WDW Daily News

Fifteen floral varieties bring to life an artfully crafted topiary scene from the Disney blockbuster film “Frozen” during the 22^nd Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival March 4-May 17, 2015. Thirty million multi-hued blooms, 100-plus whimsical topiaries, nearly 1,000 native butterflies and dozens of new Outdoor Kitchen food and beverage tastes add multi-sensory festival fun to the “Fresh Epcot”-themed Walt Disney World Resort event.

Among this year’s fun festival facts:

• 30 million blooms blanket the park throughout the festival, which runs 75 colorful days.

• Anna and Elsa in full floral splendor appear in a topiary vignette straight from the hit Disney film, “Frozen.” In the World Showcase Plaza scene that’s wired to twinkle by night, Elsa is working her magic to conjure a colorful spring garden. About 15 varieties of flowers are planted, with wintry-cool Arizona Cypress and other silver and white varieties like Gerbera Daisy and Delphinium. Florals including hot pink, red, and orange Gerberas and yellow, blue and yellow Violas, violet Petunias and purple Dianthus blanket the spring transformation. Anna and Elsa topiaries are each about 6-1/2 feet tall and are created with plants that include variegated Ficus, green Ficus and the succulent Sedum Coral Reef. But Elsa will look taller because she’s standing closer to guests than Anna by about 8 feet.

• 11 Outdoor Kitchens include the new Botanas Botànico kitchen and garden featuring sweet and savory food and beverage menu items. More than three dozen brand-new items add tasting fun and variety to the festival. Each marketplace will feature a garden planted with select produce and herbs to represent more than 50 overall beverage choices and more than 30 food items featured.

• The festival’s front-entrance Goofy About Spring topiary scene, inspired by a Walt Disney 1935 short film, “Mickey’s Garden,” includes new Chip and Dale topiaries, plus Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto in a comical gardening scene. More than 15 varieties of flowers, plants, and other garden materials are used to create the scene.

• Mike & Sulley’s Monstrous Garden, a themed playground for children with innovative play systems, is one of the largest festival gardens created at nearly one-third acre. A collection of large, leafy plants including elephant ears, rubber plants, sea grapes, fiddle leaf fig, banana plants and colorful bromeliads and hibiscus create the garden’s “monstrous” ambiance. The garden’s Sulley topiary is one of Disney’s largest, weighing in at 4,300 pounds. About 4,000 small plants fill his 13-foot frame.

• Miss Piggy appears solo as a topiary this year (most divas do) in the Tour de Fleurs garden at Italy. Dozens of additional character topiaries represent the largest collection of Disney character topiary in the world and include Timon and Pumbaa, Cinderella, Belle and Beast, and Phineas and Ferb.

• At least 25 different plants, grasses and mosses of various colors, including pink and red begonias, dusty miller, palm fiber, palm seeds, ficus and lichen, are used to create and define facial and other features of festival character topiaries.

• Nearly 1,000 native butterflies represent up to 10 species at the expansive Butterflies on the Go butterfly house presented by GoGo squeeZ. Among the garden’s two dozen nectar plants are Cape Royal plumbago, passion flower, coral honeysuckle, blazing star, butterfly bush, scarlet milkweed and canna lily.

• 240 extra playground hours add extra festival magic for children and their families with the illuminated garden playgrounds staying open through park closing.

• More than 500,000 plants, trees and shrubs are planted for the festival; 250,000 of those are annual blossoms installed for the festival.

• Festival plants include 60 different species of trees, 47 types of palms, and 48 varieties of bedding plants.

• 150 hands-on gardening demonstrations and seminars will be presented.

• Thirty “flower towers” of several varieties of blooms and plants line Innoventions Plaza.

• 225 floating mini-gardens, each three feet in diameter, of multi-hued impatiens provide splashes of color on two ponds that border the walkway between Future World and World Showcase.

• 700 container gardens of flowers, herbs, plants and vegetables in clay pots, barrels and urns enhance the landscape throughout Epcot.

• 400 Walt Disney World horticulturists are needed to install the festival landscape, topiaries and many exhibits; 100 Epcot horticulturists maintain topiaries and other festival displays.

• It takes more than one full year and about 24,000 cast member hours to prepare for the annual festival.

• The festival’s new weekend Garden Rocks Concert Series includes 11 artists and groups known for their Top 40 hits across four decades. This year’s musical hit-makers from the 1960s through 1990s include new-to-the-festival acts Pablo Cruise, Little River Band, Gin Blossoms, En Vogue, Jon Secada and Taylor Dayne. Returning are Village People, The Orchestra starring former members of ELO, STARSHIP starring Mickey Thomas and Herman’s Hermits Starring Peter Noone.

Guest information for the 22nd annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival is available at EpcotInSpring.com or at 407/W-DISNEY.