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Flowers & Food 23rd Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, March 2 to May 30, 2016 |
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Hello from Central Florida! I was at the opening day of the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival. This event each spring is the lesser known cousin of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival each fall. If you prefer Yesterland articles about Disney things that have departed, please wait until after May 30 to read this.
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The Epcot Flower & Garden Festival will last 90 days instead of 75 days this year. In Fall, the Epcot Food & Wine Festival is being expanded to 62 days, compared to 53 days last year. Add the 36-day Holidays Around the World event, and Epcot will be in “festival mode” 188 days the year. That’s more than half the year. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Snow White, green face |
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The staples of the Flower & Garden Festival have been topiaries, flower beds, sponsored gardens, playgrounds, a butterfly tent, and plant displays at the pavilions of the World Showcase. They’re back this year, with some additions and deletions. Epcot always looks good, but it looks its best during the Flower & Garden Festival. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Spectacular flower beds |
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Probably the festival’s most photographed flower beds are those below the Monorail track where Future World and World Showcase meet. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Festival Center |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Limited days and hours |
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The former Wonders of Life Pavilion is back as the Festival Center, with exhibits and speakers—but only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The rest of the week, there’s a rope across the walkway to the entrance. Along the same lines, the Garden Rocks Concert Series at the America Gardens Theatre offers three concerts nightly each Friday, Saturday and Sunday—but not the other four days of the week. Acts include the Village People (“Y.M.C.A.”), Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone (“I’m Henry VIII, I Am”), and Night Ranger (“Sister Christian”). The longer festival means 13 three-day weekends, each with a different act. In comparison, the Food & Wine Festival uses the Festival Center and America Gardens Theatre seven days a week. If you still think of topiaries as bushes that vaguely resemble something else because of how they’re trained and pruned, you haven’t seen the detailed sculptures that Epcot now exhibits as topiaries. Let’s take a look at a few of them… |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Buzz Lightyear at Mission: SPACE |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Fantasia |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 More Fantasia |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Captain Hook at the United Kingdom |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Belle and Beast at France |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Lumiere and Cogsworth at France |
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World Showcase has more than just topiaries, such as bonsai at Japan, a tea garden at the United Kingdom, a bamboo garden at China, and orchids at Mexico. Even the train layout at Germany gets into the act with a scale model Flower & Garden Festival. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Flower & Garden Festival in the German railroad village |
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In 2013, Disney added food and beverage kiosks around World Showcase Lagoon to the Flower & Garden Festival. With this enhancement, it became like a “Spring Edition of the Food & Wine Festival,” although with fewer kiosks. Originally dubbed Garden Marketplaces, the kiosks are called Outdoor Kitchens this year, and there are 13 of them. The structures are borrowed from the Food & Wine Festival, but the menus are not. The emphasis is on “fresh, farm-to-table flavors.” There are far fewer wine choices and far more fruit beverages—some with alcohol and some without. My lunch on opening day involved four Outdoor Kitchens. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Fleur de Lys |
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Here’s how the official website describes the Outdoor Kitchen at France:
Fleur de Lys I dared to pass up the macaron (which looked good, but not “colossal”) in favor of a delicious onion tart, which I accompanied with red wine. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Tarte à l’Onion Alsacienne: Alsatian Onion Tart with Sautéed Onions, Fresh Thyme and Rosemary on a Flaky Puff Pastry Crust ($4.50) and Merlot Bordeaux, Château La Gravière, 2013 ($6.50) from Fleur de Lys |
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After the rich onion tart, it was time for something fresher, lighter, and healthier. I did not have to go far. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Florida Fresh |
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Here’s how the official website describes the next Outdoor Kitchen:
Florida Fresh The bonus is that Florida Fresh has a particularly nice seating area. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Fresh-squeezed Watermelon Juice, non-alcoholic ($3.25) and Kale Salad with Dried Cherries, Almonds, Goat Cheese and White Balsamic Vinaigrette ($3.75) from Florida Fresh |
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The salad provided a good variety of tastes and textures, and was perfectly dressed. The watermelon juice is 100% fresh juice, not some sort of sweetened punch. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Woody at THE SMOKEHOUSE |
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On to the main course! There’s a huge smoker at the Outdoor Kitchen adjacent to the American Adventure. Here’s how the official website describes it:
THE SMOKEHOUSE: Barbecue and Brews The craft brews weren’t all “golden”—and that’s a good thing! |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016
Four Florida brews on tap at THE SMOKEHOUSE, individually or as a flight: |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Beer flight ($11.50) and Pulled Pig Slider with Crispy Onions and Coleslaw ($6.25) from THE SMOKEHOUSE |
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It was fun comparing four completely different beers. They were all good—even the Maple Bacon Stout. The maple sweetness and bacon smokiness were recognizable, but subtle enough to harmonize well with the flavor of the stout. The smoked pork on the fresh bun was tasty, but was a bit dry. It was only as I took my last bite that I noticed a counter with sweet barbecue sauce, hot barbecue sauce, and a third sauce without a label. Apparently, I was trying too hard not to spill to notice them when I left the pick-up window. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Taste of Marrakesh |
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Staying in the same part of World Showcase, I went to the Outdoor Kitchen at Morocco for dessert. Again, from the official website:
Taste of Marrakesh Who writes this stuff? You can’t “plant yourself at the counter.” It’s a quick-service kiosk. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Baklava ($3.00) from Taste of Marrakesh |
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The baklava was good and exactly what I expected. I probably should have looked for a more unusual dessert. The total cost of my lunch was $38.75 (including $18 for alcohol). Tax is included in the prices, and there’s no tipping at the Outdoor Kitchens. That’s a lot of money for lunch, but, then again, my lunches usually don’t include wine or beer—and certainly not both. All over Walt Disney World, there’s Star Wars merchandise. But I didn’t expect to see it at the Flower & Garden Festival shops that surround World Showcase Lagoon. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, March 2, 2016 Decorative Yodas |
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I should not have been surprised to see Grand Jedi Master Yoda as a garden decoration. He’s roughly eight inches tall and sells for $39.95. May the Force be with your garden. |
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© 2016 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated November 11, 2016. |
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, Curator of Yesterland, March 4, 2016
