[Ryan C.]

The 17th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival kicks off March 3 – earlier than ever – and continues for 75 days through May 16, 2010, with bold strokes of seasonal color and brand-new topiary whimsy. Last year’s festival began March 18; now Walt Disney World guests get a head start on the gardening season as they explore exhibits and activities geared toward discovery and outdoor fun.

Even before spring has sprung, Donald Duck and his topiary pals set up camp in full floral color to celebrate the Great Outdoors at the Epcot front entrance. The elaborate topiary with a North American theme, live waterfall and pond features Goofy in a fly-fishing misadventure, Daisy Duck roasting marshmallows over a campfire and Pluto in his “pup tent.” It’s a must-stop photo op for guests as soon as they pass through the park turnstiles. Packing more floral punch this year, the festival showcases more than 100 expertly crafted topiaries -- including a new American Gothic Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.

“The advantage of starting earlier is that we’ll be able to feature more brilliant color than ever, with richly hued petunias, violas, snapdragons and other hardy flowers,” says festival horticulture manager Eric Darden. “By starting earlier and going through mid-May, it allows more guests than ever to experience the festival and to plan ahead for their spring and summer gardening.” New This Year!

Special gardens, events and children’s play areas throughout the park offer more reasons to visit the 17th annual festival:

New Community Garden – Disney’s “fab five” topiary pals – Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy – gather at American Adventure to tend tomatoes, beans, peppers, herbs and other edibles in their first Community Garden for a salute to the many community gardens being planted across the country.

Newly Expanded Pixie Hollow Fairy Garden – Colorful topiaries of Tinker Bell and friends from Walt Disney Pictures’ latest DVD release “Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure” will sprinkle pixie dust over this playful, expanded garden for kids. New characters on display with returning fairy favorites are fast-flying, sharp-tongued Vidia and charming Terence, dispenser of pixie dust. Tinker Bell’s Nook has hands-on activities. In a synergistic turn, the “Lost Treasure” DVD includes a bonus feature on “The Making of the Fairy Garden,” featuring Disney cast members who designed and built Pixie Hollow, along with the movie’s producer and director, who helped plan the garden.

Fawn’s Butterfly House at Pixie Hollow – Formerly known as Minnie’s Magnificent Butterfly House, the butterfly garden this year is part of the Expanded Pixie Hollow and named after fairy Fawn from the popular Tinker Bell films. Hundreds of butterflies will flit among the lush foliage, and guests can wander and watch as winged beauties of multiple species light on flowers filled with nectar and as caterpillars emerge from their chrysalis in a special discovery exhibit.

First-Ever American Gothic Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse – Topiary experts pull out all the stops to create an American Gothic Mickey and Minnie topiary scene based on the 1930 Grant Wood painting. At World Showcase Plaza.


Throughout the festival, more than 100 topiaries plus sweeping floral beds and exhibits will decorate the park landscape and showcase the extraordinary craftsmanship of Disney gardeners. A Fragrance Garden at the France pavilion will tell the “love story” of plants and perfume, and the art of bonsai will “wow” guests at the Japan showcase.

Festival highlights also include:

·Flower Power concerts – Popular bands will rock the open-air America Gardens Theatre every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 5:15, 6:30 and 7:45 p.m. Jose Feliciano is scheduled to kick off the concert series March 5-7. On subsequent weekends, the lineup is slated to feature pop favorites like Davy Jones, Chubby Checker & The Wildcats, Tony Orlando, former Boston lead singer Fran Cosmo, and other top acts.

·Disney Gardening at Home presentations – Disney horticulturists will share gardening tips and lead guests in a hands-on, take-home activity.

·The Great American Gardeners series – Gardening celebrities and authors from across the country will reveal their gardening secrets. Opening weekend, Robert Bowden, author and director of lush Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando, kicks off the series.

·The Garden Town Festival Center – Guests can shop for festival merchandise, attend speaker presentations and demonstrations and ask gardening questions of the experts.

·Special Festival Celebrations – An Art in the Garden celebration of plein air artists is scheduled March 26-28; a Florida Farmer’s Market celebration is April 23-25, and the popular I Dig Bugs event is set for April 30-May 2.

More information about the 17th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is available by calling 407/W-DISNEY (934-7639) or by visiting disneyworld.com/flower. The festival, including all gardening programs and exhibits, is included in regular Epcot admission.

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[Rockerchick84]

i love it thanx for shareing

[Mickey Crazy]

Fun Facts Bloom Across 305 Acres of 17th Annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Thirty million blooms, half a million plants, 60 tons of topiary and 600 butterflies add up to a wonderful world of theme park color at the 17th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, March 3-May 16 at Walt Disney World Resort. Among this year’s fun festival facts:

30 million blooms blanket the park throughout the festival, which runs 75 colorful days.

More than 100 topiaries displayed throughout the park add up to 60 tons of plant materials.

More than 70 Disney character topiaries represent the largest collection of Disney character topiary in the world and include classic film stars like Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Cinderella and Tinker Bell.

At 14 feet tall, Goofy is the tallest character topiary ever created.

600 native butterflies, more than ever before, represent up to 10 species at Fawn’s Butterfly House, a gazebo-type screened enclosure filled with lush plants where guests can view the colorful butterflies. Among the garden’s two dozen nectar plants are Cape Royal plumbago, passion flower, coral honeysuckle, blazing star, butterfly bush, scarlet milkweed and canna lily.

More than 500,000 plants, trees and shrubs are planted for the festival; 250,000 of those are annual blossoms installed for the festival.

Festival plants include 60 different species of trees, 47 types of palms, and 48 varieties of bedding plants.

At least 25 different plants, grasses and mosses of various colors, including pink and red begonias, dusty miller, palm fiber, palm seeds, ficus and lichen, are used to create and define features of the festival topiaries. More color has been added to the topiaries than in any previous topiary presentation.

More than 15 floral, herbal and spice ingredients of 10 popular perfumes are revealed in the Fragrance Garden presented by Guerlain at the France pavilion. Guests can sniff the enduring fragrance Shalimar to discover botanical notes that include lemon, Arabian jasmine and vanilla. Some components of nine other Guerlain fragrances include mimosa, magnolia, rose, nutmeg and vetivergrass.

198 hands-on gardening demonstrations and seminars will be presented.

Forty-four “flower towers” of impatiens line Innoventions Plaza.

120 floating mini-gardens, each three feet in diameter, of multi-hued impatiens provide splashes of color on two ponds that border the walkway between Future World and World Showcase.

700 container gardens of flowers, herbs, plants and vegetables in clay pots, barrels and urns enhance the landscape throughout Epcot.

600 Walt Disney World horticulturists are needed to install the festival landscape, topiaries and many exhibits; 100 Epcot horticulturists maintain topiaries and other festival displays.

It takes more than one full year and about 24,000 cast member hours to prepare for the annual festival.

The festival’s weekend Flower Power concert series includes 11 artists and groups with 126 Top 40 hits, including 16 No. 1 songs. This year’s musical hit-makers from the 1960s and '70s include Jose Feliciano, Paul Revere & The Raiders, David Cassidy, Starship featuring Mickey Thomas, Tony Orlando, Herman’s Hermits Starring Peter Noone, Ricky Nelson Remembered Featuring the Nelsons, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Fran Cosmo, Davy Jones, and Chubby Checker & The Wildcats.

[Shadow Jedi Rhy]

I had a chance to go for a few hours tonight, it was as amazing as ever. It really helps the park take on a slightly different feel (kind of like Food and Wine).