We visited the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays on opening day and tried nearly every. single. food item at the holiday kitchens.

We wandered around EPCOT trying all the new and returning menu items at all the booths. There were some AMAZING new desserts, some awesome returning meals, and unfortunately, some not-so-great items. Out of everything we ate at the festival (which was a lot), there were 15 things we would not recommend buying this year.

Before we get to the list, you can watch our video of all of the fun at the festival right here!

Meals

Tamale With Plant-based Chorizo

At the Nochebuena Cocina, we had the Tamale with Plant-based Chorizo for $5.50. We were a bit disappointed with it as we were hoping for much more chorizo. The flavors of the sauce dominated the dish, and overall, it just wasn’t well-balaned.

If you’re a tamale fan and would like to have one while you’re at the festival, we would say opt for the Tamale de Barbacoa at Las Posadas instead! We loved this! The breading was so good, and it was filled with meat. There was a great smoky, barbecue flavor that we really enjoyed. If you eat meat, then we highly recommend this tamale!

Lamb Kefta Kebab

At Tangierine Cafe, you can grab the Grilled Kebabs for $6.25. While the chicken kebab was great, the Lamb Kefta one was not our favorite. There was a strange sweetness that we didn’t expect, and it threw us off. When it comes to lamb, we hope for a savory option, but this was not that.

Montanara

We tried the new Montanara at Tuscany Holiday Kitchen for $9. Now, we did really like these. The flavors were good and bright. The dough went well with the parmesan and the flavorful sauce. But it made this list because we just thought it was a bit overpriced. You’re paying $9 for some fried dough and sauce. We would recommend these if they were a cheaper.

Farfalle Salmone

Also at the Tuscany Holiday Kitchen is the Farfalle Salmone for $10. This is also new this year but we thought it was a bit disappointing. It was just lacking flavor. You could taste a hint of salmon but it wasn’t as creamy as you would expect. Also, the sauce thickened the longer it sat around, which gave it a weird texture.

If you’re looking for a better salmon option, head over to Yukon Holiday Kitchen for the Seared Salmon! For $7, you get salmon with butternut squash purée, maple-bourbon glaze, and fennel-arugala salad. It was an honorable mention on our best of the fest list and for good reason.

Desserts

Chocolate-covered Toffee Brittle

While the Chocolate-covered Toffee Brittle at Holiday Hearth Desserts looks cute and festive, it is not one we recommend. It was incredibly hard, even for toffee. It was thick and difficult to bite into. It’s just not easy to enjoy something when you’re afraid you’ll break your teeth on it.

Instead, we would HIGHLY recommend the Apple Caramel Crumb Cake for $4.75! It is possibly the best dessert we’ve ever had at an EPCOT festival. It’s so good.

Mouse Crunch

The Mouse Crunch made with M&M’s chocolate candies also at Holiday Hearth Desserts is certainly pretty and Instagram-worthy. But we felt for $6.50, we could probably make this at home. There are plenty of other sweet treats we would rather spend our money on.

Peppermint Sundae

At Holiday Sweets and Treats, we tried the Peppermint Sundae for $6.25. However, this did not seem like much of a sundae. It was more like a chocolate shake with some peppermint bits sprinkled on top. Not that the flavor is bad, it’s just not what is expected when you order a sundae and it was pretty basic.

Jingle Sugar Cookie

Sunshine Seasons has a Jingle Sugar Cookie for $3.99 as part of the cookie stroll. In the past, we’ve really enjoyed this cookie, but this year took us by surprise in a not-so-good way. This cookie was surprisingly hard. Other than the M&M’s that were on top, this is just a simple sugar cookie. Unless you need it for the cookie stroll, we would say grab another cookie instead! One of our top pics for an alternative would be the Black and White Cookie from L’Chaim.

Spiced Chocolate Cookie

The Spiced Chocolate Cookie for $3 at Nochebuena Cocina was lacking the spice. We actually thought this cookie was a bit bitter, having a very dark chocolate flavor. We thought there would be more holiday spice flavor, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Red Velvet Mini Bundt Cake

Another one at Holiday Hearth Desserts that we would skip is the Red Velvet Mini Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. It is $4.75 and is certainly cute, but the flavors are pretty basic. This is another dessert we think we could easily make at home instead of paying for it at the festival.

Drinks

Frozen Caramel Hot Chocolate

If you LOVE caramel then you might like the Frozen Caramel Hot Chocolate with TWIX cookie bar pieces and whipped cream. There is mostly only a caramel flavor here which makes it VERY sweet. We would skip it and get either the Frozen Hot Chocolate Martini or the Le Joyeux de Noel cocktails at La Marche De Noel Holiday Kitchen.

Butterfly Lantern

The Butterfly Lantern drink at Shanghai Holiday Kitchen is $4.50 and, sadly, it tasted like medicine. We did not care for the pear and lychee combination as it gave it a very off-putting flavor.

Cinnamon Apple Cider

The Cinnamon Apple Cider is $3.75 at Swirled Showcase. It’s not bad, we just found the cinnamon flavor to be a little overpowering of the apple flavor. It’s cold and refreshing, but we would probably opt for the Frozen Apple Pie drink here instead.

Gingerbread Milkshake

At the Refreshment Port near the Canada pavilion, we had the Gingerbread Milkshake for $4.75. We’ve enjoyed this shake in the past, but for some reason, it came out having that medicine taste as well this year. It was also very messy because as the whipped cream melted it got everywhere.

If you’re looking for a shake, we would suggest heading to Connections Eatery for the Coquito Milk Shake instead!

So Many Wishes

Again, this drink isn’t necessarily bad. The So Many Wishes drink at Connections Eatery is $6.29 and it is SUPER sweet. This drink tastes like a pomegranate Jolly Rancher. People who love sweet drinks would probably enjoy this, but we had a hard time with all the sugar.

For other drink options, we really liked almost everything we got at Joffrey’s this year! The Horchata Cold Brew made our best of the fest list, and we enjoyed most of the others there.

There are so many new and returning eats and drinks at the Festival of the Holidays! Even though these weren’t our favorites doesn’t mean you wouldn’t enjoy them. And with all the other options available, there’s something for everyone.

For more holiday news, keep following DFB!

Come With Us to Eat and See EVERYTHING at the 2023 EPCOT Festival of the Holidays

Which options are you going to skip at the EPCOT Festival of the Holidays? Let us know in the comments!