WDW Daily News

A brand new event is coming to Walt Disney World® Resort! The Epcot® International Festival of the Arts debuts Jan. 13 – Feb. 20, 2017. It’ll be a trifecta of global masterpieces: combining visual, culinary and performing arts for six colorful weekends.

Over the six weeks of the festival, guests can enjoy different pairings of phenomenal Broadway talent in concert singing the award-winning music of Disney on Broadway. Plus, they’ll feast on delicious creations that look almost too good to eat.

The Epcot International Festival of the Arts will run Fridays through Mondays, and unveil brand new art each week. That means, guests will want to return each weekend for an original experience.

One of the most delightful ways for you to experience Epcot® is sampling the tasty treats found all around World Showcase. And now, Holidays Around the World is adding more food and drink for the winter celebration Nov. 25-Dec. 30, 2016.

 Here’s just a sampling of some of the items you’ll find at the five new marketplaces:

• Prost! in Germany (artisan cheese plate or sauerbraten with red cabbage and spätzle)
• American Holiday Table in American Adventure Pavilion (slow-roasted turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce)
• Alpine Haus between France and Morocco (cheese fondue in a bread bowl with fresh steamed vegetables)
• Seasonal Southern Delights near World Showcase Plaza (blackened catfish with white cheddar grits with okra)
• Feast of Three Kings Feast near World Showcase Plaza (Three Kings Bread)

Also as a part of Holidays Around the World at Epcot, Candlelight Processional returns to present the story of Christmas in truly spectacular fashion – with a celebrity narrator, a 50-piece orchestra and a mass choir.

A few months ago, we shared a preview of the narrators scheduled for this favorite Walt Disney World® Resort tradition. And now, we’re excited to announce more narrators for 2016 Candlelight Processional.

Celebrity Narrators scheduled to make appearances this year include (subject to change without notice):

• Nov. 25-27 – Steven Curtis Chapman
• Nov. 28-Dec. 1 – Neil Patrick Harris
• Dec. 2-3 – Whoopi Goldberg
• Dec. 4*-6 – Edward James Olmos
• Dec. 7-9 – TBA
• Dec. 10-12 – Robby Benson
• Dec. 13-15 – Meredith Vieira
• Dec. 16-18 – Jim Caviezel
• Dec. 19-21 – Joe Morton
• Dec. 22-24 – Ming-Na Wen – NEW!
• Dec. 25-27 – Jodi Benson
• Dec. 28-30 – Cal Ripken, Jr. – NEW!

The processional is performed three times per night (5:00, 6:45 and 8:15 p.m.) during the holiday season at the American Gardens Theatre. Dining packages are available on select nights and include a delicious meal and a guaranteed seat for one of the Candlelight Processional performances. Availability is limited.

Candlelight Dining Packages for breakfast start at $27 plus tax per person for adults and $14 plus tax per person for children, ages 3-9. Candlelight Dining Packages for lunch and dinner start at $47 plus tax per person for adults and $20 plus tax per person for children, ages 3-9.

Book a Candlelight Processional dining package for your Clients by calling 407-WDW-DINE (407-939-3463) or visit Disneyworld.com/dine.

*Narrators and entertainment are subject to change without notice. Theme park admission is required. There is no 5 p.m. show on 12/4.

The concept behind Disney’s Soarin’ ride is simple: A giant mechanical contraption lifts guests into the air, and then gently sways them along with a synchronized travelogue-style video projected onto an enormous periphery-covering screen. Basically: It’s a flying simulator

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·      New Holidays Around the World Marketplaces – Explore what the holidays taste like around the globe at five new marketplaces: indulge in duck confit and dumplings from the Alpine Haus Marketplace, celebrate with the shredded beef tamale from the Three Kings Feast Marketplace, toast with Williams Punch from the Germany Marketplace, and more.

·      Holidays Around the World entertainment – Enjoy the sights and sounds of the nations of World Showcase, as each country’s holiday heritage comes to life amid joyful music and time-honored traditions.

·      A cherished Epcot tradition, the Candlelight Processional captures the spirit of the season in the retelling of the Christmas story by celebrity narrators, accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra and choir. The Candlelight Processional is performed three times each evening, 5:00, 6:45 and 8 p.m. at America Gardens Theatre from Nov. 25-Dec. 30. Narrators in 2016 include Neil Patrick Harris, Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Curtis Chapman, Meredith Vieira, and Cal. Ripken, Jr. Candlelight dinner packages are available through Disneyworld.com/holiday.

