Hello from a chilly, blustery day here at EPCOT! It may have been a cold day, but it was the right weather to get us in the mood for all of the Christmas decorations we found up around the park today! We’re going to take you on a full tour of all the holiday sights, but first let’s check in on some construction projects.
We found more facade work underway at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. The front of the building now protrudes from the scrim fabric, and workers can be seen on a lift working on the ceiling area.
A hand-painted mural is being added to the France Pavilion expansion. A worker was seen painting this wall today, with smaller, individual paintings nearby, perhaps for reference or mounting somewhere else in the Pavilion.
A sign for the new Space 220 Restaurant was added to this walled off area at Mission: SPACE, confirming the location of the entrance for the restaurant. For more pictures, see our article here.
With the Taste of EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival drawing to a close and the International Festival of the Holidays due to begin right after Thanksgiving, it’s understandable that the last remaining topiaries from the International Flower & Garden Festival be removed, but we’re still sad to see them go. The three topiaries from Bambi have been removed, Bambi, Flower, and Thumper.
The Remy topiary in the France Pavilion has also been removed. The intricate scrollwork bushes have been replaced so that you can barely tell where he was at all. We’ll miss these fun characters, and look forward to the topiaries of next year’s Flower & Garden Festival!
Last week, we noticed that the large center screen at the American Gardens Theatre had been removed, possibly to avoid damage due to high winds caused by Hurricane Eta. This week we saw that it has returned, and is fully operational.
With just five days left of the International Food & Wine Festival, we found a menu change to report. The Samurai Sencha Ale has been replaced by Nomi Yasui Draft Lager. The price remains the same.
Before we start our Christmas decorations tour, we found some new merchandise today that we’d like to share. First, this hat and scarf featuring silver and gold snowflakes with hidden Mickeys, perfect for chilly park days, was at the World Traveler shop by the Skyliner. They retail for $24.99 each.
Next we found several Limited Release Holiday Gifting pins, all in fun boxes with ribbon loops to make them ornaments. This one features Ray from The Princess and The Frog.
Next was this pin featuring Dr. Facilier also from The Princess and The Frog.
The next Limited Release pin was this one featuring Remy from Ratatouille.
Next was this pin featuring Dante from Coco. Each of these pins are Limited Release, and are available at Pin Traders for $15.99 each.
We were on a roll with pins because next we found three Limited Edition Gingerbread pins. The first was the EPCOT pin featuring Figment, LE 5000.
The second was the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa pin and featured Belle and Beast.
The third was the Contemporary Resort pin featuring Cinderella, Prince Charming, and the Fairy Godmother. All three pins are available at Pin Traders for $17.99 each.
While at Pin Traders we also found the latest in the Limited Edition Cereal Boxes pin series. This one features Chip from Beauty and the Beast, and retails for $17.99.
We found another addition to the meme pin trend, this one on a simple card reading “Nope” with pins of four disapproving characters— Anton Ego, Grumpy, Maximus, and Zazu. We found this pin set at Mouse Gear for $24.99.
The crowning glory of our pin finds for the day was this 24 day countdown calendar with one mystery pin per day plus a pop up tree display stand. We found this amazing box set at Pin Traders for $245.00.
Our favorite merchandise find of the day was this fun set of new Wishables, including the blind bag and stand alone plush, featuring characters from Inside Out. For more pictures and information, check out our full article here.
It’s finally time for the moment you’ve been waiting for—it’s Christmas decoration tour time! Let’s start at the beginning, at the front of the park. The decorations started right at the front, just above the tapstiles, with huge garlands and ornaments hung at the entrance to the park.
At the entrance to World Showcase was the famous Christmas tree featuring holiday wishes in different languages all over the tree.
Port of Entry and Disney Traders both have garlands hung at their entrances, and have smaller garlands inside as well.
In the Mexico Pavilion, garlands with red and blue ribbons decorate the buildings outside.
Inside the Mexico Pavilion, the garlands are illuminated with green and purple lights.
In the Norway Pavilion, garlands and wreaths with colorful ornaments and wooden Santa figures decorate the shops.
Large bows and bells are also incorporated into the decorations in the Norway Pavilion.
In the Germany Pavilion, garlands and wreaths decorated with bows and ornaments in traditional red and green are plentiful throughout the Pavilion.
In the Italy Pavilion, decorations are a bit more spread out, but no less beautiful.
A simple, yet classic swag and wreath look in traditional red and green on Via Napoli make for a understated and lovely look.
The decorations in American Adventure included fruit in the garland.
A large Christmas tree decorated with fruit and lanterns towers above the seating area near the festival food booth.
In the France Pavilion, not only were there garlands, but large planter decorations were in place as well. Light up snowflakes were hung above the walkway as well.
The same was true in the United Kingdom Pavilion, as garlands were placed around the Pavilion as well as this large planter decoration of a Christmas tea pot pouring tea and magically holding itself up.
The Canada Pavilion had snowy pinecones and bows in its garland. The Pavilion itself was decorated as well as The Mill Stage, where the JAMMitors recently relocated to from the American Gardens Theatre Stage.
That concludes our Christmas decorations tour. I hope you enjoyed seeing all the lovely holiday looks around World Showcase!
We had a wonderful day at EPCOT, and we hope you enjoyed coming along with us. Have a magical day!