Since there has been a lot of buzz about this year's Flower and Garden Festival, we decided to look back on our visit to Epcot during the festival in 1999. We visited several days after school ended that year and the festival at Epcot became one of the highlights of that trip. We have been fans of the festival ever since.

This popular Disney event began in the early 90s; and today it is a highly anticipated annual event at Disney World. The International Flower and Garden Festival this year is featuring characters from Toy Story.

Our favorite topiaries during the 1999 festival are those that were found in the United Kingdom pavilion. We discovered topiaries of Mary Poppins and Winnie the Pooh and friends, all of which were are some of our favorite  characters. We particularly enjoyed the hollow tree seen in the picture above overflowing with Honey Suckel, which was made to look like honey!

Other topiaries featured at the festival in 1999 would be a wild dragon in China, Rafiki and Simba at the African Outpost, and Aladdin and the Genie at Morocco. Plus much more!

We also enjoyed this topiary of Rabbit found in a hidden corner of the pavilion, behind the United Kingdom's shops. It's usually a quiet area that many guests miss; and during this visit, Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh was there to greet us with his freshly harvested carrots!