Be A Savvy Traveler: What to Know About The Epcot Festivals
- Nov 9
- 11 min read
The Story and Travel Tips:
Festival Time in Epcot
Oh, my! Where do we start? I am going to say this based on personal opinion alone and not any type of scientific research, professional bloggers or even from the Walt Disney Company themselves: In our very humble and personal opinion and experience, the Epcot International Festivals contribute significantly to the experience and most likely, the success, of Epcot in Walt Disney World.
Disney fans know the story of Epcot: it was supposed to be the first to be constructed at Walt Disney World when the project began way back in the day when the company was secretly buying land to expand. Walt Disney had a dream of a place where people could live and play: Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow. In fact, the name was originally styled as EPCOT, for the initials. However, they ran into a few issues getting permits and permissions and having the local state governments to get on board and they could only get the go ahead if a theme park was built. So, Magic Kingdom was born. Sadly, Walt died before Magic Kingdom was even completed, so EPCOT was put on the back burner. By the time it was reborn again, it was re-imagined into a theme park, but parts of Walt's dream and design remained: pavilions with communication and technology, a World Showcase with all of the cultures coexisting side by side and even the monorail system, traveling through the park when it comes in from the Transportation Center.
The edutainment aspect of EPCOT was idealistic: educate while entertaining. You either sat in a theater or rode through entertaining scenes about technology, communication, the environment or nutrition. Unfortunately, although EPCOT had die-hard fans, it wasn't enough. If you're going to be a theme park, you need rides, attractions and more entertainment to bring in more fans and, of course, money.
Spaceship Earth, Universe of Energy, World of Motion and Living with the Land (originally called Listen to the Land), were some of the few attractions that could be called rides, although they were mostly dark ride through experiences. Spaceship Earth and Living With the Land survived re-imaginings and still exist today but Universe of Energy was torn down completely and the area is now home to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and World of Motion is Test Track. Over at the Imagination pavilion, Journey Into Imagination underwent three re-imaginings before park goers decided they liked the current one, Journey Into Imagination With Figment. That was a win-win situation: Epcot got a mascot in the process, the purple dragon Figment.
Over on the other side of Future World (which would become to be called World Celebration), the Living Seas pavilion underwent changes and updates, too. The Coral Reef Ride opened in 1986 but by 2001, changes were implemented little by little: that ride closed in 2001, Turtle Talk With Crush opened in 2004, the rest of the Seas pavilion got a major transformation and construction and when all was said and done, the Living Seas reopened completely in 2007 with a new ride, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, a renovated space for viewing the aquarium to keep company with the Coral Reef Restaurant which had opened in 1986.
Malestrom in the Norway pavilion came on the scene in 1988 (morphing into Frozen Forever in 2016) and The Gran Fiesta Tour Featuring The Three Caballeros is a renovated version of El Rio del Tiempo in the Mexico pavilion in 2007. Both rides were not completely demolished when they received facelifts, but rather had added technology and then major cosmetic renovations to re-theme the attraction.
To round out the updated attractions, Soarin' was added in 2005 (with the movie changing in 2016). Remy's Ratatouille Adventure was one of the most ambitious additions to the park: the France pavilion got a brand new wing in 2021. Finances and possibly the pandemic put updates to the UK pavilion and a possible Mary Poppins attraction on the permanent back burner. Instead, the entire Future World part of the park became World Nature, World Discovery and the most innovative, World Celebration.
It did take Disney a little while to figure out that park goers not only wanted traditional rides, some of them major roller coasters, but they wanted to see Disney characters in the process. Anna & Elsa appear in Frozen, Remy has his own ride and the cast of Finding Nemo have their own pavilion. Character dining experiences were added: the Disney Princesses in Norway and Chip and Dale in The Land; as well as general character greeting photo and autograph ops througout the park. Look for characters that correspond to their settings, such as Mary Poppins or Alice in Wonderland in the UK or Mulan in China. Check the app for specifics.
By 2025 Epcot consisted of 4 major areas: World Celebration (with Spaceship Earth, the Imagination pavilion, CommuniCore Hall, shops, dining, customer service and more); World Discovery with Mission: Space, Test Track and Guardians of the Galaxy; World Nature with 2 major pavilions (The Land and The Seas with Nemo and Friends) and the World Showcase: a World's Fair of 11 countries and regions representing some of the cultures of the world. As many Disney fans know, the Outpost location in the World Showcase was supposed to be Africa, but the plans got so grandiose, it eventually became a theme park all of its own: Disney's Animal Kingdom.
