During the 2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival, guests can search for Spike the Bee with Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration scavenger hunt.

Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration Scavenger Hunt – $9.99 

To participate in the scavenger hunt, purchase a map at a festival merchandise location. Then, find Spike at various global gardens. When you spot him, place the corresponding plant sticker over the correct garden circle on the map.

The stickers feature the different plants that Spike is pollinating, like sunflowers and magnolias. There will be signs labeling the plants so you don’t need to be able to identify them by sight.

No spoilers about where you can find Spike, but here’s what he looks like in the gardens. He’s a plastic figure on a black pole sticking out of a flowerbed or planter.

You don’t need to complete the scavenger hunt in one day. You can complete it at your leisure throughout the festival, which runs through May 27.

Technically, you don’t need to complete the scavenger hunt at all to get a prize. Cast Members will mark the map when you redeem it — regardless of how complete it is — so you can only collect one prize per map.

The prizes this year are mini cornhole games. There are four designs to choose from. They match the four merchandise collections inspired by Orange Bird, “Coco,” butterflies, and Spike the Bee.

The Spike game is light brown with sunflowers on the front. Spike is pictured relaxing on a white flower, with Spaceship Earth in the background. It includes two tan-colored bags. The hole is in the larger sunflower.

The butterfly game is light blue with the hole in the middle of the EPCOT logo. Colorful butterflies and the EPCOT pavilion logos are patterned across the game. Spaceship Earth is pictured below the hole. It includes two pink bags.

The “Coco” game is lime green with flowers, music notes, and guitars pictured on it in darker green. A colorful skull with flowers around it is below the hole, which is in the center of a Spaceship Earth picture. It includes two teal green bags.

Lastly, the Orange Bird game is, of course, orange. The design looks like a label for oranges or juice. It’s dark blue, with a red and white border. Orange Bird’s face is pictured with the green silhouette of Florida. The text reads “Orange Bird,” “Florida Original,” and “EST. 1971.” It includes two orange bags.

The games come packed in cardboard boxes. They have two legs on the back that flip out so you can stand up the game on a table or the floor.

Will you be completing Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration and playing cornhole with your family? Let us know in the comments.

Check out the 2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival passport for more details about the event.

For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The post Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration Scavenger Hunt Returns for 2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival With Cornhole Prizes appeared first on WDW News Today.

EPCOT is officially IN BLOOM!

The 2024 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival has officially begun in Disney World. And that means it’s time to snack and sip at all of the Outdoor Kitchen Food Booths, check out all the lovely Disney topiaries, and catch a Garden Rocks concert or two! In addition to joining us here on the DFB throughout the Festival, there’s another great tool that can help you find your way around the event so you don’t miss ANY of the Festival fun… we’re talking about this year’s Flower and Garden Festival Passport!

The free Festival Passport is a booklet that essentially acts as your guide to the Festival. You can pick one up as you walk into the park or at any of the Festival’s Outdoor Kitchen Food Booths. 

Let’s take a look inside the passport! First, you’ll be greeted by the welcome page showing the information you can find inside your passport.

Next up are the different activities and attractions for kids and families that are unique to the festival. There are two different scavenger hunts – the Egg-Stravaganza (for a limited-time, offered during the two weeks prior to Easter Sunday, while supplies last) and Spike’s Pollen Nation Exploration (throughout the Festival) — as well as other activity areas to keep the kiddos entertained while YOU’RE snacking your way from Outdoor Kitchen to Outdoor Kitchen.

Your festival passport will also tell you what topiaries you’ll see and where to find ALL of them! This is extremely helpful for finding your favorite characters and photo ops.

GREEN THUMB ALERT! It wouldn’t be a Flower and Garden Festival without the GARDENS, would it? These pages will tell you what types of garden displays you can find throughout EPCOT.

Retail therapy, anyone? This year’s merchandise collections feature beloved characters like the little Orange Bird, characters from Coco, the Butterfly Collection starring Minnie Mouse, and an exclusive collection for Disney World Annual Passholders featuring Spike the Bee. The merchandise page will tell you where to find them.

Next is a page telling you about different tours you can take throughout the festival, both guided and self-guided. (For example, The English Tea Garden in the United Kingdom Pavilion has options for both, whereas Behind the Seeds is a guided, extra-ticket tour). And if you love live music, you won’t want to skip the Garden Rocks Concert Series. Held at the America Gardens Theatre, globally known artists perform Fridays through Mondays while local bands perform Tuesdays through Thursdays. You can scan the QR code to see which artists are coming (or check out our page here!).

