The EPCOT International Festival of the Arts has officially started!

The festival runs from now until February 24th and features 17 Food Studios (aka food booths), tons of live entertainment, merchandise, and even a Disney on Broadway exhibit! We went to the festival on the very first day to try all the food and ended up spending a whopping $462 to prove and show you how important it is to make your own game plan for when you visit the festival this year.

As we said, there is so much to see and do at this festival that it can be hard to do it all if you go in blind; that is why making a game plan is so essential! Here are a few tips to help you craft the ultimate Festival of the Arts plan!

Buy DFB’s Guide to the EPCOT Festival of the Arts

We have been covering the Festival of the Arts since it started in 2017, and our guide has everything you need to know to maximize your time, budget, and stomach space! This guide can help you understand what is worth purchasing and what to skip with our full-photo menus of each booth, complete with DFB’s Best of the Fest.

Also included is must-have information to help you learn about and navigate this festival before you arrive and while you are there! Inside the guide, you will find food booth photos, maps, information on festival crawls, a complete schedule of events, festival-exclusive merchandise, and more!

Get the Guide Here!

Check Out DFB’s Online Resources

We have tons of resources to help you research the festival beforehand so you can make your game plan!

EVERYTHING You Need to Eat and Drink at the EPCOT Festival of the Arts

The 8 Definitive Rules for Going to the Festival of the Arts in Disney World

You can even check out our video, which shows you everything we ate at this year’s festival!

Use the My Disney Experience App

When you arrive at EPCOT, you can pick up a physical copy of the Festival of the Arts passport. This paper passport gives you menu information and other general information about the festival. If you want to participate in the Wonderful Walk of Colorful Cuisine you will use the physical passport to collect your stamps.

The problem is that you can only pick up a passport once you are inside EPCOT, but did you know you can look at the passport ahead of time through the My Disney Experience app?! This is another excellent way to get familiar with the festival!

Make a List of Foods You Want to Try

Alright, so now you have done your research, and now it is time to make your “must try” list. It is a good idea to see what everyone in your party wants to try to make sure everyone gets to do something that they want during the festival.

Many items are shareable, so for budgeting purposes as well as to save stomach space to try more dishes, you may not need to buy multiples of the same item, depending on your party size.

The Festival of the Arts features tons of colorful cuisine, and if you are going for the most Instagramable foods, you will want to keep an eye out for some of these dishes:

• Rainbow Cake topped with SKITTLES POP’d Freeze Dried Candy at Figment’s Inspiration Station at The Odyssey
• Almond Frangipane Cake layered with raspberry jam and Belgian chocolate at Deco Delights
• Enchanted Rose: Milk chocolate rose with raspberry and rose center ar Opening Bites
• Imagination Cone: Bubble gum soft-serve in a lavender cone, “sparks” of imagination, and white chocolate wings at Swirled Showcase
• Liquid Nitrogen Minnie cake pop with berry sponge cake, white chocolate ganache, and colorful chocolate splats at Swirled Showcase
• Artist Palette Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookie at Refreshment Outpost and Refreshment Port
• Artgarita at La Cava del Tequila

So there you have it! We spent $462 to help you make your own game plan for when you visit the Festival of the Arts. Remember to check out our resources on our blog and YouTube Channel or purchase the DFB Guide to the Festival of the Arts.

We are always on the lookout for the latest Disney news and sharing our best Disney tips, so make sure to continue to follow along with DFB!

WARNING: 14 EPCOT Festival of the Arts Snacks Hit With Price Increases in Disney World

Will you be checking out the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts? Let us know in the comments!

The post We Spent Nearly 2 in EPCOT to Prove a Point. Here’s What We Noticed. first appeared on the disney food blog.