It’s bracket season, y’all! We’ve got our March Madness brackets all filled out, and we’re ready for all the victories, upsets, and maybe even some Cinderella stories along the way. But right now, we’re talking about a very DIFFERENT kind of bracket, and it’s possibly even MORE fun than the basketball one.

Today, we’re kicking off the official 2022 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival Madness! We’ve got a great lineup of eats, treats, and drinks, all competing against each other to see which one ends up on TOP. To vote for your favorites along the way, follow us on Instagram and check our stories each day. That’s where the match-ups will take place, and we’ll report on the results here on the blog! We’ve already got the results in for part of Round 1, so let’s take a look at which snacks emerged victorious.

We chose 64 of the most popular (or underrated) eats and drinks of this year’s Flower & Garden Festival to compete in the bracket challenge. Are you ready to see which ones made it past Round 1? Spoiler alert: you’re not. There’s already been a couple of VERY unexpected upsets! 

We’ll just be covering half of this round in today’s post, with 32 of the snacks represented here. Get your victory dances ready, cause we’re diving in now! First up is the clash of the Potato Pancakes, with the Potato Pancake with Applesauce competing against the Potato Pancake with Caramelized Ham. Both of these snacks are located at the Bauernmarkt booth.

In this round, the savory emerged victorious, but not by much! The Potato Pancake with Caramelized Ham won with 53% of the votes.

Click here to see our review of the Potato Pancakes!

It’s a classic against a rookie for the next match-up, with the Toasted Pretzel Bread from Bauernmarkt challenging the new BLT Scone from Cider House. We thought that scone was actually super tasty, but it didn’t even stand a chance in this bracket madness.

The Toasted Pretzel Bread won by a landslide, with 83% of the votes.

See our review of the NEW BLT Scone here.

Up next, we’ve got the Crispy Mojo Marinated Pork Belly against the Tuna Tataki Bowl. Pork or tuna — which is your choice? (Either way, both can be found at the Citrus Blossom.)

Apparently, our readers prefer pork belly because the Crispy Mojo Marinated Pork Belly won with a whopping 80% of the votes!

Click here to see our review of these eats.

Now we’re going to get controversial and bring up that Goat Cheese Creamsicle Pop! Don’t knock it ’til you try it though — it’s surprisingly delicious! You can get it at the EPCOT Farmers Feast booth. It’s up against the gorgeous Grapefruit Tart from the Citrus Blossom booth in this match-up.

Unfortunately, that cheese popsicle couldn’t hold its own against the stunning tart, and the Grapefruit Tart won with 64% of the votes.

See our review of that unusual Goat Cheese Pop here.

We’re hopping back to the savory side of things with the Chilled Potato and Leek Soup challenging the Char-Grilled Bison Rib-Eye. Both are located at EPCOT Farmers Feast. Which will emerge as the winner in this competition?

The Char-Grilled Bison Rib-Eye took the crown here, with 73% of the votes!

See our review of these eats here!

The next match-up was pretty close, with a 14% difference between the voting results. It’s the lovely and trendy Avocado Toast against one of the most classic comfort foods of all time: Shrimp and Grits. These can both be found at EPCOT Sunshine Griddle.

Trendy won over classic this time, with the Avocado Toast taking 57% of the votes.

Curious about these eats? See our full review here.

The next pair-up feels pretty healthy, with Grilled Street Corn on the Cob challenging Seared Verlasso Salmon. Both of these snacks come from the Flavor Full Kitchen. Can the veggie take the crown?

Turns out — it can! The tasty corn won with 76% of the votes.

See our review of these eats here!

Remember how we promised some unexpected upsets? Well, this next match-up was one of the most unexpected of all. It’s basically like a first-seed team being knocked out right at the start of the tournament. We matched the Strawberry Mousse from Flavor Full Kitchen against the Frushi from Hanami. If you’ve ever been to the Flower & Garden Festival, you might already know how popular that delicious Frushi is. It’s basically a staple at this point!

But it was taken down in Round 1 by the Strawberry Mousse! With a shocking upset at 58% to 42%, Frushi is already out of the competition.

See our review of Frushi here!

The next challenge was less surprising, especially if you’ve already read our reviews of these snacks. It’s the Croissant au Fromage de Chèvre against the Pan Bagnat Classique, both from the Fleur de Lys booth.

There’s nothing WRONG with that Pan Bagnat Classique, but the Croissant was simply *chef’s kiss.* And it emerged victorious with 87% of the votes!

See our review of these items here.

Next up are two VERY different dishes, with the Salade de Lentilles à la Lyonnaise from Fleur de Lys against the Corned Beef Hash from EPCOT Sunshine Griddle.

Just going off of appearances, we can totally see how the Corned Beef Hash won with 87% of the votes! But check out our review of these snacks, because sometimes looks can be deceiving… .

See our review of the Salade de Lentilles here!

We’re turning to the drinks now, with the Grand Mimosa Cocktail facing off against the La Vie en Rose Frozen Slushie (both from the Fleur de Lys booth).

The Rose Slushie is an icon at this EPCOT Festival, and it retained its crown with 62% of the votes!

See our review of these drinks here.

Up next, we’re matching up the Chicken Yakitori against the Beef Tataki, which can both be found at the popular Hanami booth.

Chicken Yakitori took the W here, with 67% of the votes.

See our review of the Hanami booth here.

One of the sweetest match-ups of this round has to come from the Honey-themed booth! It’s the Tupelo Honey and Sweet Corn Spoon Bread against the Lavender Honey Mustard Chicken Flatbread. Both can be found at the Honey Bee-stro.

The flatbread made a decent run, but ultimately the Tupelo Honey and Sweet Corn Spoon Bread took the lead and won with 60% of the votes.

See our review of the Honey Bee-stro here.

On to one of the most POPULAR booths at this year’s festival: Jardin de Fiestas in the Mexico pavilion! But which item here is the best? It’s the Enchilada de Mole Negro against the Taco Vampiro.

In this match-up, tacos took the crown! The Taco Vampiro won with 68% of the votes.

See our review of this very popular booth here!

We’re sticking around Jardin de Fiestas for another classic match-up — the battle of the Margaritas. It’s the Poppy Flower Margarita against the Hypnotic Margarita!

Floral flavors beat out mezcal here, with the Poppy Flower taking 68% of the votes.

See reviews for both of these drinks here.

Our last match-up is all about Arepas! From La Isla Fresca (the Encanto-themed booth), we’re matching up the Arepas with Shrimp against the Arepas with Chorizo.

With just an 8% difference, the Shrimp Arepas took the lead and won this match-up!

See our review of the Arepas here!

That’s it for now on the results of Round 1 of this year’s Flower & Garden Festival Madness. We’ll be back soon with the other half of the results. Remember to visit our Instagram and check out our stories to vote on your favorite snacks! And keep following DFB for more of the latest food news from Disney World.

Click here to see ALL the eats and drinks available at the 2022 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival.

 Which of the results surprised you MOST from this part of Round 1? Let us know in the comments!