Theme Park FESTIVALS! Food, Music and Fun!

In this episode, we're talking all about Orlando Theme Park festivals! From Disney to Universal to SeaWorld, every season brings a new festival to Central theme parks. Join us as we break them all down! 

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Transcript

Angie 0:00

Hi everyone, thanks so much for joining us for the Life in Orlando podcast.

Ron 0:04

Hope everyone's having a great week. Welcome, and we are excited to talk to you guys today about the different festivals that go on at the theme parks throughout the year and just kind of hit on some of those and kind of lay out the landscape a little bit and talk about what goes on and what they are what they're about.

Angie 0:21

Yeah, there are actually festivals at all of the Central Florida theme parks that happen all throughout the year from January through December. Um if you're a local, you're likely very aware because you probably have season passes and are just happy to have a festival and something different to go to versus just the daily um of the normal park that you're normally going to. But if you're visiting, then you may not be aware that there's even festivals going on, and you may not be aware that a lot of this activity that goes on during these festivals is included in your theme park admission. So it's bonus.

Ron 0:55

Yeah, agreed. And it's really cool because it does give a layer of kind of excitement for us annual pass holders or the locals that, you know, the the monotony of being able to go to Disney every day or universal, whenever we want, kind of can wear and kind of make it not as exciting sometimes. But when you've got these festivals coming up, it really does add a layer of excitement and they're always so fun. So let's hop into it and talk about some of this stuff.

Angie 1:19

Yeah. So let's start with uh what we call winter, winter festivals that are going to take place during the winter and spring. And we'll just kind of start at the beginning of the year in January. And the first one is the Epcot Festival of the Arts. Now, this is one of the newest Epcot festivals, although it's been around for several years now. It's one of my favorite festivals.

Ron 1:43

Mine too. This is probably my favorite festival, all of them. Just because I love the art. I love going around and seeing the different artwork pieces. I love as you know, sculptures and stuff like that as well. But the painting is just high level. So I really love it.

Angie 1:56

Yeah, so this one takes place through mid-January through about the third or fourth week of February. And what makes this one so cool is that all throughout Epcot, there are stands set up with artists. Most of the artwork is Disney artwork. There's some there that's not Disney, but most you find is going to be Disney, Star Wars, Marvel. If you go on certain days, especially on the weekends, the artists are going to be there. They're going to be painting right there at their little booths. And if you buy a piece of their artwork, most of them are going to sign that artwork as well.

Ron 2:33

Exactly. And that's one of the coolest pieces of it for like true art collectors. If you're going and you follow these artists, you know, kind of in depth, it's exciting to people that the artists are there, they're interacting, they're talking, and just making it a really cool experience. And then the icy on the cake is when you buy a piece, they'll sign it for you. So it's not even at an extra cost to sign it, typically I remember.

Angie 2:56

No, it isn't. I have a couple of pieces here hanging up. One of them is my fave, the Orange Bird. Yeah. And I got that one signed and I just love it. So other parts of it is that there are concerts that are included. These are included at the admission, and these it's called the Disney on Broadway concerts. And these are artists who are performing Disney on Broadway songs. You've probably you may not know their names, but once you hear them sing, you're likely going to recognize their voice. And they put on beautiful concerts and shows in the evening. And then also there are going to be food booths and drink booths all throughout the park. And what makes this particular festival different from a food standpoint from the other Epcot festivals is that the food is a little more creative.

Ron 3:39

Yeah, it's artsy. It is artsy, yeah. Um it tends to be a little bit smaller portions in some cases, but it's because they're making it so pretty and you know, doing little specific things with it. But typically some really unique and tasty dishes, though.

Angie 3:53

Yeah, there really is. So this is the first Disney festival and the first theme park festival, really, that just kind of kicks things kick things off for the year.

Ron 4:02

Yeah, it's kind of the season kickoff starter, we call it.

Angie 4:05

Yes.

