PHOTO REPORT: EPCOT 8/8/20 (Figment Shoulder Plush Release, New MagicBands, Mixed Crowd Levels, and More)

Kevin Lake

Spaceship Earth from Italy Pavilion in World Showcase

PHOTO REPORT: EPCOT 8/8/20 (Figment Shoulder Plush Release, New MagicBands, Mixed Crowd Levels, and More)

Ciao from EPCOT! We’re getting into the international spirit as we tour World Showcase and the rest of EPCOT today, where we were treated to quite a few fun finds, mostly of the merchandise variety. New MagicBands, a variety of other new items, and perhaps most importantly, the official release of the Figment shoulder plush.

Figment Shoulder Plush Release 8 8 20 1

We’re not going to bury the lead, here. While the Figment shoulder plush may have been accidentally released two weeks early and then released in error again a week ago, today was his official day to go on sale to guests in the park. At Gateway Gifts, one of the first shops you’ll cross paths with at EPCOT, we didn’t even need to enter the store to see him on display.

Figment Shoulder Plush Release 8 8 20 2
Figment Shoulder Plush Release 8 8 20 3

Of course, we did enter the store and found what we believed to be a large stock of the new plush.

Figment Shoulder Plush Release 8 8 20 4
Figment Shoulder Plush Release 8 8 20 5

We believed that until arriving at Mouse Gear, where we found carts full of bags full of shoulder-perching Figment.

Figment Shoulder Plush Release 8 8 20 6

Disney Traders, at the entrance to World Showcase, had quite a stock as well. While all of this may seem like excess, we’d argue that this is how merchandise releases should be done when high demand is expected. It’s nearly guaranteed that everyone who visits EPCOT today and wants a Figment shoulder plush will have access to one (or more). No need for hoarding, reselling, and other tactics.

Figment Shoulder Plush and MagicBands 8 8 20

Speaking of hoarding, reselling, and other tactics, the supposed “online-only” Minnie Mouse: The Main Attraction Peter Pan’s Flight MagicBand, released just over a week ago as part of the MerchPass system, inexplicably appeared in EPCOT today alongside Figment.

magicband peter pan's flight minnie mouse the main attraction mouse gear
magicband peter pan's flight minnie mouse the main attraction mouse gear

A small supply made an appearance at Mouse Gear, treating a few eagle-eyed guests to an extremely hard to come by item.

meeko percival magicband 1

Minnie Mouse wasn’t the only character to have a new MagicBand appear at Mouse Gear, though, as this band full of Pocahontas’ friends made its debut as well.

Orange Bird Koosh Keychain 8 8 20

Our final find of the day at Mouse Gear, this Orange Bird Koosh Ball keychain bounced into the store, complimenting a lot of other Orange Bird themed merchandise in the store.

Cosmic Rewind Construction 8 8 20 1 1
Cosmic Rewind Construction 8 8 20 2

Elsewhere in Future World (don’t worry, there’s more merchandise to come), Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is making slow progress towards its planned 2021 opening date. The attraction will be the first reverse-launch roller coaster in a Disney park. Additional solar panel mounts have recently been added, and we’re anxiously awaiting the solar panels themselves.

Innoventions East Demolition 8 8 20
Innoventions East Demolition 8 8 20 1

Innoventions East continues to be gutted piece by piece now that construction has resumed.

Innoventions West Demolition 8 8 20

Innoventions West, on the other hand, hasn’t seen much activity since the first half of the building was completely leveled.

Play Pavilion Construction 8 8 20

Over at the upcoming Play! Pavilion, which filed for additional permits in the spring, there was no work being done on the signature dome. This is likely on account of many crews having the weekend off, however.

Space 220 Sign Walls 8 8 20

Finally, the area anticipated to hold signage and a walkway to the repeatedly-delayed Space 220 restaurant remains hidden behind walls as the restaurant currently has no known opening timeline.

Mission Space Delayed Opening 8 8 20 1
Mission Space Delayed Opening 8 8 20 2

Space 220’s neighbor, Mission: SPACE, had a delayed opening today which prevented guests from experiencing the attraction in the morning.

Test Track Down 8 8 20

Likewise, Test Track had over an hour of downtime during the period Mission: SPACE was not operating, resulting in a quiet Future World East.

new test track shirt
new test track shirt

It wasn’t all bad news at Test Track this morning, as the exit gift shop Test Track Simporium has a new shirt available that features the same art style as other new merchandise for the attraction.

Pop Skyliner Down 8 8 20

While not EPCOT-specific, guests staying at Disney’s Pop Century Resort did not have the Skyliner as a transportation option to the park for most, if not all, of the day. Guests had to utilize buses instead, as the line running to Pop Century was not operating during our visit.

Spaceship Earth from Italy Pavilion in World Showcase

Moving to World Showcase, it was a mixed bag as far as crowds and lines go.

Mexico Pavilion at Capacity 8 8 20 1
Mexico Pavilion at Capacity 8 8 20 2

At one point in the early afternoon, the stairs up to the entrance of the Mexico Pavilion were roped off, and guests were turned away as the pavilion reached capacity.

Art of Disney Line 8 8 20
Hops Barley Line 8 8 20

Back in The American Adventure, lines for Art of Disney and Hops and Barley were both notably long.

Italy Pavilion 8 8 20
Morocco Pavilion 8 8 20

Despite those crowds and lines, some relative peace could be found in the Italy and Morocco Pavilions.

France Pavilion 8 8 20
Les Halles 8 8 20

Even the France Pavilion, which is usually the host to some of the larger crowds in World Showcase, was fairly open. Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie had only several people in line, which is fairly unusual for the bakery.

France Expansion Construction 8 8 20 1 1
France Expansion Construction 8 8 20 2
France Expansion Construction 8 8 20 4
France Expansion Construction 8 8 20 3

Construction on the France Expansion was quiet as well, but like the Play! Pavilion and other projects at EPCOT, work tends to be light on weekends.

Alice in UK Pavilion 8 8 20

The characters at EPCOT do not take days off, though, and a slew of them were available throughout the park. Alice, for example, was at her usual spot in the UK Pavilion.

Mickey and Minnie Character Cavalcade 8 8 20
Goofy in Character Cavalcade 8 8 20
Belle in Princess Promenade 8 8 20
Snow White in Princess Promenade 8 8 20

Mickey & Minnie, Goofy, Disney Princesses, and more were all available as part of the EPCOT character cavalcades which circle the World Showcase.

norway mug 2
norway keychain 1

In the Norway Pavilion, a couple of new items join the recently-released Viking Ear Headband – a Viking mug and a matching keychain.

epcot house of good fortune 3
epcot house of good fortune 7

Rounding out our day, and the good news from World Showcase, House of Good Fortune has reopened in the China Pavilion. The large shop which is home to a huge variety of goods from the East did not initially reopen alongside EPCOT.

Thanks for joining us on our adventure “around the world”! Is there a new piece of merchandise you’re most excited to get your hands on? Let us know in the comments!

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