And now, for our personal favorite here at the DFB…the Outdoor Kitchen pages! Every food kitchen is listed in the Passport along with where you can find each of them, all of the menu items, and the ingredients for each item. First up, we have the special offerings from the Joffrey’s Coffee & Tea Carts. There are four locations around World Showcase and World Discovery offering special drinks!

Next, we are traveling to World Celebration for Connections Eatery, World Nature for The Land Cart and to the Port of Entry area for The Honey Bee-stro.

We are continuing in the Port of Entry area to Pineapple Promenade and then the walkway between World Showcase and Imagination! for the Florida Fresh booth.

The Swirled Showcase is located near Florida Fresh, and then walking towards Canada we have the Refreshment Port and Northern Bloom outdoor kitchens.

Next, in France, we have the Fleur de Lys outdoor kitchen, and in between France and Morocco, we have La Isla Fresca outdoor kitchen.

In Morocco, you can stop by Tangierine Cafe: Flavors of the Medina, and in Japan you can eat at the Hanami outdoor kitchen.

In America, there is a special offering at the Funnel Cake stand and you can also check out the Magnolia Terrace outdoor kitchen there. Moving along to Italy you can stop by the Primavera Kitchen.

Germany’s outdoor kitchen is Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market and there are also special festival offerings at the Refreshment Outpost.

Check out the Lotus House outdoor kitchen in China and Jardin de Fiestas in Mexico.

Rounding out our trip around World Showcase, you can find Trowel & Trellis near Disney Traders and The Citrus Blossom in The Odyssey.

Now walking back towards the EPCOT ball and World Discovery, you can stop by the BRUNCHCOT and EPCOT Farmers Feast outdoor kitchens.

Planning to sample OODLES of eats? Why not take part in the Garden Graze? This edible scavenger hunt allows you to collect a special prize after purchasing 5 menu items from the qualifying booths that are part of Garden Graze.

Be sure to get your Festival Passport stamped at each location where you purchase a Garden Graze item so you can claim your prize when you complete the crawl!

WHEW! There’s a LOT to take in at the Flower & Garden Festival… Be sure to pick up your own Festival Passport when you visit EPCOT for all the springtime fun!

P.S. You can also find this information in the My Disney Experience app, however, this booklet keeps it all in one convenient spot!

Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 2024 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival? We’ll be keeping you updated on all of the latest. Click our links below for the information you need to know:

• Learn about the Garden Rocks Concert Series and Dining Packages
• Check out ALL of the 2024 Flower and Garden Booth Menus
• See what eats you’ll need to try to get a PRIZE at the Festival!

And don’t forget to pick up our 2024 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival e-book! See more details about the book below.

Click here to learn everything about the Flower and Garden Festival!

What are YOU most excited to do at the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival? Let us know in the comments!

The post FIRST LOOK at the 2024 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival PASSPORT first appeared on the disney food blog.

Today is THE DAY! The 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival has bloomed and we’re ready to check it all out! Come along with us on this springtime adventure!

We might have JUST finished the 2024 Festival of the Arts, but we’re ready soak up all the fun at flowers today. Let’s head in to see the gorgeous topiaries, listen to some music from local bands, and of course, taste our way around the outdoor kitchens. 

We’ll be updating this post ALL DAY as we explore everything there is to see from the festival. 

Festival Dates

The Flower and Garden Festival lasts from February 28th through May 27th this year, giving you a few months to see and do everything there is — which is exactly what we’re going to do today!

We spend the first day of the festival trying out ALL the new eats and drinks around the park so that you know which items you should try during your visit.

Getting Started and Crowds

When we first arrived at EPCOT this morning, we spotted a good number of people headed in! Looks like we’re not the only ones excited about this festival.

The lines moved pretty quickly, and then we were met with our second of many lines for the day. Check out all the people waiting to get into the Creations Shop! There’s lots of exclusive festival merchandise available today, including Loungeflys and Lug Bags which are both pretty popular.

What do day 1 merch lines look like on a festival day? A lot like this!

