For spring break this year I was lucky enough to take a trip to Orlando, Florida for a family vacation. For a whole week we went to all the different parks in the Walt Disney World Resort. A highlight of this trip was the annual EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival 2022. This year the festival will run from March 2 to July 4.
This lovely springtime festival allows visitors to view beautifully made gardens and Disney themed topiaries, along with amazing food and drinks from around the world. While nearly impossible to try everything that is offered, my family and I were able to try many different options during our trip.
My absolute favorite food from the festival was the Tostada de Chorizo made with plant based chorizo. The dish also included black beans, avocado mousse, and queso fresco on a corn tortilla. As someone who is beginning to go plant based/vegetarian, I was excited to see and try a plant based dish that tasted so good.
The festival has many plant based options, and some of them are made with Impossible brand “meat.” One of these Impossible dishes we tried was the Boneless Impossible Korean Short Ribs. This came with cilantro-lime rice, Danmuji slaw, and kimchi mayonnaise.
A meat dish that was particularly good was the Ravioli alla Boscaiola. The ravioli is filled with sweet sausage and comes with spring vegetables all covered in a delicious cream sauce.
One dish that was not very good was the Arepas with melted queso fresco. The actual Arepa was drier than normal and the queso fresco didn’t taste particularly good.
There is also a plethora of desserts available as well. My parents had Bomboloni, which is a cream filled Italian doughnut with raspberry sauce and powdered sugar. This was a great dessert as it was not too heavy in the Florida heat.
There are many drinks (both alcoholic and not) for sale. One alcoholic drink that stood out was the La Vie en Rose Frozen Slushy. This drink was made with Grey Goose L’Orange Vodka, St. Germain Liqueur, and white and red cranberry juice. They gave a very generous amount in each glass, and it was very easy to finish the whole thing, as it didn’t taste super strong.
A non alcoholic drink that I saw both children and adults enjoying was the Froot Loops Shake. It tasted exactly what it’s named after and was topped with Fruit Loop cereal. Another non alcoholic drink was the Maple Popcorn Shake topped with maple popcorn. It was essentially a sweeter vanilla shake, but was refreshing after a long, hot day.
My absolute personal favorite drink, however, was the Strawberry Fields Refresher by Joffrey’s Coffee and Tea Company. It is available as non alcoholic and alcoholic. It is made with strawberry acai juice with strawberries and blueberries. As a Beatles fan, as soon as I saw a sign for a drink named after one of their most famous songs, I had to try it. It was easily the best drink I tried and was the most refreshing after walking through the Florida heat and humidity all day.
That barely scratches the surface for all the food and drinks we tried, but the Flower and Garden Festival would not be what it is without flowers and gardens! All throughout EPCOT, there are gorgeous topiaries of iconic Disney characters and giant butterflies.
There was also a butterfly house with many different flowers and tons of butterflies flying around.
The festival is also interactive. As with almost every other EPCOT festival, there is a $10 scavenger hunt visitors can try to complete. This year was Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration 2022. Little figurines of Spike the Bee are hidden near or in different gardens throughout the whole park with a different plant at each one. The goal is to find those plants and bees and place a sticker on the map for that location.
Once completed, you can hand in your map to obtain a special prize. The prize is not told before you buy the map, and it’s fun to see what you will get once you finish. However, you are able to get the prize before completing the hunt. Since you paid in advance, you can also hand in the map without the stickers in the correct spots, but it’s much more fun to actually try to find Spike and his plants.
The EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival is my favorite festival EPCOT hosts, and I was so lucky to have been able to attend it this year. I can’t wait to go back again to see what they decide to keep, and what they will change next time!
