WDW Daily News

We recently shared that the Epcot® International Flower & Garden Festival will return to Walt Disney World ®Resort March 6-June 3, 2019 with a wide selection of delectable bites at outdoor kitchens and dozens of Disney-themed topiaries blooming around the park.

New in 2019, the festival’s Garden Rocks Concert Series will expand to seven days a week, with a total of 270 concerts spanning multiple genres over the course of the 90-day event.

We’re excited to share part of the rocking line-up for the 2019 Garden Rocks Concert Series! Over the coming weeks, more artists will be announced. Returning favorites like The Spinners and Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone will be joined by brand new artists like TobyMac, Steven Curtis Chapman and Colin Hay of Men at Work for what is sure to be the best year of Garden Rocks concerts yet.

• March 9-10: Glass Tiger “Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)”
• March 17-20: Simple Plan “Welcome to My Life”
• March 28-29: Berlin featuring Terri Nunn “Take My Breath Away”
• March 30-31: The Smithereens (NEW to Garden Rocks) “Top of the Pops”
• April 3-4: Christopher Cross (NEW to Garden Rocks) “Sailing”
• April 5-7: The Spinners “Working My Way Back to You”
• April 12-13: Sister Sledge (NEW to Garden Rocks) “We Are Family”
• April 17-19: Sister Hazel (NEW to Garden Rocks) “All For You”
• April 20-21: Steven Curtis Chapman (NEW) “Cinderella”
• April 22-23: TobyMac (NEW) “The Elements”
• April 24-26: Lonestar “Amazed”
• April 27-30: The Orchestra starring former members of ELO “Evil Woman”
• May 1-4: Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone “I’m Henry VIII I Am”
• May 5-7: Don Felder, Formerly of the Eagles “Hotel California”
• May 20-21: Colin Hay of Men at Work (NEW) “Who Can It Be Now?”

Garden Rocks concert performances take place at 5:30 p.m., 6:45 p.m., and 8:00 p.m. each night of the festival and are included in regular park admission. You can enjoy guaranteed concert seating by reserving a Garden Rocks Dining Package and enjoying breakfast, lunch or dinner at select Epcot restaurants. Reservations for concert dining packages open Dec. 13, 2018. For more info or to make a reservation, call 407-WDW-DINE (407-939-3463) or visit FreshEpcot.com.

For Guests visiting Walt Disney World® Resort during the holidays, “Candlelight Processional” at Epcot® is a must-do, chill-evoking live musical performance that celebrates the season and leaves entire families in awe. For the first time ever, our partners at the Disney Parks Blog are showcasing“Candlelight Processional”  live on Dec. 4, 2018, as part of their #DisneyParksLIVE stream series.

We will live stream the park’s 8:15 p.m. show with host actor Neil Patrick Harris, with our live stream starting just minutes before, at 8:10 p.m. ET, so you can get a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to bring this beautiful show to life.

To tune into the live stream on December 4, simply visit the Disney Parks Blog at 8:05 p.m. ET that night.

We hope you join us as we celebrate the joy of the season.

At Just moments ago at D23’s Destination D: Celebrating Mickey Mouse, Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products Chairman Bob Chapek shared an exciting update on the multiyear transformation of Epcot®, including details on new nighttime entertainment planned for the park and additions to World Showcase.

Among the announcements were updates on a new nighttime spectacular planned to open at the park in 2020. This new show will celebrate how Disney music inspires people around the world, and will feature massive floating set pieces, custom-built LED panels, choreographed moving fountains, lights, pyrotechnics and lasers.

But before that new show debuts, there will be a limited-time experience Epcot fans will love, called “Epcot Forever,” which will debut in fall 2019 and will feature classic Epcot tunes. “Epcot Forever” will begin with a spark of imagination that swells into an epic spectacle of fireworks, music, lighting, lasers, and special effects kites.

Bob also announced the name of the “Ratatouille” experience coming to the France pavilion, which will be called Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. He also shared that a new guest offering will soon debut at the France pavilion at World Showcase (in addition to “Impressions de France”) – a brand new “Beauty and the Beast” sing-along created by Don Hahn, producer of the animated and live-action “Beauty and the Beast” films. And, the Canada pavilion is also in the process of updating the existing O Canada! 360-degree show!

Stay tuned for more updates.

Earlier this week, Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products Chairman Bob Chapek shared the first details on the innovative new ride system planned to bring the adventurous “Guardians of the Galaxy”-inspired attraction to life at Epcot®.

According to Bob, building an adventure this big will require a ride system and ride vehicles unlike anything our Guests have experienced before. What your Clients will encounter can best be described as a one-of-a-kind storytelling coaster that connects the adventure of a storyline with the thrills of a coaster.

“On most coasters, the vehicles point straight ahead throughout the ride,” Bob explained. “But on this attraction, each individual cab will be programmed to direct your eye to the story happening around you.

That means instead of whizzing by the action, you’ll be fully immersed in the story from the minute you launch.”

The attraction will be one of the world’s longest enclosed roller coasters when it opens in Future World at Epcot. Earlier this year, 960 trucks’ worth of concrete poured the foundation of this mammoth attraction, which will be housed inside a building so large that the volume of four Spaceship Earth attractions could fit inside it!

The attraction will open in time for the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World® Resort in 2021. Stay tuned for future updates.

You can kick off 2019 with the return of the Epcot® International Festival of the Arts – a 39-day celebration of visual, culinary and performing arts from around the world. Beginning Jan. 18 and running through Feb. 25, the festival offers artful activities for the entire family, from special entertainment and interactive workshops to immersive art experiences and world-class cuisine.

