You Won't BELIEVE the Crowds at the 2026 EPCOT Festival of the Arts

It’s that time again! Festival of the Arts has officially arrived in EPCOT, and we’re here to see everything on opening day!

Time for Festival of the Arts!

With tons of new menu items, live entertainment, a stunning Disney on Broadway exhibit, concerts, and interactive experiences, it’s no surprise that this festival is a popular one. It only lasts from January 16th to February 23rd, and it seems people are getting a head start by visiting on opening day! Let’s take a look at the crowds around the park so you can prepare for your trip!

Each festival’s opening day is busy, and today is no exception! EPCOT Park Pass Reservations are even full for Annual Passholders. It is still possible to book a Park Pass for another park, scan into that park, and then hop over to EPCOT (as long as the park doesn’t reach capacity, which is super rare).

Entrance crowds for Festival of the Arts

We were at EPCOT before the parking lot even opened, so we’ve been watching the crowds form since the early hours of the morning!

It is busy here today!

The first wave of early entry crowds got into the park first, and there were lots of people enjoying that Disney World hotel perk!

Early Entry crowds

A bit later, rope drop crowds were able to enter the park, and there were even MORE people headed in for the festival.

Rope drop crowds

The festival food booths don’t open until later in the morning, but there are still lots of festival activities to do before then. One of the most popular things to enjoy right away when you get to EPCOT is shop the festival drop! This was certainly the thing to do this morning!

Shopping crowds

There were LOTS of people getting their hands on the new, colorful Festival of the Arts merchandise.

Crowds at Creations Shop

We’ll be checking in throughout the day with updates as we enjoy the first day of the 2026 EPCOT Festival of the Arts, so keep following DFB for live updates!

Grab those souvenirs now!

We checked out the wait times at the rides around 10:45, and it seems like the crowds have found Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (75 min), Test Track (70 min)…

©Disney

Frozen Ever After (40 min), the Anna and Elsa Meet-and-Greet (60 min)…

©Disney

and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (40 min). The rest of the rides around the park were at 25 minutes or less.

©Disney

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

And don’t forget to pick up our 2026 Festival of the Arts e-book! See more details about our Guide below. Stay tuned to DFB for more festival updates!

Click here to see our reviews for EVERY single EPCOT Festival of the Arts food booth!

MAKE THE MOST
OF YOUR FESTIVAL DAYS

DFB's guide to the Festival of the Arts details everything you need to know to maximize your time, budget, and stomach space! Know what's worth it and what to skip with our full-photo menus of each booth, complete with DFB's Best of the Fest.

It includes all the must-have information for navigating this colorful festival at Disney World, including:

🍭 Booth & food photos, maps, and crawls with DFB's exclusive recommendations!
🖌 The COMPLETE schedule of events (so you don't have to go hunting for all the dates!)
🎨 All the details on special events, artist meet-n-greets, festival-exclusive merchandise, and more!