September may feel early to start thinking about holiday plans at Walt Disney World, but one newly announced date could matter for guests visiting later this year.
Disney has revealed that a limited-time experience will return to EPCOT for the 2026 holiday season. It won’t be available all day or throughout the entire holiday period, and guests hoping to participate will need to plan ahead.
The experience also offers something different from the larger celebrations found around Walt Disney World. Guests get a closer perspective on a seasonal transformation that most visitors experience in an entirely different way.
And although the experience itself doesn’t begin until November, the first date guests need to know arrives this month.
Four Parks Bring Four Different Holiday Experiences
The holidays reach all four Walt Disney World theme parks, but each park celebrates the season differently.
Magic Kingdom becomes a major holiday destination with decorations throughout the park, including Main Street, U.S.A. Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party adds another option on select evenings as a separately ticketed celebration.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios also gets into the season with festive decorations and entertainment. On select nights, Disney Jollywood Nights brings its own separately ticketed holiday celebration to the park.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom takes a different approach to seasonal decorations and entertainment. The Merry Menagerie brings artisan-sculpted winter animal puppets to Discovery Island.
Then there’s EPCOT, where World Showcase plays a major role in the season. Guests can experience holiday traditions, food, entertainment, and decorations inspired by celebrations from around the world.
This year, another limited-time EPCOT experience is joining those returning holiday offerings.
Reservations Open Before the Holidays Begin
Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses will return to EPCOT for the 2026 holiday season, giving guests a different way to explore The Land pavilion.
Disney will open reservations for the experience on September 24.
The limited-time walking tour will run from November 27 through December 30, 2026. Disney has scheduled three tours each evening at 6:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., and 8:00 p.m.
Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses takes guests inside the greenhouses featured in Living with the Land while the attraction has its seasonal holiday overlay.
Normally, guests experience these spaces as they ride through the attraction. The tour instead allows participants to walk through the greenhouse environment and get a closer look at its seasonal transformation.
Holiday lighting and festive displays surround guests as they explore. Participants can also learn about plants and crops associated with familiar holiday dishes, keeping The Land’s educational focus at the center of the experience.
The evening schedule adds to the seasonal atmosphere, with all three tours taking place after dark.
And Disney’s choice of dates connects the experience directly to another major EPCOT holiday offering.
The Dates Match EPCOT’s Holiday Festival
The 2026 EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays will run from November 27 through December 30.
Those dates match the entire announced run of Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses. That means the tour begins on the festival’s opening day and continues through its final day.
World Showcase plays a major role in the Festival of the Holidays, featuring seasonal food, entertainment, and traditions inspired by cultures from around the world. Holiday offerings also appear elsewhere in EPCOT.
Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses gives guests another option in World Nature.
Living with the Land already receives its own seasonal transformation during this period. Colorful lights and festive displays appear throughout the greenhouses, adding a holiday look to an attraction guests can enjoy year-round.
Guests riding Living with the Land can see those decorations from their ride vehicle. Those participating in the tour, however, can explore the greenhouse environment on foot while learning more about the plants growing around them.
It offers a different perspective on a seasonal offering that some EPCOT visitors may already include in their holiday plans.
One September Date Comes First
There will be plenty happening around EPCOT once the holidays arrive, and Behind the Seeds: Glimmering Greenhouses adds another limited-time option to the schedule.
Its November 27 through December 30 run places the experience alongside EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays for the festival’s entire 2026 season.
Guests will have three evening tour times to choose from, while the walking format provides a closer look at an area normally experienced from Living with the Land.
But anyone hoping to add the tour to a holiday EPCOT day doesn’t have to wait until November to start planning.
September 24 is the first date to remember, as that’s when Disney will open reservations for the 2026 experience’s return.
