The 2022 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival officially kicked off a week ago at Walt Disney World. But as you know, last week Eliot and I were busy playing at Disneyland. However, I didn't want this occasion to pass without acknowledging it.
The Flower and Garden Festival is one of my favorite times to visit Epcot. It's my 2nd favorite festival, after the Festival of the Arts! The last time Eliot and I were at WDW during the Flower and Garden festival, it was back in April of 2018. While it's only been four years, it feels like forever ago now. I've been feeling a little bit nostalgic for it, so I thought that I'd write a few posts about the Flower and Garden Festival. (Check back tomorrow and Saturday for a few more fun posts!)
My favorite part of the Flower and Garden Festival are the character topiaries. I have been mesmerized by Disney's topiaries since I was a child. I remember being in awe of the rotating Mickey and Minnie topiaries at the Transportation and Ticket Center. (I have lots of photos of those somewhere.) I always took pictures of the Mickey and Minnie topiaries at the Magic Kingdom. Through the years, Disney's topiaries have become more abundant, easier to find, and the details have gotten insanely accurate!
Today, I thought I'd share some photos of my favorite topiaries that we've spotted during our visits to the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival!
Wedding Planning Trip- April 2012
This was a crazy busy trip since we had a bunch of appointments that week to plan our Disney wedding. It was also super hot and humid the entire time we were there, so we weren't in the parks that much during the day. I don't have any photos of the topiaries from my own camera, but I do have some from our Photopass package. Of course, I have to start my tour out with my main mice: Mickey and Minnie!!!
I love this topiary of Aurora dancing with Prince Phillip.
We also found Bambi, Thumper and Flower.
Belle and Beast greeted visitors to the France Pavilion.
Cinderella and Prince Charming danced opposite Aurora and Phillip.
The main entrance was decorated with Sorcerer Mickey and a variety of characters from Disney's Fantasia. I love this image of Spaceship Earth and the monorail!
Lady and Tramp greeted visitors over in Italy.
Peter Pan was chased by Captain Hook and Tick Tock.
Here's another view of Sorcerer Mickey from Fantasia.
I love this Tinker Bell topiary!
Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen were in Japan.
Finally, Woody and Buzz were in the American Pavilion!
Honeymoon Trip- March 2013
If the photos from our wedding planning trip were the most gorgeous, these ones are the most hideous. Back in early 2013, I was still just taking photos for memories and not to have them look nice. (These were taken less than 2 months before I started my blog!) The photo angles in a few are awful, but some of these topiaries aren't shown today, so you get to see my terrible photos anyways! Let's start with a good one!
Belle and Beast were in France again this year.
Cinderella and Prince Charming were still dancing. I was really happy that they were near the entrance to where we had our desert party in the France Pavilion!
I really like this photo the I took of Lady and Tramp in Italy!
Here's a not so great photo of the Lion King topiaries at nighttime.
Lotso was hanging out in the American Pavilion.
Here's a photo of me posing with Cogsworth and Lumiere. If you look closely, you can just make out Mrs. Potts and Chip in the background behind Lumiere.
The entrance to the World Showcase had a large Monsters University display.
My favorite part was the gate with Mike and Sulley! I wish I'd gotten a better photo!
Eliot and I were also excited to see Phineas and Ferb; we loved that show! If you look closely, you can see Agent P (aka Perry the Platypus) peaking out behind the fence!
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were outside of Germany.
Tinker Bell was joined by her sister Periwinkle near the butterflies.
This is a terrible angle of the Winnie the Pooh characters in the United Kingdom. You can't really see Pooh well, but Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit and Tigger are all there!
Finally, Woody was hanging out at the American Pavilion again this year!
April Vacation- April 2018
This most recent trip, Epcot had a ton of topiaries on display. In fact, a lot of the countries had some that weren't Disney characters. Eliot and I saw so many this trip!
This was the first festival that Eliot and I saw Anna and Elsa topiaries in Norway.
Norway had a little troll in their pavilion as well.
I believe Bambi, Thumper and Flower were located in Canada this year.
As usual, Belle and the Beast anchored the France Pavilion.
The entrance to the World Showcase had a beautiful display of butterfly topiaries!
Captain Hook and Peter Pan were located in the United Kingdom.
China had a few different topiaries. First, I saw a giant dragon.
The China Pavilion also had these cute panda topiaries.
Aren't they all super cute?!?!?
Daisy was located with Chip and Dale and some bright flowers.
Here's a close up of the Chip topiary...
And here's a closer view of Dale!
Donald and his nephews were all located together in Future World.
This year, they added Cruz Ramirez to the collection.
She was located near Test Track with Lightning McQueen.
Eliot and I also took this opportunity to take photos with our new Topiary Mouse Ears and the Lightning McQueen topiary! I really love how these ears turned out!
We also had to take a few photos with our donkeys and the Eeyore topiary.
The Tigger topiary was also located nearby.
This year, I finally got a good photo of the Winnie the Pooh topiary with his balloon.
I also got a better photo of Rabbit with his carrots.
The Figment topiary is always a favorite of ours!
I also love how Disney lights the topiaries up at nighttime! They're so magical.
Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy were all at the main entrance of Epcot.
Rafiki was holding Simba along with two lions.
Here's a better view of Rafiki lifting Simba.
Timon and Pumbaa were located nearby.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were hanging out in Germany again.
Stitch was outside of the Electric Umbrella quick service restaurant in Future World.
Finally, Tinker Bell was surrounded by flowers in the United Kingdom Pavilion.
And there you have it! It's amazing to see how much the topiaries have changed through the years and how much more detailed they are today!
I hope you enjoyed my photo tour of the topiaries Eliot and I have seen at the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival. There are so many new ones that I've spotted in photos online since we went in 2018. I'm dying to go back to visit during the festival so we can see the new ones in person! Which is your favorite topiary? °o°
