Best and worst new food at Epcot International Festival of the Arts 2025
Epcot International Festival of the Arts 2025 is underway, and we’re breaking down the best and worst new food items at the event.
Each new festival at Epcot brings new food for guests to try at booths throughout the park. For the Epcot International Festival of the Arts — happening now through Feb. 24, 2025 near Orlando, Fla. — Walt Disney World calls the booths “Food Studios.” This reflects the nature of the merging of artistic skills and finely crafted cuisine for this event. The food presentation at this Epcot festival would earn high marks from the judges, if that were a thing. Either way, many experienced Disney World visitors deem the Festival of the Arts food their favorite at any Epcot festival.
On the festival’s opening day, we tried over 20 new food items, several of which we enjoyed. Others left us wondering what happened. In fairness, preparation can change for the better and worse as the event progresses. However, we desired to offer this resource to help the Epcot International Festival of the Arts 2025 visitors make educated decisions regarding better food choices.
Comparison to other Epcot festivals
The Epcot International Festival of the Arts 2025 utilizes more food and beverage locations than the Festival of the Holidays, which just wrapped up a few weeks ago. This year’s Festival of the Arts also lasts slightly longer than the most recent Festival of the Holidays (39 days vs. 32), providing more time to enjoy the food and the overall event. However, the next two Epcot festivals, Flower & Garden and Food & Wine, will last longer (about three months each).
In addition, we often notice an increase in the price of the festival food when we reach the Festival of the Arts compared to the Festival of the Holidays. In fairness, the prices at other Orlando-area theme park food festivals, like SeaWorld or Universal Orlando, make the Epcot prices not look too bad.
New Festival of the Arts food menus
When Walt Disney World announced the food menu for the Epcot International Festival of the Arts 2025, several things caught our attention. First, Disney listed 28 new food items. That sounded like a lot. However, a few of them function as slight changes from a previous year or items previously found elsewhere at Disney World. Festival food items like the Enchanted Rose, Figment’s Liege Waffle with ube filling, and the Raspberry Pastry Tart serve as prime examples. Moreover, the Swirled Showcase Food Studio also displays overlapping components with its new menu items.
We enjoy returning items, so we have no issue with Disney repeating popular items from previous years’ Festival of the Arts. For example, we were excited to see the Deconstructed BLT and the Deconstructed Key Lime Pie return this year.
This being said, we’re not sure some of the items claimed as new should be considered truly new. Despite that, we tried them anyway on the event’s opening weekend. We graded “new” with questionable newness lower than brand-new items.
Complete list of new food
The complete list of Epcot International Festival of the Arts 2025 new food items (according to Walt Disney World) looks like this:
- 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 center
- Figment’s Liege Waffle with ube filling
- Squid Ink Pasta with lump crab, truffle cream, and shaved truffle
- Charred Octopus with crushed fingerling potatoes, kalamata olives, capers, and romesco sauce
- Black Cocoa Brownie with ube ice cream, coral tuile, and sponge cake
- Raspberry Pastry Tart: Sugar cookie with raspberry and lemon cream cheese filling
- Beef Wellington-inspired Croissant Supreme with creamed spinach croissant pinwheel, mushroom-gorgonzola ragout, mustard-grilled flank steak, red wine sauce, and pickled mustard seeds
- Har Gow: Shrimp dumplings with pumpkin purée and drizzle of chili oil
- Egg Tart: Hong Kong-style egg custard tart
- Pork and White Bean Cassoulet with Regensburger Sausage and crispy pork rinds
- Tricolore: Cheese-filled ravioloni, pomodoro, cream, and pesto sauces
- Hazelnut S’more Cannoli: Cannoli shell dipped in chocolate and graham cracker, chocolate-hazelnut cannoli cream, and toasted marshmallows
