Disney is almost ready for the 2024 EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays — in fact, they opened the Festival Favorites Holiday Kitchen early. The rest of the park is decked out with decorations, signage, and booths for the rest of the Holiday Kitchens and Holiday Storytellers.
Odyssey Pavilion
The Odyssey Pavilion, located on the edge of the lagoon in World Discovery, will host the Santa Claus meet and greet and Holiday Hearth Desserts Holiday Kitchen.
Decals now adorn the glass doors and windows. Above the entryways is a decal reading “Meet Santa” and “Enjoy Holiday Hearth Desserts.”
Holiday Hearth Desserts will serve:
- Red Velvet Mini Bundt Cake with cream cheese icing
- Salted Caramel Spaceship Earth Cookie
- Mouse Crunch made with Red & Green M&M’S Milk Chocolate Candies
- Mint Chocolate Mousse Wreath
- Apple Caramel Crumb Cake
- Chocolate-covered Toffee Brittle
- Hot Cocoa by Joffrey’s Coffee (Non-alcoholic beverage)
- Frozen Caramel Hot Cocoa: Hot cocoa with whipped cream and TWIX cookie bar pieces (Non-alcoholic beverage)
- Wicked Weed Brewing Jack Frost IPA
- BrewDog Winter Staycation Pecan & Toffee Stout
- Wicked Weed Brewing Milk & Cookies Imperial Milk Stout
- Cocoa Candy Cane: Hot Cocoa by Joffrey’s Coffee with Peppermint Schnapps
- Beer Flight
Giant depictions of desserts and holiday decorations are on the window decals facing the lagoon. This first window features two desserts, stars, and a flower. Lanterns and torches, including an iconic World Showcase torch, are pictured on another window.
Two glass cloches are pictured covering sweets. More sweets are pictured on a tiered tray. A gingerbread man is next to a door.
A trio of candles are depicted in a wreath similar to an advent calendar. The next window has a giant present with a red cardinal perched on top.
The windows in the middle of the building, facing the bridge across the lagoon, advertise Santa and the holiday kitchen.
A snowglobe-shaped sign is in the grass near one of the walkways to the Odyssey Pavilion. It reads “Meet Santa” above a present and flowers. An arrow points to the pavilion.
Festival of the Holidays Banners
We spotted four different Festival of the Holidays banners hanging throughout World Showcase. One depicts Spaceship Earth and a Monorail inside a snowglobe. A green banner features lanterns and candles.
Trays of sweets and a Yule log are on a burgundy banner. The final banner simply features the festival’s name against a blue and gold background.
Las Posadas Holiday Kitchen
Near the Mexico Pavilion is Las Posadas. This booth will serve the new Empanada de Pollo, Tamal de Puerco con Mole, Holiday Margarita, and Coconut Guavarita.
Mexico Storyteller
On the other side of the pavilion is where the Mexico Holiday Storyteller performance will take place. Signage and decorations are already up for the performance, dubbed Las Posadas Celebration.
The performance will showcase the “fun and pageantry of Las Posadas with dancers, piñatas and the music of Mariachi Cobre.” Las Posadas is a winter festival celebrated in Mexico and other Latin American countries.
Each World Showcase pavilion features one of these scroll-shaped signs with information about the country’s holiday traditions.
Spread Holiday Cheer From Door to Door
In Mexico, Navidad, or Christmas, is celebrated with a tradition called las posadas, meaning “shelter.” Beginning December 16th, Mexican children dress as the holy family and go door-to-door in a candlelight procession to honor Mary and Joseph seeking shelter in Bethlehem. Each night, after the children are welcomed inside, the prayers and festivities begin!
Families across Mexico decorate for Navidad using poinsettias, also called la flor de Noche Buena, or the Christmas Eve flower. Legend has it the poinsettia originated one night long ago, when a little girl had no means to give a gift in Jesus’ name. An angel came to her and said to gather the weeds from the garden. When the little girl placed the weeds on the altar, they bloomed into the gorgeous red blossoms that we call poinsettias today.
Feliz Navidad!
Norway Storyteller
In Norway, guests will learn the story of the Mischievous Magical Barn Santa. The Barn Santa will visit Sigrid during Holiday Storyteller performances on this stage outside Anna and Elsa’s Royal Sommerhus.
