Flower & Garden Extension?

[MusicalAstronaut]

I almost wonder if they will just save the orange bird for next year

That would probably be the smartest thing for them! I can wait until next year for it. I just don't want them to be like "oh well!" and recycle them into mickey magnets or something. Orange bird is the cutest.

I can't imagine that they will extend the festival because if the closures go on into late summer the flowers won't be in bloom or at best will seem out of place. I could see them possibly maintaining the topiaries (sp?) for longer if it's even possible. I have no green thumb so I don't know the extent of how long those plants tend to survive but you would think after all that hard work they would want people to be able to enjoy it at least for a bit. I think they might let the flowers bloom for as long as they will but maybe not have the booths and special stuff associated with the festival. You KNOW they'll still have the merchandise available in every store. Maybe on clearance, but it will be there. They lost their rear ends on that aspect. I imagine we'll be seeing that sale for years to come lol

That's what I was thinking too, that the flowers might not fare well in an Orlando summer. I'd obviously love to see them in full bloom if we get to return in June but I know after a few hours of direct sun in Epcot, I start to die a little too lol.

 

[only hope]

Disney has a few topiaries up year round (Epcot entrance, teacups at MK...). So does Busch Gardens. It can be done; the question is do they want to? And no one here knows the answer to that.

 

[Jrb1979]

If Epcot doesn't open for awhile as is rumored, you might have to wait til next year for any festival.

 

[Katie1174]

I can't imagine that they will extend the festival because if the closures go on into late summer the flowers won't be in bloom or at best will seem out of place. I could see them possibly maintaining the topiaries (sp?) for longer if it's even possible. I have no green thumb so I don't know the extent of how long those plants tend to survive but you would think after all that hard work they would want people to be able to enjoy it at least for a bit. I think they might let the flowers bloom for as long as they will but maybe not have the booths and special stuff associated with the festival. You KNOW they'll still have the merchandise available in every store. Maybe on clearance, but it will be there. They lost their rear ends on that aspect. I imagine we'll be seeing that sale for years to come lol

On one of Pete’s shows, he said they will not extend the topiaries out into the summer. He said they use the same ones year to year and that they can not leave them out in the summer months because it would burn the leaves etc.

 

[Pickle Rick]

If Epcot doesn't open for awhile as is rumored, you might have to wait til next year for any festival.

I don’t buy that Epcot will be closed that much longer than the rest of the parks personally.

 

[SourcererMark79]

F&G is done. I'm wondering if additional food safey measures will be in effect, especially the "1 day shy of permanent" kiosks used.

 

[kiki02]

I don’t buy that Epcot will be closed that much longer than the rest of the parks personally.

me either, in fact, it may open before. They don't really need CM to be from italy, germany, etc. Not now. Later maybe

 

[Jrb1979]

me either, in fact, it may open before. They don't really need CM to be from italy, germany, etc. Not now. Later maybe

I think so and it's cause it's a construction zone. With all the walls up it will be very difficult to implement physical distancing

 

[Pickle Rick]

I think so and it's cause it's a construction zone. With all the walls up it will be very difficult to implement physical distancing

That's the issue here, not the International program members being gone. Part timers and even full timers could easily fill those gaps.

 

[nkereina]

My aunt told me she heard that the some of the "essential" WDW staff still reporting to work are the landscaping crews charged with maintaining the topiaries, so that's apparently still being done. I'm not sure what her source is, but she lives near and used to work at WDW, so she may still be connected to former co-workers.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

My aunt told me she heard that the some of the "essential" WDW staff still reporting to work are the landscaping crews charged with maintaining the topiaries, so that's apparently still being done. I'm not sure what her source is, but she lives near and used to work at WDW, so she may still be connected to former co-workers.

I heard this too! I just need happy things to think about, so I'm going to happily imagine that the flowers will be there when the park reopens. I work at the CDC so I can't turn my brain off or get away from everything that's going on, at work or at home.

 

[gharter]

I don't expect to see the Flower and Garden Festival this year.
Count me in as part of those who expect to see EPCOT as the last park opened to get as much work done as possible.
From the entry, to Guardians, the central part and Ratatouille, there is a lot to work on.
If you can work on this, even a month, without guests, you could be a long ways ahead.
I don't see anyway that they won't open for Wine and Food as that's too big of a Festival and money maker to pass on.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

My aunt told me she heard that the some of the "essential" WDW staff still reporting to work are the landscaping crews charged with maintaining the topiaries, so that's apparently still being done. I'm not sure what her source is, but she lives near and used to work at WDW, so she may still be connected to former co-workers.