Ron 4:05

So beyond that, another one that is in the same time frame to a degree, if you think of spring, winter spring time frame, is Universal Mardi Gras. And let me tell you, they they do put on a party. Now, obviously, it's not as intense and crazy as Mardi Gras is down in New Orleans, but it is a great festival. It's a really good time. This is typically from the like the first week of February and goes kind of into the very first week of April typically. Again, same type of thing. They have food, food stands, they have drinks, they have entertainment concerts, there's a parade every day where they're throwing out the beads and everything, kind of doing the floats, going down through the different areas of the park. It's a really fun event. And one thing that's super, super cool about this that I just love is the fact that they have an opportunity for pass holders. Is it just for pass holders, or everyone can sign up to be on a float?

Angie 5:01

Everyone can sign up, however, they do it different than they used to. You can buy a package where you or anyone can do it, and you could buy like a uh dine and and ride the float package where you pay for dinner. But the times that we did it, it was so much fun to ride on the float and throw beads. We had a blast.

Ron 5:20

Yeah, it really is a lot of fun, and the energy is just great. I can only imagine a hundred times scale larger down in New Orleans. I'd love to go do that sometime.

Angie 5:27

Yeah, that would be a lot of fun.

Ron 5:29

Great festival, a lot of fun. Just a lot of different colors and the music and everything going on. It's just a lot of fun.

Angie 5:36

It is, and there are concerts on weekends, typically Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and these are pretty big names to play here at the concerts. Now, the thing with the concerts here for Universal Mardi Gras is it's all standing groom only. So there's no seats. And I feel we've been going to these Mardi Gras concerts at Universal for, oh my goodness, probably 15 years. And we used to be able really to just stroll right in, you know, get there 45 minutes ahead of time for some of the big names, and it would be a fun time. Now there are people who are literally going and going at park opening out and camping out all day. So they're definitely getting bigger, they're more popular, but still a ton of fun for this festival for Universal Mardi Gras.

Ron 6:22

Yeah, agreed. The cat's out of the bag from that one. Everyone now knows that the concerts are high level there. Yeah, they do a good job of bringing in good, good entertainment, we'll say.

Angie 6:31

Yeah, they really do. So next is uh SeaWorld, and they have a super long festival. They do a seven C's festival. It's like a seven C's food festival, and it starts typically the end of January, runs through mid-May, and it's on select days. This one's not every day like some of the festivals at Universal or Disney, but they do have a lot of great food, uh food booths, a lot of great food options. The best thing about this festival is the concerts.

Ron 7:02

Yeah, agreed.

Angie 7:03

I am so impressed with the concerts from SeaRold. And what I love about these concerts is not only the lineup, the lineup is great, is that for instance, at some of the festivals we're going to talk about at Epcot, the concerts are around what 20 minutes 20, 25 minutes because they do three concerts at night. So they're pretty sure you have to wait in line for a long time. The SeaWorld concerts, these performers will go for an hour to an hour and a half. Yeah, they're seating because it's in the outside amphitheater. We recently went to the I Love the 90s tour.

Ron 7:39

And I loved that 90s tour. Oh my gosh. It was so much CNC Music Factory and Young MC are the main aspects of that, right? Oh, yeah. So much fun.

Angie 7:51

Yeah, we had a blast, and we had great seats. It was so much fun. But there's some other great, this is going on right now since we're in March, and there's still some other great concerts still to take place. There's the fray. Got the Beach Boys coming up with John Stamos. Yeah. Great White and Slaughter, Boys to Men, who we've seen there as well, who they're just in concert. So, if nothing else, even if you don't go for the food, technically this is a food festival, even if you don't go for the food, just going for the concert is great. Again, included in your normal Sea World Emission, which is fairly reasonably priced anyway.

