Exploring Epcot: A Guide to the International Festival of the Holidays

Intro

I was in the middle of my quick December trip to Orlando, and so far I had had great adventures in the theme parks of this city:

Travel Guide: Hard Rock Hotel & Universal Orlando Trip

Holiday Adventures in Walt Disney World: A Day at 3 Parks

It was still my Disney park hop day, and of course I had to go to Epcot, not only for the great rides there, but also for the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays. I had the chance to go there in 2023, and it was amazing. I was hoping to see more of the food, the entertainment, and all that’s there to offer. Also, just walk around the pavilions since it was my friend’s first time in this park. Let’s go explore!

Disney’s Skyliner

In my previous post I mentioned how I was leaving Hollywood Studios around 1 PM, and now we were taking the Skyliner to go to Epcot. It is one of the most effective ways to go between the parks. I would advice against the boat for sure, but I think maybe Ubering to Disney’s Beach Club Resort or taking the bus would be other good ideas.

Spaceship Earth was getting closer and closer…

Flying above all those resorts that part of Walt Disney World is unbelievable, but the ride in these cable cars is just another attraction on itself. The scary Tower of Terror, which almost caused a panic attack to my friend, was being left behind.

After transferring at Disney Caribbean Beach Resort, we were now approaching Epcot, and the iconic Eiffel Tower in the France Pavilion, the first one we would visit.

France Pavilion

We made it to the International Gateway, or better known as Epcot’s back door, and after making it through security, we went to the France Pavilion. The idea was to walk the park counterclockwise through the World Showcase and show my friend all the pavilions, and maybe have a treat or get on a ride here and there. After realizing that the France’s Le Marché de Noël Holiday Kitchen had a long line, we opted to just walk the pavilion, and decided to join the Single Rider line for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, which had recently switched to 2D. For the first time, we were split, but the ride was great, and all those smells stayed in my nose for a few minutes.

Morocco Pavilion

Even though there are no rides in the Morocco Pavilion, we loved to explore it. I think I had not been on the back alleyways before, but it looked genuinely like an Arabic country back there. My friend even took a lot of pictures with all the walls and decorations in this pavilion. It is definitely the most authentic of them all.

During the 2025 EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays, the Morocco pavilion featured festive, authentic live entertainment, including traditional belly dancers and musicians performing daily in the courtyard. Was not expecting belly dancers to be representing the holidays but ok lol. Very entertaining.

Japan Pavilion

We were really taking our time on all of the pavilions. In all the times I had been to Epcot, I had never explored this much. Always in a hurry to eat at the festivals or riding the rides. But next door was Japan, and oh boy, we did take our time here.

It is one of the most beautiful pavilions for sure, and one of the most photogenic as well. It is the mecca of Instagram backgrounds. And well, Japan itself is very beautiful anyways.

We walked all over the place, entered the Mitsukoshi Department Store and the Bijutsu-kan museum. It was a very peaceful stroll up to the replica of the Imperial Palace.

I do not even know how they managed to do this vertical landscape in the flat Epcot for real. Again, no rides, but the vibes were all over the place. Made me want to go to Japan. I guess you would have to check for updates on that ;).

The American Adventure Pavilion

Now in the center of World Showcase, The American Adventure pavilion was finally giving us something to snack on. So we jumped in line for American Holiday Table, part of EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays.

From here, we ordered the Snickers Cookie and Blackened Catfish. The cookie was good, I mean it is Snickers, so very sweet and enjoyable. The fish was not my favorite. It was served cold, and a little bit spicy. I like fish so whatever, but I would have preferred spend my money in something more appetizing.

Italy Pavilion

We continued walking all the pavilions, and yes, we had 2 Lighting Lanes we had to go to: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, and Soarin’. Unfortunately, the new Test Track was closed due to the weather, and all the other Multi Passes were in Magic Kingdom. My plan was to go all around Epcot and end up in those 2 attractions, even if the times were up. A little secret: You can still go on the Lighting Lanes up to 2 hours after they are expired, and they will stay show green when tapped. Do not tell them I told you this 😉

Italy was a quick walk, but we did stop to listen to La Befana as part of the Holiday stories in the EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays.

