Fun Facts from Disney's Flower & Garden Festival

While I'm sitting here in my cube withering away dreading the snow that's heading our way tonight, I've been browsing the interwebs and Instagram and getting insanely jealous with all of the photos from Disney's Flower & Garden Festival going on right now.  I've been before and it was beautiful but they've since added some awesome food and drink to the mix and it's a mini Food & Wine Fest practically!

(And yes, I'm back hopefully!  Yet again, grad school has taken over my life.  But I'm ALMOST DONE!!!!)

Photo courtesy of WDWNews

Stumbled across these fun facts from the fest and thought I'd share.  Anyone going?  Anyone want to send me a rum spiced dole whip?  :)

Photo courtesy of WDWNews

• 30 million blooms blanket the park throughout the festival, which runs 75 colorful days.
• One dozen brand-new garden marketplaces surround the World Showcase Lagoon offering festival taste treats ranging from shrimp and grits with fresh Florida veggies to barbecue and brew. Each marketplace will feature a produce and  herb garden to represent the more than 50 marketplace beverage choices and more than 30 food items featured at the marketplaces.
• The Land of Oz Garden is the largest festival garden ever created for the festival at nearly one-third acre.  The garden’s own “yellow brick road” is 160 feet long and includes 40 feet of  “yellow brick” decal, 40 feet of ForeverLawn yellow turf and an 80-foot-long floral path planted with 1,200 yellow viola plants, to be replaced by tropical duranta plants when the weather heats up later in April. 
• 1,000 native butterflies represent up to 10 species at the expansive Tinker Bell’s Butterfly House. 
• More than 500,000 plants, trees and shrubs are planted for the festival; 250,000 of those are annual blossoms installed for the festival.
• Festival plants include 60 different species of trees, 47 types of palms, and 48 varieties of bedding plants.
• 150 hands-on gardening demonstrations and seminars will be presented.
• 30 “flower towers” of of several varieties of blooms and plants line Innoventions Plaza.
• 225 floating mini-gardens, each three feet in diameter, of multi-hued impatiens provide splashes of color on two ponds that border the walkway between Future World and World Showcase.
• 700 container gardens of flowers, herbs, plants and vegetables in clay pots, barrels and urns enhance the landscape throughout Epcot.
• 400 Walt Disney World horticulturists are needed to install the festival landscape, topiaries and many exhibits; 100 Epcot horticulturists maintain topiaries and other festival displays.
• It takes more than one full year and about 24,000 cast member hours to prepare for the annual festival.

Photo courtesy of WDWNews