Share this story:

• 

The 20th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival will be taking place from March 6 through May 19, 2013. Throughout the 75-day garden party, guests will encounter new topiaries, garden displays, a butterfly house, seminars by HGTV celebrity designers, performances from rockers from the ’60s and ’70s and much more.

The festival starts at the front entrance with a topiary barbecue with the Fab Five including 14-foot-tall topiary Goofy bobbling an anniversary cake, Donald and Daisy playing badminton and Mickey, Pluto and Minnie making an appearance as well. New this year are the Illuminated Gardens, taking place on the Future World Walkway every night. Many of the festival’s famous Disney topiaries and gardens will light up and twinkle and shine in a new light. Behind Spaceship Earth, the popular Disney Channel duo Phineas and Ferb will be featured in a topiary photo-op.

The fun continues on the Imagination Walkway with the Land of Oz Play Area promoting the upcoming film “Oz: The Great and Powerful.” The interactive children’s play zone will feature play systems adorned with giant flowers, midway-style games, red-and-white circus-themed tents and the “Oz Movie Garden”. The area will also feature games, photo opportunities, and Oz’s crashed hot-air balloon with lush plants inspired by the movie.

The annual butterfly house is getting a new twist this year. The new butterfly house entitled, Fawn’s Butterfly House, will feature eight topiaries of friends from Pixie Hollow, including Tinker Bell, Fawn, Vidia and Terrence where hundreds of butterflies will be flying around in the house on the Imagination Walkway. Over on the Test Track walkway will be the new “Radiator Springs” interactive play zone where guests can see Lightning McQueen and “Mater” from Cars 2 in topiary form.

Throughout World Showcase and Future World will be “Monsters University” topiaries of Mike, Sully and the other starts of the upcoming Pixar film, “Monsters University.” Also in World Showcase, dozens of topiaries will be featured in each and every country including topiaries of Disney princesses, storybook characters and even pandas and trolls. Guests will be able to sip and stroll around the World Showcase promenade, sampling at festival-themed food and beverage locations. The menu will include backyard barbecue favorites and a variety of garden-inspired and global tastes.

Every Friday through Sunday, HGTV design celebrities will host Festival Center seminars. During opening weekend, from March 8 through 10, Chris Lambton of “Going Yard” will appear; other designers scheduled to take the stage include Brandon Johnson of “My Yard Goes Disney” and Meg Caswell of “Meg’s Great Rooms.”

The Flower Power concert series kicks off March 6 through 10 with Micky Dolenz and continues each weekend including:

• March 15 through 17: Chubby Checker & The Wildcats
• March 22 through 24: The Guess Who
• March 29 through 31: Nelson
• April 5 through 7: The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie
• April 12 through 14: Paul Revere & the Raiders
• April 19 through 21: The Village People
• April 26 through 28: The Orchestra, Featuring Former Members of ELO and ELO II
• May 3 through 5: Tommy Roe
• May 10 through 12: Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone
• May 17 through 19: Starship starring Mickey Thomas.

For more information about the 20th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, call 407/W-DISNEY (934-7639). The festival, including all gardening programs and exhibits, is included in regular Epcot admission.

Related Posts:

Share this story:

•