The topiaries at EPCOT’s International Flower and Garden Festival don’t just appear. A small crew of horticulturists builds them by hand, plants them overnight with cranes, and maintains them for 90 straight days so the last guest to visit gets the same quality show as the first.
Disney Parks released a new episode of Disney Unscripted on Thursday, March 13, offering a rare look at the team behind the 2026 festival. The video follows cast members through the greenhouse build phase, overnight installations, and butterfly house setup. This year, an unexpected challenge made everything harder.
The Coldest Florida Freeze in 16 Years
Two weeks before installation was set to begin, Central Florida experienced its coldest temperatures in 16 years. The team had to halt outdoor work and rush the nearly-finished topiaries into heated greenhouses to protect the plants from frost damage.
“We are dealing with really unusual conditions. Very cold. We’re getting some frost the last few nights. Sunday night’s not looking really good for us. So topiaries are going to be fine because they’re all nice and toasty warm in our greenhouses,” one team member says in the video.
When the cold broke, crews moved fast. Working overnight with cranes, they lifted and precisely dropped full-size topiaries, including Lightning McQueen and Figment, into their beds while a runDisney half-marathon weekend ran simultaneously through the park around them.
Built by Hand, Maintained for 90 Days
The topiaries are assembled in Greenhouse 7 at the Walt Disney World nursery, where cast members use a small tool called a “dibble” to plug individual plants into metal frames by hand. One crew member describes the process as meditative, comparing it to placing hair, thinking about both where the plant wants to go and where it should go.
Installation takes three to four weeks. Maintenance runs for the full 90 days of the festival, with the team plugging holes, replacing fading blooms, and trimming plants daily. “The guests that come on day one still have an amazing show if they show up on the 90th day,” one horticulturist says.
Butterfly House and Twinings Tea Garden
The butterfly house features five species this year: Julia’s, Zebra Longwings, White Peacocks, Buckeyes, and Malachites. Handlers release them by hand, careful not to touch the wings.
The Twinings tea garden also got an update for 2026. Instead of tea cups, this year’s display features tumblers with custom straws designed by Walt Disney Imagineering. The team worked to seat each straw cleanly through custom basket frames.
Where to Watch
The full Disney Unscripted episode is now available on the Disney Parks YouTube channel. The 2026 EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival runs through June 2, 2026.
Source: @disneyparks on Instagram