Germany Pavilion

We visited the little town on the Germany Pavilion, and got in line for yet another treat from the Holiday Kitchens.

Even though there are no rides in this pavilion, for some reason it was packed. It’s like everyone was enjoying the food offerings and the beers lol.

Long long lines…

While we were in line for the Holiday Kitchen, we got to see a little of Micha’s Adventskalender Puppetry. It was cute, no wonder why it was attracting too many people to this area. For some reason, even though it is a big area, it felt like it could be better organized. They could separate the line for the Kitchen booth more from the entertainment.

But at the end, we got Cheese fondue, Hazelnut Linzer Cookie and Weihenstephaner Kristallweissbier from Bavaria Holiday Kitchen. The cookie was amazing, the perfect amount of sweetness. Just like the Snickers cookie, this one was also part of the Holiday Cookie Stroll, which allows you to collect a certain amount of cookies and get a prize at the end.

The beer was good, not too strong and just good enough for refreshing after all the steps we had done today. On the other hand the cheese fondue was ok. I am a fan of cheese, but not the biggest, and I feel it was a little bit off. The bread was a little bit dry for my taste. We ended up eating some of it but threw the rest of the bread away. Sorry.

China Pavilion

We made it to China, and after having been to the original Temple of Heaven in Beijing a couple of times, this replica really transports me.

Inside it is just unbelievable. All the colors and shapes.

We went exploring all over this pavilion, and ended up in this space which I do not think I had seen before: House of the Whispering Willows, which displays more about Disneyland Shanghai, and of course Zootopia Land. You can check my trip to this iconic theme park here.

The back alleyways are also so immersive, like being in some old neighborhood in Beijing.

Norway Pavilion

We quickly passed by the Norway Pavilion, and no, we had no time to get in line for Frozen Ever After. Unfortunately, we could not snatch a Lighting Lane for around this time, but I would have liked seeing my friend’s face when the boat goes backwards in this ride lol.

Mexico Pavilion

The last of the pavilions today (Sorry UK and Canada), but Mexico is just iconic and we had to visit. I wanted to show my friend inside, since my nephew was not a fan of it earlier in the year lol.

I was going to buy some tostadas as part of the Holiday Kitchens but my friend said we had just had Mexican food in this trip, and he was right, so we left that for another trip maybe. For now, we just walked around and checked the inside of the pyramid. You know I love some Mexico.

World Nature and World Celebration

It was time for our Lighting Lane for Soarin’ so we headed that way before it expired for real. My friend enjoyed it a lot. I think he imagined something more scary, but this is genuinely a very relaxing ride. After that, we walked out of the Land Pavilion, not without checking mister Mickey at Garden Grill Restaurant.

Just across that building we went into CommuniCore Hall and Plaza to see the giant Gingerbread Spaceship Earth just in the middle of it. Iconic if you ask me.

And not far from there, we went into Club Cool, to try the free flavors around the world. I even tricked my friend into trying Beverly lol. Apparently he loved it.

World Discovery

And for the last land in Epcot, of course we had to go to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. I was so excited to show this ride to my friend. I was wondering what he would think about it. Not only because it goes backwards, but because it swings around.

We scanned the Single Pass Lighting Lane, and the ride was very crowded today.

This is for sure my favorite ride at Walt Disney World. I thought for a second it would beat Hagrid’s but no, I still think it’s third after Velocicoaster.

Leaving Epcot

And after that ride, it was time to see Spaceship Earth more closely, and finish seeing the front of the park before getting on the monorail to spend the rest of the day and night in Magic Kingdom.

And yes, we did not get to try a lot of treats from the Festival of the Holidays, but at least we explored the pavilions a little bit more. It was a more relaxing way to spend a partial day in Epcot, and I think I would do it again. Just seeing what I had not seen in the past for sure. But you can see the rest of the day here. And in my next post we would visit our last park in Orlando for these holidays. Do not miss it.