The Best Way to Spend $50 at the 2025 EPCOT Festival of the Arts

Eating your way around every booth at an EPCOT Festival isn’t for everyone visiting Disney World. You might be tight on time, or perhaps it’s money. No matter, our parks team tried everything so you don’t have to. If you’re looking for Festival highlights, here’s our best budget sampler of this year’s Food Studios at the Festival of the Arts. An afternoon and $52.25 will leave your tummy happy and your wallet only a little dented.

You can sample as you come to if you’re mixing in your noshing with other activities. But we’ve put them in order from the front to the rear of the park below, so that you don’t need to backtrack. If you’re entering from the International Gateway, you can go in reverse.

The Best $52.25 Budget Sampler

Beef Wellington-inspired Croissant Supreme | The Craftsman’s Courtyard – $8.50

Giant, gorgeous, and so tasty! The beef was so tender we could divide it with a plastic fork, the crust was flaky, and the sauce was hearty. The cheese and mustard seed flavors were loud, but they went so well with the beef. Amazing.

Cast Iron-roasted P.E.I. Mussels | The Craftsmans Courtyard – $8.00

If you’re anywhere near the Imagination Pavilion, just follow your nose. You’ll step down to the grill with your receipt for the Mussels, and watching the chef scoop out your giant bowl and douse it in pot liquor is worth the price before you even tuck in. Save the grilled bread for dipping when you’ve devoured the mussels.

Citrus-braised Beet Tartare | Gourmet Landscapes – $5.50

We loved the Verjus-roasted Beets at this kitchen last year and they have done it again. The dish is stunning and tastes even better than it looks. The beets are sweet and the mustard is plucky – mustard seems to be a Festival theme this year and we are here for it. We suggest breaking up the bread and scooping a bit of everything on top for a wonderful bite. Our whole team “oooh’d” over this one. ⁠

⁠Squid Ink Pasta | Fictional Victuals – $7.75

This brand-new booth brings a celebration of literature to the Festival of the Arts, with a menu based on the Jules Verne classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The squid ink isn’t fishy but it does taste like seafood – if you’ve never had squid, don’t let an ick-factor put you off. Salty, nutty, sweet, and a bit of umami from the shaved truffle. We thought this was very special and everything an art Festival dish should be. The glamour shot on the menu was more artistic than the plating we received, but the flavors were there and that’s what counts.

Har Gow | The Painted Panda – $10.75

This is a pretty price per dumpling, but we think it’s worth the splurge. It’s not going to be for everyone, but we loved seeing these familiar flavors in an unusual combination. This dish had us making all sorts of impolite sounds as we chomped down on the first dumpling and braced our chopsticks for a second. If these flavors are high on your list, you’ll be as delighted as we were.

Hummingbird Cake | The Artist’s Table – $5.00

This is enough dessert for any three people and also enough sugar for your whole day. This cake allegedly got its name from the fact that it’s so sweet that hummingbirds would mistake it for nectar – and we can confirm. It’s cake that is basically a candy platter, but it’s really yummy. Just please don’t try to eat the entire thing yourself.

Taiyaki | Goshiki – $6.75

If you’ve never had red bean before don’t be put off; the flavor is hard to describe but you’ll find this is sweet, but not too sweet. The pastry is flaky and buttery with just a bit of chew. Our team mostly focuses on small bites (a necessity to power through 53 dishes in 10 hours), but this dish was finished to the last crumb. It’s perfect and was devoured completely – a real Do Not Skip dish. ⁠

What looks good on this list? If you’ve been to this year’s Festival, what would make yours? Let us know in the comments!