Why I Oughta...

The EPCOT Center annual Flower and Garden Festival is headlined by character topiaries and food booths.  Those are both just lovely.  But, in each of the last few visits we've made down there during the festival, the star(s) of the show (for me) are the bedding annuals that the horticulture team at Disney plant in large, colorful masses all around the park.  Here, below are a few of my favorite views of annual flowers in/around the World Showcase. First is a trio of purple, red and white - all planted in their own colonies: Closer to the Butterfly room, they have this colorful combo: SunPatiens made a big splash: This bed below is mixed with a number of flowering annuals all about the same height: Of course, I couldn't include a roundup of the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival beds without a look at the UK Pavilion.  I included a similar look from 3 years ago ( 2021 Festival) where they planted a similar red/yellow/purple mixed bed .   These below are my fav...

It is well established (in our house) that the best (or at least...my favorite) attraction in the entire Vacation Kingdom is in Epcot called Living with the Land .  What's that?   You haven't been on it? Well...let me tell you about it.  Or...actually...let ChatGPT tell you about it.  I asked her this: Can you describe the attraction at Disney's Epcot center that is called Living with the Land? Why would someone call it their favorite ride at disney? Here's what she said: Living with the Land is a slow-moving boat ride attraction located in the Land Pavilion at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The ride takes guests on a journey through various indoor and outdoor agricultural environments, showcasing different methods of sustainable farming and food production. During the ride, guests can observe a variety of farming techniques, including hydroponics, aquaculture, and integrated pest management. There are also several dioramas that show differ...

We've been going to Disney's Boardwalk since for ten years now ( here's a post showing our first visit, I think...back in March of 2012)  and have come to really love and appreciate this resort area of Walt Disney World.  Sure, the Magic Kingdom resorts have the monorail, the electric water pageant and Magic Kingdom Fireworks.  But the Epcot resorts have walking-to two parks, the Skyliner and the Boardwalk area.  On a recent walk around the Boardwalk, I came across this sign that is situated right on the border between the Yacht Club and the Swan and Dolphin bridge that evokes one of those old-time-y vacation postcards.  It has a cute Walt Disney World Resort postmark on the top, even.  But, the part that jumped out to me was the copy in the red bar across the bottom:  "Come to the Showplace of the Shore".  That's a new-to-me tagline for the resort area.  See the signage below: A quick spin around the Google machine shows me, however, that is...

Back in November, I posted a photo of what I called a pair of "underutilized" Disney MagicBands .  I wrote about how they weren't able to "live their best life" because our trip was cut short.  In a post a week earlier where I posted a photo of Pooh Bear as a 50th Anniversary statue , I talked about how we didn't see too many of those statues due to "unforeseen circumstances".  But, in those posts, I didn't really talk about what we *did* do on our trip.  Besides going to a couple of parks and having some good drinks at my favorite restaurant on Disney property (more on that in a different post, I think), Nat and I were down there for the Run Disney Wine & Dine Race Weekend.   Both Nat and I were set to run the 5K, but she was also running another, much longer race.  I was happy to just do the 5K.  Here, below is my bib.   Our race started in the rain and thankfully we had ponchos.  We stood out there for a couple of hours, wait...

These two Disney MagicBands (Orange Bird on the left for him and Epcot Construction Walls on the right for her) barely had a chance.  They got all gussied up and didn't get to live their best life.  Sure, they rode the Magic Express and rode the boat from the Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom.  But, they had so much more planned for their journey.  These MagicBand stickers are different than the ones we've used in the past, but they seemed to work just fine.  Here's hoping they'll get to live their best life one day. I've posted photos of some of our MagicBands over the years here on the blog including some of the original version (without the circle bump-out in the middle) here with Mary Poppins and Bert in 2016 and with Monorail Orange in 2016 , too.  And the full boxed versions in 2015 and 2014 .  

The last time I posted an update on our Mickey Mouse (standing) topiary was back in late July of this Summer .  I had just recently moved it outside to our back patio and the Creeping Fig Vine that I had planted on it was doing well and growing to cover part of the frame.  We brought home the frame from this Spring's Epcot Flower and Garden Festival and I bought the balance of the supplies online .  That look back in July was at about the 3 month mark .   Today, marks the five month mark since stuffing, wiring and planting the topiary.  And we're seeing quite a bit more coverage with the Creeping Fig Vine seeming to have established itself and would around the front and back of the frame.   Here, below, is the front of the Mickey Mouse topiary after about 150 days.  The vine - planted in the 'heart' has covered a lot of his belly, some of his face and some of one of his ears. Below, you can see a photo of the back of the topiary.  I just...

