It’s finally here, EPCOT’s Festival of the Arts is officially back! The festival begins today, on January 16th and continues through February 23rd. We’re so excited to dive into all the art, snacks, entertainment, events, and more.
Once Upon a Stage Exhibit
One thing in particular we were super stoked about was the Once Upon A Stage: The Magic of DISNEY ON BROADWAY exhibit. This exhibit is a celebration of Disney’s Broadway shows, bringing guests up close and personal with real props and costumes. It’s also a cool opportunity to learn about things happening behind the curtain!
You can find the Once Upon A Stage: The Magic of DISNEY ON BROADWAY exhibit at Communicore Hall, happening from 9 AM to 9 PM each festival day. You know we weren’t waiting past the first festival day! We got to explore the exhibit, and instantly fell in love with it.
Disney on Broadway exhibit
There are TONS of displays featuring different costumes and props — like the costumes and props from “Frozen.”
Frozen costumes and Sven!
Or, “The Lion King.”
“The Lion King” puppets!
“Beauty and the Beast” costumes were there, and so much more!
“Beauty and the Beast” costumes!
The exhibit wasn’t just about the magic happening on stage; it was also about the magic happening backstage. We were geeking out when we saw a portion of the exhibit dedicated to the craft that happens to make sure the show runs smoothly. This included a whole section with a Stage Manager station…
Stage Manager set
…as well as a dressing room for costumes, wigs, and make-up!
Dressing Room Station
There was also a cool shot to give you a POV of what it would be like to be off-stage during a performance. Further adding to the cool and immersive experience.
Shot of what it looks like to be off-stage
Of course, there were boards up that you could read to learn more about the productions — yes, we were here for a LONG time, and we enjoyed every second of it!
Information about the production
There were a lot more props and costumes up from different shows!
More props!
We especially enjoyed looking at the masks from “The Lion King”!
Masks from “The Lion King”
We were fortunate enough to get to attend a media event about the exhibit. The event was located at the Living Seas pavilion. Unfortunately, it’s not available for guests, but that isn’t stopping us from sharing a couple of photos with you.
Actors at the media event!
We got to join a special panel hosted by Disney Ambassador Phelicia Blake, where Disney on Broadway performers shared their journey on the Broadway stage. They also reflected on what it means to be a part of the festival.
Performers speaking!
It was an awesome experience! We can’t recommend enough that you NEED to check out the exhibit — maybe even a couple times before the festival is over. Make sure you’re following the Disney Food Blog so you can get all the latest news and updates around the festival.
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Are you going to check out the exhibit? Let us know in the comments!
Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney World to attend their media preview of EPCOT Festival of the Arts. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ
