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Disney World Epcot Festivals Guide

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Now that we have started a new year, I thought I would make a guide to the various Epcot festivals that happen during the year!

Epcot Festivals

Epcot Festivals

Are you planning or considering a trip to Walt Disney World this year? If so, you may be wondering if there is a seasonal event taking place at Epcot. Unless you are travelling during the summer or other lulls at the park, then chances are you will be able to experience a special event at Epcot! I’m going to look at each of the festivals that take place over the course of a year at Epcot, beginning in January and ending in December.

Festival of the Arts

The first seasonal event at Epcot typically begins in mid-January and ends sometime around mid/late February. It’s called Festival of the Arts. It’s the newest festival at Epcot and I have a whole Epcot Festival of the Arts review from a few years ago that goes more in-depth with the various activities and some of the food you can find. In 2025, the festival will take place from January 17th to February 24th. I recommend participating in the paint by numbers mural at the front of the park and the Japan booth is always good to me. Also, I know lots of people enjoy the Disney on Broadway Concert Series that takes place at night.

Flower and Garden Festival

Around springtime, there’s a beautiful Flower and Garden Festival. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like I’ve had good luck with timing this festival right. It’s always too hot or I’m too busy with other things during a trip to really get into this festival. While I love the topiaries around the park, the weather or timing always messes with me trying the food. Sadly, I’ve also never experienced the Garden Rocks Concert Series either. Disney recently announced the dates for this festival for 2025: March 5th to June 2nd.

Food and Wine Festival

The fall time at Epcot is all about the International Food and Wine Festival. Once again, the weather and timing often interrupt my plans for enjoying this festival. It’s typically held late August/early September (begins around Labor Day) and lasts until mid/late November (ends prior to Thanksgiving). So, that’s prime hurricane season, which means that it can be hot or stormy. The one time I really got to enjoy this festival, it was late October. So, my advice for enjoy this one is to aim for later in the season for it.

Festival of the Holidays

Lastly, there’s the Festival of the Holidays. I wrote a Festival of the Holidays guide last year, which takes a closer look at the various things to do here. Additionally, I posted a Candlelight Processional dinner package review for this festival. Again, since this one is held during a cooler time of the year, I find it much easier to enjoy this one. Plus, I love Christmas! The Storytellers around the park make it fun to learn different countries holiday traditions. It’s typically held from the Friday after Thanksgiving until near the end of the year.

Things to Know About Epcot Festivals

  • Food – Look out for the food booths located around the park for limited food offerings to match each festival. They typically release the menus a few weeks in advance of the festival. I suggest looking it over and getting an idea of things you may want to sample before you arrive.
  • Night time concerts – Each of the festivals will have some sort of night time concert/entertainment with special guest (sometimes celebrity) appearances. There’s also typically some sort of dining package that includes guaranteed (not reserved) seating at the show. Again, keep an eye out for the schedule of appearances a few months to weeks in advance.
  • Scavenger hunts – Each festival has its own scavenger hunt that you can purchase for around $10 to complete and turn in for a special prize.
  • Special entertainment – Each festival will also have its own decor and feature some fun day time activities to enjoy.
  • Unique merchandise – It wouldn’t be a theme park event without specialty merch. Sometimes, the festival merch is really cute though.

Which Epcot festival is the best?

I’ve probably attended the Festival of the Arts the most, so it probably is the best to me. However, that’s because it’s held in January/February when it’s actually cool enough to enjoy walking and eating around the world. I love the topiaries of the Flower and Garden Festival. The Food & Wine is an institution in its own right. Who doesn’t love a good holiday themed festival? I don’t think there’s a bad one. It really just depends on what fits your schedule, in my opinion. So, which festival is your favorite?

Santa’s Fireside Feast at Busch Gardens Williamsburg Review

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Last week, I visited Busch Gardens Williamsburg to experience Christmas Town for the first time. While there, my mom and I enjoyed Santa’s Fireside Feast! So, I thought I would do a little review on it.

Santa's Fireside Feast

Santa’s Fireside Feast

I know you’re wondering why my mom and I would book a Santa dinner. Well, it’s quite simple. Busch Gardens Williamsburg doesn’t do much in the way of special foods for the holidays. We were also concerned about long lines for food and being in the cold. So, an indoor sit down dinner sounded like a good idea to us.

We booked this meal as soon as the option was posted on the website, October 24th. We used my passholder discount, which came out to $40.50/each plus tax and fees. In total, it cost us $96.07 for the two of us to enjoy this meal since they added on a $6.49 service fee in addition to the taxes. So, what started out as a moderately expensive meal got even more expensive once we finally clicked purchase.

