Hello from EPCOT on what, unlike yesterday’s damp experience, is a lovely day at Walt Disney World. We’re here for the first weekend of the 2021 Taste of EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival, which began this past Wednesday. We’re also going to be heading to Disney’s Hollywood Studio for a new sweet treat that we simply couldn’t get at EPCOT.

First off — and admittedly, this isn’t inside one of the parks we’re visiting today, but does involve an attraction that is — The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror billboard on World Drive finally has motion again! While it may not seem like a big deal, fans of the ride or Disney’s old-school marketing will appreciate this repair.

Starting our day off at EPCOT, there are no shortage of topiaries, a few of which await you as soon as you enter the park.

Also awaiting guests entering EPCOT are the recently-added flags, currently six styles which are mirrored on the two sets of flag poles.

As is often the case, our day starts with the skeleton of Innoventions West staring us down, reminding us of the limbo the park currently occupies.

Across the plaza, construction continues on the half of Innoventions that will remain into EPCOT’s future — though it won’t be known as Innoventions, of course.

Over in — ahem — World Discovery, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind continues to inch along, working towards a 2022 (formerly 2021) opening.

Also on the World Discovery side of things, Sunshine Griddle had a lengthy line this morning. We suspect a lot of these guests may have read our glowing review of the new all-day brunch festival offering.

At the Imagination Pavilion, we were excited to report that the jumping fountains were once again in action, though unfortunately that wasn’t the case today. We’re hopeful this is a result of cooler, windy weather, and not reversing course on bringing the fountains back.

All throughout the festival, this new themed hat arrived to join the initial collection of Flower & Garden merchandise. The hat sells for $29.99 and is available at Mouse Gear and each festival marketplace.

Out on World Showcase Lagoon, we noticed one of the arms on the centerpiece ring barge had some plastic tarp over a portion of it. We saw these arms being tested only a couple days ago, sans plastic wrap.

As part of the festival scavenger hunt, Spike the Bees can be found ‘planted’ all around the park, though we can’t tell you where.

In Germany, the tiny town is, as usual, taking part in the festival going on in the larger world around it.

In the Italy Pavilion, accelerated work continues on La Gelateria to get the quick-service gelato stand up and running.

In Japan, we’d see Mickey rolling around as part of his World Tour, and we’d see him again shortly thereafter back in Future World.

At World Showplace, pianists continue to serve up calming tunes to guests eating and drinking at the festival booths housed there, such as the new Farmers Feast offering.

Finally, at Garden Grill, we were able to get our second glimpse of Mickey (along with Pluto), though he had changed his outfit to better fit the theme of the pavilion.

Heading over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, we checked in on the newest Relaxation Station addition: Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. The set piece for the first scene has been moved back into place, a slight change from when the Relaxation Station first opened.

Heading around to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance was experiencing some of its signature downtime. The attraction’s recent performance, however, suggests things have been a bit more stable overall for the flagship ride.

While waiting on your transport to fight the First Order, Chewbacca is on hand to offer his support.

In Toy Story Land, we’ve noticed a little bit of work on the future home of Roundup Rodeo BBQ, with some roof edging now in place on the nondescript structure.

Our prize, however, was off of Sunset Boulevard at Hollywood Scoops, in the form of this peanut butter chocolate milkshake. Be sure to check out our review to find out whether this dessert was merely a looker, or if it had the substance to back it up.

We finished up our visit to Disney’s Hollywood Studios with an appearance of the Pixar Motorcade as it rolled up Hollywood Boulevard, where Green Army Men and Buzz Lightyear were more than happy to entertain us — both musically and, in Buzz’s case, merely with his presence.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our time at two of the four Walt Disney World parks today. Be sure to visit WDWNT.com daily (or more!) for all of the latest news from Walt Disney World and every other Disney park.