Ron 8:29

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Another festival that is similar in the same kind of style as the others, the the Busch Gardens Food and Wine Festival over in the Tampa area, that typically runs right around the beginning of March to about the middle of May. And it's going to be very similar. You know, you're going to have concert series going on. You're going to have food stands and drinks and different things like that as you're walking around the park. And again, just like the others, it's included in your admission to the park itself. So another great festival, another great event here in Central Florida, a little bit further outside of Orlando specifically, but still very close in another theme park festival that's thrown that is like really, really good.

Angie 9:06

Yeah, and uh the concerts are in similar style, that's the ones of SeaWorld as well. Right. Yeah. So let's move into the second Epcot festival of the year. And this one starts in true spring. It usually starts the beginning of March and runs all the way through the first of March. And this is the I'm sorry, you're right, the first of June. So it starts the first of March, runs through the first of June, and this is the flower and garden festival. And I think that this one is actually my favorite festival just because I really love flowers and plants.

Ron 9:37

Yeah, and seeing the different topiaries is really cool. They do a phenomenal job of this, don't get me wrong. I really enjoy it too, but I'm just like I said, I'm a fan of the of the arts.

Angie 9:45

So yeah, but at this one, there's going to be these beautiful topiaries all around the park, and they are carved into Disney characters.

Ron 9:54

Yeah.

Angie 9:54

So you're gonna have those topiaries, you're gonna have beautiful flowers, beautiful plants all around the park, and then you're gonna have food and drinks. And there's also a concert series at the Flower and Garden Festival as well. These are more of artists that you've probably heard of so far this year. There's Sugar Ray, 38 Special, Rick Springfield, Plain White Tees. There's concerts every single night. And the difference in this versus, for instance, like the SeaWorld show, there is seating. This is in the amphitheater in the America. So there's seating, but they do limit it. I mean, once that seating is full, that's it. They're not gonna let anyone else in. You can stand kind of way in the back and see and hear. So you do have that. But for some of the popular shows, I mean, the show times are typically 5 30, 6 45, and 8 o'clock. And for the 5 30 show, people are lining up at 3 o'clock.

Ron 10:45

Three, 3:30. Yeah, I was gonna say you stand out there a long time, rainers, rain or shine.

Angie 10:50

Yeah.

Ron 10:50

To uh to catch it. So it makes it definitely tough to be able to get a seat sometimes if you don't get there early.

Angie 10:58

Yeah, and and also something else is for these Epcot concerts, you can buy packages where you pay to eat at one of the restaurants during the day, and then you get guaranteed seating at the concert as well. So you're going to pay a pretty penny, you know, more than you would normally pay to eat at one of the Epcot restaurants, but it does include guaranteed seating. So if you're visiting and someone is playing who you really want to see, then it could definitely be worth doing that because you have to eat anyway.

Ron 11:29

Exactly.

Angie 11:30

Yeah, so may as well invest in one of these packages, have a great meal at Epcot, and then know that you're going to have guaranteed seating at the concert without having to wait for hours.

Ron 11:39

Dinner and a show. I say moving in the summer is one of my favorite times. And let's go back to uh SeaWorld because SeaWorld Bands, brew, and barbecue is the next festival we're gonna talk about. And that typically runs from right in the beginning of July to the end of August. This is another great series where they have the live performances, they've got a lot of good barbecue there, as well as craft beer. Those are kind of your highlights, kind of a craft beer and barbecue, hence the name of the of the of the festival itself, but it's it's just another great time. You have the concerts that are there in the outdoor amphitheater and all that, so plenty of seating, great, great food options, trying all the different barbecue from around.

Angie 12:26

And then around that same time, near the end of July through the end of August, so a little over a month, Bush Gardens does a beer fest brews and barbecue, which is a very similar style as well. So we don't have a a lot of festivals going on right in the middle of summer at a lot of parts, but SeaWorld and Bush Gardens, they definitely have uh, you know, some things going on for us with some good barbecue and beer.

Ron 12:48

Yeah, it's a little too hot to have a festival really going on in most cases, in most days. And then it's also a rainy season, so it makes it a little bit tougher to do those festivals, I feel like. But SeaWorld and uh Bush Gardens still throw one together, so it's great.

