11 Things You Don’t Want to Miss at the 2025 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival

Spring is already here at Walt Disney World, and EPCOT is blooming to life with vibrant floral color, lush gardens, and over 60 topiaries of favorite Disney characters at the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival, which runs now through June 2, 2025. Celebrating 30 years of horticultural magic, the festival has blossomed from a seedling idea into a vibrant garden of experiences for all to enjoy. Learn more about this year’s festival, including the # things you don’t want to miss!

1 – New! Moana-Themed Topiary at the Main Entrance

Once again, Disney horticulture cast members have created a spectacular array of topiaries featuring myriad Disney characters, seasonal displays, and whimsical items. A new topiary display at the main entrance featuring Maui, Moana, Heihei, and Pua will wow guests as they enter the park. The Maui topiary is very large and includes his very impressive body tattoos. This is definitely a place where you want to snap a photo as you enter the park.

2 – Returning Favorite Topiaries

Returning favorite topiaries include Miguel and Dante from Disney Pixar’s “Coco” in Mexico, Tiana in the American Pavilion, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in Germany, and Woody and Bo Peep near the Imagination Pavilion. Once again, Figment is in the World Celebration Gardens for a perfect photo op.

3 – Gardens to Relish and Enjoy

More than twenty-five garden destinations are found throughout the park, inviting guests to pause as they learn more about the fascinating plant world.

Inspiring displays include Floating Gardens in World Nature, featuring more than 170 petite plots drifting on the serene waters that border the bridge to World Showcase. New this year is the Inside Out 2 Emotion Garden on the walkway between Imagination! Pavilion and World Showcase. In World Showcase, guests can once again enjoy the English Tea Garden presented by Twinings and tours showcasing plants used in some of Twinings’ finest teas. One of my favorites is the Gnome Garden in the Germany pavilion. The festival passport book on pages 6-7 contains a full listing of the garden locations.

4 – New Floral Display in CommuniCore Hall

Guests will get a bee’s eye view at CommuniCore Hall, with a new gallery that is larger than life! Learn more about how Disney’s Horticulture team brings topiaries, flower towers, and more to the festival. And, while you’re there, grab a bite to eat at EPCOT Farmers Feast and enjoy the seasonally changing menu!

5 – Outdoor Kitchens Bloom with Flavor

It would not be an EPCOT festival without mouthwatering dishes and drinks to savor. Familiar flavors include Chicken & Waffles at The Honey Bee-stro Hosted by the National Honey Board, the Muffuletta Panini at Magnolia Terrace, and the Chocolate Whisky Cake at Northern Bloom. The Farmers Feast kitchen, found in CommuniCore Hall, features three different sets of menus: Early Bloom (3/5-4/5), Springtime (4/6-5/3), and Summer Solstice (5/4-6/2). These rotating menus allowed the chefs to offer more flavors and dishes for guests to enjoy. Many of the festival dishes’ ingredients are local to Florida, including blueberries, corn, tomatoes, and strawberries.

There are many plant-based items because of the high demand for them. In fact, Disney Chefs shared with us that all of the items in the Garden Graze Food Stroll (see #6) are plant-based, yet they taste so good that many guests don’t realize they are plant-based.

Click here to view all of the menu boards with prices and Disney Dining snack designations.

6 – Garden Graze Food Stroll

A favorite pastime of many is taking part in the Garden Graze, a fun and fresh food stroll highlighting sweet and savory flavors across the festival. To participate, select five dishes from specified menu items – all listed in the Festival Passport. Upon purchase, receive a stamp in your passport. When you collect five stamps, you can bring your passport back to Pineapple Promenade for a special treat. Because the Garden Graze can be completed over multiple visits, you can redeem your completed passport anytime during the festival.

7 – Scavenger Hunts

The whole family can join in the fun at this year’s festival with two seasonal scavenger hunts. Throughout the festival, follow Spike the Bee on his pollination trail, where he is “buzzing” to collect nectar from all the beautiful gardens with Spike’s Pollination Exploration. Maps and stickers can be purchased at select merchandise locations (available while supplies last) for $9.99.

For a limited time, guests can also hop around World Showcase for the Egg-stravaganza Hunt! Twelve beautiful bunny-inspired eggs will be placed throughout the park for festivalgoers to find. Maps for both scavenger hunts will be available for purchase while supplies last.

Once their journey is complete – whether or not they find all the items – guests can redeem their map at Disney Traders, Creations Shop, or World Traveler at International Gateway for a special surprise.

8 – Butterfly Landing

Also back this year, Butterfly Landing, presented by AdventHealth, offers guests the chance to get up close and personal with some of nature’s most beautiful pollinators – butterflies. The walkthrough butterfly house highlights the life cycle of butterflies and contains colorful pollinator gardens that may serve as inspiration for budding gardeners looking to cultivate their own pollinator plots.

9 – NEW! – Playalong Bay Play Graden Presented by Smucker’s Uncrustables

A new play area that is sure to be popular is the new Playalong Bay Play Garden presented by Smucker’s Uncrustables. This new nautically inspired playground pays homage to both Disney’s Beach Club and Disney’s Yacht Club Resorts, offering fun and a bit of relaxation for the whole family. The play area is located between the Imagination! pavilion and the entrance to World Showcase. It’s perfectly located between the two new outdoor kitchens with menus full of seafood goodness: Yacht Grub and Beach Grub. These Outdoor Kitchens feature food and beverage items inspired by beach life, like coconuts, sparkling drinks, and light bites.

10 – Groove to the Sounds of Garden Rocks

The Garden Rocks Concert Series will return to the America Gardens Theatre with shows each night at 5:30, 6:45 and 8 p.m. The local bands jam this series Tuesday through Thursdays, while internationally recognized artists perform on Friday through Mondays. This year there are five new rocking artists to the lineup: Queensrÿche, Maverick City Music, The Outlaws, The Cat Empire and We The Kingdom.

To guarantee priority seating for their preferred performances, guests can book Dining Packages available at seven EPCOT restaurants:

• Akershus Royal Banquet Hall
• Biergarten Restaurant
• Coral Reef Restaurant
• Garden Grill Restaurant
• Rose & Crown Dining Room
• Le Cellier Steakhouse
• Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Brews & Barbecue (same-day, in-person walk-up packages only, subject to availability)

Click here for more information, including the full band lineup. Visit this link for information on the pricing and availability of the dining package.

11 – New Festival Merchandise Blossoms

Celebrate a visit to the festival with official event merchandise, available at Festival Markets and Creations Shop while supplies last. Shop from the Orange Bird Collection, Spike the Bee Collection, or the Alice in Wonderland Collection. Passholders will also find an exclusive collection just for them.

Celebrate the festival’s 30th anniversary from head to toe with a matching shirt and shorts set or bright spirit jersey featuring everyone’s favorite citrusy friend, Orange Bird, and the 30th-anniversary logo. Spike the Bee also has a cute garden stake and shoulder plush featured this year that’s sweeter than honey. And curiouser and curiouser, there’s a garden-party-perfect “Alice In Wonderland” collection! Guests can find a butterfly ear headband or take home a teacup set for their own unbirthday party at home.

Mini Festival Gift Cards allow guests to go cash-free for the festival. Activated with as little as $15, they are a convenient way to pay as guests shop and taste their way around the world.

Editor’s Note: Walt Disney World provided us with two complimentary theme park tickets to EPCOT and special media-specific events during our visit. However, as always, the thoughts and opinions contained in this article are entirely our own.