- Deviled Egg Trio: Pimento Cheese, Green Goddess, and BLT
- Chicken “Pot Pie” with smoked cheddar mornay sauce, roasted vegetables, pickled mushrooms, wasabi peas, and sherry-chicken jus served open-faced on flaky pie crust
- Cotton Candy Funnel Cake topped with powdered sugar, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, pink and purple sugar dusting, and cotton candy crunch
- Taiyaki: Crisp, flaky fish-shaped pastry filled with sweet red bean served with whipped topping and blueberry popping boba
- Wagyu Bun: Steamed bun filled with American wagyu beef served with Japanese karashi mustard sauce and violet shiso sauce
- Avocado-Coconut Custard Tart with pomegranate cream and henna-inspired gelée Veil
- Pithiviers de Canard et Volaille, Sauce Canard: Puff pastry with duck, chicken, onions, mushrooms, cranberries, and duck sauce
- Escargot en Chocolat: Chocolate mousse flourless cake, citrus coulis, almond-chocolate coating, and dark chocolate decoration
- Citrus-braised Beet Tartare with golden beet “egg yolk,” mustard vinaigrette, pickled mustard seeds, pickled mushrooms, spiced pistachios, and “feta” snow
- Caprese Poutine with Tuscan-spiced French fries, confit tomatoes, slivered garlic, mozzarella pearls, basil pesto, shaved pecorino, and balsamic glaze
- Bubble Gum Soft-serve in a cone
- Imagination Cone: Bubble gum soft-serve in a lavender cone, “sparks” of imagination, and white chocolate wings
- Candy Trio Flight: Dole Whip Strawberry with Starburst minis fruit chews, Dole Whip Lemon with Skittles Pop’d Freeze-Dried Candy, and Dole Whip Lime with chili-lime seasoning and Life Savers gummies
- Liquid Nitrogen Minnie cake pop with berry sponge cake, white chocolate ganache, and colorful chocolate splats
That looks like a lot of food!
You would be correct if that food list sounds daunting to eat in one day. However, with some help from our friends, we tackled this task.
Of course, we would not recommend you partake in this much food in one day. As we sit typing this, we know that a full multi-course dining awaits us at a local table-service restaurant in a few hours, so learn from us and plan your dining carefully and responsibly. Please remember that we ate some of the Festival of the Arts food options so others do not have to do so! We want your Walt Disney World visit to be as magical as possible, including the food experiences.
Best new food at Epcot Festival of the Arts 2025
After our initial view of the Festival of the Arts menus, we expected three or four items to make our best new Festival of the Arts food list. Two of those shined brightly, fulfilling our expectations. Still, another new food item surprised us with its overall quality.
We want to give an honorable mention to the Caprese Poutine at Refreshment Port. Our group disagreed about the quality of our order, which prevented it from making the best list. However, several colleagues spoke very highly about this new food item. We have decided on three of the best new food options for the Epcot Festival of the Arts 2025.
Cheddar and Chive Scone | Opening Bites Food Studio (World Celebration)
Near CommuniCore Hall (where the Festival Favorites food and beverage location was previously), guests can find the Opening Bites Food Studio. This location offers a soft-shelled crab slider, which almost made our “best” list. However, we think most guests will prefer the Cheddar and Chive Scone, which costs $7.50.
It consists of a savory scone split in two with a smoked salmon salad topped with crème fraîche and caviar. In fairness, the salmon and caviar are not authentic quality, but what would you expect at this price? Still, merging the starchy scone and salty salmon mix works nicely. Though guests may be confused by the term “salad” in this item’s description, it makes a solid choice when visiting the Festival of the Arts.
Squid Ink Pasta | Fictional Victuals Food Studio (near the Odyssey building)
The Squid Ink Pasta should work for guests looking for more upscale menu items without breaking the bank. This dish costs $7.75. It contains lump crab, truffle cream, and shaved truffle. Once guests get past the appearance of the pasta, they will appreciate this menu item.
