May 2005 - Flower & Garden Festival?

[arizonacolbys]

Does anyone have any info on this year's Flower & Garden Festival. I found the dates on Deb's site for this year's festival & looked at the pictures from 2004. We have never visited during this time & the pictures look very interesting.

I am considering a long-weekend around May 13th & was wondering if there will be any special events for this Festival on that weekend that I would need to aware of. Does this Festival bring in more crowds?

Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated - thanks!

 

[justlikeeyore]

I go to WDW every year during Flower&Garden Fest. I try to go around time Paul Revere and the Raiders play. Last year I went in May the weather was gr8. The gradens are beautiful and crowds not to bad. You should have a good time.

 

[kandmwedding]

The Flower & Garden Festival is a wonderful time to go!! The topiaries are great, and I've never noticed more crowds than any other similar time of the year (that didn't make much sense, but I hope you know what I mean ). There are a few special events like bands that play (Paul Revere and the Raiders are one of many) and demonstrations (how to have a patio garden for instance). It's beautiful to see, but isn't noticeably busier in my opinion. Oh, and if you go late enough in May you might also hit Star Wars Weekends at MGM (if they have them this year).

 

[dcmbshafe]

We were there last year and the flowers were pretty spectacular (though the flora at WDW is always pretty awesome anyway). My impression was that the layout of the exhibits and schedule of events remain pretty static from year-to-year, though I'm sure the performers vary a bit. Epcot wasn't really any more crowded (in relation to its size) than any of the other parks, but we thought overall the parks were more crowded than we had expected. Don't know how much of this was attributable to F&G.

 

[Ilovestitch]

The F&G festival pretty much doesn't affect crowds at Epcot. We went last year, and it was nice. The topiaries were cool- the Lion King one even had music. They have special merchandise, too. I got a cute gardener mickey beanie and a mug shaped like a flower pot. They had LE pins that are scented like flowers! -Steph

 

[KayleeUK]

Here is some Flower and Garden Information

 

[arizonacolbys]

Thanks for all the great info - the link is great!

So, has anyone that has been down to this festival in May also visited WDW at a slower time? We usually visit during value season - January, September & early December. Will it seem a lot more crowded to us in May? It seems like I've heard that attendance has picked up in May over the last couple years.

This festival sounds like a fun time to visit - just hoping it isn't overly crowded - we'd love to squeeze in another trip on our AP's. I also think it would be a nice touch to our 5th wedding anniversary. Thanks again!!!

 

[dcmbshafe]

The past three years we've been to WDW in early-September, mid-October and mid-May. After being spoiled with the light fall crowds, we thought May was a lot more crowded. It seemed to me that there were a lot of strollers given the number of people, almost as if everyone there had one. I'm sure this was just my imagination, but I theorized that a lot of families were doing what we were doing - having one last off-peak trip before the kids started school (our DD started kindy in the fall).

Although it was more crowded than September or October, the parks were open later. Weather wise it was about the same for us. This year we will be at WDW the weeks before and after Easter, so I'm sure the May crowds will look pretty good by comparison.

 

[arizonacolbys]

Thanks dcmbshafe for that info - it's exactly what I was wondering. I'm still thinking that the crowds won't be too bad for us - we did take a quick last-minute trip in March 2003 that was much busier than we were used to. We still got everything done that we wanted to & had a great time. Thanks again!!

 

[kandmwedding]

So, has anyone that has been down to this festival in May also visited WDW at a slower time?

We went last twice last year - once in January and once in May. Both were towards the middle to end of the month, avoiding all holidays. I have to say that we found the crowds to be pretty comparable. Slightly more people in May, but not overly noticeable. And while it can get warm in May, I prefer heat to the downright chill that's in the air in January. If I had it my way I'd go to WDW every May!!