn't tracking wait times or anything like that, but I didn't see a noticeable difference over previous years. Definitely less of an impact than when the Superbowl was in Florida when I was there back in 2009.

World Showcase was obviously a bit more crowded than usual, but I assume that was due to the festival more than the pro bowl.
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Thanks! Good to know :)
 
Wendy Pleakley

Wendy Pleakley

Well-Known Member
I was at WDW from Jan 24 to Feb 07. During that time I believe there was the Pro Bowl as well as a cheer leading competition.

I got a room discount. The same as they offered during that time frame in previous years. Play, Stay, & Dine was also available.

I can't speak to crowds compared to previous years, but it felt very manageable. I didn't notice any difference in crowd levels on specific event days compared to any other days.
 
disneygeek90

disneygeek90

Well-Known Member
Cmdr_Crimson said:
I don't think it will too bad as it deals with more Artwork rather than Consumption...But, yes they will probably have some kind of "Culinary" Art but, who knows?
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They had several stands similar to F&W last year. Lots of desserts and wine. Not as many kiosks as F&W but still probably 8-10 throughout World Showcase.
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
Wendy Pleakley said:
I was at WDW from Jan 24 to Feb 07. During that time I believe there was the Pro Bowl as well as a cheer leading competition.

I got a room discount. The same as they offered during that time frame in previous years. Play, Stay, & Dine was also available.

I can't speak to crowds compared to previous years, but it felt very manageable. I didn't notice any difference in crowd levels on specific event days compared to any other days.
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I normally go around this time. When I heard about all of this I was a bit worried and decided to hold off to read about other's reviews on how busy it has been since they added it..Good to see it's not as bad...
 
loleec

loleec

Member
We went last year on the first weekend of February (I think it was the third week of the festival). The festival was held Friday through Monday. We attended Epcot on Saturday and Monday that week. We always go to WDW that week so I have some insight of normal crowds for first week of February. It was extremely busy on the Saturday and Monday it was somewhat busier than pre-festival years. One cast member told me the Sunday attendance was very light. But here's the likely reason for heavy, heavy attendance on Saturday and light on Sunday: Sunday had a heavy rain storm forecast. The cast member figured the locals came on Saturday and avoided the Sunday storm. And I figure the locals did not come much on that Monday.
 
lnsemsf

lnsemsf

Well-Known Member
The first festival was a TREMENDOUS success. I know one of the featured artists and he said that they had met their sales goals in the first weekend that they had for the entire festival. 7 days a week only makes sense, and it should be even more successful than last year. I just hope they'll give the artists some mornings off. Based on last year, mornings do not go well for artists in a vacation hotspot. We all sure had fun though!
 
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mousehockey37

mousehockey37

Well-Known Member
Gomer said:
I was there during the Pro Bowl last year. I wasn't tracking wait times or anything like that, but I didn't see a noticeable difference over previous years. Definitely less of an impact than when the Superbowl was in Florida when I was there back in 2009.

World Showcase was obviously a bit more crowded than usual, but I assume that was due to the festival more than the pro bowl.
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I don't know what you were looking at then. We got to Orlando on Tuesday the week of the Pro Bowl. Crowds were higher than expected all week. Most rides were at least an hour wait (Mansion, Mermaid, etc.. not the top tiers, they were longer waits). The football fans all had their gear on mostly Thursday on... Friday was packed at the MK due to the players being in the park. Friday at Epcot was no better with the festival running. MK cleared out on Saturday afternoon and Sunday was wonderful.
 
