Photos from the Flower & Garden Fest and Fairy Garden opening

In addition to our previous video, we’ve now uploaded our photo gallery from the opening of Pixie Hollow Fairy Garden yesterday and Epcot’s International Flower & Garden Festival.

The Pixie Hollow Fairy Garden is a part of the festival. Disney Fairies Tinker Bell, Iridessa, Fawn, Silvermist, and Rosetta made an appearance, leading a group of young fairies-in-training. Also in attendance were Klay Hall and Sean Lurie, the director and producer (respectively) of the upcoming film, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, as well as Epcot’s new vice president, Dan Cockerell. Little princesses can come dressed up and show off their costumes daily in the new Fairy & Princess Procession in the Pixie Hollow-themed play area.

The Flower & Garden Festival runs through May 31, 2009 and includes more playgrounds and more topiaries than in the past few years. Other festival fun includes gardening seminars, Flower Power concerts, a butterfly conservatory and lots of children’s activities. And don’t forget all the beautiful flowers and gardens. Scroll to the bottom of this page for some Fun Flower Fest Facts.
For more information about the festival, visit disneyworld.com/flower.
TIP: It may be less crowded during the week, but Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are when the concerts and some of the special events take place, and the Garden Town Discoveries building (Former Wonders of Life building) is open.

Below are a few of my favorite photos. For all 58 pictures, visit our Photo Gallery.

You can also see a video of the Fairy Garden opening by visiting our Video Section.

Fun Flower Fest Facts

• 30 million blooms dress the park throughout the festival, which runs 75 colorful days.

• As part of this year’s Celebration theme, guests can enjoy a commemoration of Cinderella’s coronation day as a “Cinderellabration” featuring royal guests including Prince Charming, Sleeping Beauty and Belle – all as intricately designed topiaries. Other topiary merriment includes: Simba’s Birthday Celebration in a classic scene based on the Disney animated film “The Lion King” and Be Our Guest featuring the entertaining characters from “Beauty and the Beast.”

• More than 50 Disney character topiaries include Aladdin, Lady and the Tramp, and Snow White and the seven dwarfs. Classic Disney characters Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy strike topiary poses doing their favorite outdoor activities in the new, garden-themed playground Let’s Get Moving.

• More than 500 native butterflies representing up to 10 species reside in Minnie’s Magnificent Butterfly Garden, a gazebo-type enclosure filled with lush plants and measuring more than 40 feet in diameter. Guests can stroll through the screened habitat to view the colorful butterflies. Among the garden’s two dozen nectar plants are Cape Royal plumbago, passion flower, coral honeysuckle, blazing star, butterfly bush, scarlet milkweed and canna lily.

• 300,000 bedding plants are installed for the festival.

• Two butterfly topiaries are on display. Also, Doc, Grumpy and the rest of the seven dwarfs appear at the Epcot entrance with intricate topiary detail that includes beards of palm fiber.

• Perfume bottle topiaries represent Guerlain perfumes in the Fragrance Garden at the France pavilion. Daily tours are given through the garden with “smelling stops” along the way.

• At least 25 different plants, grasses and mosses of various colors, including pink and red begonias, dusty miller, palm fiber, palm seeds, ficus and lichen, are used to create and define features of the festival topiaries. More color has been added to the topiaries than in any previous topiary presentation.

• At the Green Garden exhibit, guests can learn tips on how to create their own environmentally safe garden, including information about low-water-use, native plants and recycling.

• Forty-five “flower towers” of impatiens line Innoventions Plaza.

• 100 floating mini-gardens, each three feet in diameter, of multi-hued impatiens provide splashes of color on two ponds that border the walkway between Future World and World Showcase. There are also 15 large gardens, each eight feet in diameter.

• 750 container gardens of flowers, herbs, plants and vegetables in clay pots, barrels and urns enhance the landscape throughout Epcot.

• 300 Walt Disney World horticulturists are needed to install the festival landscape, topiaries and many exhibits; 100 Epcot horticulturists maintain topiaries and other festival displays.

• It takes more than one full year to prepare for the annual festival.

• The festival’s Flower Power is bolstered by weekend appearances of musical hit makers of the 1960s and ’70s including Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes, Davy Jones, Paul Revere & The Raiders, Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone, and Jose Feliciano – a total of 11 acts this year.