The Promise of Spring: Flower & Garden Festival 4.0 -- A Cam and Luke TR COMPLETED 8/27 About This Page:

[Pris]

I think they must have updated the future videos. The last few times I rode SE I don't remember the videos working at all. I also don't remember ever seeing the screens in your video.

[cubfancolleen]

Love your future!
Too funny about the girl and the 'found' gummy bear! Typical oblivious dad!

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by SuperDave

Great time in Epcot. I love Living With The Land as so relaxing and a great way to escape the Florida heat, even when going through the greenhouses! Can't believe you had a 20 minute wait for this as usually a walk on or just a matter of waiting for a boat! Nice time on SE and love the photos of your future! Not fair in one of the photos as Luke has his coffee mug and you have nothing! Love this ride and another favorite of mine!

We were shocked by that 20 minute wait, too. We couldn't remember the last time we'd had to wait for this one. I'm not a coffee drink, so the future predictors must have known that.

Originally Posted by chezp

Looks like you have a fun future waiting for you if Spaceship Earth is anything to go by. It's fascinating to see your photos from the Flower and Garden Festival, as I'm like "darn, we must've missed that..."

I was determined to see very single garden in the F&GF Passport. Since we had three days I thought I just might be able to do it.

Originally Posted by patclairesmom

Neat Future on Spaceship Earth. I love how that Dad didn't miss a beat that his kid ate the gummy off the ground . I love Living with the Land. It's great that Disney has done such a great job with it and has made it so popular.

For a large family, the mom and dad were quite alert and aware of their kids the whole way. All of them were very well behaved, and seemed to get along well with each other.

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by purplegal

Great picture of the green house, I like the idea of a garden that size with the plus of no weeds. Space Ship Earth is one of my favorite rides and a nice way to enjoy some cool relaxed time.

I would love the no weeds aspect, too. We always seem to be battling weeds in our flower beds.

Originally Posted by Tara O'Hara

Living with the Land looks beautiful all dressed up for the F&GF and I love your future!!

We neither remembered LwtL getting a F&GF makeover, so we found this very interesting.

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great pictures so far from Epcot! What a great Coke bottle find! Love all the pictures at the end of SE!

Thanks! There was another Disney theme on a Diet Coke bottle, but neither of us can remember what it was now. A neat idea!

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by mousestruck

We love Living with the Land... every time! Have you ever done the walking tour? We did it on our last trip and really enjoyed it! Inexpensive and always fun to go "backstage." And great pics of your future! It looks bright!!!

We do, too. We haven't done the Behind the Seeds tour -- yet. I keep thinking each trip we will, but we keep putting it off. Maybe in November.

Originally Posted by cattailmarsh

I love that Figment topiary - too cute.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

I thought Figment made a nice addition on the backside of Spaceship Earth.

Originally Posted by dj1028

Good to see that Luke and Cam's future looks so bright - and stylin'!

I got tickled at that apparatus that put my clothes on for me. I was much more limber in the future.

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by Roxie2006

Both of my DGC love Living with the Lands. Looks like Spaceship Earth's ending has a photo segment with many extras, I love it. Epcot is my favorite Park for slowing down and enjoying it all.

Epcot is definitely a park to slow down and absorb it all. I think that is why we like the festivals there as we can slow wander through all the offerings.

Originally Posted by lindawdw

LWTL is one of my favorite rides in Future World at Epcot! It's just one of those attractions that I never get tired of no matter how many times I ride it! We really enjoy the personalized video on SE which is always funny to see.

I know what you mean. Living with the Land just never gets tiresome. We used to let Stefanie chose all the answers for our future which led to some really funny futures. Once she even managed to get the conga line, something we've never managed to repeat.

Originally Posted by pamcarey

I also thought that the F&GF signs in Living with the Land were new!

Good! It wasn't just us thinking those were new.

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by jackid2

All caught up! I can't believe how many fast passes you got at MK!!

We love the challenge at MK to see how many FPs we can get over the course of the day.

Originally Posted by Pris

I think they must have updated the future videos. The last few times I rode SE I don't remember the videos working at all. I also don't remember ever seeing the screens in your video.

Both trips last year the photo portion was not working so we got generic futures with cartoon characters. We both thought our future seemed longer this time, but it may just have been that we were interested in watching since our heads were now on the characters.

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

Love your future!
Too funny about the girl and the 'found' gummy bear! Typical oblivious dad!

He was oblivious at that moment, but he and the mom were both quite involved with their kids who were well behaved. It was refreshing to see too parents parenting rather than burying themselves in their phones.

[wheezie]

I love your future per SSE! What a neat bottle. I told my dh the other day that putting names, etc on the bottles was such a great marketing strategy.

[Silvercat]

[QUOTE=Cam22;4620094]We do, too. We haven't done the Behind the Seeds tour -- yet. I keep thinking each trip we will, but we keep putting it off. Maybe in November. /QUOTE]

Oh Cam, you have to do this tour! It is brilliant, and we aren't particularly avid gardeners - I know you really like pottering about in the garden, so you would LOVE this tour. If nothing else, you get to feel like VIPs while walking round backstage at Living with the Land!

[cubfancolleen]

Originally Posted by Silvercat

Oh Cam, you have to do this tour! It is brilliant, and we aren't particularly avid gardeners - I know you really like pottering about in the garden, so you would LOVE this tour. If nothing else, you get to feel like VIPs while walking round backstage at Living with the Land!

I have to concur! I think you'd love the tour. Plus, I really think it's one of the bigger bargains around!

