Guide to Festival of the Holidays 2023
Epcot International Festival of the Holidays is here and there is ALOT to see and do! If you are a Holiday enthusiast OR if you just love Epcot, this is a MUST do on your Holiday trip to Disney World!
Festival of the Holidays runs from November 24th - December 30th, 2023 and is included with your regular park ticket to Epcot. (Don’t forget to make your park pass reservations!) This festival is full of food, entertainment, holiday decorations and more! Let’s take a look at these different offerings.
Be sure to check out our Full Video Guide where we try some of the eats and more!
Festival Passport
The MOST important thing to do when you arrive is to pick up a festival passport! These will be located at the front of the park right next to the park maps, or at pretty much any food or merchandise location in the park. This will include all the details for the festival including entertainment offerings, food booths, merchandise locations, and more.
PLUS this will be your ticket for the Cookie Stroll to get your stamps! (more on that in a minute)
Holiday Kitchens
The biggest draw to Epcot festivals are the outdoor kitchens full of TONS of delicious eats to sample throughout the park. These food items are a separate cost, but typically most items will be between $3-$8 ($8-$15 for alcohol). The portions are more of a small plate size, so easily shareable to try lots of different options. There are 17 main food booths and several other locations offering special food items around the parks. You can find a full list of booth menus and pictures HERE as well as get your FREE Printable Food Booth Checklist!
Gift Cards
Speaking of Food Booths, even though food items aren’t terribly expensive, it can be very easy to go overboard on budget! A great way to help keep you on track is to purchase one of the festival gift cards. These have a bracelet attached, so they are easy access to make payment a breeze. You can fill it up with however much you want and then when it’s gone, it’s gone! (or you can reload it if you really want)
If you are someone who collects receipts for bookkeeping, this is also incredibly helpful since you’ll only have ONE receipt to keep track of instead of 50.
You can find these gift cards and refill them at any merchandise location around the park. You CANNOT reload them at any dining locations or food booths.
Cookie Stroll
One of my favorite parts of the festival and a great way to experience some of the food options without breaking the bank is the cookie stroll! There are 9 cookies throughout the different food booths that you can purchase. When you go to the back page of your festival passport, you will find the list of cookies as well as their locations. AND you’ll also see a spot for you to get your stamps. You only need to purchase 5 cookies - they can be 5 different ones or all the same, or a combination - and then you will be able to redeem for your complimentary completer prize!
When you purchase a cookie, make sure to ask the cast member for a stamp and then when you have all five, head over to the Holiday Sweets & Treats Booth near Port of Entry to get your completer prize.
This is a great option to do with kids, or if you just want to experience the food booths without trying a bunch of heavy options. (Then you can opt to do a sit down restaurant or Candlelight Processional Dining Package instead!)
Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Expedition Scavenger Hunt
This is a fantastic activity to do with your kiddos! You can purchase a scavenger hunt map in any of the merchandise locations around the park. This will have blank spots to put your stickers that match with the different Olaf’s around the park. Each one will have an item representing a holiday tradition from that country. Once you complete your scavenger hunt, you can return it to Gateway Gifts, Creations Shop, or World Traveler to get your completer prize! This year it is a Frozen themed cookie cutter.
If you don’t complete the scavenger hunt, that’s ok! You can still get your completer prize even if you don’t finish. (you did pay for it after all)
Not interested in the map or prize? You can still have fun looking for the different Olaf’s around the park even without the map!
Ride Overlays
There are TWO ride overlays in this park that you don’t want to miss! The first is more subtle - Journey Into Imagination With Figment. You can find Figment the purple dragon dressed up in his holiday sweater in two spots on the attraction. The first is in the sound room - this will be the first room you come to. The second is towards the end when you are supposed to go to the ‘smell and taste’ labs (right before going to Figment’s house). And don’t forget! You can meet Figment himself a the meet and greet location at the end of the ride!
The second attraction is NOT TO MISS! Living With the Land is already a popular attraction for many, but during the holidays it has a special overlay called ‘Glimmering Greenhouses’ where thousands of sparking lights decorate the gardens. It is beautiful to see and I HIGHLY recommend riding this one towards the end of the night once it gets dark as the lights really come to life.
This would also be a fantastic time of year to consider booking a Behind the Seeds Tour so that you can not only learn about the care and keeping of the greenhouses, but also get a super unique view of the lights! These tours can be booked up to 60 days in advance through the My Disney Experience App.