We’re on our way to Creations Shop to see everything new to this year’s Flower & Garden Festival! pic.twitter.com/DeSenGrhHQ

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 28, 2024

Luckily, this line appeared to be moving quickly as well with us waiting around 20 minutes to get inside. Cast Members were encouraging people to use Mobile Check-Out to avoid long lines. There are also some limitations on how many of a certain item folks can purchase, so keep that in mind if there’s something you’re trying to snag for a friend!

We’ll keep you updated on crowds as we make our way through the festival!

Maps and Festival Booklet

When you get to the festival, you can grab a map to see where all the entertainment and outdoor kitchens are located. You can use it to make your plan for how you want to tackle the festival.

There’s also a special Festival Passport booklet, which has the menus for each outdoor kitchen as well as information about merchandise, entertainment, and activities.

Here’s a FIRST LOOK through the festival passport! Let’s take on the fest! pic.twitter.com/svPKJiANDu

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 28, 2024

This is your one-stop guide to EVERYTHING you need to know about the festival! You can even check off the eats you’ve tried.

Learn More About the Festival Passport Here

Signs and Decor

Around EPCOT, you’ll see banners and other decorations announcing the Flower and Garden Festival.

But, our favorite decorations aren’t signs at all!

Topiaries

Of course, it’s not the Flower and Garden Festival without elaborate topiaries depicting Disney characters! You can check out all of these amazing creations around EPCOT. For 2024, a new GROOT topiary will make his debut near the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind attraction.

A new Wish topiary has debuted in front of Spaceship Earth as well!

We love the dragon sculpture in front of the torii gate in the Japan Pavilion…

…and of course, our pals Elsa and Anna.

There’s a new Figment topiary this year as well…

…and we can’t forget about the Seven Dwarfs! There are so many more topiaries to check out, so make sure you keep an eye out on your visit.

But, wait — there’s more!

Additional Activities

There are a LOT of activities to experience at the fest too.

Butterfly Landing

The Butterfly Landing takes you through an enclosed garden full of butterflies and chrysali.

It’s a gorgeous display of nature between all of the different plants and butterfly species featured here.

You even get to see where the butterflies hatch out of their little homes.

We definitely recommend checking this out if you’re heading to the festival!

Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration

If you’re looking for this festival’s scavenger hunt (these hunts are practically an EPCOT festival staple), you’ll find it in the form of Spike’s Pollen Nation Exploration. Spike the honeybee has been pollinating his way around the festival, so you can follow his trail in this activity.

You’ll purchase a map and stickers and then match the stickers to the correct spot on the map when you find Spike in the park.

You can return your completed map for a prize! Stay tuned to find out what this year’s prize is.

Garden Graze

You can also take part in the Garden Graze, which is a plant-based food stroll around EPCOT. You’ll enjoy specific foods (out of qualifying eligible dishes) at the festival and get your Festival Passport stamped at each location.

2024’s Garden Graze includes the following items — you can choose any 5 to complete the crawl:

• Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market (Germany Pavilion) –Potato Pancakes with House-Made Apple Sauce
• BRUNCHCOT (Near Test Track presented by Chevrolet) – Avocado Toast with Marinated Tomatoes and Plant-Based Cheese Crumbles on Toasted Ciabatta
• EPCOT Farmers Feast (Near Test Track presented by Chevrolet) –Grilled Street Corn on the Cob with Savory Garlic Spread and Plant-Based Cheese
• Florida Fresh (Near Disney Traders) – Florida Strawberry Shortcake
• La Isla Fresca (Between the France and Morocco Pavilions) – Coconut Tres Leches: Vanilla Cake soaked with Oat, Almond, and Coconut Milks topped with Toasted Coconut
• Refreshment Outpost – Seasonal Fruit Parfait with Sweet Chili Sauce and Mango DOLE Whip®
• Refreshment Port (Near Canada Pavilion) – Plant-Based Buffalo Chicken Tender Poutine on Crispy Potato Barrels with Plant-Based Ranch and Blue Cheese Crumbles
• Trowel & Trellis (Near Disney Traders) – Impossible Farmhouse Meatball with Lentil Bread, Spinach, Marinated Vegetables and Creamy Herb Aioli

If you return your fully stamped passport to the Pineapple Promenade kitchen, you’ll get a free prize! We’ll be collecting stamps and getting our prize later today, so check back for that.

Check Out More Garden Graze Information Here

Outdoor Kitchens

Our favorite part about this festival (and every festival in EPCOT if we’re honest) is the food! The food booths for this fest are called Outdoor Kitchens. We’re visiting ALL of these spots to try out any new items as well as some returning favorites.