Give Thanks This Holiday Season
The holidays in Norway are a time for gratitutde and goodwill to all living things, including farm animals, pets, crops, and plants. Children all across the Norwegian countryside give thanks to their Fjønissen, who is said to guard the well-being of every family’s farm, by leaving the gnome a steaming bowl of porridge topped with a pat of butter in the hayloft on Christmas Eve. If he doesn’t get his porridge, children can be prepared for this mysterious “Barn Santa” to serve up a bit of holiday mischief!
God jul! Merry Christmas!
Shanghai Holiday Kitchen
Outside the China Pavilion is the Shanghai Holiday Kitchen. New this year’s menu is the XO Fried Rice and Taro Bubble Milk Tea.
China Storyteller
Two Holiday Storyteller performances in the China Pavilion will celebrate Lunar New Year. The Si-Zhu Trio performs traditional Chinese folk music. A Chinese Lion Dancer performs a colorful display to bring good fortune.
The platform in the China Pavilion is red with traditional Chinese lanterns hanging around it.
Welcoming the Lunar New Year
In China, the winter season culminates with the arrival of Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival. For more than 2,000 years, the end of the Lunar calendar has been observed and celebrated with many time-honored traditions. These holiday rituals may include a top-to-bottom house cleaning, family reunions, remembering ancestors, festive meals, and sharing stories. Businesses and homes also welcome traditional lion dancers, who ward off the negative spirits of the past and spread the prospects of vitality, health, and prosperity.
The Chinese New Year is also celebrated with an abundance of the color red. In Chinese culture, red is believed to be a lucky symbol of strength and good fortune. Families may dress in festive red clothing, hang red lanterns, and create red jianzhi—or paper cutouts—to decorate their living areas. They even offer hong bao, red paper envelopes that often contain lucky money or small gifts.
Gung hay fat choy! Wishing you great happiness and prosperity!
The next Lunar New Year falls on January 29, 2025.
Bavaria Holiday Kitchen
The Bavaria Holiday Kitchen is located next to the Germany Pavilion. It will serve returning items like Cheese Fondue, Pork Schnitzel, and the Hazelnut Linzer Cookie (part of the Holiday Cookie Stroll).
Germany Storyteller
The nearby stage is dressed up for the holidays with garlands, trees, and nutcrackers.
The Germany Holiday Storyteller, Helga and the Nutcracker, has not performed in several years and was not announced for this year’s festival.
Discover the Magic of the Holidays
Many of the world’s most beloved holiday traditions began in Germany.
It is said that a well-known minister, Martin Luther, first adorned his family’s tree with candles, inspired by the snow that gathered on the fir trees along a quiet walk home as he reflected on the first nativity. That magical evening brought about the world’s first Tannenbaum and with it, the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree.
The very first nutcrackers also originate from a German fable. Carved in the shape of soldiers and kings, they were said to bring luck and protection to your home. This tale led to the enchanting story of Clara and her nussknacker, or nutcracker, told in Russian composer Tchaikovsky’s ballet. As the ballet rose in popularity, nutcrackers were sold in Christmas markets all over Germany.
Fröliche Weihnachten! Merry Christmas!
Tiny Village
The miniature village of the Germany Pavilion is now decorated for the festival with its own banners. There are also two Christmas trains running.
Festival of the Holidays banners hang from the lampposts of the tiny village’s square. They’re the same designs as the park’s full-size banners.
This Christmas train has a red engine and red cars. One carries a sleigh of presents. Another is stacked with candy canes. The third car features a snowy scene with trees and snowmen. A picture of Santa is on the caboose.
The second train is led by a red engine decorated with festive Disney decals.
Figment is pictured with Christmas lights. Mike Wazowski and Sulley are both featured. The Festival of the Holidays wordmark is in the center. The caboose features another snowy diorama and ornament decals.
Tuscany Holiday Kitchen
New at the infamous Italy booth this year will be a panettone bread pudding with vanilla cream.
Italy Storyteller
La Befana will appear on the stage in the center of the Italy Pavilion, telling the story of the Epiphany.
Give a Handmade Gift From the Heart
Instead of awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, the children of Italy wait for the eve of the Epiphany. This night brings a visit from La Befana, the good-natured witch who climbs down the chimney to fill their socks with handmade gifts and treats. Naughty children may find a lump of coal instead!
