A Guide to the 2024 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival
The annual Flower and Garden Festival, held every spring at Epcot, celebrates beautiful gardens, topiaries, yummy treats, and great music. The 2024 Festival will be from February 28 to May 27.
When you enter the park, the first thing you should do is pick up your Festival Passport and check the posted guide maps to see all the fun things you can see or do. (click on each picture for full-sized photo)
But in the meantime, for some advanced planning tips, keep reading to find out all the amazing things this beautiful festival has to offer! To jump to a particular section, click on one of the links below.
Topiaries
The Flower and Garden features multiple topiaries and floral displays throughout the park. These topiaries of beautiful animals and Disney characters are cultivated by the talented Disney horticulture team and, in my opinion, are the highlight of the festival. A lot of the topiaries stay the same from year to year, but the new topiaries for 2024 are as follows:
Disney Wish with Asha, Valentino and Star – located at the main entrance.
Groot – located near Mission Space
Disney-Pixar Coco with Miguel and Dante – located in Mexico
For the full photo album and list of locations, click on my previous blog post: 2024 Flower and Garden Topiaries.
Gardens
Scattered throughout the part are over 20 different gardens where you can see beautifully cultivated flower beds, learn about sustainability, learn more about how to live in harmony with nature, how different gardens thrive in climates all over the planet, and how gardens have played a vital role in the history of civilization. In addition, you can visit the Butterfly Landing to learn about the life cycle of butterflies or visit Songbird Meadows to see why songbirds are so important in our backyard ecosystem.
The new gardens for 2024 are as follows:
PB&J Garden – located on the bridge to World Showcase
Gnome Garden – located in Germany
China Penjing Garden – located in China
For a full listing and photo album of the Gardens, see my blog post: Gardens at the 2024 Flower and Garden Festival (coming soon)
Outdoor Kitchens
For the foodies, the Flower and Garden Festival features over 20 Outdoor Kitchens located throughout the World Showcase Pavilions as well as in some of the neighborhoods of the former Future World (now called World Celebration, World Nature, and World Discovery). Think of this as a smaller springtime version of the Food and Wine Festival held every fall in Epcot. Each kitchen offers several different small plates and beverages to sample. The process for the food items average between $5-$8. Below are some of my favorite dishes from this year.
As for beverages, most of the kitchens offer both a non alcoholic or alcoholic option. These average in prices from $4 (non-alcoholic) up to $14 (alcoholic)
A lot of the kitchens offer beer selections. These can be purchased for $5.75 for a 6-ounce pour or 9.75 for a 12-ounce pour. In addition, some of the kitchens feature multiple beer options and offer a flight of three 4-ounce pours for 10.25. This is a great way to get to sample all the available choices. Below are some of my favorite drinks from this year.
Another thing you can do is complete the Garden Graze. See picture below for explanation.
Make sure to pick up your festival passport booklet as you enter the park for a full listing of all outdoor kitchens and what they have to offer, or see my post: 2024 Epcot International Flower and Garden Food Booth Menus
Scavenger Hunts
One of the fun things to do for kids (of all ages) is to pick up a scavenger hunt map, which can be purchased at Creations Shop, World Traveler, or the Festival Marketplaces located throughout the park.
Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration is available for the duration of the festival. The description from the festival passport is “Gardeners of all ages can follow Spike on his pollination trail, where he will “bee” busy collecting nectar and pollinating gardens at Epcot”
Another scavenger hunt that is only available through April 9th has you hunting for colorful Easter Eggs inspired by Disney characters throughout the World Showcase.
For my photo album of each egg and where to find it check out my post: 2024 Egg-Stravaganza Scavenger Hunt at Epcot.
Garden Rocks Concerts
Each night during the festival, the America Garden Theatre comes alive with sounds from well-known artists from Friday to Monday and local Orlando talent from Tuesday to Thursday. The concerts, which are included with your Epcot admission, take place three times each evening at 5:30, 6:45, and 8:00. Watch one set or stay for all three as they often differ from one another. From Friday to Monday, you can also purchase the Garden Rocks dining package. This package includes a meal from a participating restaurant and a guaranteed seat for whichever showtime you reserve. After dinner, you will line up in a separate queue from the standby guests and will be seated on a first-come, first serve basis but will be guaranteed a seat. I feel like unless you must be front and center for a particular performer, then it is not worth it to purchase this package. There are always plenty of good seats available throughout the theatre, and I have never had trouble getting a seat by just lining up in the standby line. I have also snagged some pretty good last-minute seats, just strolling up as the concert is starting. Pictures of my view from the March 25th 6:45 show of The Orchestra. I walked up just as they were starting to play and found this great seat.
Of course, this doesn’t always happen if the band is super popular, but you can also see the show standing along the rope right outside the theatre and can hear it from any of the surrounding areas if you just want to listen.
Here is a list of this year’s performers.
Festival Merchandise
You can purchase festival-specific merchandise at the Festival Markets throughout the park, World Traveler (located at the International Gateway entrance), Creations Shop (located near the front of the park), or inside the Odyssey building.
Although most of the festival offerings may not vary much from year to year, it is still a new experience each time you come…even if you get to make multiple trips in the same year, as there is so much to see and do. Also, Disney gardeners keep the gardens and floral arrangements fresh and replanted throughout the festival, with varieties that flourish in the cooler weather toward the beginning and warmer weather varieties toward the end.
Hopefully, you enjoyed my in-depth guide to the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. If you get a chance to visit Disney World during the spring months, I highly recommend you make some time to visit this beautiful festival and everything it has to offer.