Gomer

Gomer

Well-Known Member
mousehockey37 said:
I don't know what you were looking at then. We got to Orlando on Tuesday the week of the Pro Bowl. Crowds were higher than expected all week. Most rides were at least an hour wait (Mansion, Mermaid, etc.. not the top tiers, they were longer waits). The football fans all had their gear on mostly Thursday on... Friday was packed at the MK due to the players being in the park. Friday at Epcot was no better with the festival running. MK cleared out on Saturday afternoon and Sunday was wonderful.
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Luck of the draw maybe? I've gone every January/Feb since 2009. I didn't notice a significant increase overall. I was there from the Saturday prior, through the entire week, and left the Monday after the game. I stayed away from MK that Friday, because of the game and went to Epcot for the Festival so I can't speak to the player related crowds. Only noticeable difference I spotted was at Epcot on Festival days which was to be expected. I walked on Mermaid multiple times during the week pre-11am and post 5pm.(I normally don't go anywhere near Fantasyland in the afternoon so I can't speak to peak waits) Never waited more than 15 minutes for Mansion (but again, I know to avoid that line without a FP after 11:30 or so).

Studios was a bit rough with a 35 min wait for GMR and 40 for Star Tours Mid Afternoon mid-week (A bit more than I'm used to for January). Not horrible, but I blamed that more on the reduction in offerings there rather than any pro-bowl related increase but I could be wrong there. And FP+ availability was pretty good across the board for late additions so I didn't actually need to wait in those lines.

I personally didn't wait more than 30 minutes for a single ride in my entire 9 day trip. And the only increased congestion I noticed was in WS on Festival nights. Maybe I just got lucky and hit the right parks on the right days.
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
mousehockey37 said:
I don't know what you were looking at then. We got to Orlando on Tuesday the week of the Pro Bowl. Crowds were higher than expected all week. Most rides were at least an hour wait (Mansion, Mermaid, etc.. not the top tiers, they were longer waits). The football fans all had their gear on mostly Thursday on... Friday was packed at the MK due to the players being in the park. Friday at Epcot was no better with the festival running. MK cleared out on Saturday afternoon and Sunday was wonderful.
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Again...This is why I'm coming After this crud leaves when I arrive..
 
disneygeek90

disneygeek90

Well-Known Member
ChrisFL said:
how close are we to year-round festivals now?
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You can tell it’s a slow day at work…

Flower & Garden 2017: March 1 – May 29. Approx. 12.5 weeks
Food & Wine 2017: August 31 – Nov 13. Approx. 10.5 weeks.
Holiday 2017: Nov 19 – Dec 30. Approx. 6 weeks.
Festival of the Arts 2018: Jan 12 – Feb 19. Approx. 5 weeks.

That’s 34 weeks of the year, or rather 65% of the year there is a festival of sorts going on.
 
mousehockey37

mousehockey37

Well-Known Member
The one thing that I noticed with the festival was that while the artwork was neat, most of it was very similar from booth to booth, and it was all rather expensive. I get that these are artists selling their crafts (I do things in photography myself), but nothing was overly appealing/affordable to the point that I'd want to take it home. The one stand that stood out from the rest was the one that was painting the shoes.

Here's a pic from in Epcot during the Festival (Crowds weren't small to say the least):
17436340_10154941511417279_6829284362209222036_o.jpg
 
M

Mickey5150

Well-Known Member
I'd love it if Epcot went full year round festivals, minus a few weeks to switch from 1 to the other. As much as people like to complain about it this is another thing that truly sets Epcot apart from any other theme park in the world. Yes some of the additions to cost money but there are also plenty of free things included with each festival. I'm still holding out hope that Innoventions can be repurposed to host a Technology festival, which could be nice during the summer months to be indoors.
 
matt9112

matt9112

Well-Known Member
Mickey5150 said:
I'd love it if Epcot went full year round festivals, minus a few weeks to switch from 1 to the other. As much as people like to complain about it this is another thing that truly sets Epcot apart from any other theme park in the world. Yes some of the additions to cost money but there are also plenty of free things included with each festival. I'm still holding out hope that Innoventions can be repurposed to host a Technology festival, which could be nice during the summer months to be indoors.
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innovations won't exsist much longer. but look that gives them more room to pop stands up and sell weak drinks and overpriced food!
 

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