It is said that, year after year, La Befana wanders the countryside in search of the Gesu Bambino, or baby Jesus, leaving handmade gifts for good children in his honor.
Buon Natale! Merry Christmas!
America Gardens Theatre – Candlelight Processional
The Candlelight Processional will be performed at the America Gardens Theatre, next to the lagoon across from The American Adventure. The schedule of celebrity narrators and showtimes is posted on a sign outside the theater.
The Christmas tree-inspired platforms for the show’s chorus have been set up. Christmas trees frame the stage.
American Holiday Table
The signs on this booth haven’t all been updated, with those on the side still advertising Flavors of America from the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival. The Holiday Kitchen will be the American Holiday Table serving, among other items, a SNICKERS-Doodle Cookie and slow-roasted turkey.
United States of America Story
The American Adventure doesn’t have a Holiday Storyteller, but there is still a story scroll in front of the courtyard’s tree.
Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All
Before bedtime on Christmas Eve, children in the United States eagerly hang stockings by the fireplace and leave cookies and milk for Santa Claus, who comes down the chimney to bring presents while they sleep.
For many, Christmas may be spent sharing gifts and traditional meals with friends and family, attending seasonal concerts or church services, and charitably helping others.
Although Christmas in America means different things to different people, one wish always rings true: peace on earth and goodwill to all.
Merry Christmas!
Shi Wasu Holiday Kitchen
Shi Wasu is outside the Japan Pavilion, near the Torii gate. New on its menu this year is a Mochi Donut Wrap.
Japan Storyteller
The Japan Holiday Storyteller will perform on the ground in front of the pagoda. The storyteller will talk about the Daruma doll and Japanese New Year customs.
Celebrate Good Fortune in the New Year
To welcome the arrival of O-Shogatsu, or the Japanese New Year, families put a kadomatsu in the entrance of their homes. This customary decoration is made up of three elements that symbolize hope, everlasting strength, and rapid growth for the year: the plum blossom, the pine branch, and the straight bamboo.
A symbol of longevity often associated with O-Shogatsu is the crane. Found in many forms throughout seasonal décor, the most common cranes are made from washi, a form of Japanese paper, and folded in the tradition of origami. Folding a thousand paper cranes is said to grant a person’s wish.
Families often prepare a cold and colorful delicacy called O-Sechi-ryori to enjoy over the first few days of O-Shogatsu. It consists of ingredients such as sweet omelet and fish egg, kelp roll and black beans, each of which symbolizes a token of good fortune for the coming year.
The rounded, white-eyed figure of the Daruma doll also plays an important role in the Japanese New Year, representing good luck, patience, and persistence in the new year.
Happy New Year!
Holiday Market
This Holiday Market booth between the China and Morocco Pavilions will offer festival merchandise.
Morocco Story
Morocco also doesn’t have a Holiday Storyteller. They have a stand of fake foods set up next to their scroll.
Celebrations Are the Spice of Life
Throughout Morocco’s cities and towns, across, mountains and deserts, unique holidays and celebrations reflect the diverse cultures who call this country home.
In Morocco, every season brings the gifts of a new harvest. Each December, along the grassy countryside near the city of Fez, the Olive Festival is celebrated with evenings of candlelight festivities. With the New Year, the fall of almond blossoms brings the Almond Festival to the quiet town of Tafraoute.
Each year, Muslim families come together to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan with 30 days of prayer, charity, introspection, and fasting that lasts each day from dusk to dawn. Eid al-Fitr, or the Festival of Breaking the Fast, marks the end of Ramadan as families gather to give gifts and feast together.
Many seasonal festivities are celebrated with music, dancing, or other vibrant traditions. Across Morocco, one might say that celebrations are the spice of life!
Salaam! Peace to you!
L’Chaim Holiday Kitchen
Between the Morocco and France Pavilions is the L’Chaim Holiday Kitchen, which will serve traditional Hanukkah menu items like potato latkes and rugelach.
Hanukkah Storyteller
On a stage next to L’Chaim, the Hanukkah Storyteller will recount their travels exploring the diverse music and traditions of Hanukkah from around the world. A giant menorah sits on the back wall of the stage.
The storyteller’s trunk is covered in peeling travel stickers from Argentina, Yemen, South Africa, and more.
