Originally published at ResalesDVC
If you are lucky enough to visit Walt Disney World this spring, you’ll get treated to an immersive experience at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival!
In 2020 the festival runs from March 4th to June 1st so be sure to check it out if you are visiting during this time!
In this post, I’ll share five reasons why visiting Epcot Flower & Garden Festival with kids is a great idea.
1) The Interactive Playgrounds
There are two interactive play areas set up around Epcot just for Flower & Garden festival. Both areas are highly themed and will surpass anything you’d find at a neighborhood park.
The two play areas are:
- Bo Peep’s Playtime Training Grounds – Test Track walkway
- Play Full Garden – Imagination walkway
TIP: Kids will love the chance to let loose and have some unstructured time during the day. Just plan for a little downtime for everyone, and be prepared for possibly having a hard time pulling them away!
2) The Butterfly Garden
The chance to get up close and personal with butterflies is a special treat at Flower & Garden Festival.
The “Butterflies on the Go” garden is found near the back of Innoventions West. It’s a walk-through exhibit (strollers are allowed in) that is home to hundreds of butterflies and the plants they depend on for food.
Kiddos love “hunting” for butterflies, and many adults love the chance to grab some gorgeous pictures of them. I’ve even turned pictures I’ve taken here into blank greeting cards once we were back home!
TIP: I suggest visiting the butterfly garden in the morning or evening since the heat can be oppressive in the middle of the day. There are some interactive features at just the right height for the little ones.
3) The Egg-Stravanganza Scavenger Hunt
The Eggstravaganza Egg Hunt is a low-cost activity that has lots of kid appeal.
You can buy a map and sticker set at many places around Epcot for $6.99 (plus tax). As you make your way around World Showcase, look for large eggs painted as Disney characters hidden in each country.
Place the stickers on the map and turn it in at the World Travelers store (found at the entrance to World Showcase) and you’ll get to pick a prize.
This year the hunt is offered from March 27th through April 12th, 2020.
The map doesn’t even have to be filled in correctly, so if your kids lose interest halfway through the day you can still get your prize (which is a small Disney character Easter egg to take home).
We found that cast members in the pavilions are happy to give you a clue and point you in the right direction.
There is another NEW scavenger hunt offered throughout the festival in 2020 – Spike’s Pollen Nation Exploration – so look for maps for this new hunt all around Epcot!
TIP: If they aren’t into the egg hunt, kids ages six and up might like to complete the Kidcot Garden Stop Field Guide.
They’ll learn about an edible plant that is native to each country and get a stamp from a cast member at each Kidcot stop in World Showcase.
4. Kid-Friendly Food Options
A few years back Flower & Garden Festival began featuring “outdoor kitchens” which sell tasting-sized portions of food and beverages (yep, these are the Food & Wine booths “re-purposed” for the spring festival).
This year there are 14 booths, and you’ll find kid-friendly options at many of the booths. Most items are in the $4-$6 range, allowing you to try a bunch of different items without getting full or busting your budget.
Our favorite drink was the Frozen Violet Lemonade ($3.50) from The Pineapple Promenade near the entrance to World Showcase.
You can actually order a non-alcoholic version of any of the “slushie” drinks at the outdoor kitchens, even if they aren’t shown on the menu.
Also found at the Pineapple Promenade are “Foodles” ($3.75) which contain mini pretzels, cheese, carrots, and ranch. It was a convenient way to get some nutrition to my daughter while I tried some more adventurous items.
I think the “Frushi” ($5.95) found at the Japan booth would be a hit with most kiddos. The coconut rice and fresh fruit were really nice, though I only got to enjoy a few bites because my daughter gobbled them up.
You’ll find lots of berry-inspired dishes at the festival, and we loved both the Field Greens ($5.00) found at The Berry Basket and the Warm Cheese Strudel with Mixed Berries ($4.25) at the Bauernmarkt in Germany. We tried the Potato Pancakes with Applesauce at Bauernmarkt but it wasn’t to our liking.
And last, a surprise hit was the Jamaican-Braised Beef with Pigeon Pea Rice ($6.25) from the Isla Fresca booth near the Mexico pavilion. It was super tender and flavorful without being spicy, perfect for little ones.
TIP: If you are on the Disney Dining Plan, you can use snack credits to purchase many of the items at the Outdoor Kitchens. You can get very good value from snack credits if you use them on the more expensive items at the booths. We found that, unlike Food & Wine, there were no long lines at the booths – even on a weekend during spring break.
5) The Character Topiaries
There are more than 70 topiaries at this year’s festival, including lots of favorite characters from Disney and Pixar movies. Some of the princesses have topiary facial features, such as Elsa, which make them look incredibly lifelike!
Figment looked fantastic behind Spaceship Earth. I’m so glad he appeared at the festival in topiary form! In 2018 he is found on the walkway between Future World and World Showcase!
I think Tinkerbell and Peter Pan were my favorites, probably because of Peter Pan’s location (no hints – you’ll have to find him yourself).
TIP: We both loved the adorable fairy houses that fill the garden surrounding Tinkerbell. If you have any little ones into fairies, be sure to plan on spending some time checking them out.
A Few More Tips
Be sure to grab a Garden Passport, which serves as a guide to the festival and a free souvenir. It containers stickers that you can use to mark which gardens and outdoor kitchens you have visited. My daughter completed ours after we got back home, which was a fun way to reflect on everything we saw at the festival.
The Garden Rocks concert series features shows at 5:30, 6:45 and 8:00 pm every night during the festival. The kids likely won’t recognize the bands (which had hits in the 70’s through 90’s), but you’ll probably be able to sing along!
With all that the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival 2020 has to offer families, I would argue that it alone could be a reason to visit Walt Disney World. Check out why the weeks after Easter are some of my favorites to visit Walt Disney World in this post about the best time to go to Disney World 2020!
We spent an entire day enjoying all the festival had to offer and felt like we could have used more time. I hope this post helps you enjoy and make the most of a springtime visit to Epcot with kids. Questions? Leave a comment below or join the discussion in The Budget Moue Facebook group!
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