Earlier this Spring, we came home with a Standing Micky Mouse metal wire topiary frame from the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival and I went ahead figuring out how to acquire the material, stuff the thing, wire it up and plant it with a creeping Fig Vine.  Here's that post from April that shows the steps I took to get it set up initially.   Mickey Mouse topiary spent the first few months of its life on our counter top in the kitchen sitting in a bowl.  I tried to keep it pretty wet and the vine grew just a little bit.  Then, I had a setback with some dieback on the tips of the vine.  I think I let it dry out too much.  Around the beginning of June, I decided to try to move it outside on our back stoop and patio.  After a few days of trying to harden the vine off (I put it out in the shade for a few hours, then brought it back in.  Repeat that process over the course of a week or so, each day adding a little bit of time.), I decided to give i...

Over the years, I've posted about various places that I've found gardening inspiration around the world.  There's the big one - Luxembourg Gardens in Paris - that maybe had the BIGGEST impact on me.  But there's also all of the things I've taken in around Japan including the pretty great Gotenyama Garden and all of their street trees . And, the boxwood hedges outside of the FedEx HQ that have an almost cloud-like form . And the Jacques Wirtz hedges that I've never seen in real life, but love online .  The fountain/pond at the cut flower garden inside the Morton Arboretum .   And, of course, there's Disney Parks. I've posted about their roses, trees and plants many times .  And I've added Disneyland Roses and a Belgian Fence espalier based on what I picked up there.   One of the things that I recently noticed was the color combinations in some of their annual beds.  Let's start with this bed showing off a really great Pooh Bear topiary (he's...

I've been thinking about topiary for a number of years.  I've talked about backyard topiaries - including (recently) the idea of a Block I one and as far back as 2017, I bought a topiary wire (angel) at an Estate Sale and never did anything with it .   It is something that I've included on my to-do lists over the years ( 2019 and 2020 ), but never was able to tackle the project.  I've also set it as #24 on this year's list (topiary), but I've taken a little veer off course. Instead of moving on an outdoor topiary, I've somehow started with a tropical topiary on a stuffed frame. This, too, has been like five years in the making.   Over those five-or-so-years, we've been down to the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival a number of times and EACH TIME we're there, I always pause and pick up a Mickey Mouse-shaped topiary and THINK about buying it.  But, each time, I've put it down.  Either logistics, or impulse control or something.   But thi...

Earlier this month, the fine folks at Disney Imagineering shared even more details of the newly refreshed entrance to Epcot that includes the original fountain, some cool ribbon lighting and a series of flagpoles that are flying flags featuring the original symbols of Epcot .  Seems like it is a lot of "back to the beginnings" for Epcot in terms of the entrance and I'm here for it.    In our pin trading, we've collected a series of the Epcot pavilion symbol pins, but there's one that we just came across that was new to us.  It is what you see below:  Now, we can certainly have a conversation about *if* this is scrapper (and it might be), but that's not what I'm here to post about.  It is about the fact that, based on THIS pin, I just learned that the World Showcase had/has a symbol that was in harmony with all the other ones that I was familiar with over the years.  What is interesting is that this story on D23 (the official fan club for Disney) doesn...

Another day, another pin for the archives here on the blog.  These are all from the little stash that I found last week that had a bunch of unopened (and not put on the pin board) pins from a couple of trips in 2015 and 2016.  First was this 2015 Christmas pin with Captain Hook and Mr. Smee , then yesterday I posted a pin from Hollywood Studios that showed off the final year of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights in 2015 .  Today is the third new pin, but this one is from 2016.  It is from the 2016 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival and features Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in what I think is kind of an homage to their topiaries.  I've posted about the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival/show before here on the blog - including this Tow Mater topiary from 2015 .  I also posted some photos of some plants from the 2016 festival  and we were there in 2018 to pick up this Passholder Magnet from the Festival .  I don't know how ma...

A few days ago, I posted a photo of a vintage University of Illinois Fighting Illini football 1984 Rose Bowl felt pennant and remarked that it was from my childhood.  It was (somehow??) saved by my mother who packed it away with a bunch of other things from my life.  When my folks moved out of their house in Frankfort - and we moved into our home in Downers Grove - they gave me a bunch of boxes and tubs loaded with personal effects.  Along with a collection of greeting cards from my First Communion and sports trophies, these pennants were stuck into the boxes.  There are a whole bunch of them that I'll get to, but today's post is about this epic, vintage Walt Disney World Epcot Center spacesuit felt pennant.  It features Mickey, Donald and Goofy all in their 'Rainbow Brite' costumes  and this one, too, I remember from my childhood.  I'll have to ask my mom if she has any memories of when we got this, but it seems that this *has* to be from the ...

Down at the Epcot Center in Florida, there is a store in the Japan pavilion that sells all sorts of novelty items from Japan including a live oyster/pearl tank where you can pick out an oyster and once opened, discover a pearl.  That store is called Mitsukoshi.  I had been going to the store for a couple of years until Natalie told me that it was called Mitsukoshi and that it is a department store in Japan.  Like...this isn't just a 'shop' in the Japan Pavilion, it is actually a location of this department store .  Having been to Japan a few times now for work, on my most recent trip, I decided to try to get into one of the Tokyo locations.  Turns out, the Ginza location was located on the walk between my hotel and the office I was working in all week.  You can see the store in the photo above:  the *older* store is the main portion located on the corner.  A bit down to the right, you can see the *newer* addition they've added.  Her...

