It’s time for a brand new Food Booth to step into the spotlight at the 2025 EPCOT Festival of the Arts: Get ready for Opening Bites!

Opening Bites joins the lineup of Food Studios (also known as Food Booths) this year, and it’s delivering a menu of all new EATS along with it! Of course, we’re bringing you our complete reviews of EVERY single Food Booth at the Festival, so it’s only fitting that we find out what Opening Bites brings to the table for its big debut!

Menu

You’ll find Opening Bites at CommuniCore Plaza (which is just outside of CommuniCore Hall in World Celebration). In fact, you can step inside CommuniCore Hall before or after your visit to Opening Bites to check out a new walkthrough exhibit “celebrating three decades of Disney on Broadway” just for the Festival! These all-new eats include a Soft Shell Crab Slider, a Cheddar and Chive Scone, and the Enchanted Rose.

Opening Bites offers beer, champagne, and wine to drink, with the all-new brews including Parish Brewing Co. SIPS Candy Paint Berliner Weisse, the von Trapp Brewing Bohemian Pilsner, and the Crooked Can Brewing Company Fantasia Fusion IPA.

Now that we’ve taken a look at the menu, let’s see if Opening Bites has shaken off its opening jitters and is ready to perform!

Eats

Okay, my friends, since Disney shared that the menu items are “about paying homage to the foods and drinks immortalized onstage,” these menu items come with a small challenge. Which productions are represented by each food item? Let’s start with the new Soft Shell Crab Slider, which we thiiiiink might be a nod to the character of Sebastian in the stage musical The Little Mermaid.

In any case, it is topped with green papaya slaw and mango ketchup and served on toasted brioche. This Slider costs $7.50. 

We were excited about this one because it smelled SO fresh when we picked it up, but we were disappointed by the lack of crabmeat in this. It’s mostly just a crunchy shell, and we just wish it had more crab. Still, it tasted fresh and we loved the toasted bread and the mango ketchup, which added a nice tang along with the green papaya slaw.

The new Cheddar and Chive Scone might be a treat tribute to the Broadway musical, Mary Poppins. (But, dear readers, if you have any other ideas, please chime in below!) The scone is served with smoked salmon salad and topped with crème fraîche and caviar! It costs $7.50.

The cheddar chive scone was a hit for us! The smoked salmon has a very, very strong smoked flavor, so if that’s not your thing — be warned. The crème fraîche helped mellow the smokiness out and it ties everything together. The caviar was a nice touch, it was salty but didn’t add much to the overall dish. The scone itself is just really, really good — moist and flavorful.

Okay, now THIS one I think we all know: the Enchanted Rose must be for the musical Beauty and the Beast! Though this item is new to the Festival of the Arts, a different version of it has been previously available at Disney’s Hollywood Studios along Sunset Ranch Market. We also had a similar rose-shaped treat at the Festival in 2021, and Amorette’s Patisserie had another lookalike in 2024. So, as you can tell, we are rose dessert EXPERTS. The Festival’s version is a milk chocolate rose with raspberry and rose center. The cost is $6.50, and this item is eligible for those participating in the Wonderful Walk of Cuisine.

Okay, this may be our favorite thing at this booth. It’s creamy and chocolatey but not too heavy, and the raspberry jam in the middle has a little bit of tartness, but is mostly sweet — it’s a great combo. The rose petals have an interesting texture that isn’t quite crunchy but is a bit on the crispy side. We will definitely be getting this again during the festival!

And now, onto the drinks!

Drinks

It’s not just BITES at Opening Bites… there are, of course, some sips on offer, too! You can opt for one of the three beers: Parish Brewing Co. SIPS Candy Paint Berliner Weisse, the von Trapp Brewing Bohemian Pilsner, and the Crooked Can Brewing Company Fantasia Fusion IPA. A Beer Flight is available to try them all for $10.25, or you can grab them individually for $5.75/6oz and $9.75/12oz

Two champagnes are being served here: Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve ($12) and Piper-Heidsieck Rosé Sauvage ($12). Wine drinkers can choose from Katherine Goldschmidt Cabernet Sauvignon ($15) and Martin Ray Chardonnay ($7).

OVERALL

As far as new booths go, this one was a hit! While the Soft Shell Crab Slider was a slight disappointment, the Cheddar and Chive Scone, and Enchanted Rose more than made up for it. The combination of cheddar, chive, and smoked salmon is unmatched, and that Enchanted Rose dessert is SO delicious.

Let’s try a NEW BOOTH: Opening Bites!

🦀 Soft Shell Crab Slider: Green papaya slaw and mango ketchup on toasted brioche
🧀 Cheddar and Chive Scone with smoked salmon salad topped with crème fraîche and caviar
🌹 Enchanted Rose: Milk chocolate rose with raspberry and rose… pic.twitter.com/jrD8Xs2uQb

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) January 17, 2025

And that’s a wrap from Opening Bites! But there’s a LOT more where that came from…

Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY. SINGLE. BOOTH. at the Festival of the Arts!

If you’re planning a trip of your own to enjoy everything the Festival has to offer, you can click any of links below for the information you need to know:

• Learn about the Disney on Broadway Concert Series and Dining Packages
• Check out ALL of the 2025 Festival of the Arts Food Booths and Menus
• Find ALL of our Festival of the Arts Food Booth REVIEWS here!

And don’t forget to pick up our 2025 Festival of the Arts e-book! See more details about our Guide below.

What items from this booth would you most like to try? Tell us in the comments!