Best and worst new Epcot International Festival of the Holidays foods

The “Black Friday” shopping day means something different for Walt Disney World fans. For many, it involved a trip to Epcot for opening day of the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays.

In addition to the festive foods and beverages, the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays also offers plenty of seasonal entertainment, including holiday storytellers around the World Showcase and a lively celebration of Christmas and Kwanzaa courtesy of “Joyful! A Celebration of the Season.”

Epcot guests can also participate in the fun of Olaf’s Holiday Tradition Expedition Scavenger Hunt, and of course, the Candlelight Processional, a retelling of the story of Christmas featuring a celebrity narrator and stirring songs performed by an orchestra and choir.

New Festival of the Holiday Food

Still, for many of us, it’s the food during this (and every) festival at Orlando area theme parks that command our attention, and this year, these new food items are available at Epcot’s holiday kitchens:

• Rugalach: Pastry filled with raspberry jam, walnuts, and cinnamon  
• Seared Salmon with butternut squash purée, maple-bourbon glaze, and fennel-arugula salad   
• Crème de Saumon Fumé en Brioche à l’Aneth, Concombre: Cream of smoked salmon in house-made dill brioche bread with cucumber
• Bûche de Noël au Pain D’Épices, Ganache Chocolat au Lait et Noisettes: Gingerbread Christmas log with milk chocolate and hazelnut ganache
• Montanara: Fried house-made pizza dough with pomodoro sauce, parmesan, and fresh basil    
• Farfalle Salmone Affumicato: Farfalle pasta with smoked salmon and cream sauce
• Torta Caprese: Flourless chocolate torta with chocolate sauce and vanilla cream
• Dolce Pizza: Fried house-made pizza dough with sugar and cinnamon
• Sweet Potato Mochi Cake: Gooey sweet potato mochi cake with purple sweet potato cream, strawberry, black sugary syrup, and sesame seeds
• Giant Tostada de Chorizo: Giant tostada with chipotle black bean purée, ground chorizo, salsa verde, queso cotija, crema Mexicana, and pickled onions    
• Tamale de Barbacoa: Shredded barbacoa beef in a corn masa topped with mole negro, queso cotija, crema Mexicana, and pickled onions.
• Holiday Cinnamon Celebration Funnel Cake topped with Powdered Sugar, Vanilla Ice Cream, Cinnamon Cookie Crunch, Cream Cheese Whipped Cream, and Gold Dust.

Yes, we tried all the new items on opening day

We know you’re wondering if we tried them all. We did. And some, we tried twice. Based on our dining experience (and trusted colleagues’ opinions), we present the best and worst new food items at the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays 2023. You can think of it like Santa’s nice and naughty list.

Note: The Epcot International Festival of Holidays features four booths that carried over from the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. We did not include those in this list of new food items since those booths opened in September.

Best Epcot International Festival of the Holidays food options

We thought the food at this year’s festival varied in terms of value and quality more than expected. As a result, we found a few items that quickly made our list of best Epcot International Festival of the Holidays food options.

Seared Salmon – $7

The Canada Pavilion in World Showcase presents several solid options for the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays, but this year’s new food item at the Yukon Holiday Kitchen is a seared salmon with butternut squash purée, maple-bourbon glaze, and fennel-arugula salad.

We felt this dish provides a good merging of sweet and savory. The salmon comes well-prepared (which often fails to happen at quick service operations) and the butternut squash puree blends well with the fish. Though the individual components of this festival item might not do as well, we enjoyed the combination of elements.

Mint Chocolate Mousse Wreath – $5

Our next Epcot International Festival of the Holidays food recommendation comes from the Odyssey area. This food and beverage location changed from a Muppets theme for the Food and Wine Festival to a very Christmas-filled theme for the holidays. This area also includes a queue to meet Santa.

On the festival’s first day, we tried all the sweet treats at Holiday Hearth Desserts at the Odyssey, but our favorite new item here was the Mint Chocolate Mousse Wreath. This mousse comes with a green-colored shell, which reminded us of several sweet treats at the Holiday celebration over at Universal Orlando Resort – and in a good way.

This dessert definitely gives a holiday vibe with the festive shell encasing the mint mousse within. We found the shell and mousse combined in one bite made a good combination. The mousse also contains chocolate chips to balance the peppermint.

Guests will need to enjoy mint with this treat. If you do, the Mint Chocolate Mousse Wreath is for you.

We also want to give an honorable mention to the new Apple Caramel Crumb Cake at this location. It comes in a themed box and only costs $4.75. Most importantly, it provides a significant portion.

Tamale de Barbacoa – $8.50

Guests can find quality Mexican-themed holiday food options in the Mexico Pavilion of World Showcase, not far from the Odyssey, but a new menu item we loved is the Tamale de Barbacoa. The Las Posadas Holiday Kitchen in the Mexico Pavilion serves this tamale with shredded barbacoa beef in corn masa topped with mole negro, queso cotija, crema Mexicana, and pickled onions.

We enjoyed this tamale, which shows great improvement over previous tamales at this festival location. The dominant flavor reminded us of smoky-style barbecue and the tamale filling contained plenty of beef. The overall balance of this tamale works very well for a festival food item.

On the opening day of the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays, we were charged less than eight dollars for this item (although the menu board indicates $8.50 officially.) During the festival’s first day, we noticed many price inconsistencies with the posted prices and those charged at the time of purchase; however, we see this almost every time Walt Disney World starts selling a new or seasonal menu item, so be sure to check your receipt when you order.

In addition, we would also like to mention the Giant Tostada de Chorizo at Las Posadas Holiday Kitchen. The flavor of this festival food item deserves respect, but based on the $11.50 posted price point, it did not make our best list (once again, we paid less than the published price on opening day).

Worst Epcot International Festival of the Holidays food options

This brings us to the naughty list. Sadly, our eating around Epcot on the opening day of the Epcot International Festival of the Holidays involved several average options and we encountered several decent new holiday food items with slight flaws, like the texture of the fried dough at the Tuscany Holiday Kitchen and the potentially off-putting Crème de Saumon Fumé en Brioche à l’Aneth, Concombre in the France area.

Farfalle Salmone Affumicato – $10

We (and everyone we consulted before writing this) agreed the worst option this year comes from the Tuscany Holiday Kitchen in the Italy Pavilion at World Showcase.

This pasta dish consists of farfalle pasta with smoked salmon and a cream sauce. Our primary concern about this new festival food item relates to the price point, and we felt ten dollars was too high, even at a theme park.

However, the flavor of this dish also failed to impress (and we ordered this twice). The pasta wasn’t prepared well and the salmon quality fell below expectations. Still, we would allow that if the sauce paired well; it did not. We suggest skipping this booth (or at least until you’ve tried the items we recommended on our best list).

These are our suggestions for the best and worst new Epcot International Festival of the Holidays food options. Overall, we enjoyed this event and most of the food served. Guests should be prepared for a higher percentage of sugary food items as they plan their festival dining. Of course, for many, those sweets make it the holiday.

In previous articles, we have broken down the best and worst of new holiday food at Universal Orlando Resort and SeaWorld Orlando, which will hopefully help you plan your holiday dining at those parks.

We wish you a happy holiday season and enjoy planning your next trip to visit the attractions in the Orlando area.