You might say I’ve got a big “Reputation” for loving EPCOT’s International Flower & Garden Festival. Honestly, EPCOT should look this beautiful year-round and the weather this time of year is perfection. I LOVE the first day of the festival food reviews and seeing what all is new but usually my second visit is when I get to savor all my favorites.
“Let the games begin” for Hannah’s version of Flower & Garden… “are you ready for it?”
Flower & Garden usually offers a version of a honey cheesecake but this year it’s at Swirled Showcase and is a Liquid Nitro Honey Mascarpone Cheesecake for $5.25. This is hands-down my favorite sweet treat of the festival. It’s served with fresh blueberry compote and basically tastes like you’re eating the most delicious whipped cream cheese.
Also at Swirled Showcase is the new peanut butter soft serve for $6.50. You can get it swirled with grape soft serve for a classic PB&J taste, but I like peanut butter too much to mess with a good thing. This soft serve was delicious and perfect on a warm day. It does melt quickly so don’t waste time taking a picture like I did!
Next I decided I should eat something other than dessert and headed over to the Trowel & Trellis booth for the IMPOSSIBLE Farmhouse Meatball. The “meatball” is served on lentil bread with spinach, marinated vegetables, and creamy herb aïoli for $6. Listen, I’m not a vegetarian, but this was so flavorful and undeniably delicious. I really wanted to order two of these and will definitely be getting it again on my next visit.
When in Mexico, order a margarita! At Jardin de Fiestas you can select from two Flower & Garden margaritas – when I saw the Lychee Margarita for $14.50 I knew I had to have it. I first formed a love of lychee while at Aulani and never looked back. While not a full serving, it’s a few dollars less than my usual from La Cava, and it was well worth it. It had a strong, fresh lychee taste while also still being able to taste the tequila.
I somehow made it all the way to Germany before my next snack adventure! At The Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market booth, I had to get the Toasted Pretzel Bread topped with black forest ham and melted cheese for $6. I’ve had this item before and I will warn you sometimes it can be hit or miss but this time it was an absolute hit! The pretzel was soft, and it was loaded with ham and cheese.
Being a mom is all about balance, right? So while Owen enjoyed the model trains in Germany, I cooled down with a full pour of German beer. Just because you’re going to an EPCOT festival doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your usuals. Prost!
In my opinion, Flower & Garden is most beautiful during the day when you can truly enjoy the detail of the topiaries and the bright colors of the flowers, but there are some that really shine at night. Pun intended! I of course had to get a quick picture of my girl Tiana – can’t wait to see more of her at Magic Kingdom this year!
To end my EPCOT day, I visited one of my go-to festival booths, Fleur de Lys in France. This booth is always on my list for two reasons – cheese and martinis. The Croissant au Fromage de Chevre, Herbes et Ail Rotie is a croissant loaded with goat cheese and garlic for $6.95. The warm goat cheese is *chef’s kiss* and add it to a buttery croissant, you cannot go wrong. “In the middle of the night, in my dreams”… I’ll be thinking about this cheese.
Last but never least, did you even go to Flower & Garden if you didn’t get the La Vie en Rose Frozen Slush?? Made with vodka, Grey Goose L ‘Orange Vodka, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, and white and red cranberry juice, this $14.50 cocktail is light and refreshing.
“Is it cool that I said all that?” Let me know what else should be part of my version of the fest!
Hannah Anderson is a Dreams Unlimited Travel Agent, DIS Contributor, former Disney Cast Member, and Orlando local. Mostly importantly, she is a mom and loves spending time in the Disney Parks each week with her family.
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