It’s finally happening — everyone remain calm. The 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival has officially begun!
We’re here to check out all the gorgeous floral displays, see all the exclusive merch, take in the entertainment, and of course — eat and drink our way around the world! And, we’re bringing you along for the whole thing — so let’s get to it!
Atmosphere
Once we entered the park, we made sure to grab a Festival Passport. These free books are your complete guide to the festival events, food, merchandise, activities, and more.
You’ll find full menus for each booth, as well as a guide to what items are part of the Garden Graze (but we’ll get to that soon!).
Of course, we weren’t the only ones checking out the first day of the festival — let’s take a look at those crowds! This is what the entrance to EPCOT looked like when the park opened. It was pretty packed, but everyone got through rather quickly.
The crowds didn’t quite disperse once we entered, though. Check out the crowds over by Connections Cafe.
There’s a lot to see throughout the festival, so let’s get started!
Topiaries
Aside from the delicious eats, one thing that makes the Flower & Garden Festival unique is the wide array of different floral displays and topiaries scattered throughout the parks. We’ve seen quite a few already, like the new Figment…
…Miss Piggy…
…Tink…
…and Mickey and Minnie with Pluto, of course!
The first topiary you’ll see when you walk into EPCOT, though, is this Wish topiary.
It makes for a great photo op!
As we make our way around the rest of the festival, we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for more incredible topiaries!
Learn More About This Year’s Topiaries Here
Outdoor Kitchens
There are around 20 outdoor kitchens for this year’s Flower & Garden Festival, each with its own unique theme and lineup of eats. We’ll be checking them all out throughout the day and updating you with our reviews, so be sure you keep checking back here for the latest news!
We tried EVERY booth — check out our comprehensive review below!
MASSIVE REVIEW: We Tried EVERY Booth at the 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival!
Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration
Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration takes you all through EPCOT on Spike’s pollination trail where you hunt down different Spike figures. First, you’ll pick up a map at select merchandise locations around the park for $9.99.
You’ll hunt for Spike around the park and once you’ve found all of them mark your map with stickers. Got all the stickers? Great! You can turn your map in for a prize! This year, the prize is a mini game of corn hole. Isn’t that so cute?!
And the scavenger hunt is THAT easy! It’s a great activity for kids and adults to enjoy during a festival day.
Get More Info on This Scavenger Hunt at This Link
Garden Graze
Don’t forget about the Garden Graze! Those looking to participate are tasked with picking up five specific food items from various booths, which will enable them to win a completer prize!
Here’s the full list of food you’ll have to choose from for the Garden Graze:
- Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market (Germany Pavilion)
Potato Pancakes with House-Made Apple Sauce - BRUNCHCOT (Near Test Track presented by Chevrolet)
Avocado Toast with Marinated Tomatoes and Plant-Based Cheese Crumbles on Toasted Ciabatta - EPCOT Farmers Feast (Near Test Track presented by Chevrolet)
Grilled Street Corn on the Cob with Savory Garlic Spread and Plant-Based Cheese - Florida Fresh (Near Disney Traders)
Florida Strawberry Shortcake - La Isla Fresca (Between the France and Morocco Pavilions)
Coconut Tres Leches: Vanilla Cake soaked with Oat, Almond and Coconut Milks topped with Toasted Coconut - Refreshment Outpost
Seasonal Fruit Parfait with Sweet Chili Sauce and Mango DOLE Whip - Refreshment Port (Near Canada Pavilion)
Plant-Based Buffalo Chicken Tender Poutine on Crispy Potato Barrels with Plant-Based Ranch and Blue Cheese Crumbles - Trowel & Trellis (Near Disney Traders)
Impossible™ Farmhouse Meatball with Lentil Bread, Spinach, Marinated Vegetables and Creamy Herb Aioli
You can choose from any five of these snacks to get your prize which is….
A DOLE Whip treat in an EXCLUSVIVE CUP! Oh, and you even get a packet of seeds.
Learn More About the Garden Graze Here
Butterfly Landing
Over by the Land Pavilion, you’ll find the Butterfly Landing! Throughout the festival, Disney cares for an entire greenhouse filled with butterflies and you can walk right through them and see where they live.
As the festival continues on, the habitat fills with more butterflies. It’s really neat to see!
Merchandise
Of course, it wouldn’t be an EPCOT Festival without a ton of exclusive merch. We’ve already had a sneak peek at some of what we can expect from the festival, but now we’ve seen it all for real! Here are just a few merch items that we think will be especially popular.
The star of the show this year is the Orange Bird Lug Bag, which can be yours for $60.
There’s also a Hobo Bag that can be converted to a backpack for $135. Theres also a lunchbox for $125. These two are AP-exclusive and feature Spike the Bee.
Next up, you can get the AP-exclusive pin! It’s $17.99.
There’s another AP pin for $19.99.
There’s also an AP-exclusive T-shirt for $34.99.
There are also these stunning ears!
Make sure to snag this merch while it’s still available! Of course, there’s plenty of other merchandise at the festival. To see it all, click the link below!
Check out ALL of the Flower and Garden Merchandise HERE!
Spaceship Earth Show
During each festival, Spaceship Earth has a special show each night to celebrate! This year, Disney brought back the Encanto show for the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival.
It’s something you don’t want to miss, so we highly recommend visiting EPCOT at night to see it. Once the festival is gone, so is the special show!
Learn ALL about the show here!
That’s everything from the first day of the festival so far, but we’ll keep you updated with more details so stay tuned!
EVERYTHING You Need To Know About the 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival
Are you heading to the Festival? Tell us in the comments!
Disclosure: We were invited by Disney World to attend a preview of the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival before the park officially opened. This did not affect our reporting of the event — our opinions are our own.
Source: allears.net
