Welcome to the weekend at EPCOT! While today was a relatively nice, though warm, summer Saturday, there’s also a Tropical Storm at Florida’s doorstep – due to arrive tomorrow. That didn’t stop us from finding some great new Limited Edition MagicBands, Wishables, and other great merchandise, but it does mean we’ll keep an eye on the park preparations for the stop as well.
Early on in the day, we noticed Cool Wash being cleared out of anything that wasn’t bolted to the ground in advance of the storm.
The crates perched atop the Play! Pavilion, which recently filed permits for interior show sets, appears that they’ll be riding out the storm right where they are. It’s worth noting, though, that Isaias is weak, unlike Dorian last year which reached category 5 Hurricane status while on a similar track.
The nearby Purple Martin houses were also lowered to keep them safe during whatever winds may arrive over the next couple of days.
With the butterfly garden having been disassembled, the park’s regular butterfly residents hang out in whatever spot suits them (or has sweet sweet spilled drinks).
Inside the temporary Mouse Gear location, we were treated to a variety of new merchandise today, starting with these Monsters Inc., Mike & Sulley to the Rescue Wishables. Shoppers could select between the mystery pouch or a James P. Sullivan Wishable.
Also on hand (or on the wrist, as it were) were two new Limited Edition MagicBands featuring Figment and Minnie Mouse. These holdovers from the Flower & Garden Festival are just now being released, nearly 5 months after that festival began.
Also new, though not Limited Edition, is this Rainbow Pride Mickey MagicBand. The band appears to have been, understandably, delayed from a June launch for Pride Month.
This new hat, however, features a relic from decades ago – the ticket book. The Magic Kingdom ticket book hat is a great throwback to the old-school method of admission onto Walt Disney World attractions.
If the older, slower days of ticket books aren’t your style, perhaps the new Test Track Presented by Chevrolet hat and t-shirt will fit your fast-paced lifestyle.
Out at the World Showcase, a new hat and keychain have been added to the mostly-delayed line of Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue merchandise.
Last, but certainly not least, is one of our favorite new pieces of merchandise in recent memory – the Figment shoulder plush. While he might be small, there’s no limit to what he can do.
Today, we happened to catch the short closing and cleaning of The EPCOT Experience show at the Odyssey Pavilion. Like all attractions, it receives a regular disinfection routine.
Moving on from merchandise, the José Carioca audio-animatronic recently returned to the Gran Fiesta Tour. A day later, the line for the attraction reached capacity due to the limited space inside the Mexico Pavilion.
The line for La Cava del Tequila wasn’t much shorter, though for very different reasons – those reasons being tequila.
Back out to the World Showcase, Mitsukoshi at the Japan Pavilion also had a serious line.
Anywhere in the World Showcase is good for catching the various Character Cavalcades in EPCOT. Here we saw the aptly-named Mickey & Friends World Tour.
We also saw Anna and Elsa, who are part of the Frozen Promenade.
World Showcase Lagoon has been cleared of barges and other moving structures as part of storm preparations.
Our last stop around World Showcase, the France Pavilion expansion, which will soon welcome guests to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, continues to make steady progress as details are finalized and some elements cleaned up.
This archway, for example, seems to be fully-formed but has yet to receive latter-stage work like paint.
Finally, we end our day back at the front of the park, where Spaceship Earth remains stoically situated. As the park icon has seen many storms come and go, we’re certain it’ll be here waiting for us after Isaias.
Thank you for joining us on our travels around the EPCOT today. Do you have a favorite piece of new merchandise from the wide variety that showed up today? Let us know in the comments!