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Flower and Garden
- Thread starter RRchip
- Start date
Po'Rich
Well-Known Member
The Flower and Garden festival is one of my favorite times to go. In addition to all of the topiaries (which are very impressive), they have a butterfly exhibit. They also have a lot of information about different types of plants and gardens. The booths may feature food, but the food also seemed more themed around types of gardens than I found in the Food and Wine festival.
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
The offerings vary over time. They previously have had gardening information displays and events. They also usually have some plants and items like garden decorations for sale. (And/or vendors who sell plants/decorative pots/garden decorations) Among the plants for sale are basic topiaries. (moss/metal with small ivy plant maybe in the shape of a Mickey head and other shapes)
Some of the displays are not topiaries, but gardens. Some are container gardens, some have informational signs. There are also a number of bonsai trees.
I don't follow all of the events, but they used to have paid lectures where guests could sign up ($) to hear a Disney gardener talk about their work. Someone else probably has more specifics, but I think that aspect was pared back a bit with the pandemic.
They also- longer ago - used to have some freebies, like the honey booth originally gave out free honey sticks, plus some sort of extra freebie for children (coloring pages maybe? a small craft project? not sure of the specifics), but I think that aspect maybe hasn't come back, or is VERY limited. (Supposedly there is a small opportunity to get a free Uncrustables?)
In the food category, just like some of the other Epcot festivals, they have a 'deal' where parkgoers can earn stamps if they buy specific food items. If you collect enough stamps, then you get a 'free reward' Dole Whip that comes in a themed plastic 'souvenir' cup. The cup is just an inexpensive plastic cup, nothing special. There's a free booklet when you enter the park that has all the details, and the page that needs to be stamped. It is not really free, because the snacks all cost money (roughly in the $6-$9ish range for each snack), and they might not be foods you would otherwise choose to eat.
They also have a scavenger hunt in the WS. You can pay to play, or kinda do it for free. If you buy it and complete it, then there is a small prize at the end. If you don't care about the paper or the prize, then you can just find the items on your own.
During the event, they also sell festival specific merchandise. Though I suppose that's a given.
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Smiley/OCD
Well-Known Member
My dad was a lead landscaper for AT&T/ Bell Labs-Lucent/Alcatel/Nokia for over 40 years, throughout their properties in NJ…he LOVED gardening…we took him in 2013 after my mom passed away (10 of us). He spoke for (literally) hours with the Disney CM’s & landscapers. He talked about that trip until the day he passed…he had dementia, but he remembered THAT trip! It’s our FAVORITE festival at Epcot…
Mr. Pusskers
Active Member
Hi Smiley/OCD I worked at Bell Labs in 1983 in Holmdel NJ. It truly is a small world. The Holmdel campus was just so beautiful and impressive.
Smiley/OCD
Well-Known Member
He worked in Whippany, Basking Ridge, New Providence and Murray Hill…he actually started at Western Electric in Kearny out of the Korean War…he was a cabinet maker by trade and built the giant wooden cabinets for the switchboards…when Kearny closed, to keep his great pension and benefits, he “reinvented” himself and followed his passion into gardening and landscaping for the company…it IS a small world!
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Eric Graham
Well-Known Member
The concerts are pretty good at the F&G. A number of websites rank the food items in articles, including this one. You can just search up top if you'd like.
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
Highly subjective, but here are some I tried and liked:
Beach Grub: Seafood Bake, corn (asked for no toppings)
Brunchcot: Avocado toast (not unique, but tasty), shrimp n grits was decent, not stellar, but decent
Citrus blossom: had lemon tart decent not stellar, but decent, the smoothie is pretty good but I didn't buy it this year (don't need anothe big plastic bird- instead I got the citrus blend smoothie sold over by the Land which is very good)
Some menus are split into seasons and might not be available when you visit. One favorite food in this category was the Farmers Feast booth's Scallop w/ risotto- but the other seasonal items sound good too!
