I visited EPCOT earlier this year. I’ve visited once before, but it was at least a decade ago. Aside from the EPCOT “globe”, I remembered the annual garden festival, otherwise known as the International Flower & Garden Festival.
I liked topiary characters, so I ended up snapping quite a few pics.
Starting with some pleasant views of the park:
Belle and Beast in France
I love this classic film. I’d prefer that Disney had given Beast a name, other than referring to him as “the Beast”, “Master”, or the “prince”. Even the side character (Gaston) has a name, why not give the lead character his name?
Alice in Wonderland in United Kingdom
I actually have a picture of Alice, but she was taking a picture with a child guest (won’t post for privacy reason). It was very sweet. I had a few photo ops with other characters (namely, Mickey and Minnie) and I have to say those were some wonderful character interactions. Disney does this really well.
Tinkerbell
Peter Pan isn’t quite the same without this magical fairy.
Bambi
You can find this beloved deer between the Canada Pavilion and the United Kingdom Pavilion.
Hakuna Matata
View at the Park
Dragon…?
Either way, I’m not familiar with this character and by extension, the movie this character is in.
Famous Toys
You can find Woody and Bo (and her sheeps) near the Land Pavilion.
Winnie the Pooh
I like the Pooh the Bear. In reality, there had been sightings of black bears roaming in my residential neighborhood this year. Not quite as endearing as the famed bear in the movie.
Snow White…
There was also a topiary for Frozen’s sisters, Elsa and Anna, in the Norway Pavilion, but I didn’t get a good shot of it. There is a “Frozen Ever After Ride” which I’d highly recommend, though the wait tends to be quite long.
Farewell Mickey and Friends
I got to give a lot of credit to the talented gardeners who create these character topiaries. During my visit, these character topiaries didn’t get the much attention as I thought they might (except maybe the most popular ones, such as Mickey, Minnie and Friends), but I really enjoyed seeing them in different parts of the park. It adds a really nice touch as you visit the pavilions of the different countries in the World Showcase.
Did you visit EPCOT this year? Was there a character topiary that you especially like?
The dragon is ‘Figment’ who used to be the main character in a long gone attraction at Epcot. Fondly remembered by those of us who were kids in the 1980’s.
Ah, that was it! I remembered watching short clips at EPCOT and the name “Figment” was mentioned. I forgot the name afterwards — thank you!