Angie 13:01

They do.

Ron 13:01

Yep.

Angie 13:02

So then if we move on to technically fall, starting in late August, it running all the way into early November is I what I think is the OG festival. This was the original one, the one that has been around the longest, and this is the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. At one point, this was the only theme park festival that really took place. This one has been around for so long, so it's the one that most people are familiar with. But this one really focuses on food, drinks, a lot of wine, a lot of food and wine from around the world. When you're walking around Epcot, you're gonna have all of these different little stands, like you're gonna have Greece and Ireland and Brazil and all of these different countries and regions and cultures. So that's really amazing. But on top of that, you also have a concert series. It's the Eat2B concert series. So these concerts are similar style to the Flower and Garden concerts. They typically have a great lineup, three concerts in evening, and you know, they're the same, they're under 30-minute sets, but still a great lineup. But this is a fun festival. This one used to be my favorite before the Festival of the Arts and Flower and Garden came along.

Ron 14:14

Yeah, this is a good one. I really enjoy it as well and have a great time hitting it up. Like I said, with it being kind of the original the OG, it's the longest standing one that we've been going to for years.

Angie 14:24

Yeah, for sure.

Ron 14:25

Kind of the catapult into everything else.

Angie 14:27

So yeah, and just a tip for people who are visiting and who are planning on coming, you know, down during the fall. This one on the weekends is going to bring all of the locals in.

Ron 14:41

Yeah, it gets really crowded.

Angie 14:42

It so all of the locals, all of the annual pass holders are coming. And is it's kind of the case for a lot of the festivals, but especially with food and wine during an October Saturday. If you're visiting, you probably don't want to be at Epcot at that date.

Ron 14:58

You should probably stay home and watch football. No, if you're Saturday in October is football.

Angie 15:04

If you're visiting, you should be out enjoying the parks. Maybe just go to a different park. Do Epcot on a day during the week, and then on the weekend go to a different park where it's not going to be as crowded because this is all the locals who are gonna flock to Epcot to take advantage of the Food and Wine Festival on a beautiful October day. Okay, so let's move on to Halloween and let's talk about some of the festivities that take place in September and October. And SeaWorld does a couple of events during that time. One is called Spectacular, which takes place from the end of August typically through right around through Halloween time. And this one's really family focused where they do trick-or-treating, they do Sesame Street Parade, a lot of the kids come in dressed up. So that one's really cute, very family focused around, you know, for Halloween festivities. And then they're not scary, not as scary. But then they also do what's called a howl a scream for adults, and it typically takes place September-ish through Halloween. And this is more like where the park turns into a big horror fest. Horror fest, haunted house.

Ron 16:12

Haunted house, yes.

Angie 16:13

Yeah, yeah. So there's that one. But I have to say that the MacDaddy of all of those, if we're going to choose one thing to do for Halloween, it has to be Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. Yes.

Ron 16:28

This is the epitome of horror houses, scary, haunted house type setup. Halloween Horror Nights has been going on for years and years and years, and always just getting better and better. And they do such a great job. With with Halloween Horror Nights, when you go in and you go into the different houses, you are fully immersing yourself into whatever experience it is. And I'm talking like Hollywood style quality in regards to the theming. They do such a great job. The only thing that they don't do that I enjoy is that it's so freaking packed that it's really hard to get scared sometimes because you're walking through a line through these houses and everyone is so you know front to back with each other that when they jump out and scare somebody seven people ahead of you, by the time they're done screaming, you're passing by, and the next time it's it just makes it a little bit tougher, but you still get spooked sometimes, I gotta say. But this festival is one of the best festivals year-round of any of the parks to go to, especially if you're a fan of Halloween.

