The holidays are officially here! We love visiting the parks during this season and one of our favorites to see is Epcot for the International Festival of the Holidays. With festive decor, cultural entertainment, and lots of holiday goodies this festival always put us in the holiday spirit. A fun activity during this time is the Holiday Cookie Stroll. Read on to learn more about this fun tradition…
What is the Epcot Festival of the Holidays Cookie Stroll?
During Epcot’s International Festival of the Holidays there are specialty food booths around the world showcase. (In 2021 the festival dates run from November 26 through December 30.) Certain booths offer cookies that are a part of the official Holiday Cookie Stroll. When you buy a cookie from any of the official Holiday Cookie Stop locations you will earn a stamp in your passport. Once you collect five stamps you are eligible for a FREE specialty completer cookie! When you arrive to Epcot, the free Festival passports provide details on what cookies are eligible and there is a page to track the stamps collected during your sweet journey around the world. This activity only requires grabbing the passport and the cost of each of the five cookies. We found at only $2.50 a pop this was a fun activity for only a total of $12.50.
The 2021 Festival Passport.
A sign about the Cookie Stroll.
The cookie stamps we collected.
What are the official Holiday Cookie Stroll treats this year?
We traveled the World Showcase starting in Canada and tried all five cookies:
1. SNICKERS®-Doodle Cookie
located at the Yukon Holiday Kitchen (in Canada)
Andrew was super excited for this one but it wasn’t quite as amazing as he had hoped. It was a pretty typical snickerdoodle cookie that was ok with a little bit of Snickers crumble on top. While a good size it was a little boring for us.
2. Black and White Cookie
from L’Chaim! Holiday Kitchen (between Morocco and France)
We really loved this cookie. With the delicious chocolate on the outside to the inner cookie having a little hint of lemon. This cookie was also a large size to share and probably our favorite.
3. Chocolate Crinkle Cookie made with DOVE® Dark Chocolate
from American Holiday Table (at The American Adventure)
Andrew always loves chocolate upon chocolate, but this cookie ended up being not quite as chocolatey as you would expect. It was still really good though, it reminded her of those flourless chocolate cookies. We thought the addition of the Dove felt like an add on sponsorship. It would have been cool if the piece of chocolate was more integrated into the cookie or at least more than just the standard square.
4. Linzer Cookie
from the Bavaria Holiday Kitchen (in Germany)
Julie loves fruity stuff and this cookie was right up her alley. With soft outer cookies and a Linzer berry jelly the only complaint was the powdered sugar was messy – but totally worth it!
5. Gingerbread Cookie
from Holiday Hearth Desserts (near Port of Entry)
This cookie was adorable and again a nice size. However neither of us are huge gingerbread fans so we didn’t love it, since it was the end of the stroll we didn’t finish it.
Completing the Epcot Holiday Cookie Stroll
It’s good to note that if for some reason you don’t want to try all five cookies you can double up on stamps and buy multiple of the same cookies. After collecting five stamps head to the Holiday Sweets and Treats booth to claim your completer prize. We were surprised to also get more than one goodie on the night we went:
1. 50th Completer Cookie
This cookie was a nice simple frosted sugar cookie. We thought it was cool that the cookie was 50th themed this year, and loved the fact that it came packaged to take home. (Did we mention after sharing 5 cookies we were pretty overloaded with sugar!)
2. Chocolate Peppermint Milkshake
This treat may have been our favorite of the night! It was also cute in came in a little souvenir cup.
3. Freeform Ornament
We were also handed a promotional item from the Freeform channel. The little ornaments featured different holiday illustrations and made of a thick paper. Cute but not necessarily something we would keep.
This booth had the Cookie Stroll prizes.
The Chocolate Peppermint Milkshake.
The 50th Anniversary completer cookie.
Epcot had these souvenir cookie jars for sale too.
Final Thoughts
We had a fun time trying the Holiday Cookie Stroll this year. We may not necessarily do it every year sine we aren’t huge sweet people. But here are our overall thoughts.
PROS:
An affordable activity at only $2.50 per cookie
Fun to do with a group and share cookies
Neat to get “free” prizes
CONS:
It was a lot of sugar to eat in one night (we would suggest multiple visits if you can)
Some of the cookies we liked better than others (but remember you can skip a cookie and double up on another one if you choose)
Have you ever completed the Holiday Cookie Stroll?
The Holidays have arrived at ICON Park! Yesterday we were invited to check out all the offerings from decorated attractions, fun food, and meeting Old St. Nick himself. Read on for all the details of these limited time offerings….