A Great Miracle Happened There
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day celebration honoring the trials and tribulations faced by the Maccabees in Israel between 160 and 166 B.C.E. Named for their leader, Judah Maccabee, this small band of Jews stood up against a large army to reclaim the Second Temple from the Seleucid Empire.
Following the battle, Judah led the Maccabees in cleansing the temple. They rebuilt the altar and lit the menorah, a seven-branched candelabra. However, they found only enough oil to last one night. Miraculously, the central light of the menorah remained lit for 8 days, allowing the Maccabees to cleanse the temple and find more oil.
Today, Jews around the world celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah with family, food, and fun. At sundown on each night of Hanukkah, families and communities light the Hanukkiah, a nine-branched menorah that represents the 8 days of light, with a central branch, called the shamash, that is used to light the others. People share a feast of foods cooked in oil, such as fried potato latkes, and exchange presents. They also play games with the dreidel, a four-sided top with Hebrew letters on it that come together to represent the phrase “a great miracle happened there.”
Chag Sameach! Happy Hanukkah!
Le Marché de Noël Holiday Kitchen
In the center of the France Pavilion is the Le Marché de Noël booth. This year, new menu items include a roasted ham dish and chocolate fudge Christmas log dessert.
France Storyteller
Behind the Holiday Kitchen is a small platform and decorations for the pavilion’s HOliday Storyteller, Père Noël, a version of Santa Claus.
Awaiting Père Noël
Here in the France pavilion, Père Noël—or in English, Father Christmas—shares the story of Babette, a little girl who enjoys the gift of wonderful traditions with her family. Babette decorates the Christmas crèche with santons, figurines representing nativity scene characters and people from her Provençal village.
After midnight mass on Christmas Eve, many families across France enjoy a great meal together, called le réveillon. As the night brims with magic, a traditional Yule log crackles on the fire while children of all ages anticipate the visit of Père Noël, who will leave presents and fill their shoes with delightful treats.
Joyeux Noël! Merry Christmas!
New France Decorations
In the France Pavilion and the walkway to the U.K. Pavilion, we spotted some new decorations. Giant green candies with white and red décor are on some lampposts. Others feature bars striped red, white, and green.
Yukon Holiday Kitchen
At the Canada Pavilion, the Yukon Holiday Kitchen will serve the Peppermint Pinwheel Cookie as part of the Holiday Cookie Stroll.
Holiday Sweets and Treats
On the promenade at the front of World Showcase is the large Sweets and Treats booth adorned with decals featuring various baked goods and candies. It will serve a Peppermint Sundae, Hot Cocoa, and more.
Mele Kalikimaka Holiday Kitchen
Mele Kalikimaka is the Hawaii Holiday Kitchen. It’s along the rose walk between World Showcase and the Imagination! Pavilion.
Nochebuena Cocina Holiday Kitchen
Further down the rose walk is Nochebuena Cocina.
Chestnuts and Good Cheer Holiday Kitchen
Closest to the Imagination! Pavilion is the Chestnuts and Good Cheer Holiday Kitchen.
Festive Fragrances
New to this year’s Festival of the Holidays is Festive Fragrances presented by Scentsy. The garden inspired by seasonal aromas is located on the walkway between the Imagination! Pavilion and World Showcase. Some of the holiday fragrances will be available for purchase at CommuniCore Hall.
The ornament-inspired displays are along the edge of the grassy plaza near Imagination. Each giant ornament features props related to their respective scents. We did get a few good whiffs of the holiday fragrances, finding the clove and maple scents to be the strongest.
Clove & Cinnamon
Warm woody cinnamon
And peppery clove
Turn a fragrant spice drawer
Into a treasure trove
Ginger Cookie Crunch
The scent of gingerbread
Makes the air smell nice
The aroma is thanks
To sugar and spice
Frosted Cedar
Snow-covered conifers
Have a refreshing scent
Making strolls through the forest
Into hours well spent
Maple Apple Bourbon
On cold winter nights
When there’s a chill in the air
This cozy concotion
Provides sips you can share
Joyful! A Celebration of the Season
Lastly, a stage, decorations, and lighting rigs are set up in CommuniCore Plaza for Joyful! A Celebration of the Season. This live performance celebrates Christmas and Kwanzaa with Gospel, R&B, and holiday songs.
Check out the official map and full menus for the 2024 Festival of the Holidays.
For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.