Kids Guide to the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

While the festival may sound like it’s more geared for adults, there are actually some pretty cool experiences for kids. Here’s our guide for making the most of the festival with your kids.

While the whole park is in bloom, the festival has created a few specially themed gardens to teach Guests about nature, conservation and ways they can celebrate Mother Nature in their own backyard.

Discover purple martins, small migratory songbirds that have traveled an incredible 3,000 miles from Brazilian Amazon to raise their families at Walt Disney World.

Easily my favorite part of the festival each year, Butterflies on the Go is a walk through exhibit featuring thousands of butterflies. Here you’ll learn the migratory patterns of the Monarch butterfly and enjoy the experience of seeing butterflies emerge from their chrysalises. This area also makes for a wonderful photo opportunity.

Celebrate the 100th birthday of America’s National Parks. Do you know where your closest National Park is? Take a photo with Ranger Mickey and Find your Park with the National Park Foundation and the National Park Service.

See how you can create a wildlife-friendly space in your backyard.

Explore how kids can create gardens that help their school yards filter water, provide wildlife habitats, and improve soil.

 

Give your kids (and feet) a rest by visiting the festival’s themed play areas. Designed exclusively for little ones, they’re great opportunities to explore, run and play.

 

In this play area, kids will learn how desert plants are able to “beat the heat” at a dry garden featuring a special play area. They’ll also be able to see life sized topiaries of their favorite Disney/Pixar’s Cars characters including Lighting McQueen and Mater.

 

Let your kids discover the “roots” of their favorite instruments in this new musical play area and garden. They’ll have a blast playing melodies and jamming to their favorite beats.

 

Kids will love searching Epcot for these one of a kind topiaries. On page two of the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival Garden Passport you’ll find a list of all the can’t miss topiaries. These living sculptures created just for the festival by world-class horticulturalists feature some of kid’s favorite characters.

 

Be sure to check out Anna and Elsa in Norway and Snow White an all Seven Dwarfs in Germany. The flower symbol on the guide map will tell you where the topiaries can be found.

Our family uses vacations as the perfect time to try new foods. Look at the Outdoor Kitchen menus ahead of time and let your kids pick out one item they’d like to try. You do the same. We did this for Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival.

 

It worked great! Now Bella likes Baklava, which is something she may not have tried normally. You never know which flavors they actually might like.

From new tastes to new learning experiences to communicating with nature, this year’s Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival is sure to have your little ones excited and amazed.