Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival Arriving as Epcot International Festival of the Arts Comes to an End

Hi everyone!

Two weeks ago, the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival started taking shape as the first flower quilt was planted. Soon, topiaries started popping up around World Showcase and more will arrive around the park until opening day, February 28th, 2018. (This is our 12th year covering the Festival, see my article “13 Tips to Enjoy the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival 2017”  – I should be posting a new tips article on March 1st!) At the same time as the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival has been filling in, the Epcot International Festival of the Arts was winding down after a six week run in its second year. Here are some photos from the past week, with topiaries so far added and from the last evening of the Epcot International Festival of the Arts.

The first planting of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival flower quilt is heavy on yellows and purples. There will be at least one more planting as we move out of winter and head more into spring.

This is my favorite time of year at Walt Disney World, not only to take photos but just to enjoy the beauty of Epcot. The Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival runs a full three months through May 28th, and I always feel we get nearly an extra month of the festival as flowers are planted weeks ahead and topiaries begin two to three weeks ahead. With Presidents Day weekend and the Epcot Festival of the Arts ending, there wasn’t a lot happening on the topiary front this past weekend but I expect that to amp up this week and we will be there Thursday for more photos.

Captain Hook is with Peter Pan now on the ground near the Rose and  Crown. Peter Pan has been higher above guests for the last number of years.

Peter Pan does not yet have any sort of face, unlike Captain Hook.

Tinker Bell is in the spot she has occupied for a few years in the United Kingdom, along with fairy houses.

The Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival offers Outdoor Kitchens for purchasing food samples from, and any not being used by the Epcot International Festival of the Arts have signs for the upcoming festival on them.

The Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival Outdoor Kitchen sign.

Over in Norway, Elsa and Anna are back in the spot they occupied last year.

The troll is back as well. He has moved around over the years, but he’s been here for a year or two.

The pandas are also back in their location in China.

There are three pandas here.

The smallest one is hardest to see.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are in the spot they’ve been in for the last few years.

Over the years, they have been elsewhere too, but this is a nice location with the World Showcase Lagoon and Spaceship Earth in view.

Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey are the last four dwarfs.

Dopey with his lantern and Spaceship Earth in the background.

A few days ago, I visited during a morning with thick fog – I will have photos of that this week from Epcot and around the BoardWalk. This photo was taken at that time, before World Showcase officially opened and actually a few minutes before the park officially opened. The teacups in the United Kingdom Tea Garden were out, but signs were not yet up.

The Shakespeare Garden has the statue, and it looked like the garden itself was still needing to be filled in.

Flower planters can be found now on the way to World Showcase.

Yesterday the Mickey head that had been here was gone, with the ground being prepped for the festival.

While that was happening, we were enjoying the last evening of Epcot International Festival of the Arts. Something I had not noticed until a few days ago is that he was wearing a festival collar. We are seeing more of that at festivals now.

The former Universe of Energy has made a great location for artwork. This mural is the last one that was paint-by-number by guests, with Figment welcoming the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.

A monorail passed by.

I will miss the chalk art, especially the Disney artwork by artist Leigh. Mickey was the last chalk art character.

And we went to see Josh Strickland and Ashley Brown in the Broadway Concert Series. They were terrific again this year and such a bonus for the festival. They sang songs predominently from Tarzan and Mary Poppins, shows they have both headlined on Broadway.

The Epcot International Festival of the Arts last mural was finished and I held up my Figment postcard. The postcards were a nice takeaway for helping with the mural.

It was a pretty evening in the park.

Here is the finished Mickey Mouse chalk art.

The chalk artists thanked Epcot guests for visiting.

I will have a lot to share from the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival as it leads up to the festival as well as after opening day! Expect my newest tips article on March 1st, 2018.