Spring is in the air! That means it’s time once again for the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival. While this festival typically takes place during traditional “Spring Break”, for 2021, this festival will go through July 5th! This gives guests plenty of time to enjoy great food, live music, scavenger hunt fun, topiaries, and exhibits. Today we are doing a brief review on some of the items we tasted when we visited on Day One!
2021 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival
As we noted above, the 2021 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival will last longer than any other Epcot festival has before. Usually wrapped up by May, this will last through the middle of summer! The festival is known for beautiful topiary displays – some that repeat every year, just in different locations. Others are new to each festival. There are other beautiful gardens and some fascinating exhibits. If you’re a Living with the Land fan, this festival is for you!
There’s a new roster of live entertainment, which is exciting as Disney appears to be adding more acts, bringing more life to the parks post-pandemic. There are also TWO unique scavenger hunts this time around! There is a limited time “Egg-Stravaganza” Scavenger Hunt beginning March 19th where you can search for eggs inspired by Disney Characters. These are limited to just World Showcase. The second hunt will last the entire length of the festival and is “Spike’s Pollen-Nation Exploration”! This new addition will follow Spike the Bee on his pollination trail throughout all of Epcot.
Mexico – Jardin de Fiestas
Located directly across from the Tres Caballeros topiaries, the Mexico offerings this year feature a creative take on a cocktail and a pant-based food item!
We tried the Tostada de Cochinito: Braised pork on a crispy corn tortilla with black beans, topped with pickled onions, mango-habenero relish and oregano.
We also tried the Sope de Chorizo. This is a plant-based ground chorizo on a fried corn dough with black beans and avocado mousse.
We tried two different margaritas. The first was passion fruit blanco tequila, passion fruit puree, lime juice, Nixta corn liqueur with a smokey hibiscus flower salt rim.
We also tried the Garden Margarita, mezcal, lettuce juice, Chile Verde liqueur, lime juice, and agave gin (!!!) topped off with thyme.
China – Lotus House
As we continued our way around the world, next stop was China! For this year’s festival, there was clearly a strawberry theme. We tried the Papa Cakes: potato cakes filled with shrimp and water chestnuts, topped with house-made strawberry sauce. This was also one of the largest sized portion items we tried!
We also enjoyed the house-made crab and cheese wontons. All of the cocktails at China tend to be quite strong (not necessarily a bad thing). We enjoyed the Tang Dynasty, which has both Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila & light mum, with pina colada mix, strawberry syrup, and white boba pearls topped with soda water.
Germany – Bauernmarkt: Farmer’s Market
If you’re trying to avoid carbs, don’t stop at Germany! These items were all super tasty, but also carb/gluten heavy!
The Apfelschaumwein (apple wine) was absolutely delightful. A mix of sparkling wine and apple liqueur, with a full sprig of rosemary!
We also enjoyed the potato pancake with carmelized ham, onions and herb sour cream. The toasted pretzel bread was a perfect item to share for up to four people. It comes with a mountain of Black Forest ham, all covered in melted gruyere cheese.
Italy – Primavera Garden
Our favorite cocktail in Italy is the Italian margarita. Served frozen with Limoncello and tequila. We also enjoyed a sweet sausage arancini.
Topped off with classic margherita flatbread pizza. Was a perfect treat to enjoy next to the canals with our friends Lady & The Tramp.
Wrapping Up the Magic
We filled up quite fast and were feeling the effects of all those delicious cocktails. We barely got halfway around World Showcase! Stay tuned for more reviews and top picks on the rest of the tasty food available at the 2021 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival!
