I went to the first day of the Art Festival yesterday, and was surprised and disappointed by the higher than normal prices at the food kiosks. This is compared to similar portion sizes and ingredients at the other festivals held throughout the year in EPCOT.
I’ve been an annual passholder for a few years now, and every year I seem to be on the fence as to whether I want to renew or not. There seems to be more and more negative each year – the upcharge events that seem to annoy me more each time I hear about a new one, the fact that I don’t even bother going to DHS anymore because half of the park is under construction, the constant and unrelenting crowds at the Magic Kingdom, and the new Premium fee-based Fastpass service at Disneyland (which could easily make it’s way over to the Disney World Parks). I did decide to renew again in November 2016 (and that one free extra month did factor into my decision making process), but the main reason I decided to renew was for the EPCOT Festivals. I love the Flower & Garden Festival…I love the Food & Wine Festival…I even love the food kiosks that pop up for the limited-time Holidays Around the World. But I’m not at all impressed by the Arts Festival (even though I do realize it was just the first day). I had other problems with the Art Festival outside of the food, but I’m limiting this “rant” to the food only.
First the higher prices, especially compared to comparable items at the other festivals. The single scallop dish I bought yesterday at Cuisine Classique was $6.25, whereas the single scallop dish at the 2016 Food & Wine Festival was $5.50 (and was also more generous with the accompaniments). The desserts at F&G and F&W usually range from $3.50-$4.00. But for the 2 desserts I tried yesterday, one was $6.50 and the other was $6.75, and that was for similar if not smaller portions sizes. I found this to be the trend for all of the menu items I tried yesterday, higher prices for the same portion size (and even worse, sometimes higher prices AND small portions). One of the worst values I came across was $9 for what turned out to be a medium-size “scoop” of risotto, hardly more than a few bites.
There is artsy “plating” to some of the dishes, and maybe Disney thinks that justifies what I see as pretty significant price increases across the board. But this artsy plating was also causing long delays in getting your food at some of the kiosks. Understandably this was the first day of the festival with new dishes for each kiosk to make, but it was also a very slow day in terms of attendance (because of the rain). After ordering the previously mentioned and extremely overpriced risotto form Masterpiece Kitchen, I waited close to 15 minutes to get it. I kept thinking, why is it taking so long to put a scoop of rice in a cup? Well, the problem was the Charcuterie Palette sold at the same kiosk. Instead of the meat and cheese plate being made ahead of time and stored in a refrigerator in the kiosk (like they have done during other festivals), each plate is made to order which takes absolutely forever.
If you’ve ever been to an EPCOT festival, you how busy the front of those kiosks can get while people wait for their food, even if that wait is only 2-3 minutes. Now imagine people having to wait in front of the kiosks for 15+ minutes, with the group of people waiting getting bigger and bigger with each passing minute, and the line getting longer and longer because so much time needs to be dedicated to preparing just one of the multiple menu items. People were not happy, and this was on a slow day. A busy day could turn into a nightmare really quickly. Disney is usually pretty efficient with their festival food prep, but not at this Arts Festival.
Like I said, I’m all about the festivals at EPCOT. As a local, I'm lucky to be able to visit EPCOT on many days during any given festival event, especially with the longer festivals. And I’m a repeat buyer, once I find the individual menu items I like I can easily buy each of those individual menu items 5-6 more times over the course of the festival. That’s a lot of money Disney makes off my love of food. But of the 5 menu items I tried at the Arts Festival yesterday, I would not get any of them again, and certainly not at their current price point. While for the most part they tasted fine, none of them blew me away or came even close to justifying what I paid for them.
I’ve been an annual passholder for a few years now, and every year I seem to be on the fence as to whether I want to renew or not. There seems to be more and more negative each year – the upcharge events that seem to annoy me more each time I hear about a new one, the fact that I don’t even bother going to DHS anymore because half of the park is under construction, the constant and unrelenting crowds at the Magic Kingdom, and the new Premium fee-based Fastpass service at Disneyland (which could easily make it’s way over to the Disney World Parks). I did decide to renew again in November 2016 (and that one free extra month did factor into my decision making process), but the main reason I decided to renew was for the EPCOT Festivals. I love the Flower & Garden Festival…I love the Food & Wine Festival…I even love the food kiosks that pop up for the limited-time Holidays Around the World. But I’m not at all impressed by the Arts Festival (even though I do realize it was just the first day). I had other problems with the Art Festival outside of the food, but I’m limiting this “rant” to the food only.
First the higher prices, especially compared to comparable items at the other festivals. The single scallop dish I bought yesterday at Cuisine Classique was $6.25, whereas the single scallop dish at the 2016 Food & Wine Festival was $5.50 (and was also more generous with the accompaniments). The desserts at F&G and F&W usually range from $3.50-$4.00. But for the 2 desserts I tried yesterday, one was $6.50 and the other was $6.75, and that was for similar if not smaller portions sizes. I found this to be the trend for all of the menu items I tried yesterday, higher prices for the same portion size (and even worse, sometimes higher prices AND small portions). One of the worst values I came across was $9 for what turned out to be a medium-size “scoop” of risotto, hardly more than a few bites.
There is artsy “plating” to some of the dishes, and maybe Disney thinks that justifies what I see as pretty significant price increases across the board. But this artsy plating was also causing long delays in getting your food at some of the kiosks. Understandably this was the first day of the festival with new dishes for each kiosk to make, but it was also a very slow day in terms of attendance (because of the rain). After ordering the previously mentioned and extremely overpriced risotto form Masterpiece Kitchen, I waited close to 15 minutes to get it. I kept thinking, why is it taking so long to put a scoop of rice in a cup? Well, the problem was the Charcuterie Palette sold at the same kiosk. Instead of the meat and cheese plate being made ahead of time and stored in a refrigerator in the kiosk (like they have done during other festivals), each plate is made to order which takes absolutely forever.
If you’ve ever been to an EPCOT festival, you how busy the front of those kiosks can get while people wait for their food, even if that wait is only 2-3 minutes. Now imagine people having to wait in front of the kiosks for 15+ minutes, with the group of people waiting getting bigger and bigger with each passing minute, and the line getting longer and longer because so much time needs to be dedicated to preparing just one of the multiple menu items. People were not happy, and this was on a slow day. A busy day could turn into a nightmare really quickly. Disney is usually pretty efficient with their festival food prep, but not at this Arts Festival.
Like I said, I’m all about the festivals at EPCOT. As a local, I'm lucky to be able to visit EPCOT on many days during any given festival event, especially with the longer festivals. And I’m a repeat buyer, once I find the individual menu items I like I can easily buy each of those individual menu items 5-6 more times over the course of the festival. That’s a lot of money Disney makes off my love of food. But of the 5 menu items I tried at the Arts Festival yesterday, I would not get any of them again, and certainly not at their current price point. While for the most part they tasted fine, none of them blew me away or came even close to justifying what I paid for them.