PHOTOS: EPCOT's Traveling Exhibit Has Landed in Kansas City!

Did you catch The Soul ofJazz: An American Adventure in EPCOT earlier this year?

Soul of Jazz: An American Adventure at EPCOT

This exhibit took guests on a tour through the American cities in which the jazz movement took off, and later Disney announced that it would go on the road to three different museums in the U.S. We visited one of these locations, so take a look at what we saw!

Back in October, Disney announced that “The Soul of Jazz: An American Adventure” would be traveling to The New Orleans Jazz Museum in New Orleans, the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

This exhibit is “hosted” by the character of Joe Gardner from Pixar’s Soul, and he takes guests through the cities of New Orleans, Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. We visited the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City to check it out!

When you enter the museum, you will find a central lobby, which includes a general seating and welcome area, as well as entrances to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the American Jazz Museum. If you look to your right, you’ll find The Soul of Jazz exhibit.

We saw coloring and activity pages for kids and even some Soul-related activities around the general lobby, all before we actually entered the exhibit itself. The Improvisation Station instructs guests to roll the dice and follow the improvisation tips depending on the number you roll.

The activity page had fun games like a word search for Soul and jazz-related terms!

We purchased a $10 ticket for the American Jazz Museum, but because The Soul of Jazz is located right off the lobby and not actually inside the museum, our ticket was not checked as we entered the exhibit. You can also get a combination entrance to the American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum for $15.

The exhibit itself was familiar yet bigger than we expected, as it is a traveling version of what used to be in EPCOT. When you enter you can take a look at the map of important cities that contributed to jazz.

Each city gets its own display to show their history of jazz and the artists who cultivated the scene.

There were a lot of Soul scenes in the exhibit, and we felt like we stepped right into the film in some areas!

Like check out Joe Gardner’s classroom! (See the cat??)

You can also visit the Half Note Jazz Club straight from Soul.

There were screen “windows” featuring scenes such as a barber shop, as well as a girl playing an instrument, and even Joe Gardner himself.

You can also check out pieces of jazz history, like Pearl Thurston Brown’s blue silk dress…

…a 1966 issue of Life Magazine featuring Louis Armstrong on the cover…

…and even a pay stub from 1956 listing John Coltrane as an employee and Dizzy Gillespie as an employer. There was a LOT more to see too!

And in the gift shop, you could shop for Soul merchandise items.

This exhibit will be at the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City until April 2022, and it’s also at the New Orleans Jazz Museum right now! In February, people in Harlem can check out the National Jazz Museum.

Keep reading AllEars for more Disney-related news!