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Credit: DisneyEPCOT has become the Park of festivals in recent years.
While the Park has featured festivals throughout the year since 1994, there used to be weeks to months in between each one. Prior to 2017, there were only three festivals, Flower & Garden, Food & Wine, and the Festival of the Holidays. February 2017 saw the debut of the International Festival of the Arts, starting the year-round cycle of festivals. Since then, each festival has gotten longer, with the time in between getting shorter. As of 2023, when one festival ends, there is only about a week or two before the next one starts.
With the knowledge that EPCOT is now one massive year-round festival, Twitter user @ssevener responded to a Tweet asking for “cancelable theme park takes” saying that the Park needs less festivals. “When everything is special, nothing is special,” they said. The handful of comments they received agreed with them, with one saying that multiple festivals are fine as long as there is ample time in between, not just days.
Each EPCOT festival offers its own unique food and beverage options, a concert series, and unique themed merchandise that changes from year to year. This makes each festival a “must do” for local Guests and Annual Passholders, and makes every time of year special for out of state Guests to visit EPCOT. Because of this, there is no actual “better” time of year to help keep crowds down at the Park, and, as @ssevener says, “nothing is special” anymore.
Between the non-stop festivals at EPCOT and the 50th anniversary turned Disney100 celebrations throughout the Walt Disney World Resort, even with higher ticket prices it seems as though Guests will be dealing with crowded Parks for a while. As for the EPCOT festivals themselves, each one is unique in their theming and merchandise offerings, but they’re similar enough in what they offer overall that there isn’t really a “best” or “worst” festival to attend.
What do you think about the year-round festivals at EPCOT? Share your opinions in the comments below!
Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are not representative of Inside the Magic.