EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival

Each spring, EPCOT is decorated for the annual EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival.  We have been fortunate to have visited EPCOT during the Flower and Garden Festival on three different occasions.

What makes visiting EPCOT at this time of year so special are the many topiaries of various Disney characters throughout the park.  

There were also a couple of different playground areas for the children.  A Fairy Garden was found between Innoventions and Test Track.

We also met some colorful characters hosting a garden workshop area in World Showcase.

It just so happens that our Spring Break, when we have one, is scheduled in March and typically coincides with the Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT.  The Flower and Garden Festival is usually held from early March until mid-May.

There is also a concert series, special shops and kiosks, and instructional seminars in addition to all the beauty the Flower and Garden Festival provides.  

Ready For Walt Disney World Trip # 9!

We are a hop, skip, and jump away from our next trip to Walt Disney World—our 9^th visit!  EPCOT’s Flower and Garden Festival will be in full swing, which is a lovely time to visit.  We’ve been at the festival two other times and enjoyed it immensely. 

Since we are getting close, I decided to brush off our plans and take another look.  It’s been about 5 months since we finalized our plans:  which park on which day, dining reservations, which resort, flights, etc.  Now that the trip is paid in full, it was time to take another look.

There are no plans for our arrival day.  We have a park ticket for the day if we want to use it.  We should arrive in Orlando about 1:00 pm and be at our resort by 3:00 pm, giving us time to decide.  Since we are staying at a new to us resort—Coronado Springs, it might be fun to explore the resort and/or take a swim.  We’ll be sure to put swimsuits in our carryon bags and it may take a while for our luggage to magically appear in our rooms via Magical Express!

Day 2 brings us to Hollywood Studios with dinner at Mama Melrose with the Fantasmic! Dining Package.  The package gives us “back door” access to Fantasmic! with reserved seating.  Well worth it if you ask me!  Click here to read more about the benefits of the Fantasmic! Dining Package.

Animal Kingdom is on our agenda for the next day with dinner at ‘Ohana’s at the Polynesian Resort.  We typically take the bus from Animal Kingdom to the Poly without making a stop back at our resort.  After dinner, we can go to the Magic Kingdom for nighttime festivities, ride the monorail to EPCOT for Illuminations, or head back to our resort.  That’s one thing we love about Disney—all the options!

Our 4^th day will be dedicated to touring the Magic Kingdom.  Some of the new Fantasyland expansion will be open so we will want to take a look along with enjoying favorites!  Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will be experiencing a refurbishment while we are there so Splash Mountain here we come!  Hopefully, twice!  We’ll take the monorail to EPCOT for dinner at the Garden Grill.  We haven’t been to the Garden Grill since our very first trip to Walt Disney World six years ago, so it will be good to go back!

This brings us to the middle of our vacation when we like to take what the boy calls a “break day.”  We have a park ticket for the day and plan on using it later.  A late breakfast at Cape May Café is on our agenda.  Then, we will head to Downtown Disney via bus to check out the Lego store, shop at World of Disney, and have a late lunch at T-Rex Café.  We’ve eaten at the T-Rex Café in Kansas City several times, but his will be our first time eating at the T-Rex Café in Downtown Disney.  The rest of the afternoon is ours—stay at Downtown Disney, head back to the resort for a swim, or go to EPCOT?  Hmmm. . . decisions!  We will eventually be at EPCOT for dinner at Rose & Crown and a viewing of Illuminations from our table!

The 5^th day is devoted to EPCOT with lunch at Les Chefs de France and dinner at Biergarten.  You’ll notice a theme of us dining at EPCOT as they have incredible dining opportunities.  Our touring plan has us spending the evening at EPCOT on most days!

Our last full day will start off at Hollywood Studios.  We have a dinner reserved at Cape May Café so will plan to take a Friendship boat from Studios to the Beach Club.  After dinner, the night is ours!  Resort, EPCOT, or back to Studios?  My vote would be EPCOT for one more go through Spaceship Earth.  That seems to be our tradition to end our trip with that attraction and we don’t typically leave EPCOT without riding it.  A Studios/EPCOT day is a great way to end a Disney vacation!

We go home the next day, hopefully with many memories in our hearts.  We will most likely have sore feet, a full SD card on our camera, and stories to tell!

There are new things we are looking forward to for this trip. 

• Trying out a new airport for our flights.
• New refillable mugs!  They are included with our dining plan.
• A new to us resort—Coronado Springs.
• Cape May Café—we have yet to dine here, and are trying both breakfast and dinner.  We will let you know how it goes.
• Fantasyland expansion completions. 

More things we are looking forward to that aren’t necessary new:

• Being pampered Disney style—driving, luggage handling, and service!
• Catching Remy at Les Chefs de France.  We missed him the last time we were there.
• The sights and smells of EPCOT’s Flower and Garden Festival.
• Photopass Photos!!
• Some warm spring weather in Florida!

Interestingly, while this Disney trip, # 9, is in full swing and plans completed, my mind has started to focus on our next trip including phoning our travel agent for prices and setting flight alerts.  I am much happier with a Disney trip in my future—either to dream about or to plan!