Epcot's Flower Show

During late March, while we were at Disney World (did you think I might forget to come back and blog about our trip?), Epcot was holding an International Flower & Garden Festival presented by HGTV. In fact, it's still going on and is scheduled to run through until May 20th. The Boy™ had to travel down to Orlando for a work conference during the first week of March when they were first setting it up and was at Epcot the day it started. We arrived with the band about 3 weeks later, and it amazed him to see the difference that those 3 weeks made with the flowers. Also, there were displays set up at Epcot that hadn't been there when he was. According to the brochure that I picked up, because yes, I am that tourist, this is the 19th year that they have done it. The festival runs for 75 days and showcases more than 100 topiaries, including more than 75 Disney characters. On Saturdays they have the "Flower Power" concert series, and this weekend Herman's Hermit's will be there performing "I'm Henry the VII, I Am". LOVE THAT!

Future World had some of the Classic Disney Characters, such as Peter Pan, Donald Duck, Mickey and Minnie. Plus there was a Butterfly Garden that had a huge butterfly topiary along with Bambi and all his friends outside of it. Across the way was the Fairy garden where Tinkerbell and her friends hung out, which of course we walked through and enjoyed. Well, except for my allergies. I should note that I suffered miserably the entire time we were in Florida. I don't know if it was all the foliage in all the parks or what (although I did do a bit better in Universal's Island of Adventure, where there was less foliage).. but I was a mess every day. Runny eyes, sneezy, stuffy, the whole bit. OK, moving on. The World Showcase had Character Topiaries to match the country. The UK featured Winnie the Pooh. Lady and the Tramp were hanging out in Italy. Beauty and the Beast resided in France. As you walked across the bridge to go around from one country to another, in a bit of a "lull" area, you were graced with dancing princess and princes. It was fabulous. I have tons of photos of topiaireis.

We only spent half a day at Epcot, which in my opinion is not long enough. We spent the first half of that day at Animal Kingdom, which wasn't enough time there either. However, when you travel with the Band, you have to work on their schedule, and it was what it was. I would have loved a whole day at Epcot. There were so many more things I wanted to do and see. We did a rush tour of Future World while the kids were in their Workshop with the Disney Recording Studio, and then afterwards we did a whirlwind tour of the World Showcase so that we could get to all the countries before dark. We did meet our goal, but like I said, it wasn't enough time. We did however get a chance to go out to lunch by ourselves that day. Because of the timing of when we got there, and where we were coming into the park, we decided to go to lunch at the Coral Reef Restaurant in The Seas, in Future World. It was a really neat place that has a huge fish tank down along one wall, and you can watch the fish as you eat. It reminds me of the big center tank at the Boston Aquarium if you've ever been there. Because it was just the two of us, and the small tables are down front, we had prime time seating. I had some wonderful Rainbow Trout with a warm salad of arugula and white beans and grape tomatoes that was out of this world, and I can't say enough good things about how well the chefs at Disney handle food allergies, but that is a post for another day.