More details announced for this year's Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

Jan 29, 2016 in "Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival"

Posted: Friday January 29, 2016 4:19pm EST by WDWMAGIC Staff

Two new Outdoor Kitchens will join this year's Epcot Interntational Flower and Garden Festival - La Isla Fresca and Cider House, bringing the total to 13 kiosks.

Epcot's 2016 International Flower and Garden Festival will begin on March 2 running through to May 30 2016 - up from 75 days to 90.


At La Isla Fresca you will find Jamaican Braised Beef with Pigeon-Pea Rice and Jerk-Spiced Grouper or Chicken with Mango Salsa. At the new Cider House, a Field Greens salad with greens harvested from The Land pavilion, heirloom apples, Stilton cheese and dried blueberries will pair well with a blueberry hard cider from Plant City, Fla

A new Harmony Gardens musical playground with interactive drums and instruments will let children create music as they play on the playground.

Also new for 2016 is Fun Fresh Weekends that will bring specially themed weekends during the festival.

Here is the full line-up for this year's festival.

  • New culinary creations at the festival’s Outdoor Kitchens will take guests on a Caribbean tour at La Isla Fresca with flavors like Jamaican Braised Beef with Pigeon-Pea Rice and Jerk-Spiced Grouper or Chicken with Mango Salsa. At the new Cider House, a Field Greens salad with greens harvested from The Land pavilion, heirloom apples, Stilton cheese and dried blueberries will pair well with a blueberry hard cider from Plant City, Fla. Dozens of new food and beverage flavors will debut, as well, at the festival’s 11 other Outdoor Kitchens: Urban Farm Eats, Pineapple Promenade, Fleur de Lys, Florida Fresh, Taste of Marrakesh, Hanami, THE SMOKEHOUSE: Barbecue and Brews, Primavera Kitchen, Lotus House, Bauernmarkt and Jardin de Fiestas.
  • The first-ever Huey, Dewey and Louie topiaries will feature floral interpretations of Donald’s nephews inspired by a 1943 Donald Duck comic book called “The Victory Garden” at the Epcot front-entrance garden display with Donald and Daisy.
    A new hands-on Harmony Gardens musical playground will debut featuring Disney’s Fab Five topiaries of “band leader” Mickey Mouse plus Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck topiaries. With the playground’s interactive drums, chimes and xylophones, children can create their own musical sounds when they’re not scampering across innovative outdoor climbing systems with safe, but challenging, net-based structures. Watch for music-themed plants that add harmony to this inspired play area. The popular Cactus Road Rally play garden returns with Disney-Pixar topiary pals Mater and Lightning McQueen from the hit film, “Cars.”

  • Fun Fresh Weekends add novel dimension to daily festival fun: April 1-3 — Art in the Garden Weekend spotlights nature through the works of plein air artists; April 8-10 – The new Family Fun Weekend presents outdoor activities for everyone to enjoy and a Festival Center focus on bugs with Disney’s Animal Kingdom specialists; April 22-24 – Earth Day Weekend celebrates our planet with special appearances and activities; and April 29-May 1—Florida Fresh Weekend features the state’s edible bounty from Apalachicola to Zellwood.

  • On the south side of Spaceship Earth, Disney gardeners will paint the landscape with a Floral Sun garden and yellow “sunbursts” will sprout in a new Future World topiary garden featuring Minnie Mouse and Pluto.

  • The Ranger Mickey topiary garden in Future World will offer a guest selfie and family photo opportunity featuring a Spaceship Earth backdrop to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service launched in 1916 to conserve the country’s natural scenic treasures.

  • Anna and Elsa topiaries will travel to the Norway pavilion festival landscape following their 2015 debut along World Showcase Plaza in a scene from the blockbuster Oscar-winning animated film, “Frozen.” Nearly 100 topiary characters, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Lady and the Tramp, Simba and Peter Pan, will animate the Epcot landscape surrounded by themed gardens featuring herbs, peppers, orchids and more.

  • By night, twinkling lights will shine across festival gardens and topiaries.

  • The Garden Rocks concert series will present pop bands with music spanning four decades. This year’s lineup kicks off March 4-6 with The Orchestra starring former members of ELO and will also include new-to-the-festival acts like Bad Company.

  • A new edible flower garden by The Land pavilion will showcase petals with flavor.

  • The Butterflies on the Go garden will return with the story of the Monarch’s epic journey across the continent and featuring butterflies emerging from their chrysalises.

  • Each weekend at the Festival Center, guests can dig in for a complimentary hands-on Gardening Seminar experience and create a take-home souvenir or grab a seat to hear tips from experts on a broad range of topics. The center also offers signature festival merchandise, food and beverages.

  • Forty 8-to-9-foot-tall Disney-crafted “flower towers” and sweeping beds of multi-colored blooms will add to the floral splendor of the park’s landscape. At least 70,000 bedding plants will surround the Future World east and west lakes alone; on the water, more than 200 mini-gardens will be set afloat.

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wannabeBelleMar 28, 2016

And are playing tonight at House of Blues!!! Marie

wdwmagicMar 10, 2016

That is for Food and Wine. I don't believe it has ever been done during Flower and Garden.

MrHappyMar 09, 2016

Is the Disney Visa Chase lounge back in 2016 at the America pavilion? I didn't check it out last year when I was there, but I'll be going with the kiddies (2.5 & 4.5) this May so I'm thinking this could be a nice spot to regroup in.

Figment82Mar 09, 2016

And the colors they chose are questionable. I'm sure they were trying to make Tramp look grey, but he is more sickly blue. And Ranger Mickey looks like he's been out in the sun all day. I wasn't a fan of what I saw this weekend. For the last few years they've tried to tout the special lighting packages, but I've yet to see any that actually looked that nice.

ToTBellHopMar 09, 2016

I had high hopes given Disney's use of lighting elsewhere. That's really too bad.

wdwmagicMar 09, 2016

They also suffer from spotlight hotspots, so parts of them are extremely bright, and parts unlit. It really isn't done very well unfortunately. Definitely an after thought, and not a priority of the display.

ToTBellHopMar 09, 2016

What a let-down. Thanks.

wdwmagicMar 09, 2016

Not impressive, just a couple of led uplights at the base if the topiaries. They look far better during daytime.

ToTBellHopMar 09, 2016

Why haven't there been any nighttime pics of the new twinkling lights added? Surely it's impressive?

Horizons '83Mar 04, 2016

What beautiful pictures! What kind of lens did you use?

StellajackMar 04, 2016

Steve, thanks for these incredible pictures! I'm looking forward to F&G again, and also the beef brisket at the Smokehouse Outdoor kitchen!

wdwmagicMar 03, 2016

No problem, have a great time!

The_JobuMar 03, 2016

Thanks very much. Haven't been to EPCOT in about 15 years, really looking forward to this.