REVIEW: We’re Giving This EPCOT Festival Booth 5 Stars…AGAIN

A little birdie told me that there’s something new at The Citrus Blossom this year…

The Citrus Blossom

Okay, make that a LITTLE ORANGE BIRD. You see, this beloved bird from the Sunshine Tree Terrace in Magic Kingdom has made a home for himself at the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival, too, and it’s here at The Citrus Blossom (one of the event’s Outdoor Kitchen Food Booths) where we’ll find our little pal… as well as all sorts of citrus-y snacks and sips. We’re bringing you our reviews of EVERY SINGLE BOOTH at this year’s Festival (along with checking out all the Festival’s entertainment, Disney topiaries, Garden Graze food crawl, and more), so please join us at The Citrus Blossom as we check things out!

Menu

There’s a mix of returning and NEW items at The Citrus Blossom! When it comes to food, both the Orange Sesame Tempura Shrimp and the Lemon Meringue Pie are back this year.

The Citrus Blossom Menu

Sips are where it’s at for the new items! In addition to the new Key Lime Wine Slush, you’ll find three new beers on the menu: an Orange Twist Imperial Ale, a Lemon Drop Shandy, and the Tangerine Express Hazy IPA. You can also grab all three with the Beer Flight.

Let’s dig in…

Eats

The Orange Sesame Tempura Shrimp is glazed with an orange-chile sauce. It costs $7.00. 

Orange Sesame Tempura Shrimp

This item made our Best of the Fest last year, so we were especially excited to try it again! Well, once again, this is absolutely our favorite food item here. It’s perfectly fried without being greasy. It has such a great crunch that we just can’t get enough of. Although it’s a bit pricy at $7, you ARE getting 5 decent-sized pieces, so we think it’s totally worth it.

Orange Sesame Tempura Shrimp

The orange chili sauce is what takes this dish from great to GREATEST EVERRRR. It’s not at all spicy. It’s just a sweet chili sauce with a nice orange tang that pairs PERFECTLY with the shrimp. We simply do not have words for how good this sauce is. This is a best of the fest item for us.

Orange Sesame Tempura Shrimp Sauce

Prefer something sweet with your citrus? The Lemon Meringue Pie might be more up your alley.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon curd, lemon mousse, and toasted meringue comes together for this dessert dish, which is $4.75. TBH, it didn’t knock our socks off last year. This year, we thought that it was absolutely beautiful, and the mousse was delicious, but the pastry at the bottom was disappointing. It’s too hard — so hard we couldn’t cut it. If you really like lemon meringue, this could be a great option for you but we just think there are better options elsewhere.

Lemon Meringue Pie

So, there you go for the eats! But, honestly, it’s one of the drinks that we’re especially excited to try this year…

Drinks

NEW to The Citrus Blossom is the Key Lime Wine Slush! This drink, coming in at $12.00, has replaced the Orange Sunshine Wine Slushy from previous years.

Key Lime Wine Slush

 “Key Lime,” you say? And “Wine” along with that? Yep, we’re in. We really loved this at first. It was like drinking key lime pie in liquid form and we were in love. However, the more we drank it, the more we found that it was overly sweet and acidic. We couldn’t finish it. If you LIKE super sweet drinks, though, this could be a great option for you.

Key Lime Wine Slush

As promised, the Orange-Lemon Smoothie has returned, as has the souvenir Orange Bird sipper cup that comes along with it! Together, they cost $15.00. This drink is ALWAYS a winner for us. It tastes like drinking an orange creamsicle and it’s just so refreshing and perfect for anyone who likes orange flavors.

Orange-Lemon Smoothie in 2023

This drink is non-alcoholic… but it’s not just a great sip for the kiddos!

BTW, a bit of background…  the Orange Bird Sipper created QUITE A STIR when he made his Flower & Garden Festival debut — in sipper form –at the 2019 event. He’s received a few makeovers over the years, but no matter what form the sipper takes, it is ALWAYS a hit! (Basically, the Little Orange Bird Sipper was the biggest souvenir deal of ALL EPCOT FESTIVALS EVER… before the Figment Popcorn Bucket hit the scene, that is. 😉 )

Orange Bird Sipper in 2023

Anyhoo… let’s get back to it — it’s BEER TIME! Options this year are Southern Tier Brewing Company’s Orange Twist Imperial Ale, Left Hand Brewing’s Lemon Drop Shandy, and Stone Brewing’s Tangerine Express Hazy IPA. All three are priced at $5.75 for 6 ounces, or $9.75 for 12 ounces.

Beer Flight Options

All three brews are new to the Festival, and you can try all three with the Beer Flight for $10.25, if you like.

Beer Flight

First up, let’s try the Lemon Drop Shandy! This one is super lemony and acidic. Like, Alka-Seltzer acidic. Not our fave. Anyway…

Left Hand Brewing Lemon Drop Shandy

Next, it’s time for the Orange Twist Imperial Ale. We found this to be very similar to a Blue Moon with a bit more of an orange flavor.

Orange Twist Imperial Ale

Last but not least, we have the Tangerine Express. This was our favorite! It’s a classic IPA with citrus notes. If you like beers and ciders, you’ll like this one.

Tangerine Express

OVERALL

Overall, we think this is an awesome booth. It has a lot of solid options, like the tempura shrimp, IPAs, and orange slush, and we have a feeling we’ll return over and over again this year for a taste of the booth. If you love all things citrus, you TOTALLY need to stop here.

The Citrus Blossom Full Spread

Oh, my friends… we’re not done yet! There’s still SO MUCH MORE to check out at the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival, so on we go!

Click here to see FULL reviews of EVERY BOOTH at the 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival!

Trying to plan the PERFECT trip to the 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:

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

MAKE THE MOST
OF YOUR FESTIVAL DAYS


DFB’s Guide to the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival details everything you need to know to maximize your time, budget and stomach space! Know what’s worth it and what to skip with our full-photo menus of each booth, complete with DFB’s Best of the Fest.

It includes all the must-have information for navigating this one of the most BEAUTIFUL festivals at Disney World, including:

  • 🌸 Booth & food photos, maps, and crawls with DFB’s exclusive recommendations!
  • 🐝 The COMPLETE schedule of events (so you don’t have to go hunting for all the dates!)
  • 🌳 All the details on special events, topiaries, festival exclusive merchandise, and more!

What items from this booth would you most want to try? Tell us in the comments!

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