A Return Visit to the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival

Wednesday April 11th 2018

Yesterday’s rain storm continued through most of the night. This morning the sun was shinning bright. All around the campground people were drying out from the three plus inches of rain. On my morning walk I passed several lawn mats that were out in the middle of the paved road to dry out. I didn’t have anything needing drying. There was a big puddle in front of my RV most of the day yesterday, but today it was dry.

Pluto greats everyone just inside the park.

This afternoon I went back to the Flower and Garden Festival at Disney’s Epcot. During the rain yesterday I was checking the availability of Fastpass opportunities at the various Disney parks. There was a Fastpass available for Frozen Ever After at Epcot. This boat ride at the Norway pavilion is very popular. I’ve been trying to ride it since January of 2016. Last year wait times were around 2 hours and Fastpasses went very quickly.

I’m glad I rode Frozen Ever After. It was about a fifteen minute wait even with the Fastpass. The ride is a rework of the original boat ride at the Norway pavilion. The boat still goes backwards at times and there are a couple of drops. I remember lots of trolls and gnomes along the old ride. This ride seems to have a couple of characters from the movie then a dark area followed by more characters from the movie. I felt like the ride I remember had more things to see. This ride was clearly designed for all the kids enamored with the move Frozen. For me, it wouldn’t be worth a long wait to ride again.

The best part of Epcot this time of year is all the color from the flowers and topiaries. Walking around the park to discover all of the interesting flower beds is a good way to get some exercise. I also squeezed in a few more rides including my current favorite Soarin. At the end of the night while everyone was lining the lagoon to watch Illuminations, the wait time was only ten minutes. Hang gliding around the world in a ten minute ride is great fun.

I ended the night watching Illuminations and the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom from the parking lot. Going deeper into the park after Soarin to see Illuminations in all its glory would have been difficult from a time perspective, not to mention the crowds. So I headed for the parking lot after the ride.