Stop and smell the flowers!
Each year, Epcot is becoming more and more famous for its festivals. In the Fall there is the International Food & Wine Festival, during the Holiday season there is the International Festival of the Holidays, in between winter and spring there is the International Festival of the Arts and then when spring comes into full bloom, there is the stunning International Flower and Garden Festival.
Our team went this weekend to enjoy everything the festival has to offer and give you all of the details! As a reminder, none of the Epcot festivals require a separate event ticket, all you need is a ticket that allows you entry to the park that day.
Hearty Food Booths
Our favorite part of all of these festivals are all the creative foods they offer. Each festival has themed booths offering different cuisine styles. This year’s booths are inspired by all things Spring from flowery decorations to fresh ingredients. Our personal favorites were the Trowel & Trellis and the Honey Bee-stro booths.
Trowel & Trellis is sponsored by IMPOSSIBLE foods and for those who do not know they specialize in making vegetarian products that taste just like meat. It sounds impossible, but even my meat-eating friends vouched for their Farmhouse meatball.
The Honey Bee-stro is sponsored by the National Honey Board and serves creative dishes with, you guessed it, honey. Their cheesecake is to die for.
With over 19 booths to try, everyone will find dishes they enjoy!
Topiaries Full of Character
All around the park guests can admire, and pose with, creative topiaries featuring all of your favorite Disney characters. These topiaries are what made the Festival famous to begin with and it is no surprise that they are a fan-favorite. Can you spot them all?
Themed Activities
There are usually activities themed to each festival spread around the park. This year, the Flower and Garden Festival is offering guests the chance to paint flowers and animals on barrels, an initiative from the Barrels by the Bay organization which aims to inspire people to help combat flooding through community outreach and education. It is both fun and educational!
“Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration”
Each festival offers a fun scavenger hunt where kids, or kids-at-heart like me, can hunt for the featured character around the park. At Flower and Garden guests can follow the map to find Spike the Bee and see which flowers he is pollinating. Once you are ready to stop searching, regardless of whether you finished or not, you can return the map at participating locations to choose your prize. This year’s prize is a choice of 4 different packs of patches.
Fresh Merchandise
We all know Disney knows how to get us with cute merchandise, and the festivals are no different. Will your wallet be able to resist the temptation of all the cute gardener Minnie merch or the new Violet Lemonade Ears?
Blooming Gardens and Exhibits
True to the park’s original design, the festivals aim to be educational and themed. Throughout the festival guests can learn about gardening through various exhibits. Take a stroll around the park and see all of the different flowers around the world. Do not forget to stop at our favorite exhibit, the Goodness Garden Butterfly House, where you can walk around as beautiful butterflies fly around you!
To experience this fun festival, make sure to book a trip until before June 3rd! As always, Pegasus can help you with your trip planning from tickets all the way to transportation and lodging!
