Disney Tips Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
Walt Disney World’s holiday season is getting closer, and Disney has now confirmed the return of an experience that gives EPCOT guests a very different way to spend part of their evening during one of the busiest and most festive times of the year.
Unlike the major entertainment and seasonal events that draw thousands of people, this experience takes guests away from the usual crowds for a closer look at an area many visitors normally see from a completely different perspective. It’s also only available for a limited stretch of the holiday season, making the newly announced dates especially important for anyone hoping to add it to their plans.
Disney has now revealed when the experience returns, how long it will stick around, and, perhaps most importantly, when guests can begin booking their spots for the limited-time offering. With reservations opening before the holiday season begins, interested visitors will want to keep one date in September in mind.
The Holidays Will Soon Take Over All Four Parks
The holiday season stretches across Walt Disney World, with each theme park bringing its own personality to the celebration.
Magic Kingdom becomes one of the biggest holiday destinations at the resort. Seasonal decorations transform Main Street, U.S.A. and other areas, while Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party brings its separately ticketed celebration to the park on select nights.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios also celebrates the season with festive decorations and entertainment. On select nights, Disney Jollywood Nights brings a separately ticketed holiday celebration to the park.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom takes a different approach with seasonal decorations and entertainment, including the Merry Menagerie, which brings artisan-sculpted winter animal puppets to Discovery Island.
Then there’s EPCOT.
The park’s holiday season highlights World Showcase and its international pavilions, allowing guests to experience traditions, entertainment, food, and decorations inspired by celebrations from around the world.
Disney has now confirmed that another limited-time EPCOT experience will return for the 2026 holiday season, and reservations are about to become important.
Disney Sets a September Booking Date
Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses will return to EPCOT this holiday season, allowing guests to step inside the greenhouses of The Land pavilion after dark.
Disney has announced that reservations for the 2026 experience will open on September 24.
The limited-time walking tour will then run from November 27 through December 30, 2026. Disney has scheduled three tour times each evening at 6:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m.
Rather than simply experiencing the greenhouses from a ride vehicle, guests participating in the tour get a closer look at the area during its seasonal transformation.
The experience ties into the holiday overlay of Living with the Land, which fills the greenhouses with festive lighting and seasonal displays.
During the tour, guests can learn more about crops associated with popular holiday dishes while taking in the lights surrounding the greenhouse environments.
That makes the experience part behind-the-scenes tour and part seasonal EPCOT offering, combining the educational side of The Land with the atmosphere of the holidays.
And the 2026 dates line up with another major EPCOT celebration.
EPCOT’s Biggest Holiday Celebration
The 2026 EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays will run from November 27 through December 30, matching the dates announced for Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses.
That means the tour will be available throughout the festival’s entire 2026 run.
Festival of the Holidays turns EPCOT into a major seasonal destination. World Showcase plays a large role, with holiday traditions, food, and entertainment inspired by cultures from around the world. Seasonal offerings also appear elsewhere in EPCOT.
Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses fits naturally into that schedule.
While many festival activities draw guests toward World Showcase, the tour offers another holiday experience in World Nature. It also builds upon an attraction that already receives a seasonal transformation.
Living with the Land’s holiday overlay brings colorful lights and festive displays into the greenhouses. Guests can see those decorations from the ride, but the tour provides a closer perspective.
Participants walk through the greenhouse environment while learning about plants and their connections to familiar seasonal foods.
With tours at 6:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m., guests can explore the greenhouses while the holiday lighting transforms the atmosphere after dark.
Another EPCOT Holiday Experience Is Returning
EPCOT already packs plenty into its holiday season, but Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses offers a different way to experience the park.
Rather than adding another large-scale show or attraction, the tour takes an existing part of EPCOT and gives guests a closer look at its seasonal transformation.
The dates are now set for November 27 through December 30, while the September 24 booking date gives interested guests another important date to remember.
With Festival of the Holidays running during that same period, visitors planning a late-November or December EPCOT day will have another limited-time experience to consider adding to their plans.
And for guests who already make Living with the Land part of their holiday traditions, the returning tour provides a way to see its seasonal displays from an entirely different perspective.
