For those who love to garden or just enjoy looking at the flowers, you will be amazed at the displays featured at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival held each year in Orlando. Presented by HGTV, this festival will be a garden show like no other with Disney character topiaries and special presentations along with live music. Scheduled to be held next on March 7 to May 20, 2012, you can make your plans early to book your trip and ensure that you include this special event on your vacation agenda.

Top Designer Presentations - This exciting garden show features designer presentations by the country’s top designers to help you plan how to transform your back yard into the garden of your dreams. It features HGTV stars and gardening experts from Epcot who will discuss ideas on what to do to make your garden more interesting and appealing and enhance its features so that everything blooms when it should. This springtime event showcases the most colorful displays of gardens and flowers that will entice you to try your hand when you get back home.

Disney Character Topiaries - To help you become more interested in gardening you will see over 75 Disney character topiaries along with other types displayed throughout Epcot. These whimsical characters come to life in a floral display like no other and include Disney and Pixar characters such as Woody, Buzz and Lotso from Toy Story 3 along with Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars 2. All the exciting characters make the displays even more interesting and fun for the whole family – even if they don’t like to garden!

Flower Power Concert Series – Every weekend a different artist will be featured bringing you live music from the 1960’s and 1970’s at the America Gardens Theatre during the Flower Power Concert Series. These concerts give you an opportunity to sit back and enjoy the unforgettable tunes from that era and forget all your problems while you rest your feet and listen to the music!

Attendance at the International Flower & Garden Festival is included in the admission to Epcot. However, availability is limited at some of the events like the designer presentations or the music concerts so it is important to ensure that you get your tickets in advance so that you do not miss the opportunity to attend this wonderful garden festival that will be like no other you have ever seen.

While you are pretty much guaranteed to have a great time when you visit the Disney theme parks, you’ll have an even better time if you manage to save money on your trip. By saving a little bit over a lot of areas, you can significantly reduce the amount you spend on your Disney World vacation. With just a little extra planning, you may save enough to pay for extra days in the park or even your airfare. Use these great ideas to minimize the cost of your next Disney vacation.

1. Stay Offsite: While Disney resorts offer interesting themeing and a few minor perks, they can’t match the amenities offered elsewhere. Some Disney resorts are so far away from the theme parks themselves, you have to ride on a bus for over 30 minutes just to get to the front gates. Staying offsite generally for example in a Florida rental villa provides you with far more luxurious and roomy accommodations with many more amenities than you’ll find in a similarly priced Disney room.  You may also find you’ll have better access to some of the Orlando areas other offerings if you stay in a site that is not Disney-centric. Universal Orlando, Islands of Adventure (including the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter) and Sea World are all more accessible to guests staying off of Disney property.

2. Travel off season: Plan your trip for less busy months; the best months for Florida travel include non-holiday dates from September-March each year. Not only is the weather better, but you‘ll save quite a bit on your travel and your accommodations as well.

3. Buy only the tickets you need: Disney World tickets can be confusing. Each ticket is purchased based on the length of your stay–so if you plan on visiting Disney World three times, buy a three day ticket, not three one-day tickets. You’ll save hundreds  just buy buying multiday tickets (called “Magic Your Way” tickets by Disney).

Don’t buy options you don’t need–the “Park hopper” Option is a useless expense if you don’t plan on going from park to park every day of your trip–and the water park option only makes sense if you plan on spending an entire day at a Disney-owned water park.

4. Pack essential items: Bring along items like over the counter medications, diapers and personal grooming items from home instead of purchasing them in Florida. Simple items like disposable rain ponchos can be found for under a dollar in your local big box store, but they will set you back $8.00 each in the Disney theme parks.

5. Pack some snacks: You don’t need to drag along a full-sized cooler each day, but bringing a few basic snacks along for the ride will save you quite a bit of cash each day. Pack a granola bar or similar non-perishable snack for each member of your party (even small children can wear a little backpack or belt pack). If you add a bottle of water or other beverage for each member of your group, you’ll save $2.50 a bottle. Simply packing a single snack and water a day will save you about $5.00 per day per person, adding up to over a hundred dollars a week for a family of four.

You’ll enjoy the same great rides, service and fun no matter how much you spend on your vacation, so plan ahead and save a bundle on your next Disney vacation.