The first time we went to Disney World, was during Christmas, and boy was it fantastic. The parks get decorated with lights, decorations and music. Everywhere it was Christmas. I remember how much there was to see, and we didn't even get to see it all. Granted that during the Christmas season and New Years, crowds are out of control. Expect longer waits than any other time of the year. But you also get to experience things that they don't offer any other time of the year.
Regardless of when you go, there are what Disney calls Festivals. These are hosted at EPCOT. Since the pandemic, there is now a festival pretty much every day of the year. If there isn't a festival, there is usually some other event going on that creates a large crowd. We are going to discuss each of these. You can't go wrong with any of these festivals, as they all offer EXCEPTIONAL options (FOOD!)
The first Festival takes place in January- February is the Festival of the Arts. This is the newest of the 4 festivals offered at Disney World. This festival highlights artists in every capacity. When this festival first began, they offered art classes that you could pay extra to attend. Our mom loves this. She even got paid time from work to use this as an educational advancement for her educator job (She is now a retired Art teacher). So she was in heaven. Mix her two favorite things together, and she was happy. They don't just have art (paintings, drawings,
sketches,etc), but they also have food booths, and the Broadway Series, where they have performances by different actors and actresses, singing songs from various Disney Broadway Shows. As a muscian, this was the best, as you get to see some broadway stars every weekend of the festival! The food booths represent different countries around the World Showcase, but they also have other booths as well that show off some artistic combination of dishes, and booths where you can buy Disney Art, Don't forget the photo ops where you can step inside and be in a piece of art!
The next Festival is offered March- June, which is the Flower & Garden Festival. This one we have been to multiple times, and are never disappointed. This festival also has a special plae in my heart, because my husband proposed to me during this festival. They have tons of beautiful flowers and shrubbery that are always designed like Disney Characters (You will find characters in each Country that actually are themed in that
country ie, Peter Pan in England, Remy in France, Snow White in Germany, etc). This festival you will sometimes see a butterfly tent, like we did the last time we were at this festival. And they again, have plenty of food booths, some that incorporate organic foods and edible flowers or plants.
July- November hosts one of the longest festivals, The Food & Wine Festival. This is one that has more food booths from around the world (most of these booths have countries that are not typically included in the World Showcase, ie, Kenya, Ireland, Austraila, etc.) so it is a treat to taste some of the delicious food and drinks. All the food booths do cost extra money, and you can get a prepaid card from one of the Disney gift shops, if you want to limit your spending. Simply add how much money you want to spend (say $100) and then use that card for all of your food purchases. Some food you can share, while others, you might just prefer to eat it all by yourself. There are some photo ops as well, and they also have a scavenger hunt that your kids can participate in, and you can get free stuff if you find everything, (It does cost $9.99 to get a map). There is a special menu of dishes to try, which if you do try all of them, then you can again, get a free dessert or gift. They also have live bands come and perform for their Beat to the Heat series.
The Last Festival is the Holidays around the World. This takes place from November -December. Here you can celebrate the holidays, seeing Santa's in the different countries, or the people that represent holidays. They tell stories for the kids and get all dressed up. There is also the Candlelight Processional, which is usually hosted by a famous celebrity. You can get dinner packages at certain restaurants to get VIP seating for this event (Every Festival has these dinner packages offered for their performing series). This concert consists of a people in the Florida area, where they form a choir that sings while the celebrity hosts narrates. It is a very nice event. It can get cold too while sitting and waiting for the concert to start, so don't forget to bring a sweater or a jacket even. Along with the concert, there is shopping and decorations and of course, more food.
No matter what time of year you decide to go, there is going to be something to see. EPCOT is one of our favorite places, because their food is the best. It is always hard to decide where to eat here because their restaurants, as well as the food booths that pop up, offer exceptional food and drink. We have gone countless times, and have our favorite things we splurge on (I'm talking to you Apple Cider, and Maple Popcorn),and there are things we wish we hadn't have purchased, but that is worth the experience.
My favorite festival? Oh, I can't pick. That's like asking me to pick my favorite country in EPCOT World Showcase...They all are worth seeing to me and I would go back to every single one of them multiple times if I could.
(No Gingerbread houses are at EPCOT, and no, we didn't actually eat it, but you can purchase gingerbread shingles, which are some of the best gingerbread we have ever had. This is actually at the Grand Floridian, and you can see it during the Christmas season, as well as some other gingerbread masterpieces at other resorts. More to come on the holidays in another post. Stay tuned)
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