“Yard Crashers” was a television show that aired on the DIY Network and later on HGTV. The show featured host Ahmed Hassan surprising unsuspecting homeowners by “crashing” their yards and transforming them into beautiful outdoor spaces. In 2009, Disney collaborated with the DIY Network to blend the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival with “Yard Crashers,” resulting in an exciting fusion of outdoor design and floral splendor.
Synopsis: Howard and Julie Callendar and their two teenage sons, Ian and Drake of Orangevale, Calif., work with Hassan to crash their own corner of Walt Disney World and give viewers a taste of how it is transformed into a 300-acre garden oasis, filled with over 30 million blooms during the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.
“The treat for me when it comes to hosting Yard Crashers is having the chance to surprise unsuspecting shoppers with a complete yard transformation and teach them a little of what I know,” said Hassan. “Then this opportunity comes with Disney where I was able to surprise a lucky homeowner and his family with a trip to Disney World to ‘crash’ the International Flower & Garden Festival.” He continued, “I get to do what I love at the happiest place on earth.”
Hassan joins 300 Disney horticulturists as they work around the clock, preparing 100 floating mini-gardens, 45 “flower towers,” 750 container gardens, 300,000 bedding plants, 50 Disney character topiaries (including the overnight production of the Mickey and Minnie topiary creations) and many more elements to transform the park into a colorful landscape haven full of gardens and massive topiaries. Hassan and his accomplices, the Callendar family, construct Lush Xeriscapes, a low-water xeriscape garden complete with a gazebo and a big-screen television. The garden, located in the Imagination Walkways section of Epcot®, will let viewers and park visitors learn how they can also build incredible landscapes and conserve their water use at the same time.
