Characters Spotted at the Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival

Marlon spotted quite a few characters among the topiary at Epcot's International Flower & Garden Festival and he wanted to share some of his pictures with you. Doug decided to share some fascinating and little known facts about each one too.

There's Mickey Mouse---fascinating fact: the first words he uttered on screen were "Hot dogs!"

Little known fact: in the 1980's, Goofy was named official mascot of the French Olympic Team because of his Sport Goofy athletic programs.

Little known fact: in the late 1990's, Minnie Mouse starred as a crime solver in several "Minnie Mysteries" published by Golden Books.

Fascinating, little known fact: in 1997, the then-current voice actor of Minnie Mouse (Russi Taylor) married the then-current voice actor of Mickey Mouse (Wayne Allwine).

Little known fact: in "Lilo and Stitch", Stitch turns on the television and watches scenes from the 1958 film "Earth vs. The Spider" which was also featured on Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

Fascinating fact: Swift & Company introduced E.K. Pond Peanut Butter in 1920 and renamed it Peter Pan Peanut Butter in 1928.

Little known fact: Captain Hook made a brief appearance in the comic book "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" at a pirate conference.

Little known fact: Tinker Bell had a cameo appearance in the comic strip "Pearls Before Swine" where she was mistaken for a huge fly and killed with a fly swatter. Don't worry though...she was just acting.

Fascinating fact: in this picture, Beauty and the Beast are not actually topiary.

Little known fact: in the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale, the Snow White villain is actually Snow White's jealous mother, not step-mother.

Fascinating fact: in many non-German versions of the story, The Seven Dwarfs whistled while they worked...as robbers. But remember, they were really just hard-working diamond miners.

Little known fact (to me, at least): The Lion King's Scar was voiced by Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons. His Oscar win was for his portrayal of Claus von Bulow in the 1991 movie "Reversal of Fortune".

Fascinating fact: Pluto made his debut the same year the planet of the same name was discovered. An 11-year old named the planet and in 2006, at the age of 87, Venetia Phair declared that she did not name the planet after the Disney dog.

Little known fact: the only words ever spoken by Pluto: "Kiss me."

Little known fact: Daisy Duck replaced Donald's earlier love interest Donna Duck and is the aunt of April, May and June Duck.

Little known fact: Donald Duck is the only popular film and television cartoon character to be an official licensed mascot. He represents the University of Oregon's Fighting Ducks.

For more pictures of Epcot's International Flower & Garden Show, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/april/epcot-international/ .

To be continued...

Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival Pt 2

More pictures of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.

National Flags of the World...and of Walt Disney.

Here are some rocks and a couple of fences surrounded by plants.

Here are some orange, red, yellow and purple flowers along with some that look like daisies.

More metal art at the festival...

Here are trees surrounded by yellow and orange flowers.

The magical star of Illuminations-Reflections of Earth rests up in the World Showcase Lagoon for the next nightly show.

Many different musical groups from the 60's and 70's are appearing as Epcot presents Flower Power. Check out the lineup.

To see The Happenings in a brief concert clip, watch the video below.

This model train is located near the Germany Pavilion of The World Showcase.

This is where the term "flower bed" originated.

Take a look at the Bonsai Collection located in the Japan Pavilion.

Marlon found one of the twenty Trolls hiding in the Norway Garden.

Gardening on rooftops?

The Walt Disney World Monorail zooms by..."Please stand clear of the doors...Por favor, mantegan se allejado de las puertas."

To be continued...

Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival Pt 1

Tax day. As Doug stayed home with a bad cold and slept all day, Marlon went to take a look around the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.
The festival is 75 days long, lasting from March 19-June 1.

Here's one of the Epcot cast members right now working hard to get the park "show ready".

Actually, he is "Man and Wheel Borrow" (yes, Frank and Sean, "borrow) by artist Peter Otfinoski. See more of his work at http://otfinoski.tripod.com/main.htm .

This exhibit was located just outside of MouseGear where we worked.

Can you imagine how long it takes to build a sand castle with so much detail?

What will happen if it rains?

These water-dwelling plants were featured as were xeriscape plants---plants that need little or no water.

This train exhibit was inside the Festival Center located in the Wonders of Life pavilion.

Welcome to Minnie's Magnificent Butterfly Garden.

Wow! What a large butterfly!

Here are some butterflies in the very early stages of their life, which can range from one week long up to one year for some species.

Gardens near the Odyssey Restaurant building. Take note of the (not-so) Hidden Mickey.

To be continued...

Visiting Cypress Gardens & Splash Island

Today we decided to meet Joyce, Aron & Austin at Cypress Gardens to visit Splash Island Water Park before we left for the summer. Frank was recovering from knee surgery.

As we were running to meet up with Joyce and the boys, we saw two Cypress Garden Belles in the distance.

Marlon can never pass by a waterfall without taking a picture.

Here we are in our swimwear standing by Paradise River...actually our swimwear is in a plastic Walmart sack close by.

Here's Doug enjoying the scary Pirate Ship ride with Austin...seriously, Austin IS sitting next to Doug.

Want to experience the Triple Hurricane at Cypress Gardens? Click on the video below. Ride operators at Cypress Gardens often send the cars through the rides twice...this instance we went through three times. This is fun...as long as you don't get sick.

The next afternoon we met Frank, Joyce and the kids for a farewell dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill.

For just a few more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/april/cypress-gardens-wit/ .

To be continued...

MouseGear Costume and Deer Creek RV Resort

Tomorrow is our last day of work at Epcot's MouseGear store. We figured we should probably take pictures of us in our costume today or we may forget.

Marlon wants to know "Do you want to trade a pin?"

We spent the next few days looking at RV lots at Deer Creek RV Resort. We were trying to answer the age-old question in this time of economic uncertainty...

"to buy or not to buy?"

The current answer is "not to buy"...yet.

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/april/mouse-gear-uniforms/ .

To be continued...