There have been social media posts by some of these folks with beautiful recent pictures from inside the parks, so we know that they are at least maintaining the grounds and topiaries.

 

[AurumPunzel]

Doubt it'll continue, especially if the reopening occurs when F&G reaches its natural finishing date.

 

[fla4fun]

I can't imagine that they will extend the festival because if the closures go on into late summer the flowers won't be in bloom or at best will seem out of place. I could see them possibly maintaining the topiaries (sp?) for longer if it's even possible. I have no green thumb so I don't know the extent of how long those plants tend to survive but you would think after all that hard work they would want people to be able to enjoy it at least for a bit. I think they might let the flowers bloom for as long as they will but maybe not have the booths and special stuff associated with the festival. You KNOW they'll still have the merchandise available in every store. Maybe on clearance, but it will be there. They lost their rear ends on that aspect. I imagine we'll be seeing that sale for years to come lol

They usually swap out the flowers every so often as the temps go up. It’s very apparent if you go back and look at blogs throughout a festival and see the colors change in the pattern around the water between FW and WS. They don’t keep the same flowers out for the entire festival. The topiaries tend to be more evergreen type plants, as opposed to flowers, so they can handle a wider variety of temperatures.

I want my Orange Bird too . . .

 

[andyman8]

Not all of the CMs in World Showcase are on rotations. Many of them came from their home countries and now live in FL so this is their full time job for many many years. But yes, some of them are on a rotation and I agree that is going to be a hard role to fill.

“Many” isn’t really the word I’d use. The vast majority come from Disney International Programs. There is not enough status-ed CMs trained in WS to operate it without the IPs (remember some of those programs can go on as long as 15 months). Yes, Disney could deploy QSFB and Merchandise CMs from other areas but for attractions and full-service F&B, Disney would have to pull CMs from other areas (most of which will definitely need them without any CPs until at least mid-August) and also train them at WS, which would take some extra time. Not a lot of extra time, but extra time none the less. To further complicate matters, some WS pavilions are operated by third party companies (like Mexico, Japan, and Morocco), so Disney couldn’t just “send” CMs over there. Those CMs would have to be place on leave from Disney and be “hired” by those third-party companies, which probably isn’t going to happen since WDW is going to need all the help they can get without CPs, even if operations are severely limited. What we’re now seeing is some of those third party companies (mainly just Morocco at the moment) posting job listings for Merchandise and QSFB CMs (notably, nothing for table-service dining). Still, to recruit and train a temporary limited workforce for the entire back half of the park will take a bit of time, especially for these third party companies that don’t have a ton of experience with robust recruiting and hiring (they usually just rely on Disney Internships & Programs to recruit their workforce). That’s not to say EPCOT won’t reopen until August or September, just that it won’t be in the first wave of initial reopenings in my opinion.

 

[wareagle57]

I don't expect to see the Flower and Garden Festival this year.
Count me in as part of those who expect to see EPCOT as the last park opened to get as much work done as possible.
From the entry, to Guardians, the central part and Ratatouille, there is a lot to work on.
If you can work on this, even a month, without guests, you could be a long ways ahead.
I don't see anyway that they won't open for Wine and Food as that's too big of a Festival and money maker to pass on.

Agreed. If it means getting the spine ready earlier and keeping Guardians back up to speed on time for the 50th, I will gladly take 3/4 of the parks open so we can get into the new Epcot sooner. I felt the same way with DHS.

 

[SwirlTheCitrus]

Unfortunately, news broke of the flowerbeds around the edges of world showcase were removed.

Edit: here is the link.

https://**************.net/2020/05/epcot-flower-beds-missing-sp1/

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

Unfortunately, news broke of the flowerbeds around the edges of world showcase were removed.

Edit: here is the link.

https://**************.net/2020/05/epcot-flower-beds-missing-sp1/

Yep, we heard. At least I had a few weeks to hope before the inevitable happened.

 

[SwirlTheCitrus]

Unfortunately, news broke of the flowerbeds around the edges of world showcase were removed.
[/QUOTE

Yep, we heard. At least I had a few weeks to hope before the inevitable happened.

I'm with you.