Spring is here, and so is the EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival at Walt Disney World! From March 3 – July 5, you can enjoy this springtime event filled with beautiful gardens and topiaries, fresh flavors at the outdoor kitchens throughout the park, live entertainment, and more. As you enter the park, be sure to pick up a Festival Passport and map of EPCOT so that you can explore all of the festival’s offerings through both Future World and the World Showcase. You can also find all of the information about the Festival on the My Disney Experience app. To enjoy the beautiful weather in Florida in March, my mother, sister, and I planned a long weekend trip to enjoy the festival! As you will see later in this post, we also visited some other areas of Walt Disney World!
TOPIARY DISPLAYS, EXHIBITS & GARDENS
Some of the most iconic offerings of the Flower and Garden Festival are the numerous topiary displays and gardens throughout EPCOT. In both Future World and the World Showcase, you will discover stunning topiary sculptures of beloved animals and Disney characters created with care by Disney horticulturalists. As you walk through the park, you will see the breathtaking gardens and unique exhibits that celebrate the spring season!
HERE’S WHERE TO FIND THIS YEAR’S TOPIARY DISPLAYS:
Sorcerer Mickey Mouse, Broom – Main Entrance
Woody, Bo Peep and her sheep – Future World West
Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Goofy – Between Future World & World Showcase
Pluto and Chip ‘n Dale – Between Future World and World Showcase
Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie – Showcase Plaza
Buzz Lightyear – Future World East near Mission: SPACE®
Figment – Future World West near Imagination!
Topiary Butterflies – Future World West
The Three Caballeros (Jose, Donald, and Panchito) – Mexico Pavilion
Anna and Elsa and Troll – Norway Pavilion
Dragon Topiary – Japan Pavilion near Torii Gate
Pandas – China Pavilion
Simba and Friends (Rafiki, Simba, Mufasa and Sarabi) – Future World West
Snow White and Dopey – Germany Pavilion
Lady and the Tramp – Italy Pavilion
Beauty and the Beast and Remy – France Pavilion
Peter Pan and Captain Hook, Winnie the Pooh and Friends (Rabbit, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger), and Tinker Bell and Fairy Houses – United Kingdom Pavilion
Bambi and Friends – Future World East near Mouse Gear
GLOBAL GARDENS
Throughout the park, you can weave through dazzling flowerbeds and stumble upon exotic gardens. You will find that some of the festival’s outdoor kitchens can be found within the global gardens and offer information about sustainable foods and celebrate the ways we can live in harmony with the natural world.
Floating Gardens are located on the ponds that border the walkway between Future World and the World Showcase. There are more than 100 small pots that drift on the ponds, and they are a sight to see!
Festival Blooms are an iconic and signature global garden of the Flower and Garden Festival. The living panoramas overlooking Future World’s East and West Lakes consist of thousands of colorful flowers!
The Urban Spice Garden at Morocco Pavilion shows how in many Eastern cultures, ancient spices were considered more valuable than gold. Today, many cultures are defined by their signature spices and herb blends which are created by plant leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers.
One of my favorite gardens at the Festival is the English Tea Garden Presented by Twinings of London® located in the United Kingdom Pavilion. This English Tea Garden shows both the history and art of tea blending while featuring some of the plants used in Twinings’ finest tea blends. While walking through the gardens, you may even spot Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland as they periodically greet guests to the garden!
OUTDOOR KITCHENS
As with every festival at EPCOT, there are event-exclusive Outdoor Kitchens available throughout the park. In both Future World and the World Showcase, you can sample a variety of dishes, desserts, and specialty drinks that feature fresh flavors to celebrate the season! When walking through the park, we always look through our Festival Passports at the menus of each Outdoor Kitchen. The kitchens that we decided to try were “The Honey Bee-stro” and “Northern Bloom.” We decided to also order fish and chips in the United Kingdom (naturally for our family), a pretzel in Germany, and the Orange Chicken combo in China (at the newly reopened Lotus Blossom Cafe), all of which are offered at the park year-round.
Festival Favorites (Located in World Showplace)
In the World Showplace pavilion, located between Canada and the United Kingdom you can discover different guest-favorite dishes and beverages. You can also purchase Festival-themed apparel and snap a picture with their live flower wall! Outside of the pavilion, you can find a bonus topiary of Mickey and Minnie surrounded by beautiful flowers!
The Honey Bee-stro Hosted by National Honey Board™
At this outdoor kitchen and garden, you can learn about honey bees’ critical role in the environment while enjoying some sweet and savory treats made by their honey. This kitchen is located by the Imagination! Pavilion. We tried the “Lavender Honey Mustard-marinated Chicken Flatbread” with whipped honey-ricotta cheese, marinated vegetables, and purple haze lavender goat cheese. It was a decent size to split with my sister, and the flavors were good! I only wish there was a drizzle of honey over the whole flatbread to drive the “honey” theme of the kitchen home.
Northern Bloom
Canada was the first country that we visited in the World Showcase, so we were starting to work up an appetite when visiting this kitchen! We ordered the “Beef Tenderloin Tips” with a mushroom bordelaise sauce, whipped potatoes, and garden vegetables and the “Griddled Maple Pound Cake” with warm peach compote and sweet corn gelato. Both of these dishes were so delicious, especially the cake- I wished there was more of it on the plate! My only regret was not ordering the Maple Popcorn Shake along with these bites! When ordering, I asked the cast member if she had tried the shake, and she said it was a vanilla shake with maple syrup in it. Yum!
FUN FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES
Throughout the park, there are offerings for guests of all ages! Within the World Showcase, you can find a mix of performances and live entertainment including a rotating musical lineup at the American Gardens Theatre. The Canada Mill Stage features the syncopated sounds of the funkiest gardeners around while the World Showplace includes offerings from a Pianist on their stage for a relaxing moment in the park. The American Gardens Theatre rotates its lineup with the Voices of Liberty, Mariachi Cobre, and local cover bands playing Disney favorites.
Another family-friendly (and a favorite of mine) area of the park during the Flower and Garden Festival is the Goodness Garden Butterfly House Presented by GoGo Squeez® located in between the Imagination! and The Land Pavilions. Here you can view a kaleidoscope of butterflies up close. You can also learn about a butterfly’s lifecycle and maybe see one emerge from its chrysalis! This butterfly house closes at dusk, so be sure to visit before then!
If you are reading this and are a Disney Vacation Club member, you have the opportunity to visit an exclusive lounge for members located in the Imagination! Pavilion at EPCOT. Be sure to have your member card and ID ready at check-in. Here, you can take a break from the crowds with complimentary drinks and snacks. There are also outlets at each seating moment where you can charge your electronic devices. Disney recently opened up the Lounge post-Covid, so if you are a member, you can visit again!
Have you ever visited the EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival?
What are your favorite things at the festival?
Comment below!
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