Festivals & Other Events in Orlando-Disney World

• Places to Explore
• Sights
• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Entertainment
• Shopping
• Activities
• Travel Tips
• Features

Festivals & Other Events

If you've been to the parks and enjoyed the top attractions at least once, it may be time to think about a special trip around one of the many festivals and events slated throughout the year. To buy tickets for special events, call 407/824-4321 or visit www.disneyworld.com.

Epcot International Food & Wine Festival

You won't find a food and wine festival like this one anywhere else in the world. It's six weeks long (October through mid-November) and it offers something for everyone, whether you're a wine neophyte or oenophile, whether you have a finicky palate or you like to enjoy food as an adventure.

Cost of admission to the main events is your theme-park ticket, which includes seminars on wine and beer, culinary demonstrations, Eat to the Beat outdoor concerts, and multiple exhibits designed for the family. International marketplaces around the World Showcase offer tastes of food, wine, and beers of the world for $1.50 to $4.50 per item. Plan to spend one evening dining all around the marketplaces, finishing with a lovely crème brûlée and petit café at the France showcase.

You can also make reservations for special ticketed events, ranging from a $35 Food & Wine Pairing at one of the Epcot restaurants to a $185 Exquisite Evening five-course dining experience (park admission not required). The most popular ticketed event, Party for the Senses ($95) gears up every Saturday evening of the festival with about two dozen Disney and celebrity chefs, 70 different kinds of wine and beer, and four acts by Cirque du Soleil.

Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

Walt Disney was extremely fond of British topiaries, and he made sure that his parks were decorated with perfectly groomed green Disney characters. At this yearly seven-week-long festival (mid-April through early June), the topiaries multiply across the park's landscape, and every year they become more detailed, with colorful flowers, grasses, and mosses added to create ever more lifelike characters. Gardening seminars with Disney horticulturists and celebrity gardeners, a screened butterfly garden, a fragrance garden, kids' activities, and nightly Flower Power concerts (Davy Jones of the Monkees is a regular) are just some of the events open to all for the cost of admission.

Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

Little girls dressed like fairy princesses and young boys in ninja costumes can take to the streets of the Magic Kingdom for treats (no tricks!) during the gently spooky fun of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, which takes place on various days throughout October, including the 31st. This nighttime-ticketed event ($39.95 for adults, $32.95 for children ages 3-9) is a great chance to meet Disney characters in their own favorite Halloween costumes and take advantage of the hottest attractions without waiting in long lines. There's also the special Mickey's Boo-To-You Halloween Parade.

Holiday Happenings

The Disney parks are decked out in their holiday finest beginning around Thanksgiving and continuing through the end of the year. If you've never experienced this wondrous display, it pays to book a trip during the first few weeks of December, when there's a lull between the Thanksgiving and Christmas crowds. A road trip through the kingdom to visit Disney's many adorned resort lobbies and gingerbread house displays is a must for decor devotees; start in the morning and cap your tour with late-afternoon tea at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, the most elegant of the hotels.

Epcot's nightly, free Candlelight Processional with celebrity narrators retelling the story of Christmas is a memorable experience, but you have to line up early for a seat at the America Gardens Theatre venue in Epcot. It pays to purchase the Candlelight dinner package ($33-$50 for adults, around $15 for children ages 3-9), with dinner at one of Epcot's restaurants and reserved seating for the show.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is a special ticketed event ($43.95 for adults, $34.95 for children ages 3-9) happening in the Magic Kingdom over two weeks in December; it's most fun for families who've been to the park during the day and want an evening experience. You'll get snowed on during a stroll down Main Street, U.S.A., and you can enjoy the most popular park attractions without long waits. Complimentary cocoa and cookies, and a special holiday fireworks show, add to the fun.

At Disney-MGM Studios you can see the long-running holiday-time Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. Disney's Animal Kingdom unwraps Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade for the holiday festivities.

Disney Marathon

At least 13,000 athletes from around the globe lace up their running shoes each January during the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. On Saturday, Goofy's Race-and-a-Half Challenge motivates runners to complete a half marathon. Then on Sunday, the runners traverse the scenic 26.2-mi course that winds through the theme parks and crosses much of Disney's undeveloped acreage. You can register for one or both races. The Donald Duck medal goes to half-marathon runners, and the Mickey medal is for full-marathon survivors. In addition, a special Goofy medal awaits runners who cross the finish line of both courses.