Follow Along With Us LIVE at the 2023 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival!
Welcome! We’re taking you with us to EPCOT for the first day of the 2023 Flower & Garden Festival, and we’re here to report all about the food, the flowers, the entertainment, and more.
This post will be updated throughout the day, so make sure you keep checking back with MickeyBlog for more details. Let’s get started!
Festival Dates
The 2023 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival lasts from March 1st to July 5th, so there’s plenty of time to enjoy over 15 different Outdoor Kitchens (also known as booths).
Between all the booths, there are almost 50 NEW dishes this year, so we’re ready to dig in and let you know what’s worth the money — and what’s not.
9AM Arrival
EPCOT opened to everyone at 9AM today, although guests staying in Disney World hotels had the option to enter EPCOT as early as 8:30AM with Early Theme Park Entry.
To visit the festival, you need valid park admission (aka a ticket or an Annual Pass) as well as a park reservation for EPCOT.
Welcome to 💐OPENING DAY💐 of Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival! Follow along with us today as we cover it all!#DisneyParks #FlowerandGarden pic.twitter.com/L9NRcFdOEs
— MickeyBlog.com (@MickeyBlog_) March 1, 2023
Now that we’re in EPCOT, let’s get started!
Festival Passport
The Festival Passport is a free guide to the festival, and we highly recommend picking one up. It includes everything you need to know about the food, entertainment, scavenger hunts (we’ll get into that soon), and more.
Festival Passports are located all over the park, including at food booths.
See more photos of the 2023 Festival Passport here!
Crowds
We typically expect to see higher crowds on the first day of an EPCOT festival, and today was no exception.
This is to be expected, however, and it honestly wasn’t the worst we’ve seen it. Let’s head to Creations Shop to check out all the new merchandise!
See more photos of the festival crowds here!
Merchandise
The best place to visit for EPCOT festival merchandise is Creations Shop, where we found all kinds of goodies, like these new Orange Bird Ears…
…these Snow White Festival Ears…
…this new Orange Bird Loungefly Backpack…
…and even Flower & Garden Festival Crocs!
Click below to see a FULL LIST of all the 2023 merchandise!
Click here to see ALL the Flower & Garden Festival merchandise!
Topiaries
A key feature of the Flower & Garden Festival is all the topiaries you can find around EPCOT, like this butterfly topiary.
The new Encanto topiaries are a standout this year, featuring the three Madrigal sisters (Luisa, Mirabel, and Isabela) as well as their young cousin Antonio.
We’ve also seen topiaries inspired by Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Frozen, and more!
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Make sure you stop and smell the roses (literally) if you visit EPCOT during the festival.
See more photos of the ‘Encanto’ topiaries here!
Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration
If you’re looking for another fun twist during your EPCOT festival adventure, you can buy a map for Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration from select locations in EPCOT, including Port of Entry, Pin Traders, and World Traveler.
Each map costs $9.99, and you can redeem it (completed or not) for a special prize at locations such as Disney Traders, Gateway Gifts, and World Traveler.
It’s not an Epcot festival without a scavenger hunt!! #epcot #flowerandgarden #disneyworld pic.twitter.com/tuHx9wgFQR
— MickeyBlog.com (@MickeyBlog_) March 1, 2023
The map includes hints about where you can find Spike the Bee, who is hidden around EPCOT.
On the back of the map are stickers you can place on the map, designating where you found each version of Spike!
You have until July 5th to redeem your map for a prize and you don’t have to fully complete it to get your prize, so keep that in mind during your visit.
Butterfly Landing
If you enjoy butterflies, you can enter Butterfly Landing to see butterflies flying around and in varying stages of their life cycle. If you’re lucky, a butterfly might land on you!
Butterfly 🦋 Landing for Epcot’s Flower and Garden 🪴 #disneyworld #epcot #flowerandgardenfestival pic.twitter.com/5sTaUA2PSq
— MickeyBlog.com (@MickeyBlog_) March 1, 2023
You can find Butterfly Landing not far from the Land Pavilion.
Food & Drinks
Among the 15+ booths and dining locations we visited today, here are our favorite dishes!
The Creamy Shrimp Udon…
…and the Nidori Dragon Fruit Sake Cocktail from Hanami in Japan.
We also loved the Chicken and Waffles from The Honey Bee-stro…
…the Orange Blossom Saffron Cake from Tangierine Cafe…
…the Bananas Foster Bread Pudding from Magnolia Terrace…
…Whisky Maple Chocolate Cake from Northern Bloom…
…Spice Cake from Farmers Feast…
…and the Grilled Street Corn on the Cob…
…and the Blackened Fish Slider from Florida Fresh.
Garden Graze
You can find the Garden Graze challenge in your festival passport. If you purchase six out of ten eligible dishes around the festival, you can earn a special treat!
You win a mango lime Dole Whip-like dessert from Pineapple Promenade. We found it sour, but we really enjoyed it!
We also received a wildflower mix of seeds, which will be fun to take home and plant.
Keep following MickeyBlog for more Flower & Garden news over the next few days!