by Beth Keating
Theme Park Life
DisneyBizJournal.com
June 22, 2024
We went to EPCOT recently, using it as our park hopping entry park in order to get in to the Passholder previews at Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at Magic Kingdom. We didn’t need to be at Magic Kingdom until 1:00 p.m. for the virtual queue check in, so we decided to make use of the morning, and maybe grab some lunch at EPCOT before heading to Magic Kingdom.
The thing is, something felt “off” about EPCOT that day. The crowds were lower, there wasn’t as much energy, and the sound levels were even somewhat lower than normal. It was hard to put a finger on why it felt so different than any other summer day.
The park felt empty – more empty than just from the lower crowds. Sure, the construction walls were down, and that opened up a lot of space, and the new CommuniCore Hall was wide open, but it still seemed like more than that.
When we hit World Showcase, the answer became more obvious. The festival booths were closed up and shuttered. The buildings were still there, but the goodies they usually serve up were not being prepared. There were no food lines. There were no bands performing on the America Gardens Theatre stage. And there were no marketplace booths lining the pathways, selling event merchandise. For the first time in a long time, EPCOT was festival-less.
In the early days, there were fairly big breaks between festivals. There were fewer festivals to start out with, and the downtime between kick-offs was lengthy. There was time to eat at sit-down venues for meals, rather than snacking around the festival booths for the day. Over time, Disney added some of our favorite festivals to the lineup, including the Festival of the Arts. Now, there are four annual festivals: Festival of the Arts starts the year, Flower & Garden Festival ushers in the spring weather with fanciful topiaries, Food & Wine is the granddaddy of the festivals, and the Festival of the Holidays brings the Candlelight Processional and sparkling decorations to wrap up the year.
The Food & Wine Festival had gotten progressively longer over the years, particularly post-COVID, and had been running into the summer months the past few years. This year, though, Food & Wine returned to its earlier calendar schedule, making its start in a more fall-friendly time slot.
And that leaves the park feeling a bit empty right now without those food booths. Flower & Garden ended on May 27, and this year’s Food & Wine doesn’t start until August 29, thus leaving roughly three months of food-booth-less touring. That’s the way EPCOT used to be when we were traveling with little kids, but it sure feels odd now, when we are used to only a week or two of downtime while Disney switches over from one festival to the next.
The excitement of an ever changing offering of snacks and treats makes the festival repertoire enticing to park guests, and our family, too, looks forward to seeing what new and returning plates are coming with each opening date. But I will admit – it’s been a treat getting back to making actual dining reservations at the EPCOT table restaurants. We’ve revisited a few favorites that we’ve been away from for a while. But it still feels out of the ordinary to have the park as quiet as it is!
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
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