Angie 17:31

Yeah, and guys, I don't go into most of the haunted houses because I am chicken. But I love walking around and I love enjoying the atmosphere. There's scare zones around. It's just a fun atmosphere. And I do have to point out that Halloween Horror Nights and the Howlow Scream, those are not included in normal park admission. Right. The parks close down. So at Universal Studios, it's a separately ticketed event. So everyone who buys a day pass to Universal Studios, for instance, they have to be out of the park by a certain time because it closes down and it's only open to people who buy a separate Halloween Horror Nights ticket. So even if you have a ticket for that day for Universal Studios, if you wanted to attend Halloween Horror Nights that night, you would still have to buy a separate ticket for that night.

Ron 18:19

So to that point, fun fact or fun tip for anyone coming during that time of year when Halloween Horror Nights is going on. Highly recommend that you think about the day that you're going to the park, check and see if Halloween Horror Nights is going on that night, like what time it starts and what time the park is going to close. Because the last thing you want to do is come to Universal, expecting to have a full-fledged day until 9 o'clock at night. You get over to the park around 2 o'clock, hop in. Maybe you hang out by your hotel early in the day, get there around 2 and hop in, and then you've got to be out of the park within two to two and a half hours because Halloween Horror Nights is linked up and get ready to start. So make sure that if you are coming there at time and you're not planning on going to Halloween Horror Nights, that you know what time the park is closing the day that you're planning on going, so you can plan accordingly because that can be a real surprise and a real kind of bummer for people.

Angie 19:13

Yeah, that's a good call for people who are visiting who just may not know that.

Ron 19:16

Right.

Angie 19:16

All right, so let's kick off the Christmas season and we're going to talk about Universal Studios first. So essentially, Halloween Horror Nights ends at the first of November. You have about a two-week break, and then everything transforms into Christmas. So all of the all of the decorations are up. And Universal does a fantastic holiday festival at both parks. Epic hasn't quite gotten there yet. They have some decorations, but at Islands of Adventure and at Universal Studios, you're going to find a lot of holiday festivities. First of all, this is where you're going to find the Grinch.

Ron 19:51

My favorite.

Angie 19:53

Yeah. So there is a Grinch stage show that is fantastic. If you're here during the holidays, don't miss it. It is so much fun and it is so great. There's a meet and greet with the Grinch. There's also a paid breakfast with the Grinch that costs extra, but that is available. And then just during there's this, if you haven't been to Universal Studios, there is this area called uh Seuss Land. Seuss Landing. There's an area called Seuss Landing, which is transformed into holidays. And you you can actually see all of the Hooville characters walking around doing it. They do such a good job. They really do a great job with it.

Ron 20:33

The makeup artists of them are phenomenal.

Angie 20:35

Yeah. And then if you move over to Universal Studios, there is a beautiful parade there. A wonderful. It's the Macy's uh holiday parade. They have some beautiful floats, some wonderful characters. They really do a great job with that. And then one of my favorites is Earl the Squirrel. Earl the Squirrel. There's an Earl the Squirrel character there.

Ron 20:57

This is only That's like the highlight of her year when we see Earl the Squirrel during the holidays.

Angie 21:05

If you don't go to Universal or if you're not a patch holder, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about.

Ron 21:10

But most people, even if they do, they have no idea who Earl the Squirrel is because he's not a very highly like recognized character until he's out. It's so wild. I know.

Angie 21:19

I love Earl the Squirrel. But that's universal during the holiday season. So you know it's definitely worth going there. And if you just happen to be here during that time, then just make sure that you pay attention and you have some of these things on your radar to catch some of these activities because it's definitely worth it.

Ron 21:36

And again, all of this is part of your admission, except for, like Angie said, the breakfast with the Grinch.

Angie 21:42

Yeah.

Ron 21:43

But all the other stuff was like included in admission. So it's part of the park. You're gonna be there anyway. Make sure you experience it and have fun with it and take it all in.

Angie 21:50

Yeah. Right? Yeah, for sure.