In the midst of all of the construction, updates, renovations, re-imaginings, Disney did even more to draw in park goers who would return again and again. They started the Epcot International Festivals, beginning with the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival in 1994. It must have been an instant success because the Epcot International Festival Food & Wine Festival followed the next year in 1995. The Epcot International Festival of the Holidays joined the family in 1996 (originally named the Epcot Holidays Around the World). The baby of the bunch, the Epcot International Festival of the Arts came about in 2017, enabling the "temporary" kiosks and some other booths to remain up in the park basically from late August to early June, with a few that seem to remain up all year long (the one near the Morocco pavilion, for example).
The festivals set Epcot apart from many of the other theme parks around the world. In fact, it probably helped to spawn the expression " Disney adulting," attending a theme park whether you have children with you or not, preferably not. (There are two playgrounds in Epcot now). EPCOT realized after while that the acronym had become a proper noun and began styling itself as Epcot, as a name.
So what do you need to know about the Festivals? Here is your quick intro to about the Epcot International festivals in Disney World, Florida.
The Similarities:
* Before you start touring the park, pick up the festival passport booklet for each festival to see what's scheduled: events, seminars, entertainment and classes, such as the Animation Academy at the Arts Festival. The location of the food kiosks is listed, too.
* There are 11 permanent pavilions in the World Showcase. Each pavilion will have a special kiosk featuring food and beverages from that culture or region in the theme of the festival: artsy looking edibles for the Arts festival, flowery and springtime specialties for the Flower & Garden festival, wines specific to the country for the Food & Wine festival and traditional holiday fare for the Holiday festival. Some dishes repeat, since they become fan favorites but there are some new offerings every year.
*Additional kiosks are usually there to complement the 11 permanent country pavilions. Belgium, Spain, India, Greece, Israel and Hawaii have been known to make guest appearances, but they are not the only ones. These may rotate and might not be at each festival. Then, look for the themed kiosks: seafood, doughnuts, brunch, deconstructed dishes, etc.
* There are special food, drink, snack, dessert and merchandise offerings at vendors throughout the park, such as Joffrey's Coffee and Tea Company and Starbucks. Joffrey's in particular will have a fantastic pastry item on the menu. The Refreshment Port just before Canada serves poutine throughout the year. For each festival, they will make a special version. Our favorite is the turkey with all the trimmings.
* The 11 permanent pavilions always have their regular entertainment: the Mariachi band in Mexico, the acrobats in China, comedy routines in Italy and France, drummers in Japan and bands in Morocco, the UK, Canada. During the festivals, Germany might have a musical performance. During the Holiday festival, Norway might have a story time, as does Japan, France and the UK. The American Adventure pavilion always has the Voices of Liberty acappela group but there are special concerts in the American Garden Theater over there, too. The performance area in front of the CommuniCore Hall will host festival entertainment. Check the app for times and locations for everything.
* Search Epcot and do the scavenger hunt and Kidcot activities (purchase a scavenger hunt card, get a free redemption prize). The Kidcot fun is always there at Epcot. Search for the festival mascot around the festival throughout the park, including the World Showcase. Look for Figment at the Festival of the Arts, Spike the Bee at the Flower & Garden Festival, Remy at the Food & Wine Festival and Olaf during the Holidays Festival. Concurrently with the festival scavenger hunt are two others: Easter eggs in the spring and pumpkins in autumn.
Figment is special: he hides out in replicas of famous paintings, so look for the artwork. Spike is a pollinator, he loves the gardens during his festival. Remy is a mouse, so he can crawl inside or outside, but he loves his food and wine kiosks. And Olaf loves the great outdoors, even if it's not cold. After you finish the hunt, make sure you head to one of the redemption centers and get a prize.
*There will be special photo ops featuring the festival decor: huge replicas of famous paintings that you can be a part of, such as Washington crossing the Delaware or a Monet at the Arts Festival or the topiaries, specially grown shrubs in the shape of Disney characters during the Flower and Garden festival.
*Disney wouldn't be Disney if there wasn't any themed merchandise for sale. The popular backpacks, crossbody bags and wallets might be pricey, but they are unique. There will ne T-shirts and mugs or water bottles. Then there will special seasonal merchandise too: ornaments and home decors for the Holidays, gardening tools, plants, soaps and lotions for the Flower & Garden festival; wine glasses, aprons and cooking utensils for the Food & Wine and actual fine art paintings, sketches, sculptures and figurines for the Arts festival. Look for the limited edition collector pins, magic bands and popcorn buckets (especially at Halloween and Christmas). Over in the UK, the tea shoppe will feature flavors for the season.