New in 2019, you can now sing along to your favorite Disney Broadway tunes seven days a week during the popular Disney on Broadway Concert Series, with daily showings at 5:30, 6:45 and 8 p.m.

Each week, different pairs of Disney on Broadway stars will take the America Gardens Theatre stage to sing favorite songs from award-winning Disney on Broadway productions. The lineup will rotate regularly, featuring music from shows such as “The Lion King,” “Frozen” and “Beauty and the Beast”:

• Kerry Butler (“Beauty and the Beast”) and Kevin Massey (“Tarzan”)
• Meredith Inglesby (“The Little Mermaid”) and Steve Blanchard (“Beauty and the Beast”)
• Arielle Jacobs and Adam Jacobs (“Aladdin”)
• Heidi Blickenstaff (“Freaky Friday”) and Gavin Lee (“Mary Poppins”)
• Ashley Brown (“Mary Poppins”) and Josh Strickland (“Tarzan”)
• Kissy Simmons and Alton Fitzgerald White (“The Lion King”)

The concert series is included with park admission; reserved seating is available by booking a Disney on Broadway Concert Series Dining Package, which allows you to enjoy a breakfast, lunch or dinner reservation at a participating Epcot restaurant and later experience priority seating at a show. Dining package reservations open Nov. 8, 2018 via Disneyworld.com or by calling 407-939-3463.

Speaking of food … Epcot International Festival of the Arts will feature 13 Food Studios, plus other creative (and savory!) offerings around Epcot with an expanded menu of tastes and sips. Drop by The Artist’s Table for beef wellington with mushroom bordelaise, fennel cream and roasted baby vegetables, or enjoy smoked salmon and cream gâteau with egg yolk cream, paddlefish caviar and micro-herbs at The Painter’s Palate. Pop Eats! will serve up almond frangipane cake with raspberry and chocolate, while red wine-braised short rib with parsnip purée, broccolini, baby tomatoes and aged balsamic will be available at Cuisine Classique.

You will also find activities to the inspire artists of all ages. Here are a few fun highlights:

• Everyone’s invited to grab a paintbrush and help create a wall mural along World Showcase Plaza.
• At the Artful Photo Opportunities, Guests can step inside masterworks of art and take photos with friends.
• The Paint with a Disney Artist program invites Guests to learn under the tutelage of a professional (offered select Fridays and Sundays, including continental breakfast, for an additional fee).
• Performing artists are scheduled throughout the festival, demonstrating gravity-defying feats of strength, acrobatics and many other skills.
• International musical and variety acts will share their talents with guests, including the return of Bodh’aktan to the Canada stage and Delta Q, a new group performing in Germany.
• Guests can join in the fun of Figment’s Brush with the Masters Scavenger Hunt by purchasing a map at select merchandise locations.
• A variety of workshops led by professionals will teach different artistic techniques, such as floral design, ink and paint, mixed-media art and more (offered Friday-Monday for an additional fee). As a memento of what they learn, guests will take their creations home with them. Details on workshop registration
  will be released soon.
• Complimentary 30-minute seminars will give Guests helpful instruction for producing their own artwork at home.

Now, more than ever is the time to start planning your visit to the 2019 Epcot International Festival of the Arts.

Earlier this year, we announced several celebrity narrators for the highly anticipated Candlelight Processional during the 2018 Epcot® International Festival of the Holidays, Nov. 22-Dec. 30, 2018. Now we are excited to share four more narrators who will delight guests this holiday season:

• Chita Rivera, Nov. 22 – 23
• Helen Hunt, Nov. 24-25 – NEW
• Alfonso Ribeiro, Nov. 26-27 – NEW
• TBD, Nov. 28-Dec. 2
• Neil Patrick Harris, Dec. 3 – 6
• Whoopi Goldberg, Dec. 7 – 9
• Bart Millard, Dec. 10-12 – NEW
• Blair Underwood, Dec. 13 – 14
• Gary Sinise, Dec. 15 – 17
• Pat Sajak, Dec. 18 – 20
• Auli’I Cravalho, Dec. 21-23 – NEW
• Edward James Olmos, Dec. 24 – 25
• Jodi Benson, Dec. 26 – 27
• Cal Ripken Jr., Dec. 28-30

Held in the America Gardens Theatre, the Candlelight Processional is a beloved part of the Walt Disney World holiday season. Celebrity narrators read the biblical Christmas story backed by a 50-piece orchestra and massed choir. For the first time, performances of the Candlelight Processional begin on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 22, 2018.

The Candlelight Processional is just one of many ways to experience holiday magic at Epcot, including…food! The all-new menu at the Feast of the Three Kings marketplace features sofrito-marinated beef with sweet plantains and olives, queso fresco-stuffed arepa topped with shrimp, crushed avocado aji and tomato sauce, as well as arepas topped with melted queso fresco.

Other new food items this year include:

• Black forest roulade with cherry whipped cream (Bavaria Holiday Kitchen, Germany)
• Hand-carved smoked ham with green beans and sweet potato casserole (American Holiday Table, The American Adventure)
• Three variations of croissant doughnuts at the Taste Track marketplace

For even more new foodie fun, track your purchases of five select holiday cookies in your Festival Passport by collecting a unique stamp for each one. Then, stop by Holiday Sweets and Treats to receive a special complimentary “completer” cookie…and a glass of milk!

There will also be a brand-new marketplace this year – keep checking back to Disney Travel News or information coming soon.