We found the pasta to be well-prepared, and the other elements of this pasta dish enhanced it. Though we need to work on our pasta-twirling technique based on the event’s opening day, reasonable value for guests can be found at the Fictional Victuals Food Studio, located near the Mexico Pavilion and the Odyssey Building.
Chicken “Pot Pie” | The Artist’s Table Food Studio (The American Adventure)
The Chicken Pot Pie was one of our most anticipated items for this year’s event. The American Adventure area houses this food studio. The Walt Disney World chefs created an open-faced pot pie. Calling it a “pot pie pizza” would be another way of thinking about it.
This menu description reads, “smoked cheddar mornay sauce, roasted vegetables, pickled mushrooms, wasabi peas, and sherry-chicken jus served open-faced on flaky pie crust.” This festival food item costs $6.75. Though we acknowledge that eating a flat pot pie may sound odd, the chefs did a quality job designing it. Even the wasabi peas improve this menu item. For those looking for an artistic way to have a pot pie, this food option should be on their list.
Worst new food at Epcot Festival of the Arts 2025
“Worst” sounds like such a harsh word. However, something needed to be in the bottom category. In other cases, the title of “worst” was well-earned based on our experience on Opening Day of the Festival of the Arts. That does not mean the food is terrible. The issue relates to there being better uses of your Walt Disney World food festival money, which could be used on other menu items.
We struggled to narrow down the “worst” new food items. We came up with two.
Other items didn’t make our “worst” list, but may still be divisive among guests:
- Pork and White Bean Cassoulet with Regensburger Sausage and crispy pork rinds (texture issue and a vinegar-like flavor)
- Avocado-Coconut Custard Tart with pomegranate cream and henna-inspired gelée Veil (avocado and coconut combination could throw some guests off)
- Citrus-braised Beet Tartare (need to like beets)
However, those three offer merit if you enjoy the particular dominant flavor in the dish. Our other two “worst” picks have flaws that may be fixed as the festival continues. Until then, we have two worst new Festival of the Arts food items.
Har Gow | Painted Panda Food Studio (China Pavilion)
While we were impressed with the food at this location during the Festival of the Holidays, this item disappointed us. The Har Gow consists of “shrimp dumplings with pumpkin purée and drizzle of chili oil.” Guests receive three dumplings for $10.75.
In addition to the higher price tag than most items at the Festival of the Arts, the flavors do not work. The dumplings need an additional component to elevate them. The chefs chose pumpkin puree and chili oil. In concept, this should work. However, everyone in our group (and other colleagues) found that the pumpkin puree hinders this dish, and the chili oil is a non-factor. Most guests will not enjoy this festival food option.
Candy Trio Flight | Swirled Showcase (near Refreshment Port)
Everyone loves candy, right? Adding Dole soft serve to it should only make it better, or so you may think. Our experience with the Candy Trio Flight was not ideal. The Candy Trio consists of:
- Dole Whip Strawberry with Starburst minis fruit chews
- Dole Whip Lemon with Skittles Pop’d Freeze-Dried Candy
- Dole Whip Lime with chili-lime seasoning and Life Savers gummies
This flight starts with a practical issue. The container does not hold up or even work correctly. The artistic palette for our treats couldn’t hold the three Dole soft serve containers. They literally did not fit in the holes provided in the container. The guest must balance the Dole soft serve just to find a place to eat a frozen treat before it melts. The photo above was the most challenging of the day to take.
If guests fulfill this balancing act, the flavor and portion of the Dole soft serve are not worth the $8 price. The candies tasted fine. However, none of us thought this was worth $8.
Festival of the Arts
The Epcot International Festival of the Arts 2025 occurs daily through Feb. 24. The Food Studios open daily around 11 a.m. and close when the park closes. Guests can enjoy exciting shows, take advantage of photo ops, see fantastic chalk art, and view and purchase art from artists at the event. Please visit Walt Disney World’s website for more information about this event, and check out our other coverage about the festival’s Broadway performances and Figment popcorn bucket novelty.
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