✨ A Little More Holiday Sparkle: Festival of the Holiday's 2025

Some holiday magic isn’t structured; it’s discovered. You turn a corner and find Olaf smiling from a rooftop. You earn a cookie stroll stamp and feel like you completed a holiday quest. You board Living With the Land at night and watch the greenhouses glow in twinkle-light peace. These experiences aren’t side activities. They’re the sprinkle of sugar on top of the festival cookie.

For a full EPCOT day, use this guide alongside the others: Our Festival of the Holiday's ↗️ main blog for a full run-down, Festive Flavors ↗️ for tasting plans and booth menus, Merry Marketplace Magic ↗️ for merchandise and memory-making souvenirs, and Holiday Harmony ↗️ for performances that warm the season like candlelight. Together, they transform EPCOT into a holiday storybook, one page at a time.

✨ Experience

Holiday extras unfold like hidden pages in a Christmas storybook. One moment you’re gliding through Living With the Land as its greenhouses glow like fireflies, and the next you’re chasing Olaf across continents with kids giggling as they lead the map. Between cookie crumbs, postcard-worthy photo spots, and that warm greenhouse hum, EPCOT feels soft, playful, stitched with traditions from around the world. It’s not rushed magic, it’s wandering magic. Slow magic. The kind that feels like Christmas.

One of the cutest surprises at the Festival of the Holidays is the kids’ play area dotted with oversized snow globes playful, shimmery bubbles of “winter” magic perfect for photos and a little wiggle time between booths. Families love these, and they make the festival feel even more whimsical for little ones.

🎉 Party Exclusives

🎄Festival Passport

Pick up a Festival Passport and stamp your way through treats like a playful holiday checklist. You'll need this for the cookie stroll! 📘 Where to Get the Festival of the Holidays Passport

You can pick up a free Festival Passport at multiple spots around EPCOT, including:

• Near the main park entrance and International Gateway entrance

• Merchandise locations throughout World Showcase

• Many Holiday Kitchens and festival food booths

• Select festival-themed carts and pop-up stands

  
  

🌿 Living With the Land: Glimmering Greenhouses

By day it’s familiar, but at night, this gentle boat ride transforms. Soft lights shimmer through the leaves, ornaments glow against growing vines, and greenhouse pathways feel like winter magic tucked inside glass walls. It is a slow, calm, peaceful must see after sunset.

❄ Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Expedition

A map, a mission, and a happy little snowman hiding in World Showcase. Find him, sticker your way around the park, complete your map, and earn a keepsake. Kids love it and adults love it even more than they expect.

🍪 The Holiday Cookie Stroll

Stamps, cookies, frosting, repeat. Grab five cookies from festival kitchens, collect five stamps, then claim a sweet prize at the end. It’s sugary, silly, festive fun and best enjoyed with hot cocoa and napkins.

📸 Holiday Photo Spots

Festive frames, ornament set-ups, twinkling backdrops, EPCOT is full of PhotoPass magic waiting to be captured. Perfect for matching sweaters, engagement photos, family Christmas cards, or solo sparkle moments.

✨ Cultural Touches

Throughout World Showcase you’ll also find beautiful cultural holiday

displays, tradition markers, and festive décor that shift subtly from country to country. A visual reminder of how many ways the world celebrates the season.

🎁 Festive Characters

Keep your camera ready. Festive characters often appear in their seasonal best including Mickey & Minnie's winter looks, and the occasional pavilion-specific surprise. It’s spontaneous joy, and the kind that makes every

walk feel new. You’ll also find two very merry character meet-and-greets: Santa Claus, greeting guests with classic holiday charm, and Santa Goofy, who brings the goofiest, most joy-filled energy to the season. Each one offers a totally different vibe, so meeting both adds a fun mix of tradition and Disney personality to your holiday visit. They can be found in the Odyssey Building.

💗 The Good

This is where EPCOT feels most touchable and personal. You’re not just watching entertainment, you’re doing it. Cookie in hand, Olaf under the arm, camera ready… you get to build your own Christmas storyline.

😬 The Not-So-Good

Lines for cookies and photo spots can stack, especially on weekends, and if you’re not into sweets, the stroll may feel like a lot of sugar for a single perk. There is not much that isn't good about this festival.

🎄 Tips

• Grab the Olaf scavenger hunt map early. They are available while supplies last.

• Bring wipes, cookie-frosted fingers are adorable until they’re on your bag.

• Ride Living With the Land after sunset for the brightest glow.

• Start your Cookie Stroll with a lighter treat (sugar overload is real).

• Find photo spots near pavilions at dusk, Golden light + twinkle lights = perfection.

✍️ Final Thoughts

A Little More Holiday Sparkle is the heartbeat of EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays, sweet, glowy, exploratory magic that rewards curiosity and slow-paced wandering. It’s where traditions are discovered instead of scheduled, where lights ripple against water, and where holiday cheer turns into memory instead of checklists. If food, merch, and entertainment are the structure of the season; this is the twinkle. The warm shimmer. The holiday sparkle that makes it all feel worth lingering for.