In mid-March, I ventured over to Disney World for Epcot’s annual Flower and Garden Festival. This is my favorite Disney festival because of the abundance of beautiful gardens, whimsical topiaries, and delicious food, and I’m happy to say the 25th annual installment truly delivers. Here are my impressions of Epcot’s 2018 Flower and Garden Festival, which continues through May 28, 2018.
Table of Contents
Food
This year’s outdoor kitchens have plenty of yummy dishes, some returning festival favorites and some fantastic new additions. Each outdoor kitchen represents a different culture or different cuisine, serving everything from hearty German potato pancakes to innovative French macaron lollipops to inventive Japanese fruit sushi (“frushi”). And vegetarians, fret not! There are plenty of menu items for you!
My favorite dish was the honey mascarpone cheesecake with orange blossom honey ice cream from the newcomer Honey Bee-stro kitchen. It was perfectly rich, sweet, and refreshing; plus, the little garden surrounding it is uniquely designed with a great honey display and lots of great info on the importance of honeybees.
For more details on vegetarian food offerings at this year’s festival, please see my post Vegetarian-Friendly Treats at Epcot’s 2018 Flower and Garden Festival.
Topiaries
The biggest focal points of the Flower and Garden Festival are the creative topiaries spread all throughout the park. Many feature life-size Disney characters and make for great photo ops. Certain character topiaries are found in the World Showcase Pavilions that represent their country of origin or inspiration, such as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell in the United Kingdom Pavilion, Anna and Elsa in the Norway Pavilion, and Beauty and the Beast in the France Pavilion. They look spectacular during the daytime or nighttime when they are all lit up. It’s amazing to imagine how much hard work must have gone into designing them and shaping the botanical materials so they would look just right!
To see more topiary photos, please see my post Disney-Themed Topiaries at Epcot’s 2018 Flower and Garden Festival.
Gardens
If you love gardens as much as I do, this year’s festival is a true feast for the eyes. There are eye-catching gardens everywhere you turn – vivid flowers bordering the Future World lake, butterflies fluttering about the Goodness Garden Butterfly House, an English tea garden where the plants grow right out of oversized teacups, a bonsai display in Japan, and a spice garden in Morocco, to name a few. My breath was taken away by all of these beautiful spots, especially the colorful garden in the Canada Pavilion that had red and white flowers in shape of their maple leaf flag.
To check out more photos of the beautiful festival gardens, please see my post The Spectacular Gardens of Epcot’s 2018 Flower and Garden Festival.
Easter Eggs
A fun activity for the springtime festival is trying to find all the Easter eggs hidden throughout the park. Make sure to look up, down, and all around to discover these large eggs painted with illustrations of Disney characters. Above is a photo of the Pluto Easter egg I spotted in the China Pavilion.
Music
The Garden Rocks Concert Series features performances from a multitude of artists spanning different genres at the American Gardens Theatre outside the American Adventure Pavilion. The Little River Band was performing when I visited, and they had a giant crowd around them! They put on a great show for the large audience.
The concerts are included in the price of admission. Showtimes are normally 5:30 p.m., 6:45 p.m., and 8:00 p.m., so you can catch any or all of them once you’re in the park.
Other Goodies
There are multiple stalls set up around Epcot selling festival merchandise, including gardening items, home décor, and clothing. These make for nice souvenirs – just look at how adorable those Minnie Mouse watering cans are!
Final Thoughts
If you love food, gardens, topiaries, world cultures, music, or all of the above, Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival is the place to be. If you are planning a visit to this year’s festival or a future one, tell me in the comments which aspect you’re most looking forward to!
For more information about the festival, please visit Disney World’s website.
(All photos taken by Clara Juliette)
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Clara hopes to share her love of exploring cultures and inspire others through the power of storytelling. In addition to writing and travel, she loves psychology, nature, green tea, and cats.