From Produce to Topiaries: Inspiration to Take from EPCOT's Flower & Garden Festival

The arrival of Disney’s EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival signals that spring is finally on its way. With dozens of gardens, flower displays, and food booths to enjoy, the Flower & Garden Festival is one of the largest garden events across the U.S. Whether you’re heading to the theme park to admire the massive topiaries, gorgeous garden displays, or want to take a specialty food tour, the Flower & Garden Festival offers three months of floral inspiration.

The festival features 24 gardens and plant displays this year, on top of a honeybee exhibit and butterfly house. From the community garden to Festival Blooms (which creates 2-D designs using living blooms), there's an abundance of different global gardens and plant displays to explore—like the orchid world showcase or even Garden Italiano, which is focused entirely on Tuscan produce and herbs. There’s even a Shakespeare-inspired garden you can visit in the United Kingdom Pavilion.

Some of the more impressive Flower & Garden Festival displays include enormous character topiaries, featuring classic Disney characters created entirely from living plants and blooms. Spread throughout EPCOT, they typically are found in areas that correlate to their character—for example, you’ll find Belle from “Beauty and the Beast” in EPCOT’s France Pavilion. 

Many visitors attend the Flower & Garden Festival purely for the food—something EPCOT is already known for. The outdoor kitchens stay open only for the duration of the Flower & Garden Festival, providing specialty menu items that are exclusive to the festival.

In keeping with EPCOT’s theme, the various food booths provide cuisine related to the area they’re situated in, so you’ll be able to enjoy specialty meals from all over the world. Of course, the focus is on farm-fresh and garden-based foods.

Special-edition menus don’t stop at limited-time kitchens, though. EPCOT staples that are available to visit year-round also offer special menu items for the festival: You can get plenty of flower-themed drinks if you’re planning on taking a drinking tour.

The festival runs for three months, from February 28 to May 27. To attend, all you need is admission to Disney’s theme park and an EPCOT pass. If you’re planning on purchasing food and drinks once you’re inside, be ready to spend some extra money—but fans of the Flower & Garden Festival will assure you it’s totally worth it. EPCOT tickets start at $109 but tend to increase around the dates of the Flower & Garden Festival, averaging around $150.