March 6th marks the beginning of the 2019 Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot. While I do not get to go every year, unfortunately, I have been able to attend the previous two years of this amazingly beautiful celebration of Spring. Like the several other festivals Epcot offers throughout the year, Flower & Garden offers an array of dishes and beverages that enhance the highlights of this time of year. Besides the offered and expected food stands, the festival also brings with it some other opportunities that I would recommend to anyone attending.
One of my most favorite things to do any time of the year is take a Disney tour that highlights behind the scenes information or an opportunity to learn about something more in depth. During this festival, Epcot has offered a tour focusing on the tea gardens that may be found in the United Kingdom.
The English Tea Garden tour has been sponsored by Twinings tea in the past, and when I attended was led by a well versed young English man that was a joy to listen to. Aside from the accent, it was interesting to hear about the differences in black tea, green tea, and herbal tea and why and how they came to be good drinking teas in different parts of the world. Believe it or not, some of these varieties were not created by the English. I also discovered my favorite tea, the Buttermint. When I experienced this tour in 2017, Buttermint tea was exclusive for Flower & Garden. It is now available everywhere, and it is delicious.
The Behind the Seeds tour in the Land Pavilion is offered throughout the entire year, and is extremely reasonably priced at $25/adult. Much of what is toured can be seen while floating through on the Living with the Land ride. Taking the behind the scenes experience and learning about how Disney is breaking through barriers when it comes to producing fruits, vegetables and other crops seems to make sense in the theme of gardening at Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival.
This tour is a close-up and intimate look at some pretty amazing and unconventional growing techniques. Disney truly puts a lot of effort into being a contributor to science.
During the Flower & Garden Festival, Epcot erects a butterfly walk-through garden. This may be your only opportunity to walk beautiful paths filled with flowers and have butterflies land on you and flutter all around your head. There are so many of them that cast members are posted at each entrance to inspect the guests and make sure they are not leaving with butterflies clinging to their clothing.
The gardens and topiaries that Epcot offers during this time are also masterpieces by themselves. They are worth the time to stroll around the World Showcase and think about your own green thumb…or lack of one. Even those of us that are inept at keeping plants alive (and I am one) can appreciate the work Disney puts into this festival and the beauty that it creates.
Spring is a great time to visit Disney, and the Flower & Garden Festival at Epcot is a great opportunity to welcome the new season and enjoy some color and freshness – especially if you (like me) have been stuck in the northern snowy and cold elements for several months.
If you have been to a Flower & Garden Festival before, what did you love about it?
