Flower and Garden Festival — Now in Bloom! – Epcot Disney Park
The EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival is the perfect combination of delicious food, beautiful greenery displays and horticultural learning experiences. The park blossoms into a beautiful garden of sights, sounds and tastes of the spring season. This year’s festival runs from March 1 to July 5, 2023 — that’s four months to enjoy this seasonal classic! We hopped over on the first day and have updated our guide with everything to know for the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival 2023!
Move aside, Food and Wine … EPCOT Flower and Garden is one of our favorite festivals of the year! The park blossoms with lush gardens full of bright flowers — we love the spring vibes! It’s a great way to celebrate the season and enjoy the beautiful weather. The festival runs from March 1 to July 5, so there’s lots of time to enjoy all the sweet offerings.
Enjoy delicious food from more than 15 Outdoor Kitchens, exquisitely crafted topiaries of our favorite characters and beautiful themed gardens. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, you will still find plenty to enjoy. While I technically have a green thumb, I must confess I’m not much of a gardener and still enjoy this festival. Tad and Lily love looking at all the “topies,” plus a scavenger hunt, butterfly house and special seasonal displays and merchandise will keep you and your tadpoles busy all day! Leap and I love ending the night at the Garden Rock Concert Series with world-known artists performing on the weekends, along with viewing special projections on Spaceship Earth with music from “Encanto.” And don’t froget our favorite part of any festival … the food! EPCOT Flower and Garden plates up fresh favorites highlighting fresh, seasonal ingredients.
What’s even better? The festival is included with a regular ticket admition. When you enter the park, be sure to pick up the Festival Passport! It includes detailed information about the topiary and garden destinations, entertainment and the Outdoor Kitchen menus. It came in handy for planning our day, as well as making sure we didn’t miss out on anything that was new. What’s better than live music, colorful flowers and lots of yummy food? Hop along with us, as we share all of the “deets” about this fun, flowering festival!
Sculpted Topiaries at EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival 2023
Look for the topiaries at the main entrance and scattered all around World Showcase, World Celebration, World Discovery and World Nature. EPCOT Flower and Garden exhibits its talent with incredible life-size recreations of beloved Disney characters.
Many topiaries repeat each year with some new ones popping up as well. New for 2023, “Encanto” fans will love the topiaries of Mirabel, Antonio, Isabela and Luisa, featured at the park entrance. There is also a new Princess Tiana topiary in The American Adventure pavilion.
Around the park, you can find more amazing displays (and excellent photo-ops!). Stunning in the daylight, the topiaries take on a whole new life as the gardens and sculptures are illuminated at night. Here’s the full list of the 2023 topiaries and locations.
- NEW! Mirabel, Antonio, Isabela and Luisa from “Encanto” – Main Entrance
- NEW! Princess Tiana – The American Adventure
- Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Chip, Dale and Pluto – Bridge to World Showcase and World Celebration
- Woody, Bo Peep and Her Sheep – World Nature Near the Land Pavilion
- Goofy – World Showcase
- Buzz Lightyear – World Discovery Near Mission: SPACE
- Donald and Daisy – Community Gardens Near Connections Cafe
- Figment – Near Journey Into Imagination
- The Three Caballeros – Mexico
- Anna and Elsa – Norway
- Troll – Norway
- Dragon – Japan
- Pandas – China
- Simba and Friends (Rafiki, Mufasa and Sarabi) – Between Imagination! and The Land Pavilion
- Pumbaa and Timon – Between Imagination! and The Land Pavilion
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – Germany
- Lady and the Tramp – Italy
- Beauty and the Beast – France
- Lumiere and Cogsworth – France
- Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy – Between France and Morocco
- Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Tick Tock Croc – United Kingdom
- Winnie the Pooh and Friends (Rabbit, Eeyore, Piglet and Tigger) – United Kingdom
- Tinker Bell’s Fairy House Garden – United Kingdom
- Bambi and Friends – Near Imagination! and Refreshment Port.
Themed Gardens at EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival 2023
The festival features almost two dozen themed gardens and other destinations throughout the park — from the Shakespeare Garden in the United Kingdom pavilion to a miniature garden display in Germany. New this year is the Community Garden and Connections Conservatory Garden by Connections Cafe, Topiary Heritage Garden in the United Kingdom, Shishi-odoshi in Japan and Desert Garden in Mexico. There are even guided or self-guided tea garden tours at the United Kingdom as a fun way to learn how to brew the perfect cup of tea.
While fun and educational for everyone, we really appreciate how these exhibits teach our tadpoles how to create gardens and provide wildlife habitats … if pond life hasn’t taught them enough already!
Kids’ Activities at EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival
At EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival 2023, tadpoles have flower and garden activities specifically for them. Every year, there are play gardens that surround your tadpoles with lush natural landscapes and playscapes. The popular playground by Creations Shop has a camping theme during the festival for extra fun. For a limited time, there is also an Easter egg hunt inspired by Disney characters.
Back this year, the scavenger hunt, Spike’s Pollen Nation Exploration, keeps the tadpoles on their webbed toes. It costs $9.99 and takes little ones on an “I Spy”-style adventure throughout World Showcase. Once completed, tadpoles return the map to Creations Shop or World Traveler for a surprise reward! This is a low-cost way to keep your tadpoles occupied and receive a cute souvenir as a result. Worth it!
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