The spring of 2018 marks the 25th anniversary of the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival. My favorite of Epcot’s 4 annual festivals, Flower and Garden is a beautiful time to visit; and for someone living in the northern United States, a sure sign of spring and a welcome break to the northern winter.
Starting February 28th, 2018, just 9 days after the Festival of Arts, the Flower and Garden Festival starts it’s 90 days run at Walt Disney World’s Epcot through May 28th, Memorial Day, and the traditional start of summer in the United States. The Flower and Garden Festival has something for everyone in the family; from play gardens to outdoor kitchens, the whole family can find something to keep them entertained.
Featuring over 30 million blooms, over 1,000 native butterflies, garden destinations, play gardens, merchandise, tours, concerts, outdoor kitchens, and over 70 topiaries, the festival is a treasure chest of photos and memories waiting to happen.
Among this year’s interesting festival fun facts:
- 30 million blooms will require two complete crop rotations through the festival.
- The Honey-Beestro joins the 15 outdoor kitchens.
- Each outdoor kitchen features a produce and herb garden representing over 70 beverage choices and more than 40 food items.
- This year’s “Entrance Topiary Display” features Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy with more than 30 varieties of flowers, plants, and garden materials.
- The new Imagination Play Garden brings a themed playground with a musical maze and netplay climber – at over 1/3 acre, it is one of the largest festival gardens created.
- More than 500,000 plants, trees, and shrubs have been planted for the 2018 festival. With nearly 250,000 annual blooms.
- 2018 festival includes 60 species of trees, 25 types of palms, and almost 50 varieties of bedding plants, 20 8 foot tall “Flower Towers”.
- The floating gardens feature 140 mini-gardens each three feet in diameter loaded with impatiens providing color to the ponds that border the walkway between Future World and World Showcase, and in the Canadian pavilion pond.
- Nearly 800 container gardens are located through Epcot.
- The festival requires over 400 horticulturists to install the festival landscape with over 100 maintaining the topiaries and other displays.
- It takes over a year and 24,000 cast member hours to prepare the annual festival, so yes – the 2019 festival is currently being planned.
- EpcotInSpring.com is the official website of the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival.
With something for everyone, here are some of the highlights of the 2018 festival.
Topiaries
Topiaries have been the center of the Flower and Garden Festival for 25 years now. Each inspired by a beloved Disney character, the topiaries require 25 different plants, grasses, and mosses of various colors all used to create and define facial features of the festival characters. The topiary team uses about 200 pounds of hairpins to attach plants and flowers to the topiary frames.
Gardens
The Goodness Garden Butterfly House in Future World West includes nearly 1,000 native butterflies representing 10 species. The dozens of nectar plants include passionflower, lantana, butterfly bush, blue potterweed, scarlet milkweed, and canna lily. A perfect opportunity to get up and close with multiple butterflies, including a nursery where you might be able to watch a butterfly emerge.
The How-to Gardens provide garden-ready ideas that allow you to take the festival home through garden crafts and ideas for sustainability.
Play Gardens
New for 2018, the Imagination Play Garden allows children of all ages to spark their senses of imagination. The play garden features a netplay climber and the ability to discover different sounds through a musical maze. The play garden also features lots of shady areas where mom and dad can enjoy the offerings of the day by Honey Bistro while the kids play.
The Road to the Florida 500 Play Garden, inspired by the Disney Pixar film Cars, features topiary buddies Mater, Lightning McQueen, and Cruz Ramirez inviting you to relax and recharge while your kids race around the desert-themed mini-park at the Test Track Walkway. Kids can also participate in a scavenger hunt with the opportunity to take a small part of the Flower and Garden Festival home, via seed packets.
