Welcome to the 2019 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival! Never been? You’re in for a treat. If you have been, then you already know why I’m so pumped to share one of my favorite annual Orlando events! Keep reading to get the inside scoop from an Orlando local and seasoned festival-goer.
What is the Flower and Garden Festival?
The Flower and Garden Festival is a seasonal event offered every spring inside Epcot, one of four theme parks at Walt Disney World. Theme park admission is required. Epcot is probably the only place in the world where you can experience eleven countries in just over a mile, and still have plenty of time for thrilling rides, engaging meals and character meet-and-greets.
Epcot is organized into two distinct worlds: Future World And World Showcase. Knowing this information now makes trip planning a much easier task.
- Future World: Located in the front of the park, Future World is dedicated to innovation and technological advancement of the past, present, and future. Most of the big-ticket rides, like Soarin’ or Test Track, are located in Future World, which opens with the rest of the park at 9:00 AM.
- World Showcase: Located in the back of the park, World Showcase is dedicated to cultural exploration and immersion, with pavilions representing eleven distinct countries around the world. World Showcase opens at 11:00 AM every day.
What sets the Festival apart from a regular day at Epcot?
Each spring, an abundance of flavors, fragrances and live music transform Epcot into a total feast for the senses. Colorful floral displays, specialty topiaries, interactive playgrounds, and hands-on gardening activities throughout the park bring the “Flower and Garden” to this festival, making spring one of the prettiest times to visit Epcot.
If that’s not enough, the Festival also offers nightly live music from well-known performers, as well as 18 outdoor kitchens boasting fresh, innovative dishes from around the world. Grab a tasting passport as you enter the park, and use it to plan and track your travels around the festival.
Practical Info
This year’s Flower and Garden Festival runs from March 6 to June 3, 2019, every single day of the week! A valid Epcot park ticket is required to experience the festival. Tickets may be purchased online or at the entrance to the park. Specialty menu items at the outdoor kitchens are not included in the cost of admission, but are available for individual purchase throughout the day.
Park hours for Epcot can be found here. The park is generally open every day from 9:00 AM until 9:00 PM.
Outdoor Kitchens
Take a stroll around World Showcase, and you’ll see them. Colorful, beautifully themed little buildings with a line of people trailing down the walkway. Step closer, and you’ll see a menu of all the small plates and glasses available for purchase, and realize that these are the outdoor kitchens, aka my favorite part of the Flower and Garden Festival.
Added to the Festival in 2013, the outdoor kitchens offer an ever-changing array of inspired flavors centered around various countries, ingredients, or cooking styles. Imagine an entire stand dedicated to cooking with honey, and just down the road, another one centered around the rich flavors and distinctive cooking style of Mexico. There are eighteen outdoor kitchens at the 2019 Epcot Flower and Garden Festival.
Each kitchen offers its own unique cooking style alongside a carefully curated selection of beer, wine, and specialty drinks. Here’s a brief look at some of the items on offer. For more menu items, be sure to follow along on Instagram as I taste my way around the 2019 Flower and Garden Festival!
Remember to mark items off in your Festival Passport as you go! The passport is a fun and helpful way to plan your trip around the world, or simply to keep track of your experiences. It includes listings of all the outdoor kitchens, specialty food and beverage options, and can’t-miss topiaries and gardens throughout the park. Best of all, it even has little passport stickers in the center, making it easy to add a “stamp” at each new destination!
All outdoor kitchens operate daily from 11:00 AM until the park closes. Be sure to check your passport for location specifics. Most kitchens are in World Showcase, but there are also a handful tucked around Future World. The kitchens may close temporarily in severe weather, but stick around! They’ll re-open soon enough, and there’s plenty to do and see in the meantime!
Gardens, Playgrounds, and Topiaries
Rain or shine, spring is the most beautiful time of year to visit Epcot, in large part because of the beautiful gardens and topiaries all over the park. I could spend the whole morning wandering Epcot in the rain, taking photos of the flowers and grabbing an occasional bite to eat.
Visiting with kids? Be sure to check out some of the interactive playgrounds. The “Play Full” garden, for example, is a great place to enjoy a drink or snack while the kids play, with both the “Flavor Full Kitchen” and “The Honey Bee-stro” a few feet away. Kids will love the Mickey Tart with Peanut Butter Mousse, Strawberry Jam and Boba Pearls, while adults can sip on orange blossom honey wine or brandy barrel honey ale.
