The 2023 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival will run from March 1 to July 5, 2023 at Walt Disney World. This information covers data in regards to the spring occasion, every little thing new, our ideas & tips, live performance schedule, what to anticipate from crowds, and methods to maximize your time & cash. (Updated February 2, 2023.)
This yr’s Epcot Flower & Garden Festival is tied for the longest ever with final yr, at 125 days. It begins and ends in the future sooner than final yr, for these maintaining rating at residence. We’ve already spent a number of weekdays and weekends at Epcot in the course of the springtime occasion, consuming our method across the park, admiring the colourful shows, perusing the seller cubicles–and updating this information accordingly.
While we expect the topiaries and delightful floral shows are the spotlight of the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival, many individuals go for the meals. For quite a lot of Walt Disney World guests, it’s primarily a spring model of the favored Food & Wine Festival. If you’re extra involved with delicacies, refer as an alternative to our Epcot Flower & Garden Festival Food Reviews, Photos & Booth Menus. As the title suggests, that’s complete protection of the culinary facet of the occasion, notably what to eat and keep away from…
Even although it’s solely a month away, Walt Disney World nonetheless hasn’t revealed many particulars in regards to the 2023 Epcot Flower & Garden Festival. We do know a bit in regards to the flower arrangements, with a brand new Princess Tiana topiary gracing the American Adventure. EPCOT can even function favorites resembling Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs; Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook and Tick Tock Croc; Figment; Anna and Elsa; and extra.
New Encanto topiaries will likely be one spotlight of the 2023 Epcot Flower & Garden Festival. For the primary time, topiaries of Mirabel, Antonio, Isabela and Luisa from Encanto will make a grand look on the pageant. Located close to the principle entrance, these new topiaries are positive to be a must-do photograph second to mark your go to.
Walt Disney World has additionally introduced that greater than 15 Outdoor Kitchens will supply specialty menus of delicious delicacies and drinks on the 2023 Epcot Flower & Garden Festival. Most notably, the Citrus Blossom (aka “Orange Bird Eats”) will transfer to a brand new location within the Odyssey, changing Figment’s Inspiration Station.
If you’re primarily involved with the Outdoor Kitchens, we’ve got handy critiques for every of the meals cubicles from this previous yr:
As the parentheticals counsel, the highest 3 cubicles above are the most effective of the pageant. We’d extremely suggest prioritizing these Outdoor Kitchens, and people critiques, when planning what you’re going to eat and drink on the 2023 Epcot Flower & Garden Festival.
To make issues simpler, that trio of Outdoor Kitchens is all situated conveniently close to each other in direction of the entrance of the park. While many of the meals cubicles are in World Showcase, these choices are way more hit and miss than EPCOT Sunshine Griddle, Farmers Feast, and Honey Bee-stro.
One large factor it’s essential to know is that Epcot’s Future World is a veritable development zone proper now. Entire sections of the entrance of the park are closed for reimagining, and there are quite a lot of eyesores. Fortunately, virtually all the regular topiaries and flower beds are again, together with the centerpiece mosaic flower quilt between Future World and World Showcase. This has made the entrance of the park look quite a bit higher, however it’s nonetheless a ache to navigate.
If you’re in search of technique to effectively expertise for navigating the parks amidst all of those adjustments, you’ll want to seek the advice of our Itineraries & Touring Plans for Walt Disney World. Those have been up to date with all the newest adjustments (like Genie+ and Lightning Lanes) plus the most recent additions, like Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Harmonious, and Disney Enchantment. As quickly as Guardians of the Galaxy – Cosmic Rewind opens, we’ll add it, too.
Here’s what else we all know primarily based upon our previous experiences on the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival…
Epcot Flower & Garden Festival: Info & Tips
We go to Epcot for Flower & Garden Festival annually, and this information is predicated upon experiences attending the occasion yearly over the course of the final decade-plus. Every yr, the spotlight of Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival is the topiaries and superb backyard shows. These make Epcot pop with colour and wonder, and are a beautiful enhancement to Epcot.
There’s no further cost to see flowers and topiaries which can be organized all through Epcot, however it ought to be famous that nearly every little thing except for the meals is included in regular Epcot admission. Most of the occasion is a “plussing” of Epcot at no further cost, and that is a part of why we extremely suggest it.
For foodies, the Outdoor Kitchen meals cubicles are one other extremely widespread ingredient of Flower & Garden Festival. These make the spring occasion like a mini Food & Wine Festival, which is Epcot’s hottest pageant of the yr.