Florida Fresh: the cinch fritters were just okay, strawberry shortcake was really good! not the best I've ever had, but very good. (the best is, of course, homemade with fresh picked strawberries) the Epcot version has real whipped cream - so that's a big plus, but could use more strawberries
Hanami: Ramen cup was decent, not stellar, but decent. the Kyoto boba drink was a bit on the sweet side, okay, but a bit too sweet and Kool-aide like
Honey Booth- did not get to have cauliflower this year, but last year it was REALLY good. I wasn't planning to try it, but the booth had a line and that is what other people were all getting, so I decided to try it. I planned to get it again this year, but just didn't quite make it.
Jardin de Fiestas- the tostada was pretty good
Italy - tomato mozzarella salad is a summer staple for me, and this one was delicious. Some of the best WDW produce I've had in a while. I could eat it every day though, and not get sick of it, but that's me. Epcot's is not especially exotic/unique, but it is delicious! Also tried the cannoli- it was cute presentation. Again, it wasn't exactly exotic, but it was tasty/decent cannoli.
Tangierine Cafe- was prob my group's favorite. the chicken kebobs were really good, as was the carrot salad that came with them! I also got the bread, and the dips were all really good! The bread itself was a fairly basic flatbread/almost like a pita, but we all loved the dips considerably more than we expected! We only got one order, but wished we'd gotten two. One of the dips was described to us as being spicy, but it wasn't hot-spicy. I would more describe it as flavorful, where most WDW food tends to be bland.
Overall, the festival foods are among the best food at WDW, but that's not saying all that much. IMO, WDW's current food quality is not all that great. Still, the festival booths are fun to try.
That said, if you have a car, and like pho soup, I suggest checking out Pho 16 Express on I-Drive over by Universal. The atmosphere is nothing special/fast casual, but the pho is delicious with generous portions for about $15.
JIMINYCR
Well-Known Member
There are sites that rate the food kiosks every year with favorites that keep coming back from past years. Those may be better choices because they have kept being brought back because of flavor and value. You can get a consensus of what choices are favorites from guests but because tastes differ you have to just try a variety of menu items yourself. When we go to the event there are kiosks that I immediately pass by because of knowing my tastes, some I will try because of my uncertainty of what the flavor night be and Im willing to take a chance. Then there are many I target because I know definitely I'll be pleased by what Im served. By viewing the sites ahead of time you can see what each kiosks will have available and get an idea of what you will want and the costs you will pay out. .
There are some kiosks that are better value than others due to the amount plated. I will watch others leave the lines with their plates and see how much is being served. I will also ask some guests what they think about the item they are eating.
The majority of food items are flavorful and good value. The problem I have is watching my costs and filling up too much if I have a TS planned for later. I know many guests who plan on making it a meal from multiple kiosk servings.
I might just try Pho 16 Express.
Chef Mickey
Well-Known Member
The food is horrible overall and the butterfly exhibit is always a stuffy, hot cluster of people.
The flowers are beautiful.
Centauri Space Station
Well-Known Member
Chef Mickey
Well-Known Member
Lunch meat, toast, and some bagged pita chips? The food is too expensive, made assembly line style, always lukewarm, and ridiculous portion sizes.
Chef Mickey
Well-Known Member
I know someone who got projectile vomiting from the scallops. Personally, I think the food safety is not as good in those kiosks (and frankly has slipped in all of WDW) but particularly when they've moved it outside.
JIMINYCR
Well-Known Member
I’ve been to many food kiosks at Dis and never had bad food issues. I’ve been served some amazing menu items. But with any food events Disney or any place else one has to be discriminatory of what they order. I’ve had some fantastic meals at some of the best rated restaurants around the country and some poorly cooked meals. Food handling and preparation is always chancy no matter where you order from. You have to trust standards are being kept up and those cooking are making it a priority.
Po'Rich
Well-Known Member
I've always found food that I liked and I've enjoyed the butterflies, but perhaps that's just me.
Eric Graham
Well-Known Member
Yes, butterflies are very beautiful creatures. We have butterfly bushes in our backyard that attract hummingbird and butterfly in the late spring/summer and into the fall. They come back every year. One time I was in my backyard before and was wearing a brightly colored shirt and had a hummingbird fly right up to me for a little bit of time until it realized I wasn't a flower. a fun tidbit about hummingbird is that it is the only bird that can fly backwards. Actually, they can fly in any direction.