There are several themed gardens throughout World Showcase, like China’s Bamboo Garden, or the English Tea Garden in the U.K. Pavilion. If you have time, be sure to take a free guided tour of the English Tea Garden. Simply sign up at the Tea Caddy, or grab a brochure and take a self-guided tour through this idyllic country setting.
Frequent visitors may recognize some of the topiaries from past events. There are two new topiaries this year: a lovely sunflower display near the THE SMOKEHOUSE outdoor kitchen in World Showcase, and a Bo Peep topiary near Test Track in Future World.
Garden Rocks Concert Series
If you’re a music lover, be sure to check out the 2019 Garden Rocks Concert Series. Acts this year include Rick Springfield, Simple Plan, Sister Hazel, and more. Dining packages with reserved concert seating are also available at select Epcot restaurants – click here to see the concert lineup and book your dining package!
Concerts are hosted at the American Garden Theater, part of the American Adventure pavilion at World Showcase. There are three performances each evening: one at 5:30 PM, 6:45 PM and 8:00 PM. Lines for the concerts are often long, but it’s generally easy to find a seat at the last minute. Concerts are easily viewable from the World Showcase walkway, so you may be able to view it from the street if you don’t mind standing the whole time. Worst case, you can grab a drink at THE SMOKEHOUSE outdoor kitchen across the street and just let the music wash over you.
Making the Most of Your Festival Visit
Epcot can easily be seen in a day, even during the Flower and Garden Festival. Here are a few tips to make the most of your Festival visit.
Be Aware of Extra Magic Hours
Before you do anything else, remember to check the park hours calendar for Extra Magic Hours, an exclusive perk for guests staying at the onsite Disney hotels. Extra Magic Hours grant these guests extra hours in a given park before or after regular park operating hours. If Epcot is open from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, for example, Extra Magic Hours might be scheduled at 8:00 AM, granting onsite hotel guests exclusive access to the park a whole hour in advance, while regular ticket holders must wait until 9:00 AM to join the crowd already inside the gates.
If you’re staying at an onsite resort, great! Check the park hours calendar and take advantage of the extra time in park. If not, just be aware that crowds will likely be heavier than normal if Extra Magic Hours are scheduled at any point during your visit. Try to plan around them (i.e. visit on non-Extra Magic Hours days) if you are not staying at an onsite resort.
Get There Early
Remember, Future World opens two whole hours before World Showcase, and most of the rides are concentrated in this area. Take advantage of the extra time by arriving early. Big-ticket attractions here include Test Track, Mission Space, Soarin’ Around the World, and a Disney Pals character meet and greet, featuring classic characters like Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Goofy. Try to knock some or all of these out early, before the lines get too long. There are several other rides and character appearances in Future World, but wait times stay relatively low throughout the day, making them easy to see as the day goes on.
Take Advantage of the Fastpass+ System
It’s free! Fastpass+ offers a convenient way to plan ahead and strategically reduce your attraction wait times throughout the day. By creating a My Disney Experience account, you can book passes up to 60 days in advance (for onsite hotel guests), and continue to modify them as your plans change. You can book up to three attractions in advance, and then pick up a fourth pass once the first three have been redeemed.
Author’s note: as of 2020, FastPass+ has been suspended. Read more on that change here.
Budget Tips
To limit overspending at the Festival, I recommend loading a pre-set amount onto a Disney gift card or simply paying for everything in cash. Both are good tactics to spend thoughtfully, rather than blow all your festival funds at the first kitchen you see – because believe me, when you see the food options, you will be tempted!
Take a moment before entering World Showcase to flip through your Festival passport and bookmark some of the items you’re most interested in trying. This will help you to prioritize, saving room in your wallet and your stomach as your journey around the world continues. You can always take a second lap around the lagoon for round two!
Happy Festival season! Tell me in the comments: have you been to the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival, or any other seasonal Disney festival before? Which one is your favorite?
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Tracey says
This is such a great review of the festival and your pictures are beautiful. We’re visiting Disney next month and cannot wait to see the festival in person!
Adventuring the Great Wide Somewhere says
Thank you Tracey! You picked a gorgeous time to come visit! Enjoy the festival. 🙂