Aside from the snacking and rocking, the occasion provides Walt Disney World company the power to get pleasure from expert-designed flower and backyard shows, Disney character topiaries, playgrounds, and extra. Here’s what else you may anticipate…
In phrases of fundamental data in regards to the horticulture on show at Epcot throughout Flower & Garden Festival, let’s begin by hitting you with some fact-bombs. First, it takes a full yr and 400 Walt Disney World horticulturists to arrange for the 90-day Flower and Garden Festival.
The fruits of these efforts are 30-million blooms, 240 floating flower planters, 700 gardens, practically 100 Disney character topiaries, 30 flower towers, and one stunning butterfly tapestry of flowers all culminate in an extremely vibrant time of yr for Epcot.
Some of you’re in all probability considering, “okay, but I loathe gardening and I much prefer barren concrete to vibrant flowers.” Well, if that’s the case, I can’t suggest visiting Epcot in the course of the International Flower and Garden Festival. However, in case your views on flowers and gardening aren’t fairly that excessive, it’s a good time to go to.
I groan when Sarah activates HGTV (simply what number of episodes of a present about adorning a home to resell it might one individual watch?!) and I’ve been recognized to (unintentionally, I swear!) run over parts of our personal backyard with the lawnmower, however I nonetheless love visiting throughout Flower & Garden Festival.
It bears repeating: throughout Flower & Garden Festival, Epcot is attractive, smells nice, and there are quite a lot of distinctive issues to {photograph}. Much just like the Behind the Seeds at Epcot Tour (which I extremely suggest), the elemental substance of the shows at Flower & Garden Festival doesn’t enchantment to me, however the general “feel” and ambiance of the Festival does enchantment to me. It’s a very enjoyable time to be at Epcot.
While we suggest visiting in the course of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, however it’s not one thing round which you need to plan a visit. The excellent news is that there are a number of low-crowd, nice-weather intervals of time throughout Flower & Garden Festival’s run, and concentrating on these is a good suggestion. Consult our 2023 Walt Disney World Crowd Calendars & When to Visit so you may plan accordingly.
Here’s a rundown of every little thing you may expertise in the course of the 2023 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival…
Outdoor Kitchens – These are primarily Food & Wine Festival kiosks providing meals and drinks.
See the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival Outdoor Kitchen Lineup for a full rundown of all the brand new & returning meals cubicles for this yr’s occasion, plus the placement of every Outdoor Kitchen.
If you’ve by no means attended Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival, it’s price noting that grazing from these kiosks will price you significantly greater than consuming an precise meal. So in the event you’re trying to save cash, avoid these kiosks.
If you’re trying to have a good time and are prepared to spend a bit of cash (we simply spend $40-60 in a day at Food & Wine Festival kiosks), you need to be capable to spend a day simply wandering these kiosks.
Special Gardens & Exhibits -There will likely be 20 totally different backyard areas all throughout EPCOT, together with floating gardens on the waters of Future World, a bamboo backyard in China, a tropical rainforest backyard in Mexico and the English Tea Garden by Twinings within the United Kingdom, the place it’s also possible to take a Self-Guided Tea Tour. At Outdoor Escapes, you may unwind in refreshing areas that present you simply how simple it’s to create an out of doors escape for household and buddies
Goodness Garden Butterfly House – The Butterfly House returns this yr, combining butterflies and fairy topiaries. This butterfly home is all the time actually cool, as butterflies fly in all places and even land on company. We suggest spending about 10-Quarter-hour in right here to observe the butterflies and take pictures.
Beacons of Magic on Spaceship Earth – An addition for the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is a Pocahontas phase in the course of the Beacons of Magic on Spaceship Earth. (Read & see extra about this World’s Most Magical Celebration addition in Beacons of Magic at Epcot: Walt Disney World’s fiftieth Anniversary Highlight!)
Per Disney, an orchestral model of the Academy-Award successful track “Colors of the Wind” was chosen “for its message of intrinsic value and respect for beauty of nature and living things – with visual flourishes that evoke the musical scene from the film with techniques entirely original for Spaceship Earth.”
Character Topiaries – Throughout World Showcase and Future World, there are dozens of topiaries impressed by Disney movies. The spotlight for final yr was a predominant entrance topiary show that includes Goofy and a fiftieth birthday cake for the World’s Most Magical Celebration. With that occasion ending, it’s possible the 2023 Epcot Flower & Garden Festival will function an all-new centerpiece topiary.
Other character topiaries will embody Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Remy, Anna & Elsa, Lady & the Tramp, Figment, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on the Germany pavilion, Lumiere and Cogsworth within the France pavilion, and extra.