Sidenote: I feel like Busch Gardens/SeaWorld is the worst with pricing. They keep adding on service fees and other percentage merch fees.

The Food

With the exception of the Busch Gardens Williamsburg Food and Wine Festival Busch Gardens is not known for its food. However, this is supposed to be a holiday meal with Santa. So, the basic menu of Thanksgiving food sounded good to us. The menu consisted of carved turkey with gravy, chicken alfredo, carved ham with a brown sugar glaze, Trapper’s Smokehouse Chili, cornbread stuffing, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans with garlic, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, tossed salad, dinner rolls, Coca-Cola beverages and assorted desserts. The desserts included cookies and cupcakes.

My mom and I tried several items from the buffet. I think the chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and mac and cheese were the best options. They are very basic but they tasted good. The turkey was dry. The ham was just fine and not really worth the calories/fat in my opinion. The rolls were dry/hard, like maybe they let them sit out in the open too long. For a beverage, I initially selected the “fruit punch” expecting some sort of legitimate fruit juice or perhaps a mix they had made. Unfortunately, I was surprised with an overly sweet Hawaiian Punch. So, I went back for water.

As for desserts, I tried the red velvet cupcake and chocolate cupcake. The red velvet cupcake had a cream cheese frosting that was too much cream cheese for me. I like a blend of cream cheese and buttercream when I have cream cheese frosting. The chocolate was pretty good. Not amazing but not bad either.

Overall, I’d say the food was typical of what I expect from Busch Gardens parks. It won’t blow your socks off but everyone can find something to eat.

The Entertainment

The meal is centered around Santa being the host for this meal. It was a fun and unique treat to have Santa read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to the crowd. We also got to take a photo with him and received a 6″ x 8″ photo of it. While that wasn’t really necessary for us, I can see it being a huge perk for folks with children. You can see Santa while enjoying a meal. We also enjoyed the addition of the elves for some humor throughout the experience.

Was Santa’s Fireside Feast worth it?

I think it was totally worth it at $40/each. However, once you add in the taxes and fees, the value becomes a little more debatable. Although, my mom seemed to really enjoy this meal. The food was basic but there’s something for everyone. We got to sit down in a heated room for a meal instead of roaming around the park. Plus, it felt truly festive eating here. So, if you are debating it, I think it depends heavily on your budget. You can definitely grab something to eat for much cheaper around the park and probably be happy.

Epcot Festival of the Holidays Guide

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The Epcot Festival of the Holidays begins on Friday! So, here’s a little guide to help anyone planning a trip there!

Epcot Festival of the Holidays

Epcot Festival of the Holidays

This limited time event held at Walt Disney World usually begins on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and lasts until near the end of the year. In 2024, that’s November 29th to December 30th. During this time, you can expect to encounter special holiday entertainment and food booths scattered around World Showcase. Here’s a closer look at what you can expect.

Holiday Kitchens

Personally, one of the biggest draws of any festival held at Epcot is the addition of the food booths. This festival refers to them as Holiday Kitchens. The kitchens are mostly themed after specific countries and reflect their holiday food traditions. Last year, I enjoyed the Japan booth with the sushi tree and the potato latkes at the L’Chaim booth.

Additionally, there’s always a Cookie Stroll you can participate in. There are several cookies available for purchase at the booths. If you purchase select ones, you can complete the challenge and earn a free reward! The prize is typically a special cookie and maybe some milk!

Entertainment

During this festival, there’s lots of special entertainment to enjoy. Several of the countries have their own Holiday Storytellers or cast members from their respective countries telling the stories and traditions of the holidays in their home countries. It’s so neat to walk around the park and hear festive stories from different countries!

There’s also JOYFUL!, a show that celebrates Christmas and Kwanzaa. You can also meet and get your picture taken with Santa at the Odyssey Pavilion this year.

Lastly, there’s also the holiday scavenger hunt around the park. This year’s Olaf Holiday Tradition Expedition Scavenger Hunt involves purchasing a hunt map for $9.99, going around the park to identify the holiday traditions and placing the sticker in the corresponding spot on your map. Then, you return the completed map for a prize!

Candlelight Processional

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Candlelight Processional offering. It’s one of the most popular seasonal entertainment offerings at Epcot. I wrote a whole post last year on the Candlelight Processional Dining Package at Epcot Review. While it was an expensive evening, it was delightful to have a good meal at a restaurant at Epcot and guaranteed seating for the show with a celebrity narrator. My mom and I were lucky enough to see John Stamos on the night we went.

