Flower & Garden Getting New Topiaries & Outdoor Kitchens; Expanded Bus Service Coming to Port Orleans Resorts

Flower & Garden Getting New Topiaries & Outdoor Kitchens for 2017:

The 2017 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival will feature new outdoor kitchens and brand new topiaries.  The festival which begins March 1, 2017 will feature a 6-foot tall Figment topiary where he is balancing on a floral ball. This year's festival will delight you for 90 days. 

The Disney Parks Blog announced other new topiaries that will be featured at the festival include:

"Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy and Pluto will greet Epcot guests at the Epcot front entrance in a new topiary garden inspired by a vintage Walt Disney short film. Belle from the Oscar-winning Disney film “Beauty and the Beast” is getting a major topiary makeover, joining Snow White, Elsa and Anna as the next-generation “princess” topiary. In the “Cars”-themed interactive play garden: a new character topiary from the upcoming June 2017 release of “Cars 3” will join the gang."

The Festival Center this year will have expanded hours during the opening week of the festival from March 1 through March 5. For the remaining weeks, the center will be open Friday through Sunday. Two new Outdoor Kitchens will also be added to this year's festival. Guests will also be able grab a seat at the American Gardens Theatre for four days a week during the Festival. The Gardens Rock will have three concerts. 

The 2017 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival will begin March 1 and run through May 29, 2017. 

Expanded Bus Service Coming to Disney's Port Orleans Resorts:

WDW News Today is reporting that an expanded bus service is coming to Disney's Port Orleans Resorts. An internal bus service is now available to guests daily beginning at 6:30 a.m. The internal bus will travel around all resort bus stops which includes French Quarter, Riverside North, South, East, and West. It will operate until 12:30 am Sunday-Thursday's and until 1:30 am on Friday's and Saturday's. 

Also to reduce wait times for resort guests at the Riverside South stop and allow guests from the North, East, and West stops to go directly to the park without having any additional stops by sending two Magic Kingdom busses to pick up Riverside guests. This is during the peak period from 8-11 am where one bus will pick up guests from the North, East, and West stops while the other bus will pick up guests at Riverside South. 

Ample Hills Creamery Coming to Disney's Boardwalk; New Aquatic Play Area at Disney's Port Orleans - French Quarter

Ample Hills Creamery Coming to Disney's Boardwalk:

A brand new but vintage ice cream parlor will be opening up this Spring at Disney's Boardwalk. Ample Hills Creamery will open as a re-imagined take on a turn-of-the-century ice cream parlor. It will be the first time the creamery will open its first location outside of New York City for the Brooklyn-based company.

It will be located on the Boardwalk overlooking Crescent Lake - a short walk from Epcot and a short relaxing boat ride to Hollywood Studios. Guests will be able to look inside the parlor through the promenade-facing kitchen windows and see ice cream and mix-ins being handcrafted the old-fashioned way.

Many flavors will be available to sample, including signature creations like Ooey Gooey Butter Cake,  Coffee Toffee Coffee, Malty Salty Pretzel Punch, Cotton Candy, and so much more. Ample Hills Creamery is even working on an exclusive flavor just for Disney World. More details including an official opening date will be announced soon, so stay tuned.

New Aquatic Play Area at Disney's Port Orleans - French Quarter:

A new aquatic play area has recently opened up at Disney's Port Orleans - French Quarter. The Disney Parks Blog gave us a little insight on the new area that will surely excite the little ones to splash around and stay cool during the upcoming hot summer days. 

"Decked out in the bold hues of Mardi Gras gold, purple and green, this new aquatic play area lets guests 48 inches and under enjoy water slides that are just their size, play with fun water cannons, and splish-splash among fountains."

The new play area is located right next to the Doubloon Lagoon Pool, so guests and their little ones can easily travel back-and-forth between the two water filled spots at the resort.