[PrincessSharon]

Just catching up again. Your efficient use of FP at the MK has inspired me. I usually don't bother booking another one after I've used my 3, but there's no reason why. That's going to change for sure! And I love Luke's photos from the train. It's so interesting to see a different "voice." Looks like a fun day at Epcot, too! Love your future.

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by wheezie

I love your future per SSE! What a neat bottle. I told my dh the other day that putting names, etc on the bottles was such a great marketing strategy.

Definitely a marketing strategy, but one I do like.

Originally Posted by Silvercat

Oh Cam, you have to do this tour! It is brilliant, and we aren't particularly avid gardeners - I know you really like pottering about in the garden, so you would LOVE this tour. If nothing else, you get to feel like VIPs while walking round backstage at Living with the Land!

Okay, I'm going to work at putting this in the schedule for one of our Epcot mornings.

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

I have to concur! I think you'd love the tour. Plus, I really think it's one of the bigger bargains around!

You and Carolyn have convinced me that we need to fit this in.

[Cam22]

Originally Posted by PrincessSharon

Just catching up again. Your efficient use of FP at the MK has inspired me. I usually don't bother booking another one after I've used my 3, but there's no reason why. That's going to change for sure! And I love Luke's photos from the train. It's so interesting to see a different "voice." Looks like a fun day at Epcot, too! Love your future.

I can't get Luke to write anything for a TR, but I enjoy getting him to take the camera for a while or send me his cellphone photos because we do have different perspectives. Then I can share those with you all.

[Cam22]

NEXT: Meeting Our Pals

Day 3 Part 3 Saturday, April 29, 2017


Once we’d foreseen our bright future, we needed to move on to our immediate future, a FastPass to Character Spot. Earlier when we were eating our breakfast right across from it, a young couple and their kids had passed by. The mom noted the standby time was 25 minutes, and suggested they go ahead with it now as it might be longer later. Her DH gruffily told her that 25 minutes was too long, that they’d come back later. Luke and I just smirked at each other, knowing the wife was correct. Hope the kids didn’t miss out. As we entered the FastPass queue, I noted that the standby time was now up to 45 minutes. Even in the FastPass queue, we had a bit of a wait, which we spent chatting about what to do next. Eventually though, it was our turn to meet our pals, beginning with Mickey who greeted me with a huge hug.





My hair stylist had told me to be sure to show Mickey my nails and get a photo with him. She just loved how my nail tech had done them. Mickey seems mildly excited about them, and the PhotoPass photographer did capture that moment.



Then it was time for the more formal poses.





Following Mickey was Minnie Mouse who was a doll. She too greeted me with a huge hug.





She was much more excited about my nails when I showed them to her, calling the PhotoPass photographer over for a close up of my nails and her gloved hand.



When she turned to Luke, he totally surprised her by kissing her hand. He is so sweet like that.



We finished our time with Minnie with a formal pose, too.







Our last character interaction was with Goofy, and huge hugs seemed to be the order of the day.



And after the hugs, the more formal pose.



As we had chatted in the Character Spot queue, we decided not to try for another FastPass yet because we wanted to stop by the Festival Center and then enjoy some of the Outdoor Kitchens. On our way over to the east side of Future World, we noticed the cutest Stitch topiary beside Mouse Gear.



Then as we approached Innoventions East, we noticed a sign saying Annual Pass Flower & Garden Festival merchandise was inside. So we veered left and went inside. We weren’t really interested in any of the special stuff, and exited fairly quickly.



Right outside Innoventions East, we found the Water Wise Garden. I was fascinated by one plant that was chocolate.











Near Ellen’s Energy Adventure was another garden, one we remember from other festivals, Prehistoric Plants. The plants in this area have been around since prehistoric times and Disney as added in little dinosaur touches to the display.





Finally, we arrived at the Festival Center where we were excited to see the Fab 5 displayed as topiaries. Initially, I couldn’t get all of them in one photo, but then another lady decided to climb the berm and I followed behind her, managing them to capture the whole display at once.







When we got close to Goofy, I had Luke pose with his favorite character and he even got a bit goofy.







This photo probably needs some explanation. These trees are similar to some we have in our backyard, but ours are much smaller. We’ve also not trimmed any of the lower branches on our trees. I have nicknamed them the “feeling pines” because if you can touch their needles they are actually not prickly.



Once inside the Festival Center, we browsed through the shop. The main item I wanted was a garden statue of Sorcerer Apprentice Mickey. We found it rather quickly, but once we picked it up, we realized that its bulk and weight would make it impractical for carrying home in a suitcase. I opened the Shop Parks app and scanned the SKU. It was available there. At this point, Luke needed a restroom break and I let him know I’d go ahead an purchase the Flower & Garden Festival t-shirt I wanted along with a set of Mickey citrus colored straws. Since these were light, I decided to carry them myself rather than have them shipped back to the resort.





When I finished up, Luke wasn’t back yet. So what’s a girl to do? I ordered the garden statue using the app. I was excited that the 20% Annual Pass discount was already figured in, so even though I had to pay shipping it was cheaper than if I bought it here. Of course, I didn’t think about that we might not be home when it arrived, a fact Luke apprised me of when he got back. Oops! Luckily, it didn’t arrive until the day we got home. My Sorcerer's Apprentice living in our front landscaping.







NEXT: A Cool Backdrop

[Tara O'Hara]

Your character meet looks so fun!!. I love the topiary photos as well. Luke and Goofy could be twins in the one photo! All of your garden statues are lovely.