Festival of the Holidays Tips

  • Plan for at least one full day – We spent an entire day in Epcot last year and still didn’t see everything at the festival. I could see popping over to Epcot if you have a Park Hopper ticket to enjoy some evening entertainment or to grab some food.
  • Space out the meals – We ate breakfast for the dining package, skipped lunch, and ate dinner from the booths. That worked well for us.
  • Get a gift card – Personally, I always purchase a Disney gift card to use at the festivals so I don’t have to keep track of receipts after visiting the booths. Also, those gift cards are a good way to earn fuel points at Kroger. Alternatively, Epcot usually has a special themed gift card on a bracelet for each festival that’s especially handy.
  • Check the schedule – It’s good to go in with a rough idea of things you like to see and their times. However, I also recommend just leisurely strolling World Showcase for the holiday vibes.

So, have you ever visited the Epcot Festival of the Holidays? What are your tips?

Holidays at Walt Disney World Guide

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I know it seems early, but the holidays at Walt Disney World start early! In fact, the first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is on Friday! So, I thought I would do a little guide to the Christmas season at the resort!

Holidays at Walt Disney World

Holidays at Walt Disney World

I’ve been lucky enough to visit the resort during the Christmas season multiple times. There’s so much to do here that I never feel like I have enough time to see everything. That being said, I will try to highlight what you can expect to see at each of the four theme parks, Disney Springs, and the resorts! Disney has said that the holiday season officially kicks-off on November 12th in 2024. So, you can expect to see special decor and entertainment after that date.

Christmas in the Magic Kingdom

I figure I’ll start with the one that kicks off the holiday season the earliest: Magic Kingdom. The park begins changing out the decor as soon as the Halloween party is over! You can enjoy the decor from early November until early/mid-January with a regular park ticket. However, if you want the full experience prior to December 21st, you will need to purchase a ticket to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! I linked to my review of the party above. It’s a good time with a festive parade and fireworks! In fact, I even did the Mickey’s Very Merry Dessert Party last year.

If you are visiting after the 21st, you should be able to see the parade and fireworks during the regular park hours. However, you won’t get free cookies or see the special characters. Plus, the park will be even more crowded.

Christmas at Animal Kingdom

Next up is the other kingdom, Animal Kingdom! I got to experience some of this for the first time last year and loved it! The Merry Menagerie is awesome! My mom really enjoyed interacting with the animal puppets! They are gorgeous and fun to watch. The Tree of Life gets a special holiday light show, which I’ve never seen but it sounds cool. Also, you can meet Mickey and Minnie in some special holiday clothing at Adventures Outpost.

Christmas at Hollywood Studios

Hollywood Studios has some fantastic retro decor for the holidays that’s fun to look at. There’s also the great Sunset Seasons Greetings nighttime projection show at the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Toy Story Land gets a few additional decor pieces as do the characters. You can also eat at the only seasonal character dining experience on property at Hollywood & Vine here. I haven’t done it since before the pandemic, but it was a fun time.

Additionally, there’s also Jollywood Nights at Hollywood Studios. I attended the first year of it last year and enjoyed myself. I think they are even adding an ice skating show in 2024, so that should be fun!

Epcot Festival of the Holidays

Christmastime brings another fun festival to Epcot, the Festival of the Holidays. For whatever reason though, it doesn’t begin until after Thanksgiving. Beginning November 29th in 2024, it’s a fun festival filled with holiday traditions from the represented countries with Holiday Storytellers. There’s also the festival food booths! You also can’t forget the fan favorite Candlelight Processional show with celebrity narrators. I was lucky enough to do the Candlelight Processional Dining Package last year with John Stamos.

Disney Springs Christmas

Disney Springs is the separate shopping and dining destination at Disney World. It, of course, gets its own decor for the holidays. However, there’s also the Christmas Tree Stroll! They used to have the themed trees all in one spot but it was really crowded. So, now they are spread out across Disney Springs.

Christmas at the Resorts

As you would expect, each of the resorts gets specially themed decor matching each resorts theme. However, some of the resorts have gingerbread displays too! The Grand Floridian gets a huge gingerbread house that’s worth the trip over to see. Plus, it smells amazing and you can purchase little goodies. The Contemporary usually gets a gingerbread display as well. The Beach Club typically has a gingerbread carousel with a new theme each year. The Yacht Club has gotten a gingerbread lighthouse in recent years as well. Last year, Animal Kingdom Lodge even got some huge gingerbread animals!

Holidays at Walt Disney World: So much to see!

Shew! That’s a lot! Now, you understand why I have taken multiple trips and still haven’t seen everything. So, have you ever visited Disney World during the holidays? If so, what is your favorite thing to experience?