Storytellers
One of the most unique offerings of this festival are the storytellers. In each country pavilion, you will have performers share holiday traditions from that country through performances, dance, music, and more! You may encounter characters like Father Christmas or La Befana the holiday witch, or even some fantastic musicians! You may not be able to see all of them in one day, but definitely make it a priority to catch at least one or two of these incredible performances. You can find showtimes in the My Disney Experience App map filtered under ‘entertainment’.
Be sure to stick around after the show! You may get a chance to snap a few pics with the performers! (This is pending on if they have extra time at the end of their set)
Joyful! A Celebration of the Season - this Gospel group with INCREDIBLE vocals sing some holiday tunes to celebrate Christmas and Kwanzaa. You can find them in World Showcase Plaza between Mexico and Canada.
Canadian Holiday Voyageurs - This musical tour takes you through the different regions of Canada with fun and festive jams with a live band!
Father Christmas - Learn about holiday traditions of the UK with Father Christmas himself as he tells stories and sings songs that warm the heart.
Pere Noel - In the France Pavilion, Pere Noel shares a beautiful story of how one little girl’s belief in him spread the magic to her brother who eventually comes to believe!
Hanukkah Storyteller - You’ll learn about the music and traditions of Jewish culture from this storyteller including the origin and significance of the Menorah and why food plays a huge part in this holiday.
Daruma Storyteller - In the Japan pavilion, you’ll learn the story of the Daruma Doll and the customs of the New Year.
La Befana - This sweet little witch tells a story of how she was inspired by the star of Christmas to bring gifts to young children in search of the new king.
Tanzhaus Johan - These talented musicians sing holiday music in the language of their home country of Germany in a fun and boisterous performance!
Chinese Lion Dancer - These amazing acrobats showcase the good fortune and happiness that is celebrated in the Lunar New Year.
Si-Zhu Trio - This traditional Chinese music also celebrates the Lunar New Year through live musicians.
A Mischievous Magical Barn Santa - In Norway, you’ll learn about the trickster Barn Santa from narrator Sigrid in a funny rendition of this Nordic folklore.
Las Posadas Celebration - This special take on Mariachi Cobre celebrates Navidad through music and dancing!
Candlelight Processional
Probably the most popular performance is the Candlelight Processional. This is a live performance of a choir singing Christmas carols and narrated by a celebrity narrator. These narrators range from Neil Patrick Harris to Jordan Fisher, Brendan Frasier to Simu Liu and many more!
As mentioned, this performance is incredibly popular and although these shows happen 3 times each night, the line to get in can be incredibly long. That being said, if this is a must for you, I highly recommend booking a Candlelight Processional Dining Package. This gets you guaranteed seating at one of the performances so that you can skip the crazy long line.
PLEASE NOTE! This is not automatically included with a regular dining reservation - you MUST specifically book the dining package. You can find more info on booking HERE.
Are dining packages filled up? That’s ok! You can actually head to Regal Eagle Smokehouse earlier in the day and get a dining package at this quick service location! These are first come, first serve, so I definitely recommend getting there as early as you can. The best part? These are WAY less expensive than the regular dining packages at the sit down restaurants!
Meet Santa
That’s right! You can meet the main man himself in the Odyssey Building! There is a photopass photographer ready to snap some pics and you can munch on some treats from the Holiday Hearth Desserts while you wait. You can find meeting times for Santa in the app or in the Odyssey Building.
Holiday Decor
And what would a holiday festival be without holiday decor?? All throughout the park you’ll find beautiful decorations with lots of little easter eggs! The focal point is definitely the GIANT Christmas Tree at the front of World Showcase!
Merchandise
There isn’t a ton of merchandise this year, but of what there is, it’s really pretty! You’ll find a fluffy spirit jersey, mug, ornament, cookie jar, pins, bag, corkcicle, and passholder exclusive zipper jacket!
You will find this merchandise at the Creations Shop, World Traveler, and various merchandise booths throughout World Showcase. You can of course find all the regular holiday merchandise including an all new Hanukkah collection at these locations too!
Spaceship Earth
We LOVE the light shows they do on Spaceship Earth! There is a holiday version that is performed nightly that features the Frozen Favorite ‘When We’re Together’ from Olaf’s Frozen Adventure. There are a few of these light shows that rotate around every 10 minutes or so throughout the night once the sun goes down, so don’t forget to make your way up front for a peek at these stunning shows!
