Trust Us, You Don't Wanna See the LONG LINE We Always Wait in at EPCOT Festivals ?

Today will be great — and it’s all because the 2025 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival has begun!

2025 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival

This year’s festival runs from March 5th through June 2nd, 2025, and this year marks the 30th Anniversary of this beloved event! We’re making our way around the festival, checking out all the incredible topiaries, entertainment, merchandise, and of course — food! But, oddly enough, we’re not the only ones who decided to show up to the first day of the festival — who would have thought?!

Despite the rainy weather, the crowds were out in full force at EPCOT this morning! There was quite a long line of folks waiting to be let in when we arrived around Early Entry, but many people were huddled beneath the awning to try and stay dry. The weather might be less than ideal, but hey, all those plants and flowers do need to be watered!

Crowds lined up in the rain!

Quite a few people had already busted out their ponchos due to the rain, which is supposed to clear up a little this afternoon — so fingers crossed for some sunny skies eventually!

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.

Waiting to get in

Once we were inside the park, we were held back for a bit, which only made the crowds seem to get worse…

What’s the holdup?

…but once everyone was officially allowed further into the park, things started to clear out a bit. We’ll see how things go as the day goes on!

Much better!

We headed over to the Creations Shop to check out some of the exclusive festival merchandise and couldn’t believe how long the line was to get in! We don’t think we’ve seen quite as long of a line as this one is for festival merchandise in a while — if ever! Luckily, things seemed to be moving quickly, but Disney is limiting the number of people allowed in the store at one time for now, so keep that in mind if you’re headed to the festival today or later this week and weekend.

Plenty of people in line for merchandise!

The festival just got started and we can’t wait to check it all out throughout the day. We’ll continue to keep you updated on crowds at this year’s EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival, too! Oh, and if you want to start planning ahead of time, pick up a DFB Guide to the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival! We’ve got the very best tips, information, and advice to be sure you enjoy every minute of your time. With calendars, maps, and food booth photos, you’ll be ready to dive right into all the treats, blooms, and experiences you can only get during the Flower & Garden Festival.

In the meantime, we’ll be bringing you a look at everything this festival has to offer throughout the day — so keep checking back here!

See the FULL MENUS for the 2025 EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival right here!

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!