We’ll be updating this post with our reviews throughout the day, so keep checking back for more!

Check Out ALL the Booths and Menus Right Here in the Meantime!

Festival Merchandise

There are all kinds of unique merchandise at this year’s festival like this Orange Bird Lug Crossbody.

For the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival, @LugLife is BACK with the Orange Bird bag! Something tells us this one won’t last long on the shelves! pic.twitter.com/TwkMVyEDOT

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 28, 2024

You’ll want to stop by some of the shops in EPCOT to check out this year’s items!

See a SNEAK PEEK of This Year’s Festival Merchandise!

Live Entertainment

The Garden Rocks Concert Series is back at this year’s festival! These concerts are free with EPCOT admission, and they take place at the America Gardens Theater, Friday through Monday. Local bands will rock the house Tuesday through Thursday.

You can purchase a dining package if you want to reserve your seats in advance and have a meal right before the show. Check out the full list of artists performing at the 2023 Flower and Garden Festival here.

We’ll continue to update this post as we experience more of the festival. Stay tuned with DFB for more of the latest news from Disney World!

Learn more about the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival here!

 Are you visiting the Flower and Garden Festival in EPCOT this year? Let us know in the comments.

The post IT’S TIME! Check Out the FIRST DAY of the 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival With Us! first appeared on the disney food blog.

It’s time! The 2024 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival is now open, and we bet you’re wondering how bad the crowds were on opening day!

The 2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival kicked off February 28th and runs through May 27th this year. The Festival began on a Wednesday, which could make the crowds a bit better than a Festival that may start on a Friday (when more guests may have already arrived for their weekend trips). But that doesn’t mean EPCOT won’t get busy. So join us now for an honest look at the crowds so you know what to expect.

We started our morning bright and early at EPCOT to see what the Festival had to offer! When we got to the entrance, crowds were already lined up. As expected, it wasn’t the worst festival crowds at the entrance that we’ve seen, possibly because it was on a Wednesday.

When we got into the park, we saw a VERY long line at Creations Shop. Those Lug bags are very popular this year, and people were ready to grab the festival merchandise. The line to go into the store was about 20 minutes for us when we got in it, but we guess that it got to around 45 minutes.

What do day 1 merch lines look like on a festival day? A lot like this!

We’re on our way to Creations Shop to see everything new to this year’s Flower & Garden Festival! pic.twitter.com/DeSenGrhHQ

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) February 28, 2024

EPCOT opened at 9AM ET to all guests, but at 8:30AM to Disney World hotel guests with the Early Theme Park Entry perk. While that 30 minutes into the park won’t necessarily help you get a head start on the food booths (many of these don’t open until World Showcase opens, around 11AM), it CAN help you get early access to some great photo opportunities in the park and (perhaps more importantly) the merchandise.

We’re anticipating that the Lug festival bags will sell out quickly, but hopefully, Disney has lots in storage to keep refilling the stands throughout the day like they did with the Festival of the Arts this year. For the Flower and Garden Festival, the Orange Bird Lug bags are limited to one per person!

There are also new Loungefly backpacks and ears that are limited to two per person and Annual Passholder t-shirts are limited to one persone.

It should be noted, that we were at EPCOT well before the Festival food booths (the main stars of the show) opened. We expect crowds could get MUCH worse as the day goes on, so here’s our pro tip for conquering some of the crowds: GO EARLY! Getting in early and taking advantage of that Early Theme Park Entry time (if you qualify) could be key to helping you enjoy some of EPCOT with lower crowds.

While Early Theme Park Entry or even just rope-dropping the Park won’t get you access to everything, you can walk around the open areas, see the Festival topiaries that you have access to, and potentially even grab some Festival merchandise with lower crowds.

Want to make sure you’ve got the perfect look for the Flower & Garden Festival? Pick up our DFB-exclusive Flower & Garden Festival shirt right now!

You can grab the shirt in a regular or v-neck design, pick up a sweatshirt or long-sleeve tee with the same design, and/or grab our DFB Flower & Garden Festival Guide to make sure you’ve got EVERYTHING you need! See full details about our Festival Guide below!

Will you be visiting the Flower & Garden Festival? Let us know in the comments!

The post You Don’t Wanna See the LONG LINE We’ve Already Waited In at the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival 🫣 first appeared on the disney food blog.

Disney World days are NOT created equal.

