Hello from a rainy day at EPCOT! Even a rainy day at Disney is better than a sunny day not at Disney, am I right? We found some interesting things today, so let’s get started!

While over the holiday weekend and for the few days before and after line up at the parking gate was allowed at 60 minutes prior to park opening, it seems the “honeymoon” is over, and we were back to lining up 45 minutes prior to park opening today. The Cast Members at the parking gate here are very punctual!

On our way in to the park, we stopped for a moment admire the beauty of Spaceship Earth and see what we could see of the lucite pylons in the new fountain, when we heard a familiar voice saying unfamiliar things. An updated face mask announcement debuted today reminding guests that their face covering must fully cover their nose and mouth. Having seen a lot of masks being worn underneath noses recently, we were thrilled to hear this update.

The last row of corrugated metal has finally been installed on the roof of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. The row closest to the front of the building was the last to be completed, and sat unfinished for more than a week, with the framing in place. Now that all of the supports are installed, we’ll be watching for solar panels to be installed any day now.

Over at Innoventions East, which has been a quiet construction site for some time, progress was seen today. A worker was spotted in a fork life working in the former Mouse Gear building, and judging by the periodic sparks he was doing a shockingly good job.

While the majority of the festival food booths are open for the Taste of EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival, we’re still waiting on a handful, which are slated to open in “Fall.” This booth, rumored to be Flavors From Fire, across from the temporarily unavailable Family Play Zone, looks like it’s had it’s final preparations made for opening.

The booth now has all three registers set up, a drink cooler, hand sanitizer station, plastic cutlery dispenser, menu board, and social distancing queue markers have been put in place. We’d say this booth is ready to open any day now!

In The Land Pavilion, we checked in on an ongoing bit of drama. Over the holiday weekend, a crowd barricade had been set up to funnel guests into Soarin’ Around the World to help with line management, but it effectively cut off the exit to the Pavilion. As this entire area is one-way, guests must go this way to exit the building. We were surprised that Cast Members did not allow for a open area to exit, but were happy to see that the crowd barrier has been removed, and traffic can flow freely here once more.

In between The Land Pavilion and the Imagination Pavilion the Gourmet Popcorn stand recently reopened, and they are now carrying the latest Halloween popcorn buckets.

The green cauldron popcorn bucket was the last piece of the puzzle for us, we’re happy to say that we’ve now seen them all! Which Halloween popcorn bucket is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

In the Mexico Pavilion we found that not only was La Tienda Encantada still open after the holiday weekend, but the Kidcot spot had been relocated to the center doors of the shop. The shop has also become a one-way, with an entrance only on the left, and an exit-only on the right.

We found some fun new merchandise today, the first of which was this keychain featuring icons from the movie Coco. The film’s logo with a chain of hanging charms makes this a fun addition to your keys or bag. We found it at Disney Traders, and it retails for $9.99.

Next we found two of these amazing fans featuring some of our favorite villains. We think they’re the perfect accessory for beating the heat in the parks. We found these at Port of Entry, and they retail for $9.99.

In the Italy Pavilion we found this sweet ornament featuring Mickey Mouse in a gondola with the words “La Vita E Bella” on the side of the boat. This hand painted ornament retails for $24.99.

On our way to the Skyliner we checked in on the construction to the nearby Restrooms, and found work has progressed there.

Water fountains have been installed, but are covered with scrim fabric until the installation is complete.

At the construction site for the France Pavilion expansion for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, we saw that landscaping has continued, and a portion of the wall was left open, displaying pipes and a hose. While irrigation will no doubt be installed for the landscaping in the future, perhaps this is how they are watering the plants currently. Either way it was interesting to see the “behind the scenes” look we got today.

On our way out, we got a peek at the construction being done to the fountain at the entrance of the park. Workers were lifting a large ring into the lucite pylons, which had been wrapped in foam to keep them safe from bumps and scratches.

We had a wonderful day sampling the tastes of EPCOT today, and we hope you enjoyed coming along with us. Have a magical day!