*Annual passholders are appreciated with a possible free passholder gift, an email or pop up notice will be in the app. Have your ID and annual pass in the app ready to be shown. There's also passholder merchandise available for sale, show your annual pass in the app (not the card). They need to see the expiration. For many items, you can get a discount, as can the Disney Vacation Club owners.
*Do a food stroll or crawl: There will be certain items specified in the passport booklet. Once you purchase 5 or 6 items, you can collect a prize at the end. There are colorful items for the Arts Festival, flowery concoctions for the Flower & Garden, a cheese-based food item for the food & Wine and usually a cookie for the Holiday.
*Meet and greets with special guests, such as the artists themselves for their artwork, signing their creations for you.
*All attractions operate normally. Living with the Land usually changes its greenhouse decor for the festival, so it's worth riding every time. Since it's an actual working greenhouse, the plants will change as will the narration for the greenhouse portion of the ride. During the Festival of the Holidays, ride through at night, the lights make it look magical.
The rest of Walt Disney World will get into the spirit of the festivals. You may see a special dessert or beverage pop up at other parks or resorts: the website or app will have a list of what's what and where on its Foodie Guide.
Keep reading for more of our NYC Traveler Tips for Your Disney Festival Trip.
So, what do you do?
* First of all, make sure you have a ticket. Check the Disney website for the latest information, including information about park hopping.
* When you get there, get the Passport, the festival guide booklet and check the My Disney Experience App. This way, you can plan your day (or days).
* You can enter at the main entrance of the park, near Spaceship Earth: there will be the regular and festival attractions . Regular attractions here will be Spaceship Earth, Nemo and Friends (and the aquarium), Soarin', Living With the Land, Test Track, Mission Space, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
* If you enter at the International Gateway, from the Boardwalk area (via the Skyliner, the Friendship launch [ferry] or walking), you will be in between the UK and France pavilions in the World Showcase.
* Most events are first come, first served and you'll have to queue up, such as the popular drawing animation academies at the Arts Festival. Check out the Odyssey Center for special events, food, merchandise and other features.
* The concerts are free, but sometimes they sell special seating in conjunction with a dining reservation. Do this only if you want to be up front. This option is very popular for the Candlelight Processional during the Holidays Festival.
* There are special food, snack, dessert and beverage offerings created just for the festival. Some items are popular, therefore they are often repeated or re-imagined for another year or another festival. Of course, Disney says to taste your way around the world but drinks are for sale as well.
* The festivals are very popular. Earlier in the day has less people (but it can be hot, especially for the Garden and Flower Festival and the Food and Wine Festival). For me, the magic time is between 3PM-6PM. There seems to be a gap between peak times (families leaving, night time people arriving). Most of the nighttime spectaculars begin between 9PM and 9:30PM.
THE FESTIVALS
Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival
Date began: the granddaddy of them all, first bloomed in 1994
Time: Spring, usually March through May-June.
Concert Series: Garden Rocks
Past special events: Royal Tea Garden Tour
Mascot: Spike the Bee
Food Stroll: Flowery or veggie based foods
What's Different: special gardens planted throughout the park, butterfly pavilion, extra topiaries, unusual food and drink offerings with edible flowers and plants
Epcot International Food and Wine Festival
Date began: 1995
Time: Late summer-fall, usually July/August to late November, early December
Concert Series: Eat to the Beat
Past special events: cooking seminars, wine tastings
Mascot: Remy
Food Stroll: Cheese based foods
What's Different: this festival has the most kiosks; more specialty wines
Epcot International Festival of the Holidays
(formerly Holidays Around the World)
Date began: @1996
Time: usually Thanksgiving week until December 30
Concert Series: Candlelight Processional, featuring a celebrity narrator
Typical special events: entertainment from around the world in each pavilion
Mascot(s): Chip and Dale, Olaf (2020)
Food Stroll: Christmas cookies
What's Different: the festival closes precisely December 30 to prepare for the New Year's Eve festivities
Epcot International Festival of the Arts
Date began: the baby of the bunch, 2017
Time: Winter, January - mid to late February
Concert series: Disney's Broadway Concert
Past special events: Art seminars for a fee
Mascot: Figment
Food Stroll: usually desserts designed like art masterpieces
What's Different: sidewalk chalk art, performance art, more interactive activities, special presentations of the Animation Academy (guided drawing sessions of Disney characters)
So, get your passport, and get ready to travel around the world, well, at least around the Epcot World Showcase as you celebrate the International Festivals.
The NYC Traveler Presents Tips for Your Trips
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