Ron 21:51

So beyond that, let's go into what SeaWorld does. They have a great Christmas celebration as well. This runs November Probably the first week of November through the first week of January as well. And this has, again, a lot of fun. This is probably one of the more Christmassy spots at Christmas in my mind as far as like decorations go and something like that. And how they do a really good job of making it all Christmas up. They really decorate SeaWorld up really well. They do the ice show, which is just phenomenal. It's one of my favorite things to see each year. Besides the Green S. The Green Show is my favorite, but the ice show at SeaWorld is really good. Going and seeing Rudolph is always fun. The Sesame Street Parade is really good. You get to meet Santa Claus there. They have uh food and drinks. And then they also have the snow flurries, which is really cool. Yes. You can go and see the snowflurries right there in that little that main section, which is really neat, as well as the ice skating as well. So just a really cool experience there. Again, SeaWorld really steps it up for their festivals and does a good job, I feel like.

Angie 22:51

Yeah, in my opinion, this is the most overlooked park during the holidays. Agreed. And they don't they only do this on certain nights. So there's not going to be these festivities every single night. So just make sure that you check the calendar before you go. But they also do fireworks on certain nights as well after that ice show. It's a good fireworks showing it. Yeah, it really is. You can do ice skating. They had these beautiful uh Christmas trees that are all lit up on the water and then beautiful lights all around the park. So I think that people who come here to visit, especially, always gravitate more towards Disney or Universal, but don't overlook SeaWorld during the holidays because it's definitely worth visiting.

Ron 23:30

If you like boozy hot chocolate, I mean this is a place to get it.

Angie 23:34

Oh, that's a good point. They do have that boozy hot chocolate. Yeah. It's pretty yummy.

Ron 23:38

It is good.

Angie 23:38

So we're going to end on what really is most people's favorite theme park festival during the holidays. And we're going right back to Epcot. And this is Epcot's International Festival of the Holidays, which typically runs right around from the end of November through the beginning of January. And the biggest and actually one of the best things at any of the theme parks here on the holidays is the candlelight processional. Right. And this takes place at Epcot. And what this is, is this is a celebrity narrating the Christmas story. There is a beautiful choir, a beautiful musicians. I mean, it is just uh it's stunning. If you've never experienced yeah, it is really something to experience. And there's some pretty high-level celebrities there narrating as well. Absolutely. So this is definitely worth visiting. But, you know, aside from that, you're going to have a lot of holiday food stands with some fun holiday food. You're going to go to Germany and get gluevine, you know, just some really fun holiday dishes. But one of the things that I really love about this part during the holidays is, you know, Epcot has all of the different little world showcases.

Ron 24:52

Pavilions, yeah.

Angie 24:53

Yeah, and the different pavilions. And you can go to the UK, for instance, and there's the UK Santa Claus there. Or you can go to France and there's the France Santa Claus there. There's uh all of these different pavilions do different little performances and have different traditions. So it really is, it really it just really is magical and it really is beautiful during the holidays.

Ron 25:13

It's definitely a really good way to kick off the holiday season. Yeah. Or the Christmas season, we'll say. So definitely something that I would recommend if you're in the air and you get a chance, go to this festival. It's a lot of fun. Take the time, wait to go to the processional and hear that. It's phenomenal, no matter who's doing it. Definitely come check it out. It's a lot of fun. It's a great time. Again, it does get crowded, but it's worth the crowd to go to this festival. It's a lot of fun.

Angie 25:40

It really is. So that wraps it up. That is a festival pretty much throughout the entire year.

Ron 25:48

Right. Yeah, there's pretty much always something going on.

Angie 25:50

Always something to do, and that's just what we really love about living here in Orlando and being a local, is that you never get tired of going to the theme parks because there's always something new going on.

Ron 26:01

Absolutely.

Angie 26:02

We love it.

Ron 26:02

We do, we do indeed. So next time you're in town, hit a festival.

Angie 26:07

That's right. Hit a festival. Alright, guys. Well, it was so great being with you today. Thank you so much for tuning in, and we hope you have a fantastic week.

Ron 26:18

Have an awesome week, everybody.