We’re heading into EPCOT today to take a look at what’s new in this park.

Recently, we’ve seen heavy crowds and fun holiday merchandise, especially in the World Showcase section of EPCOT. But what new things have we found in the last few days? Let’s check out some updates with food, souvenirs, crowd levels, and more.

Of course we’re going to start with the most important updates of all: what’s new with the FOOD in EPCOT?

EPCOT Food Updates

The popular drink spot Les Vins des Chefs de France was closed for a while in the France pavilion of EPCOT’s World Showcase. But it reopened on the morning of December 9th, and it’s still open for guests to visit now.

This stand is known for some tasty and refreshing drinks, including a couple of our favorites, the Grand Marnier Orange Slush and the Grey Goose Citron Lemon Slush. You can head there now, although you’ll need to make note of a few price increases that we spotted upon this stand’s reopening.

Nearby, the holiday kitchen in the France pavilion for EPCOT’s Festival of the Holidays was missing a couple of important snacks during one of our visits.

Le Marche de Noel usually has a salmon dish called Napoleon de Saumon Fumé en Brioche and a delicious Frozen Hot Chocolate Martini (among other snacks and drinks) available for guests to try. When we stopped by, they were out of both of these offerings.

Luckily, the shortages didn’t last long, and we saw both the salmon and the martini return to the booth later on in the same day. So if one of the EPCOT festival booths is out of your favorite treat, don’t panic! Just try coming back later in the day to see if it was restocked.

On our walk around EPCOT in search of tasty snacks, we noticed a couple of treats that were not doing great. The blue donuts at a Joffrey’s kiosk were having a SUPER rough time last Friday.

We’re assuming they were just ready for the weekend to come, and we can understand that feeling.

At the UK pavilion, we saw a few chocolates that were back in stock after being sold out for a while.

Several candies that we usually see on the shelves are still not available here, but right now you can get Irish Whiskey Truffles, Irish Cream Chocolates, and more.

Over in Italy, we found a new snack that you can at the gift shop there. They’re chocolate cake roll treats filled with tiramisú cream, and you can get a package for $5.99.

Now let’s check out some new souvenirs that you can get in EPCOT now!

EPCOT Merchandise Updates

We spotted some light-up Christmas necklaces in multiple stores throughout the park.

The necklaces look like a string of Christmas lights in white and red, and we spotted them at the Creations Shop, Port of Entry, and other gift shops around the park.

Creations Shop

The Creations Shop is the main gift shop in EPCOT, and it’s located near Test Track in the World Celebration section of this park.

In this store, we noticed that the 50th Anniversary Christmas tree ornaments were back in stock! We haven’t seen these guys available for a while, so we were excited to see more available.

We also spotted plenty of the new Dooney & Bourke bags, including the Christmas Disney Dog collection…

…and the newest 50th Anniversary collection.

And you can also get the $298 50th Anniversary mini backpack, with is made of gold leather with Mickey ears on top and 50th designs all over. Want to know why it’s so expensive?

The bag is made with actual gold, with flecks in the designs and gold-plated metal as the hardware.

Although we saw a pretty big restock of this Loungefly backpack early in the week, when we checked back a couple of days later, most of the bags were gone again.

We spotted a couple of new items as well, including a green Cinderella Castle shirt for $24.99…

…and a blue Mickey and Walt Disney shirt for $24.99 as well.

The WEIRDEST news we have from Creations Shop is that this store is still displaying Halloween merchandise!

Although we’re WAY past the spooky season now (can you believe Christmas is next week??), you can still buy some Mickey pumpkin jars and other Halloween items in this store. This might be due to the supply issues we’ve seen around Disney World, which has limited merchandise at some locations. It’s possible that the Cast Members are just putting out whatever is available to fill those shelves.

Port of Entry and Disney Traders

Port of Entry and Disney Traders are the gift shops where you’ll take your completed map once you’ve finished Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Expedition Scavenger Hunt in EPCOT.

