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Freeze the Day: Coldest Opening Forecast Ever for the 2026 EPCOT Festival of the Arts
If you were planning to kick off the 2026 EPCOT International Festival of the Arts in shorts and a spirit jersey, you may want to rethink that plan and grab a scarf. Early forecasts are calling for the coldest opening day ever for the festival, which officially begins Friday, January 16. Temperatures around Walt Disney World are expected to dip to a brisk low of 35 degrees overnight, with a daytime high hovering near 56 degrees, making this a Festival of the Arts debut that feels more like sweater weather than sunshine season.
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The real chill sets in overnight, with feels-like temperatures dipping into the 20s before the park opens. By the time EPCOT welcomes guests at 9 am, conditions should warm slightly into the high 30s and low 40s, but it will still be downright frosty by Central Florida standards. If these numbers hold, they will tie the coldest temperatures seen so far this winter and mark the chilliest start since the festival debuted back in 2017.
Related: Your Ultimate Guide to the runDisney Experience 2026
While the festival menus lean more artsy than hearty, one booth that may see a serious surge in popularity is Pop Eats Food Studio, thanks to its grilled cheese and tomato soup combo that suddenly feels like a headliner attraction. Entertainment offerings are already fairly limited during the Festival of the Arts, and while nothing has been announced, colder temperatures always bring the possibility of minor schedule adjustments. As always, layering will be your best friend, because once the sun gets higher, EPCOT afternoons tend to thaw out just enough to keep you guessing.
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