During the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival more than 500,000 plants, trees and shrubs are planted; 250,000 of those are annual blossoms installed for the festival.

A great way to prepare young children who might not be familiar with some of the older Disney characters is by watching Disney movies and reading books featuring those characters in advance.

“Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows.”

More than 200 floating mini-gardens, each three feet in diameter, of multi-hued New Guinea impatiens provide splashes of color on two ponds that border the walkway between Future World and World Showcase.

EPCOT is a perfect choice for doing a split day with one park in the morning and another at night. My family often spends the morning in Magic Kingdom then, after a mid-day break; we head over to EPCOT to tour World Showcase at night.

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.”

At least 25 different plants, grasses and mosses of various colors, including pink and red begonias, dusty miller, palm fiber, palm seeds, ficus and lichen, are used to create and define facial and other features of festival character topiaries displayed during the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival. The topiary team uses about 200 one-pound boxes of hairpins to attach plants and flowers to the topiaries.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a perfect choice for doing a split day with one park in the morning and another at night. Spend the morning enjoying popular attractions such as Na’vi River Journey and Kilamanjaro Safaris then, after a mid-day break from the heat; head over to Epcot to tour World Showcase at night.

“You can design, create, and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it takes people to make the dream a reality.”