Things are HOPPIN’ in EPCOT these days!
It’s a busy time to visit EPCOT!
We’re in the middle of the International Festival of the Holidays, so there are special food booths, new merchandise, holiday storytellers, and unique decorations! On top of that, the ever-popular Candlelight Processional is back with nightly shows. But that’s not all that’s going on in EPCOT — let’s take a look at everything that’s new!
EPCOT Food Updates
Les Vins des Chefs de France
Let’s kick things off with an update on food! Les Vins des Chefs de France was still closed and blocked off, but we noticed a lot of Cast Members moving around in the area.
Still all covered up over here!
We also spotted the menu…and there were some BIG price jumps! You’ll need to budget a little extra for this one when it reopens.
The menu is looking a bit more expensive.
We’ll keep an eye on this area to see if there are any more changes in the coming days and weeks.
UPDATE: Les Vins des Chefs de France reopened on the morning of December 9th, 2021.
Chefs de France Got Price Hikes As Well — Click Here to Learn More!
EPCOT Construction Updates
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Construction is moving along on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Throughout the week, we noticed quite a bit of progress with painting on the building. We can’t wait to check this one out next year!
We spotted some painting at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind!
Thanks to recent updates, we know what the interior of the space will look like as well. It’s all starting to come together!
EPCOT Transformation
Also, the old Mouse Gear location was getting some updates as well. It now has walls of windows, similar to the style of the Creations Shop. We’re curious to see what comes next.
There are some big changes happening over here!
There’s a lot of new and exciting things coming soon to EPCOT — this transformation is going to be BIG!
Click Here to Learn More About the New Restaurant Coming to EPCOT!
EPCOT Attractions Updates
American Adventure
Throughout the last few days, we spotted technical difficulties with the American Adventure show twice. On two separate visits, the show was closed to guests.
This show was closed multiple times this week.
If this one is a family favorite, make sure to check the app before making the hike to the back of World Showcase in the next few days. When attractions are closed, you’ll typically find that they’re listed as “temporarily unavailable” in My Disney Experience.
Click Here to See Which Attractions Close When it Rains!
EPCOT Merchandise Updates
Pin Traders
There were quite a few new merchandise updates this week, and we’re excited to share all of them with you! Starting at Pin Traders, there was several pins leftover from the Disney Heroes vs. Villains Pin Trading event.
There were a TON of Heroes and Villains pins!
They’ve got representatives from a bunch of different Disney movies in this collection, how cool is that?!
Creations Shop
We spotted several new Disney-themed patches in Creations Shop this week. These would look great on a bag or denim jacket! Most of the designs ranged in price from $9.99 (for single patches) to $19.99 (for a set of four).
We love the balloons designs!
There’s also a new pin set with inspirational phrases — they even have little hidden Mickeys! This set is $17.99.
There’s a new pin set!
And as it gets a little colder in the parks, what better way to dress than with this adorable Tinker Bell long sleeve tee? We spotted it in Creations Shop as well in a few different adult sizes. It’s selling for $32.99.
Calling all Tink fans, this one’s for you!
But Tinker Bell isn’t the only Disney icon with wings — Figment fans will want to rush and grab the new holiday phone case. It’s a 3-D effect case with Figment in his holiday sweater, but there’s a bonus…the snowman is dressed like The Dreamfinder from the original iteration of the ride! You can get it for $34.99.
Figment with a snowman!
Don’t need a new phone case but love the design? Don’t worry, Disney has you covered! You can snag the matching magnet for $14.99.
There’s a magnet too!
Man, that really makes us miss the old Journey Into Imagination! (Now we have creepy Nigel Channing moon and skunk smell instead.)
House of Fortune
Over in the China Pavilion, there was a new holiday display in House of Fortune. We love seeing the World Showcase countries get all festive!
We’re loving the holiday display!
And included in the display were these precious little reindeer antlers for $6.99. If Minnie ears aren’t your thing, you can go for the Christmas look instead.
How adorable!
This shop is a great place to find some really unique merchandise. (And probably a good place to do some holiday shopping, as well!)
Mitsukoshi
In Japan, we stopped by Mitsukoshi to see what was new, and we were shocked to find a HUGE price increase on the KitKats. The last time we tried one of these unusual flavors, they were $9.49 per bag.
They got more expensive!
Now, you’ll have to shell out $12.95 per bag, so you may have to pick just one flavor. It’s so hard to choose, though!
Germany Pavilion
In Germany’s Christmas shop, Die Weihnachts Ecke, we spotted some new holiday items that would make great gifts! First up, there’s a new Nutcracker Christmas ornament for $32.95.
This will look great on your tree!
They also had a bottle of German wine, Gluhwein, for just $12!
That’s a steal!
This shop always has the neatest stuff. Make sure to stop by on your next visit to Germany!
Disney Traders
In Disney Traders, we spotted yet another piece of Encanto merchandise. This new Mirabel tee is beautiful with the floral details!
We love those bold colors.
We found it in several adult sizes for $36.99.
Click Here to Check Out Disney’s Holiday Merchandise!
EPCOT Crowds Update
And finally, let’s talk crowds. It has been very busy the past few days since Thanksgiving break, and things don’t seem to be getting any lighter.
We saw some serious crowds in the parks this week.
Especially if you’re visiting on the weekend, expect crowds all around the park during the Festival of the Holidays. Sometimes it was difficult to navigate through the various pavilions. You may have to wait in line a while if you’re visiting the festival booths.
Long lines for the festival booths.
We’ll make sure to keep our eyes peeled for any more news and updates from the theme parks, so stay tuned to DFB this holiday season!
Click Here to See What’s New in Magic Kingdom!
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We just got back yesterday. We spent Wednesday, Dec 8th at Epcot. It was much more crowded than we anticipated. We tried to get a standby seating at Space 220 Lounge but, the estimated wait time was 2 and a half hours. We did manage to purchase a dining package at the Rose & Crown for the Candlelight Processional. You have to check with the hosts outside. We were able to have lunch there, we were surprised it was available because the packages have been sold out on the app. The Processional was amazing! Really beautiful. We completed the cookie stroll and got a cup of ice cream in a souvenir cup along with the 50th Anniversary cookie and an ornament kit. We brought tupperware and ziplock bags and brought most of the cookies home! We were really looking forward to the Schnitzel and Spaetzle from the Bavaria booth – it was awful – dried out and inedible – we trashed it. That was the only fest food we tried other than purchasing cookies that we were too full to eat! It was disappointing that some of our favorite stores were closed (toy store in UK and the toy store in Germany) were closed. Some of the other stores seemed sparse I guess for social distancing. We had a virtual queue for Remy our boarding group got pushed back. We were told we might get on by 10pm but maybe not. We had given up and were back at our hotel when we got notified at 9.45 that our boarding group was called. It was a good day overall and we were really happy that we got to see the Candlelight Processional.