LATEST: EPCOT The Festival of the Holidays

EPCOT is known for its many festivals and the current one is one of my favorites! The Festival of the Holidays!

There are so many things to see, do, and taste so let’s just jump in!

The Festival Of The Holidays

Each year Epcot is Decked out in its holiday best! What’s unique about Epcot is each country celebrates the season differently and Epcot allows you to experience cultures and traditions from around the World in one location!

This event is November 26, 2021 to December 30, 2021.

This festival takes you into each country and allows you to experience how they celebrate the season, the traditional foods they eat and the celebrations they partake in.

Booths set up all around the world showcase feature unique foods and drink. Celebrating each country.

Each booth has a menu focused on traditional festive food items and drinks.

Stop by a booth and grab a passport booklet which will have a list of the booths, and the food and drinks at each booth. Plus much more!

The Cookie Stroll

You can purchase any of the 5, it doesn’t need to be one of each you can purchase 3 gingerbread and 2 linzer cookies or any combination of the cookies listed to total 5, make sure you get your stamps! Once you get your stamps you turn it in at Holiday Sweets and Treats for your prize! A 50th Anniversary Cookie!

Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Expedition Scavenger Hunt

Go on a quest to find holiday traditions that Olaf has gathered—and lost—along the way!

To get started, purchase your scavenger hunt map and stickers for $9.99 plus tax from select merchandise locations, including:Port of EntryCreations ShopWorld TravelerUsing the stickers on your map, mark the tradition that Olaf has found in each Pavilion.

Once you complete the expedition, bring your map to Disney Traders, Creations Shop or World Traveler to redeem your map for a gift worth melting for! Redemption valid through December 31, 2021 or while supplies last.

Holiday Kitchen- Food Booths

There are many holiday food booths around World Showcase. 18 to be exact!

With so many choices it’s important for you to pick up one of these Festival Passports.

They are free, you can find them at one of the many food booths. They not only include the menu for each booth, they also include festival merchandise, entertainment, Fun for all ages information and dietary cuisine key, and more! Plus they are a great FREE souvenir!

Entertainment at Festival of the Holidays

From Father Christmas, A Hanukkah Storyteller, and A Daruma Story teller to A Mischievous Barn Santa this festival has it all! Each country has its own customs and you get to experience a taste of each! Be sure to note the times of each performance in the my Disney Experience app so you don’t miss them!

Of course you can also visit Santa in the American Pavillion as well! So if you have little ones be sure to stop by and say hi!

Merchandise: Festival of the Holidays

Every festival has its own merchandise and this one is no different, this year Olaf and sven are the theme! The spirit jerseys are very fluffy and the sleeves are make of fluffy fleece like pj pairs. They also have annual passholder exclusives like a Olaf Keychain and Hoodie with ‘annual passholder’ on the sleeve!

From Disney’s website:

Commemorate your visit with the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays Collection, a festive array of items featuring Olaf the snowman and Sven the reindeer from Frozen.

This new collection includes:

Adult Sherpa Spirit Jersey

Adult tee

Youth tee

Beanie

Throw

Mug

Ornament

Candy dish

Water bottle

Cookie jar

MagicBand

Festival logo trading pin

Disney Vacation Club Member trading pin

Annual Passholder trading pin

Annual Passholder adult pullover hoodie

All merchandise available while supplies last.

Harmonious Water & Light Fireworks Show

Your night isn’t complete without witnessing the newest Firework, Water and Lightshow at Epcot! Check you MDE app for the latest showtime!

I have found the perfect viewing area, that isn’t crowded and provided me a perfect view- see image above! Its is in the UK corner before the bridge to France, there is a little area with tables overlooking the lake by York shire fish shop and rose & crown.

That area is off the beaten path so you are much more likely to get a good spot without someone’s head blocking your view! This spot is where I took the photo above of Harmonious so you can see it was a great view!

The very beginning of World showcase is the best spot but if you don’t want to be crowded in, or would like to show up with only 5 to 10 mins before showtime and have a front row seat this is your place!

If you don’t mind staking out your spot hours before showtime then absolutely go get the spot at the top of World showcase!

Either way just make sure you put Harmonious on your itinerary!

Decorations

A beautiful scene inside of an ornament in the France Pavillion

All around the park you will find festive decorations, some more obvious than others, if your not careful you would walk right by this beautiful scene hidden inside an ornament in the France Pavilion.

Here are a few other photos of festive décor around the park:

This festival is alot of fun, in my opinion it is mostly enjoyable for adults, although epcot has rides that children will enjoy:

The frozen ever after, The seas Nemo ride, the three Caballero’s in the Mexico Pavilion, the newest ride Ratatouille and figment of the imagination ride. They also have a small splash pad by mission:space and a playground by creations shop, perfect to let your little one burn thier energy!

Conclusion

Festival of the Holidays is a wonderful way to learn more about other cultures and holidays others celebrat around the globe, and ride a super fast race car (test track).

So what do you think? Is the festival of the Holidays your favorite time to visit epcot?

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