For us, the topiaries ought to be the spotlight of Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival, however they very often disappoint. The topiaries are recycled from yr to yr and season to season (you may see a few of the very same topiaries in numerous areas at Christmas…we’ve got pictures of them from about 10 years in the past they usually look the identical) and are sometimes shoe-horned in locations they actually don’t belong.
It can be good to have new topiaries annually, particularly since within the late Nineteen Eighties and early Nineteen Nineties, new topiaries commonly appeared when there wasn’t even a particular occasion (as mirrored in certainly one of our favourite Walt Disney World books, Gardens of the Walt Disney World Resort). Still, there are some new topiaries annually, and it’s nice to see them added to boost the park.
Concerts – The 2023 Epcot Flower & Garden Festival will function dwell music from the Sixties, Seventies, and past due to the return of the Garden Rocks Concert Series. Famous artists rock the America Gardens Theatre in World Showcase each Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at 5:30 p.m., 6:45 p.m., and eight p.m. every night.
Walt Disney World has launched extra particulars about this, which we cowl in Garden Rocks Concerts at 2023 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival: Dates, Lineup & Dining Packages. That options the complete lineup, plus pricing and eligible eating places for the eating bundle–and why we do NOT suggest paying for that bundle.
Unlike Candlelight Processional, we’ve got by no means discovered the eating packages to be obligatory for every other Epcot live shows. However, if the easiest seats are a should so you may really recognize the rad hairstyles sported by A Flock of Seagulls, the eating bundle will make it easier to there. Just don’t really feel like it’s essential to purchase it with a purpose to get a spot, as a result of there’s normally loads of seating for walk-ups.
Expect to listen to dwell music each night on the 2023 Epcot Flower & Garden Festival. In addition to the Garden Rocks Concert Series, native Orlando bands step into the highlight Tuesday by way of Thursday, performing within the America Gardens Theatre.
There can even be different acts all through World Showcase, together with Mariachi Cobre, the Jammin’ Gardeners, and extra.
Other Stuff – Other reveals embody the Festival Center (within the former Odyssey pavilion), that includes merchandise, one of many Outdoor Kitchens, and different actions.
One of the cooler points of the Flower & Garden Festival is which you could go to a number of occasions and have a very totally different expertise every time. This is just not solely as a result of the presenters and bands change, however as a result of midway by way of the pageant, Disney gardeners take away the blossoms that thrive in early-spring to plant a brand new crop of flowers that flourish in late-spring’s hotter temperatures.
This is nice for these company visiting in the course of the concluding weeks of the Festival, as they don’t have to fret about seeing a bunch of wilted flowers. It’s stunning in the course of the Festival’s whole run.
Although there are contemporary choices annually, usually not a ton differs from yr to yr. The similar character topiaries are used yr in and yr out (with a number of exceptions), and many of the new content material consists of thinly veiled promotional items for upcoming Disney movies.
Personally, we expect it might be good to see investments in altering the topiary designs that haven’t modified within the final 10 years or so, however in the event you’re a first-timer, these will clearly nonetheless be contemporary to you.
The Outdoor Kitchens are one other spotlight, and whereas these are an apparent try to capitalize on the colossal success of the Food & Wine Festival, so what? Food & Wine Festival is extremely widespread with company, so why not incorporate parts of it into different occasions of the yr?
The finest issues Disney does are mutually useful for it and company. We love the meals cubicles at Food & Wine Festival, so we expect these are a strong addition to the Flower & Garden Festival. If you disagree with us, you may merely ignore the meals cubicles. No hurt, no foul.
Overall, Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival is a very pretty occasion. There’s a good quantity to do on the Flower & Garden Festival, and one thing that can enchantment to everybody. It’s our third favourite time of yr to go to Epcot, after the Festival of Holidays and newer Festival of the Arts (however forward of Food & Wine Festival).
Whether you’re a primary time visitor or a seasoned veteran of Walt Disney World, visiting throughout Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival is quite a lot of enjoyable. Epcot is at its most stunning throughout Flower & Garden Festival, and you may get pleasure from a lot of what’s supplied in the course of the occasion with out spending something additional. Epcot smells and appears great, and there are quite a lot of distinctive choices, shows, and photographic alternatives.
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Your Thoughts
Have you ever been to Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival? What do you assume are the highlights? Are favourite meals, demonstrations, or different points of the occasion? Do you agree or disagree with our recommendation for the occasion? Are you contemplating attending the 2023 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival? Any questions we will help you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even whenever you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!