If it’s April, it must be a glorious Spring in Florida. And, if it’s Spring, that means Walt Disney World’s EPCOT park is the place to be. Yes, it’s the annual Flower & Garden Festival, one of the highlights of our year, and this year’s event is well worth highlighting.
Just to start with, this is the first full year of EPCOT’s big transformation being complete, and we are seeing new elements of the Festival as a result. There are new kiosks and new tastes to sample, and the whole World Celebration area is a real joy to experience.
Add in some superb Spring weather – largely dry, and with temperatures reaching 32F last Saturday – and we have an absolutely wonderful combination of excitement and horticultural marvels to enjoy, guaranteed to thrill the whole family. So, with that in mind, we thought we would share our experience from the past weekend at the park, highlighting 10 of the must-try events and experiences around the park.
The Topiaries: These artistic creations from Disney’s gardening team are always an eye-catching delight around all four sections. They begin from the moment you enter the park, with this year’s opening showcase featuring the characters from Moana and Moana 2 in a spectacular South Seas setting. Each of Moana, Maui, Heihei and Pua are in topiary form and there are some clever lighting effects that are especially good at night. There are another 66 to discover, however, including the likes of Elsa and Anna from Frozen and the cast of The Lion King. But perhaps the most vivid are the trio of butterfly topiaries on the walkway from World Celebration to World Showcase, set against a dramatic garden background.
Butterfly Landing: After all the reworking of the World Celebration and World Nature areas in the last few years, the famous butterfly enclosure now has a regular home in the latter section, and is bigger and brighter than ever with a magnificent array of tropical plants, all designed to tempt the different varieties of butterfly here. It is a source of great fascination for children but also for adults, including tips on how to add plants to your garden that will attract these fluttering pollinators.
Florida Fresh: Among the 21 international kitchens set up around the park, make sure you re-fuel at some point at this thirst-quenching station in the heart of World Celebration’s new CommuniCore Plaza area. While it offers a trio of excellent fruit-flavoured craft beers and a lovely Florida Strawberry Shortcake, we found the Cucumber-Melon Slushy just perfect for a hot day, especially as there is plenty of nearby seating to be able to sit and enjoy the view. Hot tip: When it’s hot like this, it’s OK to ask for a (free) cup of ice water from most servers.
Playalong Bay: EPCOT always creates its own children’s play areas especially for the Festival, and this year it has produced one of the best in the form of Playalong Bay (on the walkway from World Showcase to the Imagination! Pavilion). This nautically themed playground – named after Stormalong Bat at Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resort – is a riot of games and activities, including things to climb and swing on. Even better, it is right next door to the Yacht Grub kitchen, with its array of fine tastes and cocktails to revive weary parents.
Journey of Water inspired by Moana: This super walk-through attraction opened in October 2023 and now fits in beautifully with the Festival, as it adds a tropical jungle vibe to the many flowery touches hereabouts and feels like a clever extension of the park’s horticulture. You may also get a little wet, which is quite welcome at the moment!
Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival: While this isn’t actually part of the flowery scene, it is worth knowing about this hard-to-notice cinema presentation located at the back of the Imagination! pavilion when everyone is flagging in late afternoon. Its cool, air-conditioned interior and comfy seats are a welcome relief, and the three short films are wonderfully engaging for the 20-minute duration.
Living with the Land: While much of the park feels fresh and new, especially during spring-time, this classic gentle ride in The Land pavilion also gets a seasonal update that the sharp-eyed will notice. When the boats reach the domed biosphere section, there have been several clever themed additions, including one for Moana, which ties in with the main topiary at the front of the park.
CommuniCore Hall: We are not great fans of this one section of the World Celebration area, as it feels unfinished to us, a below-par addition that is more utilitarian than in keeping with the park’s edutainment mission. But not during the Festival. When it comes to the Flower & Garden, the Hall has been given a complete makeover to give it a more cohesive and inviting ambience, while it also becomes home to the Farmers Feast kitchen, with its super-tasty trio of delicious dishes, including the must-try Scallop with Spring Pea Risotto.
The Garden Rocks Concert Series: This remains an absolute highlight for us, a three-times-a-night stage show featuring various well-known bands and singers from the past 50 years. We completely hit the jackpot with The Orchestra, starring ELO and ELO Part 2 former members, which was absolutely packed out for all three 30-minute concerts and a great trip down musical memory lane. The bands are usually more relaxed and informal in this setting at the America Gardens Theatre, and they generate a really intimate and fan-orientated vibe.
Flowers everywhere!: Of course, pride of place still goes to the magnificent array of flowerbeds that are added for the season. Nothing says Spring like the extensive blooms of the banks either side of the ponds between World Celebration and World Showcase, or those between The Land and Seas pavilions. They are simply drop-dead gorgeous and a terrific visual feast.
EPCOT’s International Flower & Garden Festival 2025 runs throughout the spring, concluding on June 2, and is included with regular park entry. The Festival is especially well stocked with Disney PhotoPass photographers if you have the excellent Memory Maker package with your Disney tickets.
Have you sampled the Flower & Garden Festival yet? Give us your thoughts about it on the friendly AttractionTickets.com Community Facebook page, on X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram.