Yesterday, I posted a photo of a Walt Disney quote from a construction sign .  Today is another.  This one rings true, doesn't it?  Or maybe is just a massive an understatement from Walt himself.   This is from the same wall that the "everybody needs deadlines" quote sign that adorned the Disney Skyliner Station construction site outside the backdoor of Epcot at the International Gateway.  You can peek at this post and see that the signs are the same theme. "I believe in being an innovator." -Walt Disney Full archive of the Walt Disney World construction signs (cleverly sponsored by Stanley Black and Decker) featuring quotes from Walt Disney can be found here.   This is the seventh in the collection. One other thing that they've added to the construction wall since we were last there is this Disney Skyliner sign that shows some of the art on the gondolas and the map of the Skyliner. Nat and I were talking and she pointed out someth...

I don't know exactly what I was doing - maybe waiting for Nat or trying to find some shade.  Or both.  But, I found myself face-to-face with a tree that had this plaque right underneath it on the entrance side of the World Showcase at the Epcot Center on our most recent trip.  This is right behind the Refreshment Port and that little body of water you see in the background is the pond/lake/lagoon that is normally done up with the flower quilt during the Flower and Garden show.   But, back to that tree.  And the plaque.  Here's a close-up of it: It is a Quercus virginiana - a Live Oak.  The plaque at Epcot reads: Native to Southeast United States This stately tree measures its lifetime in centuries.  A massive tree, the "Live Oak" can reach a height of 60 feet with 100-foot spread.  The wood is very strong and hard, making it one of the heaviest of North American trees.   Those of you paying attention know th...

There is apparently an entire set of these small, annual passholder buttons that you can/could have scored at the 2017 Food and Wine Festival at Epcot Center this fall.  Eight of them , in fact.  Alas, we have just this one that we picked up at the Light Lab .  I'll stick it on the pin board along with some of the other "non-pin" Disney Pins like this "Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse" button we scored on a visit to the parks on Mickey's birthday last year and the  @wdwtoday Twitter button I posted about yesterday . 

It isn't everyday that you come across the Epcot Germany train laying on it's side, right?  Is this a metaphor for Epcot in general?  Or at least for Future World?  

One of the better meals (for me, at least) in Epcot's World Showcase is a pizza pie in the Italy pavilion at Via Napoli .  We've dined there a few times and I've always enjoyed the meal and the show.  The show, you ask?  Yeah....the show.   In this case, the show is the open kitchen where the pizzaiolos stretch the dough, dress their skins and get them in and out of the ovens.   Like a kid in the Marshall Field's windows at Christmastime, I press my nose against the glass and stare at them assembling and baking the pies for everyone.  Nat will tell you that this isn't an uncommon sighting; just about every pizza place that we go to that has an open kitchen/oven, I'll find time to watch the goings ons.   On this visit to Via Napoli, I was drawn to the cheese bins and the labels that they had applied to them.  The photos you see here are taken from my perspective, so that's why the labels appear upside down.  Above, you'll see th...

Thanks to the out-going nature of one of the Friendship boat skippers, we're now the proud owners of a Friendship Boat-specific Transportation card.  This one is #15 of 27 total cards and we got it on the boat going from the Yacht Club to Disney's Hollywood Studios.   I posted other Transportation cards here on the blog before.   Here's a post showing a few other ones including the Monorail and Motor Launch versions .   Below is the back of the Friendship Boat card that features Merida.   This goes in the file with a few other of our Disney World 'free things' that we've amassed over the years.   This Friendship Boat Transportation card Star Wars Trials of the Temple Training Badge Official Tomorrowland Speedway Drivers License Happy Birthday Mickey pin from Mickey the Mouse's birthday The above-mentioned WDW Transportation Cards  including the Monorail and Motor Launch The Mayor of Mainstreet USA's business card

Back at the end of July, I posted a photo of a Walt Disney quote that they've hung on some construction walls at WDW in Orlando .  Here's another one that caught my eye.  Again, kudos to Stanley for the sponsorship that seems apt for the place/time/space in terms of sponsoring some of the construction work going on and to the imagineers for turning what would normally be an eyesore into something worth taking a minute to take in while walking towards the International Gateway behind Epcot. As for the quote itself, I'm drawn to it because of that word 'curious'.  Something that when I hear someone say, I always perk up and tune in to what they're talking about.  I've done hundreds of interviews for hiring folks (doing some these days to hire people for our team) and when describing themselves, if I hear 'curious' as part of the description, that always makes me sit up in my chair.