A Look Beyond the Flowers and Seminars
And beyond the awesome topiaries too!
Welcome to the next stop on Magical Blogorail Red. Today we are discussing the Flower and Garden Festival held each year in Epcot at Walt Disney World.
My wife and I have only attended this event once, back in 2010. Karen had always wanted to see the flower displays and topiaries but I was unsure if the extra trip was necessary, being as Epcot always had such beautiful floral displays anyway.
I was pleasantly surprised at how much more beautiful the park was, and had to agree that it was indeed worth visiting during the festival. But I’m not here to highlight the flowers, topiaries, seminars, or exclusive merchandise. I always like to see what’s off the beaten path! And when we wandered off that path, here is what we found:
Butterfly Tent
Each year, just beside and slightly behind the Canada Pavilion, Disney sets up a butterfly tent where you can enjoy interacting with many different species, including the Floral Gigantes pictured above!
Disney also likes to use these special events, such as the FGF, to promote the latest movie or franchise offering. This particular year, the festival featured the new Fairy series based on Tinker Bell’s early life and adventures:
Welcome to the Pixie Hollow Fairy Garden
This garden area featured many little fairy houses and sitting and play areas. There had been a contest to design a fairy house, and the winner had her entry featured for all to see at the festival. There was also a small area to promote The Princess and the Frog movie, but it wasn’t very impressive:
Simple flat cut-outs of some of the characters
The theme of the 2010 Flower and Garden Festival was Celebrate the Great Outdoors, and I thought I’d finish my post with an aerial view, taken from the Monorail, of the topiaries just inside the main entrance. These change every year to reflect that year’s theme:
So if you’re intending to visit the 2015 Flower and Garden Festival, be sure to veer off the beaten path and see what else you can discover!
Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail Loop is DISTherapy.
Here is the map of our Blogorail should you happen to have to make a stop along the way and want to reboard:
1st Stop – Disney Mamas – What’s New at the 2015 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival
2nd Stop – Home is Where the Mouse Is – How to Make the Most of Your Day at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival
3rd Stop – Rolling with the Magic – Topiary Displays at the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival
4th Stop – Cool Nouns by Lee Beatens (you are here)
Final Stop – DISTherapy – Best Eats & Drinks
I just love reading about the themes from festivals gone by. (I bet that would make a terrific post next year!) I was so impressed with Tinker Bell’s Butterfly House last year- as you point out, in some ways it is still a hidden gem. With so many sights and smells, it definitely pays to go off the beaten path and stop and smell the roses!
Usually not as criwded when you get off the main road too. Thanks for commenting!
We have spent hours in the butterfly house! My son absolutely loves them, and we can’t wait to visit again this year!
The butterflies are a favorite of ours! Wish it was there year round.
Great post! Even the Festival Center is out of the way. So much to see and do outside of the main path around World Showcase!
Thanks for commenting! Hope more people veer to the left and right at this years festival!
We love visiting the butterfly house each year. I read that they’ve made the path wider so it will be a little easier navigating the crowds inside. That will be nice!
More room would help with a bigger tent even. Glad they’re keeping it going!
I could spend hours and hours in the Butterfly garden. I kept hoping to see a butterfly out of one of the cocoons but I was not that lucky.
That would be amazing! Thanks for commenting!
The entrance display is always my favorite and I cannot wait to see what they come up with year after year! Thanks for sharing – great post!
Rosanne @ The Disney Point
I enjoy that too as most other topi arises stay the same. Thanks for commenting!