Universal Studios Hollywood VIP Tour Review

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Last month, I was fortunate enough to do the Universal Studios Hollywood VIP Tour when I visited the park for the first time. Given that it’s an expensive day, I thought I would write an overview of the day and a list of pros/cons to help anyone deciding if this tour is worth the high price tag.

Universal Studios Hollywood VIP

Universal Studios Hollywood VIP

Given that I had only one day to experience this park, I decided to splurge and try the VIP tour experience. On the day I took it, a random Tuesday in September, this tour cost $379! Unfortunately, that is one of the cheaper days! Although, that price includes your park ticket, a light breakfast, lunch, and more!

Check-in and Breakfast

When you book this experience online, you don’t receive an email with park tickets. Instead, you check in to the right of the regular park entrance at the VIP entrance. At check-in they give you a special lanyard to wear for the day. Then, you are allowed to head upstairs to the VIP lounge to relax and enjoy a light breakfast. I was impressed with the food spread for the breakfast. I enjoyed a croissant sandwich and a guava cheese pastry with some water. You are free to relax in the lounge until your tour time, however I headed out into the park for the Super Nintendo World Early Access. Then, I returned to the lounge afterwards for my tour.

Park Tour

For my tour, we started with the park portion of the day. Over the course of about 3 hours, we hit all of the major attractions found at the park! The lanyards allow you to skip the ride lines all day long, since it acts as a Universal Express pass. However, the tour guide is able to take you in the back way to some rides and skip even some of those lines! Plus, the tour guide holds all of your bags so you don’t have to deal with lockers! Our tour guide was even able to fit in the Waterworld show for us! I was pleased with how much we were able to accomplish in three hours!

Lunch

About 3 hours after the scheduled tour time is lunch. My tour time was 10:45 AM and my lunch time was 1:40 PM. USH calls it a “gourmet meal” but it’s really an elevated buffet lunch, similar to a nice wedding meal. There were some characters roaming around the dining room. Unfortunately, they all skipped my solo adult table and I didn’t get to see any of them. They mostly focused on the tables with children. I suppose that’s why it’s not advertised as a character meal. The food was pretty good, but nothing stood out as particularly amazing to me personally. Also, there’s only two bathrooms for the whole restaurant. So, don’t wait to use the restroom here.

Studio Tour

After lunch, we had the studio portion of the tour. This was the main reason I booked the Universal Studios Hollywood VIP Tour. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see the lot where Back to the Future was filmed as it was closed for filming. Some additional areas were closed for Halloween Horror Nights and some of the other areas were closed off for filming and/or refurbishment. I understand that’s the nature of these things, but it was disappointing nonetheless. I enjoyed the brisk walk around the props department.

Pros

  • Skip lines – The longest lines I waited in were for check-in, Early Access entry, and lunch.
  • No lockers – It was so useful to have our tour guide take our stuff before we got on rides and to be waiting outside the ride with our stuff. It was great to not have to deal with lockers.
  • Backstage lot – We got to see where they filmed “The Good Place” and some other places that the regular tram tour doesn’t take you.
  • Tour guide – Navigating a new park can be confusing, so having a knowledgeable tour guide is useful.
  • Includes park admission and Express Pass – On the cheapest days, it’s a little over $100 more than a regular park ticket with Express. So, that probably makes it worth it on those days.

Cons

  • Expensive – $369 is the cheapest this tour gets. Around the holidays, it’s $499!
  • No guarantees – Since Universal can’t predict when something will be filming on the lot, they can’t guarantee which lots you will get to see.
  • Fast paced – I don’t recommend this tour for those who tire quickly. It’s a fast paced day.
  • Not exactly personalized – They try to please a group, so there’s no guarantee will you have time to hit up a certain ride.

Tips

  • Consult park hours – If you want to do both the Early Access Hour and the VIP tour, I recommend booking a tour 30-40 minutes after the park opens. I had a 10:45 tour with a park opening of 10:00 AM. I did the Early Access Hour from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM and then casually walked back up to the upper lot with time to spare for my tour. They ask you to return to the lounge 15 minutes before your tour time.
  • Not ideal for sightseeing or pictures – This was a fast-paced tour. Some people grabbed some Butterbeer and then basically had to chug it. I would suggest taking pictures and being leisurely outside the tour as you should have extra time before/after the tour to explore.
  • Wear comfortable shoes – It’s a lot of walking.

Is the Universal Studios Hollywood VIP Tour worth it?

I think the value of this experience depends heavily on the day you visit and what you value. I think most people will do fine with a regular park ticket and Express Pass. However, it was nice to splurge and enjoy this experience. I don’t know that I would do it again, but it was neat to do once.

Have you ever done it?