EPCOT's Flower Festival 09 pictorial...

[TDLFAN]

With Springtime now here.. this is the best time to visit EPCOT Center... so grab your tennis shoes and let's take a visual walk around the park and enjoy the many displays of this year's edition of EPCOT's annual Flower Festival...

[TDLFAN]

[TDLFAN]

The End.

[TDLFAN]

If you have lasted this long.. now you can read my review.

As always.. this is the best time of the year to visit EPCOT.. as the weather is gorgeous and temperatures are cool or lightly warm. The Disney gardeners, with the help of many corporate sponsors, put on a show that year after year impresses with it's beauty and elegance. Since the Flower Festival is an annual tradition at the park since the mid 90s I believe.. you can always wonder just how what the gardeners will come up next. Better yet, you can have fun wondering how they will arrange the same topiaries from one year to the next. That is probably the only downfall this festival has.. same old topiaries, year after year.. for eternity.

Still.. the work that goes into it is quite impressive, and the results are delightful.
But I have to admit.. usually there is a theme to reflect the changes they make from one year to the next. Based on what I saw, I really can not quite put a finger on exactly what type of theme they were going for this year.

From the moment you enter EPCOT, the Disney Princesses welcome you to this year's festival. Yes, we have seen these topiaries before.. and in similarly arranged ways. However, this year's introduction garden, as pretty as it is.. does not manage to have the same punch last year's signature garden had. One bringht spot for me personally was listening to TDL's Cinderellabration music in the background. One question, with Cinderella and Charming so prominently displayed, why were they not on a rotating table as featured in previous years? I think the motion would have added a bit more drama to this lovely garden.

The Pixies' garden was lovely, even if they spolied it with a kid's playground set in the background. Maybe that is the trend I see in this year's festival: too many swing and playsets amidts the lovely floral gardens. Why is that? Why cater to the little ones so furiously when the flowers and gardens are supposed to be the main event? For me, it's a little nuissance but that does not interphere with the show too much.

Minnie's Butterfly garden is always fun to see but maybe with time, there will be more butterflies in this area enhancing the look and theme underneath that screen porch.

I am trying not to be negative here, because I do enjoy this festival and it's results but maybe this one time, I will allow myself to say I was disappointed in one aspect: NOT enough gardens to enjoy!

Whereas in previous years we have had lovely gardens featuring cascading waterfalls and pools, or many more specially themed gardens throughout World Showcase's perimeter.. I was a bit sad to see that this year's efforts around World Showcase were minimal unlike in previous years. With the exception of a few topiary gardens (and more playground sets) in several of the pavillions, the truth is.. I felt there could have been room for more enhancements. The efforts around Japan, China, Germany, Mexico and Norway were so nonexistant, that those areas of the park look as ordinary as they do most of the year. So I wonder if Disney didn't get the backing necesary form sponsors that used to be a part of this spectacle in previous years...

One final petpeeve I hope Disney considers for next year. PLEASE!! remove those ugly signs from the very center of the gardens displays!!! They get in the way of the best possible angles for photo shots! Example: The Princesses Garden at the front of the park, they have these big signs reading "Thank you for Celebrating with us"!! Problem is the signs get in the way of photographers to accomplish the best shots possible. What is the point of putting together a lovely work of floral art if you are going to sabotage it with ugly signs right on the center front area of them??? I mean, I know they have to shove down that "Celebrate" theme down people's throats but.. signs that get in the way of photography? Someone, please fix this problem with the many gardens in the festival.

But aside from a certain lacking of displays and the availability of too many children's play areas, what is there to see is very well done and therefore not to be missed if you visit during the Flower festival, so I recommend visiting and enjoying the event.

[Ride Warrior]

Gorgeous pictorial report. The manitude variety of colorful flowers must have the place all abuzz and a-flutter with bees and butterflies. All the topiary characters are amazing. that's a lot of work to go to for a temporary show. My favorites were the lady and the tramp and lion king themed creations.

How the heck did they make spots on the gerraffe? Talk about complex.

[tayakaleb]

Nice photos! Epcot is beautiful!

[Terese]

Thank you for the gorgeous photos! We always go down in the Fall, but your pictures have inspired me to try to get down there in the Spring! Does anyone know what the crowds are like around the last week of April or first week of May?

[Oswald the Rabbitt]

Wonderful photos

[Disney Magic]

Looks lovely! Thanks for the update.

[whitealexander]

very artisctic.. you can actually know who's who on the Disney character..

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by Terese

Thank you for the gorgeous photos! We always go down in the Fall, but your pictures have inspired me to try to get down there in the Spring! Does anyone know what the crowds are like around the last week of April or first week of May?

Based on experience, the end of april/early may may still see a bit of the leftover spring break crowds, but nowhere near being unmanageable, so I would take my chance and plan a trip during those days.. Word of caution.. my experience attending the Flower fest is... the earlier you get to visit during the Festival, the better the flower displays will look, so do not wait too long to visit, because by the end of the festival.. many flowers will have lost their bloom and the gardens will start to look a bit wilted and passed their prime. Also another tip: if you are interested in purchasing any of the merchanside you see at the festival kiosks, wait till the end of the event. Usually, prices for festival shirts and souvenirs begin to get slashed around the last week of the festival.. so save money by waiting until that last week.

[Terese]

Originally Posted by TDLFAN

Based on experience, the end of april/early may may still see a bit of the leftover spring break crowds, but nowhere near being unmanageable, so I would take my chance and plan a trip during those days.. Word of caution.. my experience attending the Flower fest is... the earlier you get to visit during the Festival, the better the flower displays will look, so do not wait too long to visit, because by the end of the festival.. many flowers will have lost their bloom and the gardens will start to look a bit wilted and passed their prime. Also another tip: if you are interested in purchasing any of the merchanside you see at the festival kiosks, wait till the end of the event. Usually, prices for festival shirts and souvenirs begin to get slashed around the last week of the festival.. so save money by waiting until that last week.

Thanks so much for the tips! I'm already starting to get excited about our next trip!

[Rex Dopey24]

beautiful shots of the flowers and garden. they are all so nice. thanks.

[ScottG]

The 2 times we've gone to WDW were both during the F&G festival. Is it really that different during off times?

[Wendygirl]

I am so excited that this will be going on while we are there next week. I hope I get to see them through the crowds though

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