Disney World is already expensive as is, and it’s about to get even pricier in 2025. Disney World just released its pricing schedule through October 2025, and we can confirm single-day tickets will be more expensive in 2025 than they were this year. If you’re looking to avoid some of those more expensive days (which can also feature bad crowds), you’ve come to the right place!

We’re here to help you navigate the price increases by sharing some 2025 dates you should likely avoid if you’re trying to budget and not overspend on a Disney vacation.

The previous price range for single-park, one-day adult tickets used to be $109, but the lowest will be $119 in 2025. To highlight which 2025 dates will have an even higher base, we put together a list based on 1-day, 1-park adult ticket pricing, and, an important note, these prices are just the starting point for the overall day. That means other parks can be more expensive and could later increase in price. The following dates feature ticket prices starting at $169.99 per ticket:

• February 3rd through February 5th, 2025
• February 14th through February 22nd, 2025
• March 15th and 16th, 2025
• March 28th through March 30th, 2025
• April 4th through April 6th, 2025
• April 18th through April 20th, 2025
• April 25th through April 27th, 2025

By comparison, the February dates this year ranged from $139 to $164+, the 2024 March dates range from $154 to $164+, and the 2024 April dates range from $154 to $164+. These dates being pricier than the rest of the year (at least through October) make some sense. February can play host to several national cheer and dance events and tournaments to supplement what has historically been a down period for tourism, and March and April give way to Spring Break vacations, some of the busiest days at Disney World.

Another important thing to keep in mind when looking at these dates is that those prices are for the cheapest park of the day. If you want to visit a more expensive park, tack on a Park Hopper option, and add Genie+ (and Genie+ surge pricing), your total is going to look vastly different than what we’re showing you.

The days you should try to avoid aren’t limited to the later winter and spring. Disney only released the pricing through October, but history shows us the holiday season (sometimes including Halloween) can be some of the most expensive days of the year to visit. From Late October all the way through the end of the year, you should expect bigger crowds and higher prices until we reach the new year and the cycle starts all over again.

Want to know a better time to travel to Disney World, we have a full list of the cheapest days to go to Disney World in 2025 here. We’ll keep you posted as more information is released, as well as any Disney World updates, so stay tuned here at DFB for the latest Disney World news, tips, and reviews!

We Found EVERY SINGLE 2025 Disney World Ticket Price Increase So You Don’t Have To

Do these new prices scare you off or is it full steam ahead? Let us know how you feel in the comments below!

The post AVOID These Dozens of Days in Disney World in 2025 first appeared on the disney food blog.

We just heard a super delicious SECRET!

Gideon’s Bakehouse is a fan-favorite bakery located in Disney Springs. It’s famous for nearly-half-pound cookies, GIGANTIC cake slices, and unique cold brew flavors. Today ONLY, you can get a NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN treat, but only if you know the secret code!

Gideon’s announced on Instagram that there’s a secret cake slice available at both the Disney Springs and East End Market locations!

The secret slice won’t be on display (cause it’s a SECRET, of course), so to get it, you need to tell an employee “Steve Hates Sprinkles.” That might seem like an odd secret passcode, but it’s actually true. The owner of Gideon’s Bakehouse — Steve Lewis — does hate sprinkles on his desserts.

Although Steve is not a fan of sprinkles on treats, he said that the amazing team at Gideon’s created the Banana Split Cake (which DOES have sprinkles on it), and it was so delicious that he let the sprinkles thing slide.

This secret Banana Split slice is made of layers of strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate cake, smothered in banana buttercream, filled with housemade candied peanuts, and topped with a chocolate-covered cherry. WOW.

Here’s the catch: you need to get this cake TODAY, because it won’t be available after the shops close tonight!⁣ Depending on what time of day you visit, you may need to join a virtual queue to go inside, and the wait could be multiple hours long. You’ll need to visit the bakehouse and talk to the employees outside to join the queue.

Usually there’s just a standby line in the morning and later at night, but keep in mind that if you go at night, you run the risk of the secret cake slices being sold out.

Stay tuned to DFB for more updates on the latest Disney news!

Click here to read ALL our reviews of Gideon’s Bakehouse treats! 

Are you going to try this limited-time cake today? Let us know in the comments!

The post Why You Need To Know “Steve Hates Sprinkles” Before You Visit Gideon’s Bakehouse in Disney World first appeared on the disney food blog.