In a Epcot International Food & Wine Festival first, hands-on experiences at Walt Disney World Resorts give guests the opportunity to cook and taste along-side Disney chefs. Interactivity is key for the Culinary Adventures with a Master Chef at the Contemporary Resort. In this extra ticketed experience, guests learn the Disney secrets to making pasta, butchering meat, knife skills, rolling sushi, creating decadent desserts and more.

While today marks the first official day of fall, many of Walt Disney World’s traditional autumn events are already well underway including the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.

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Take a look at video from the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival 2016 via this B: Roll.

Walt Disney World Resort guests are invited to join the fun when the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival presented by Chase turns 21 from Sept. 14-Nov. 14, 2016. The longer-than-ever party will feature global and specialty cuisine, refreshing new beverages and three live concerts nightly.

The 62-day festival at Disney’s Epcot theme park will showcase 30 global marketplaces including four new Future World marketplaces featuring fresh culinary concepts to pair with select wines, beers, cocktails and other beverages. ABC’s Emmy Award-winning lifestyle series, “The Chew,” will broadcast from the festival for the second year and will participate in one of the new Future World festival marketplaces, The Chew Collective. The festival is believed to be the largest food and wine event of its kind in the world.

Here are some fun facts about the 21st festival celebration:

• Now 62 days long, the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival began in 1996 with a first run of 30 days
• At the 2016 festival, 30 global marketplaces will include new offerings like The Chew Collective in Future World’s Next Eats festival area and Islands of the Caribbean along the World Showcase Promenade
• Producers of ABC’s “The Chew” will tape 5 episodes of the show before 5 festival guest audiences numbering in the hundreds for each show
• The 21st festival will feature 32 new marketplace dishes and 49 (as of right now) new cocktails, beers, wines and ciders
• In 1998, 200 domestic and international wines were poured at the festival. This year, at marketplaces and premium events, more than 300 domestic and international wines will be offered
• More than 50 wineries and more than 35 breweries from around the world, including local craft beer operations, will be represented at festival marketplaces
• The new “The Best of Epcot Festivals 2016” cookbook by Pam Brandon and the Disney Chefs features 75 recipes from the global marketplaces.
• 3 Rockin’ Burger Block Parties and 6 Party for the Senses grand tastings will take place at World Showplace during the festival run. In all, the festival will feature 204 premium events ranging from Signature Dinners and Food & Wine Pairings to Beverage Boot Camps and Festival Events in World Showcase pavilions
• Guest chefs and Disney chefs numbering 250 will present culinary demonstrations and will cook for festival events
• Celebrity chefs and visiting culinarians from 10 countries and 26 U.S. states will participate in the festival at culinary demos, book signings, and special tasting events and dinners.
• Nearly 400 culinary demos, beverage and interactive seminars will take place during the 62-day festival
• During Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak festival scavenger hunt, guests can help Remy scour the park for the ingredients to make his signature dish, ratatouille. Along the way, they’ll find 12 Remy statuettes hidden in each of 11 countries of the World Showcase and at the African Outpost location. Guests can redeem the 12 stickers they’ve collected for one of 6 special pins at Select merchandise locations
• More than 375 hours of scheduled seminars will take place at the Festival Center for the 62 days of the festival.  These include culinary demos and beverage seminars, the new Mix It, Make It, Celebrate It! interactive events, plus more
• 186 Eat to the Beat concerts will be performed; 8 musical acts will appear for the first time at this year’s festival featuring entertainment ranging from rock and soul to funk and blues
• The Festival Passport (previously called the Marketplace Discovery Passport) was introduced in 2010 for the 15^th annual festival; today, the free passport will feature pages with all 30 festival marketplaces
• More than 1,200 fireworks will explode each night over World Showcase Lagoon in IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth nightime spectacular
• Chase is the festival’s presenting sponsor for the 5^th year; its Chase Lounge at the American Adventure Pavilion is open exclusively to Chase cardholders and offers an inviting place to relax and recharge
• More than 225,000,000 festival dishes were served during last year’s 53-day festival
• 100,000-plus desserts, including the Hard Soda Floats at Desserts & Champagne Marketplace, are expected to be served
• In 1997, during the festival’s second year, festival planners introduced the first Grand Tasting culinary extravaganza; in 2002, the event was renamed and moved to World Showplace as Party for the Senses, now featuring up to 50 food and beverage stations and, in 2016, new and different themed entertainment for each event

You don’t have to have an “attack plan” when checking out the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, but it certainly helps.

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From cooking demos and live music to delicious food and wine, there are lots of reasons you won’t want to miss this year’s Epcot International Food & Wine Festival!