In addition to the play gardens, you’ll find family fun activities all around the festival including the always family-friendly Epcot Kidcot Fun Stops to kid-approved dining options at the outdoor kitchens. Expanding on the Egg-Stravaganza Scavenger Hunt, ‘Spike’s Pollen Nation Exploration” invites kids to participate in a springtime scavenger hunt starring Spike, the buzz-iest honey bee at Walt Disney World. Spike made an appearance in over a dozen Mickey and Donald cartoons in the late 1940s and ’50s, but your children will likely recognize him as Buzz-Buzz from the current Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Either way, the scavenger hunt costs $5.99; it includes a map with stickers for completing the hunt and your choice of one-of-four Flower and Garden Festival “patch” sets. Spike’s Pollen Nation Exploration will guide you through World Showcase on a quest to discover 12 unique gardens. From English Tea to Bonsai trees, don’t forget to stop and smell the roses. Spike’s Pollen Nation Exploration runs the length of the festival while supplies last and provides a unique way for children to enjoy the trip around World Showcase.
A second scavenger hunt, the “Egg-Stravaganza Scavenger Hunt”, previously the “Easter Egg Hunt”, runs from March 16th – April 1st. Priced at $5.99, guests hunt high and low for oversized Disney character-themed hidden eggs. After completion of the hunt, guests receive a Disney-themed character egg to take home. Another great, “inexpensive” take-home souvenir.
No Disney-inspired festival would be complete without festival merchandise. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the Flower and Garden Festival 2018 is no exception. Official merchandise along with lots of Annual Passholder exclusives can be found all around World Showcase, and of course, in Mouse Gear.
The Epcot Gardens of the World Tour Flower and Garden Edition features a 3 hours long tour with a Disney horticulturist. The walk through the World Showcase pavilions includes behind-the-scenes stories about the creating of the Flower and Garden Festival, and of course, its legendary topiaries. Tours are $85 a person and take place on select days during the festival. Be sure to check for details. The Behind the Seeds Tours is offered daily, and you can find multiple tours of the English Tea Gardens including a paid tour and a free self-guided tour.
Outdoor Kitchens
The outdoor kitchens have quickly become a primary reason for visiting the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. Expanding every year since their introduction, The Honey Bee-stro was added for 2018. With 12 kitchens located around World Showcase, you’re sure to find a taste for everyone, including the kids – be sure to look for the special “kid-approved” offerings.
Garden Rocks Concert Series
The Garden Rocks Concert Series features 17 bands known for their top 40 hits across five decades. With performances every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday – Garden Rocks is sure to have something for everyone. This year’s musical hit-makers from the 1960s through 2000s include new-to-the-festival acts Foghat and Lonestar!
- March 2-5 Night Ranger “Sister Christian”
- March 9-12 STARSHIP starring Mickey Thomas “We Built This City”
- March 16-19 Simple Plan “Welcome to My Life”
- March 23-26 Little River Band “Reminiscing”
- March 30-April 2 The Orchestra starring former members of ELO “Evil Woman”
- April 6-7 Foghat (NEW!) “Slow Ride”
- April 8-9 Survivor (NEW to Garden Rocks!) “Eye of the Tiger”
- April 13-14 Smash Mouth (NEW to Garden Rocks!) “All Star”
- April 15-16 Rick Springfield (NEW to Garden Rocks!) “Jessie’s Girl”
- April 20-21 Jo Dee Messina (NEW to Garden Rocks!) “Stand Beside Me”
- April 22-23 Lonestar (NEW!) “Amazed”
- April 27-30 Blood, Sweat and Tears featuring Bo Bice “Spinning Wheel”
- May 4-7 Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone “I’m Henry VIII, I Am”
- May 11-12 Village People “Y.M.C.A.”
- May 13-14 Don Felder, formerly of The Eagles (NEW!) “Hotel California”
- May 18-21 The Guess Who “American Woman”
- May 25-28 The Spinners “Working My Way Back to You”
For More and the Flower and Garden 2020 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival Top 20, Jammin Gardeners 2019, Flower and Garden 2018 Night Ranger, Behind the Scenes 2017 , Epcot Flower and Garden Festival 2015, Epcot Flower and Garden Festival 2012, Garden Rocks: Jon Anderson of YES (2019)
