The World Report - May 3, 2002

The World Report
Page 1 of 27

by Stephen Halpin (archives)
May 3, 2002
Steve looks at this year's Flower and Garden Festival.

31488 bytes
This year's logo
Click here for a much larger version of this picture
(640 X 480, 64,990 bytes)

Flower and Garden Festival

100 years of Magic is currently being celebrated at WDW and it stands to reason that the International Flower and Garden Festival would also lean that way in its presentation. From the large movie reel topiary at the entrance of the park to the Beauty and the Beast topiaries in the Outpost near Germany, the park is full of Disney character topiaries and they are, as always, great.

This years Flower and Garden Festival seems a little scaled back from previous years, but once again EPCOT hosts a wonderful Festival that showcases both WDW’s wonderful horticulture department and some incredible music from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. A real good move this year was utilizing the empty area of Innoventions where the Imagineering Virtual Reality attraction used to be housed. Now the artwork and the vendor shops are housed there, as well as a classroom for seminars , that keeps everyone out of the hot Florida spring and makes use of empty space.

There is something for everyone at the festival from the novice gardener to the more experienced pro. Each day several experts from all over the world hold seminars in several locations on many topics. A highlight is the opportunity each week to talk to the geniuses behind Disney Horticulture who dispense their knowledge for you to use at your house. A little Disney at home never hurt anyone.

There are plenty of things for the kids to do from the Storytellers, to ladybug and butterfly releases to a great climbing jungle gym near Germany. There is a Kid Zone in the Festival Center at Innoventions and near Morocco a hands-on activity center where children learn about gardening around the world.

The highlight of the Flower and Garden Festival for me has always been the Flower Power Concerts. This years concert were begun with Davy Jones of the Monkees. His concert was fun and entertaining as he sang his way through personal as well as Monkee hits. He is just one of over 15 artists who will be appearing at the American Gardens theater till June 2 (click for the schedule) when the Festival ends. Sources at EPCOT tell me that as the Flower and Garden Festival end, Journey into Imagination with Figment will reopen. We will just have to wait and see.

Till next time, see you at the parks.

[Editor's Note: Some of the pictures on the following pages were taken at last year's festival. In all cases they've marked as 2001 pictures. In addition to Steve Halpin I'd also like to thank Chris Peters for supplying many of this year's photos.]

  • Page 2
    Davy Jones
  • Page 3
    The Festival Center - Page 1
  • Page 4
    The Festival Center - Page 2
  • Page 5
    The Festival Center - Page 3
  • Page 6
    Future World - Page 1
  • Page 7
    Future World - Page 2
  • Page 8
    Future World - Page 3
  • Page 9
    Future World - Page 4
  • Page 10
    Future World - Page 5
  • Page 11
    Future World - Page 6
  • Page 12
    World Showcase - Mexico & Norway
  • Page 13
    World Showcase - China - Page 1
  • Page 14
    World Showcase - China - Page 2
  • Page 15
    World Showcase - Gardening Around the World - Page 1
  • Page 16
    World Showcase - Gardening Around the World - Page 2
  • Page 17
    World Showcase - Kid's Garden - Page 1
  • Page 18
    World Showcase - Kid's Garden - Page 2
  • Page 19
    World Showcase - Germany - Page 1
  • Page 20
    World Showcase - Germany - Page 2
  • Page 21
    World Showcase - Italy
  • Page 22
    World Showcase - America
  • Page 23
    World Showcase - Japan
  • Page 24
    World Showcase - France
  • Page 25
    World Showcase - France
  • Page 26
    World Showcase - Canada
  • Page 27
    World Showcase - United Kingdom
    Discuss It
    Related Links

Click to discuss this article and the Flower and Garden Festival
on the LaughingPlace.com Discussion Boards