Italy pavilion

Nightime Magic at Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival

12 March 2013 by Suzannah Otis 1 Comment

The 20th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival has really outdone itself this year with the addition of dining and drinking options at 12 booths around the World Showcase. In addition, there are some special nighttime effects for many of the topiaries, making the Festival a must-visit, day and night. I was so enchanted by a few of these displays, I had to create a special post to share the photos I took at night. I hope you enjoy the gallery of nighttime magic at the Flower and Garden Festival!

Click to enter a slideshow of the images below:

Epcot Flower and Garden Festival at night — The monorail station has projections of the Flower & Garden logo, flowers, and butterflies on the monorail track

Fab 5 topiaries at night — The fab 5 still look great at night

Mickey topiary at night — Mickey is ready for a BBQ

Pluto topiary at night — …and so is Pluto!

Phineas and Ferb topiary at night — Phineas and Ferb have color-changing LED lights around them

Lightning McQueen topiary at night — Lightning McQueen

Epcot's Garden Retreat at night — The Garden Retreat is a lovely seating area, day or night

Tinker Bell topiary at night — Tinker Bell and Periwinkle are the hit of the nighttime gardens

Oz the Great and Powerful Garden — The Oz garden sign looks wonderful at night

Monsters University topiary — The Monsters University scene looks just as great at night

Moose in Canada pavilion at night — Lit up moose in the Canada gardens

Beauty and the Beast topiaries at night — Beauty and the Beast

Beast topiary at night — Beast is a little scary as a close-up!

Lotso topiary at night — Lotso looks very happy, but I’d watch out for him…

Lady and the Tramp topiary at night — Lady and the Tramp

China dragon topiary at night — The dragon in China spits mist

Norway troll topiary at night — A friendly troll?

Oz garden poppies — Hand-blown glass poppies in the Oz garden are beautiful at night!

Which display is your favorite at night? Mine is definitely Tinker Bell and Periwinkle – the fairy music playing in the background is the perfect touch!

Make sure you see our other posts on the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival!

Photo Tour of the Epcot’s All-New Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar in Italy

1 May 2012 by Suzannah Otis 4 Comments

Construction is finally complete and today saw the grand opening of Tutto Gusto (gusto means flavor or taste in Italian) wine cellar in Epcot’s Italy pavilion at the World Showcase. The new building blends right in to the existing Tutto Italia restaurant while making a nice segue to Via Napoli’s more rustic stable-like structure.

While the Italy pavilion is now dominated by dining options, the new additions of Via Napoli almost two years ago and now Tutto Gusto really make a nice “village” feel to the area. With the exception of the smoking area that seems to have cropped up around the fountain, Italy now is a place I’d love to just sit and take in the lovely architecture and atmosphere.

Tutto Gusto will be a great option for those looking for a quick bite or dessert or a glass or two from the over 200 wines offered in their collection. The menu offers small plates such as cured meats, cheeses, panini, and pasta as well as desserts. We’ll be back soon to do a full review, but for now, I thought I’d leave you with some photos to whet your appetite, including the menu. Divertiti!

Click to enlarge all photos in the gallery below:

Beautiful mosaic tile work inside Tutto Italia.

Will you add Tutto Gusto to your World Showcase tour?

Changes to Via Napoli Dessert Menu

4 January 2011 by Suzannah Otis 2 Comments

Via Napoli almost instantly won my heart as my new favorite place to dine at Epcot. I’m not even a huge pizza fan, but I just loved everything about this place, from the atmosphere and cast members to of course, the food (much more than just pizza). I covered opening day at Via Napoli as well as another trip with my husband. When out of state friends came to visit Walt Disney World, we naturally met up at Via Napoli for dinner. I recommended my favorite dessert to my friend that night and he loved it. So imagine my sadness when I dined there today with my mom and children (who still had never been) and the dessert menu was missing two items!

The Gelato Frizzante (my favorite!) and the Copa Di Brutti Ma Buoni (Good but Ugly Sundae) were completely removed from the list. I fell in love with the Gelato Frizzante when we had little samples of it opening day and ordered it again at each visit. My husband tried and loved the Copa di Brutti ma Buoni on his first visit and also enjoyed it. I asked our server what happened but she just said they were taken off the menu. Could we really be the only people that liked them? Perhaps they were too labor intensive to make? In any case, it makes me sad, but since I was usually too full from the meal to have needed dessert, I guess it’s probably a good thing in my case. I always overdid with the Gelato Frizzante! Here are some pictures of the new dessert menu – no items have been added, simply the two removed items: (click to enlarge the photos)