The scavenger hunt costs $9.99. You’ll get a map with locations around World Showcase and stickers that show holiday traditions from countries around the world. Then you’ll travel around the World Showcase to find Olaf in each country’s pavilion and put the sticker where it belongs on the map! Once you finish, you’ll take the map to one of these gift shops for a prize.

We’ve noticed recently that these prizes keep changing. For a while, you could choose from a Mickey Kitchen Sink bucket or a 2021 Lanyard.

Then there were a couple of pins that you could choose from, including a Moana one and a Wall-E one.

Later, we saw some Mickey ears hat bowls thrown into the mix, and the Mickey Kitchen Sink buckets returned.

So basically you never know what you’re going to get, but that’s part of the fun of the scavenger hunt we think! (And it kind of seems like Disney went on their own scavenger hunt to find these random prizes.)

At Disney Traders, we also saw a new Mickey snoap wand for $28.17.

The wand shoots out snow made of soap, just like the “snow” you’ll see during some holiday celebrations in Disney World.

There was also a Puzzle Advent Calendar available for $39.99…

…which will help you count down the days until Christmas with Disney-themed puzzles.

House of Good Fortune

Over in the China pavilion, we stopped by the House of Good Fortune gift shop to see what’s new in there.

We loved the sets of colorful incense that we found, which come in scents like grape, lotus, and rose.

You can get a small set of incense for $5.95…

…or a larger set for $8.95.

Gateway Gifts

At Gateway Gifts, we saw a new Photo and Autograph book.

The book has Disney princess on the front, and you can buy it now for $19.98.

Heritage Manor Gifts

In the American Adventure pavilion, we stopped by Heritage Manor Gifts.

Here, we saw a new America-themed sipper cup for $19.99.

The cup is red with American designs like stars and eagles alongside snacks like popcorn and cupcakes all around it.

Mission SPACE: Cargo Bay

And over in World Discovery, we saw some new Mandalorian sweatpants at the gift shop outside of the Mission: SPACE attraction.

The pants are black with designs from the Mandalorian show.

We know the crowds have been pretty heavy in EPCOT recently, but how have things been looking the last couple of days?

EPCOT Crowd Updates

In general, we saw more heavy crowds in this park, especially in the World Showcase near the afternoon and evening times.

The France pavilion was especially popular, since this area has a new ride (Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure) AND a new restaurant (La Crêperie de Paris).

Click Here to see Our Review of La Crêperie de Paris

On one weekday, the standby line for the Candlelight Processional (in the American Adventure pavilion) extended all the way back through the Italy pavilion.

However, we noticed that a few restaurants around World Showcase still had some Candlelight Processional Dining Packages available for the same evening, so that might be the best way to guarantee your seat if you’re hoping to catch the popular holiday show.

On one day, we noticed that Living With the Land had a LONG line that even outgrew the designated queue area! The posted wait time was still just 15 minutes, but we were surprised to see such big crowds at this usually underrated attraction.

We might credit those crowds to the amazing holiday overlay that Living With the Land has right now (which looks especially magical if you ride it after dark).

If you’re looking for some places to escape the crowds, head to the back of the World Showcase pavilions. Canada has a relaxing area with gorgeous waterfalls just up the stairs…

…Morocco has lots of seating and some beautiful art if you venture inside…

…and the UK has gardens where you’ll sometimes find musicians quietly serenading guests.

Most guests will stay right at the entrance to the pavilions, near the walkway. But you can find peace and quiet (not to mention some gorgeous details!) if you head just a little further into each country.

Click Here to See 25 Hidden Secrets in EPCOT

Other EPCOT Updates

In other news, we spotted some construction work being done on the ground just outside the Imagination Pavilion in EPCOT’s World Nature.

It seems like the work is mid-process, so we’ll keep you updated on any changes we see here!

And if you’re asking a Disney PhotoPass photographer to snap your picture, you might be able to use the Mickey Cookie prop that has arrived in time for the holidays!

That’s it for our EPCOT update today! Keep following DFB for more of the latest news from Disney World.

Click Here to See What’s New in Disney Springs This Week

What’s your favorite country pavilion in EPCOT? Let us know in the comments.