by Beth Keating
Review
DisneyBizJournal.com
May 26, 2024
The 2024 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival is coming down to its final few days, so our family decided to squeak in one last visit before the Outdoor Kitchens (food booths) come down. We’ve become accustomed to grazing our way through the festivals for dinner, rather than making dining reservations at one of EPCOT’s restaurants, enjoying a variety of treats for our meal, rather than one larger entrée.
The next festival, the 2024 International Food & Wine Festival, doesn’t begin until August 29, 2024, so there will theoretically be a 3-month gap before the next food booths go up, barring any surprise summer announcements from Disney. With that in mind, we headed off to snack through the Flower & Garden fest one last time.
On our visit this week, the EPCOT crowds were low in advance of the holiday weekend, and a nice breeze kept the temperatures on the comfortable side as well. With little to no wait in line at the food booths, we were able to turn our attention to some of the other activities at the festival, things that we’d either not had time for on previous visits, due to longer wait times in food lines, or because the slots to sign up for events were all filled due to the influx of bigger crowds. On this day, though, we were able to snag a spot on the Tea Tour in the UK Pavilion.
Each year, the United Kingdom Pavilion in World Showcase hosts several of the festival’s Global Gardens. In 2024, the UK Pavilion played home to an English Tea Garden (presented by Twinings); the Shakespeare Garden, featuring quotes from some of the bard’s most famous sonnets and plays, as well as a look at the flowers that influenced them; and the Topiary Heritage Garden, where you can learn about the varied techniques employed by the Walt Disney World Horticulture team to create the festival’s topiaries.
As part of the English Tea Garden presentation, event sponsor Twinings Tea offers a free guided tour of the garden twice a day, at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. You can also take a self-guided tour if you can’t grab a slot with the engaging tour guides.
The complimentary tour is limited to just 20-25 guests at a time, and cast members from the UK lead guests through the garden behind The Tea Caddy shop, explaining the history and art of tea-blending, as well as the magic involved in creating some of the blends that are unique to Twinings’ teas. Along the way, you’ll get a closer look at some of the plants used to produce your favorite tea flavors. The small cottage garden is decorated throughout with large ceramic tea cups filled with the ingredients of the various tea blends.
On our tour, guides Kerry and Rachel did an excellent job of leading guests through the garden, sharing some of Twinings’ history, and walking visitors through the background of the tea blends showcased in the garden. Did you know that the Twinings’ master tasters will train for 15-25 years before taking their places perfecting the company’s blends? We also learned that of the 500 blends offered globally by Twinings, only 50 of those flavors are available in the United States (some of which are available only in The Tea Caddy in EPCOT, so if you are a tea drinker, don’t snooze on the shopping!) We also discovered that the word “chai” actually means “tea” in Hindi, so if you are asking for a chai tea, you are just asking for tea tea!
The tour was short, about half an hour, and was both entertaining and informative. And, bonus, you got a surprise tea packet at the close of the tour!
Among the things that we’ve missed the most about the changes to the Food & Wine Festival since COVID have been the specialty seminars, demonstrations, and unique food pairing events, most of which did not return to the festival post-COVID. Those programs were a chance to learn more about various topics while attending the festival. We were happy that the Flower & Garden festival continued to offer their mini-tours for guests (there are several others as well; check your festival guide for info), and even happier that we finally got to participate in the tea tour. If you get the opportunity, it’s well worth the half hour investment of your time.
The EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival ends May 27, 2024.
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Beth Keating is a theme parks, restaurant and entertainment reporter for DisneyBizJournal.
Get The Disney Planner: The TO DO List Solution by Ray Keating. More information at
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