Happy Labor Day Weekend from EPCOT! It’s day one of our coverage of the long weekend, and as expected, crowds were out in full force. There’s plenty going on in the park, though — from new Baby Yoda merchandise, to the return of School Bread, and more. Let’s see what’s in store for us.
Before even making it into the park, we noticed that both sides of the tram loop were open for guests to walk down and obtain temperature checks. Normally, first thing in the morning, only the West path is used.
Once inside, it’s hard to argue that every visit to EPCOT isn’t a better experience now that the Lucite pylons have returned to the entrance plaza.
Heading over to Mouse Gear, we had a couple ‘smaller’ merchandise finds today. First up is this “Boo” reversible sequin girl’s shirt. It’s one of the many pieces in this year’s Halloween collection, which we have posted in full detail. This particular shirt sells for $29.99.
Our second find of the day is this Pride Month pet rainbow Spirit Jersey. While it has been available on shopDisney since early June, its arrival into the parks was delayed until now. The Spirit Jersey will run you (and your pet) $36.99.
Next up is this Minnie Mouse phone case, combining both OtterBox protection and Popsockets convenience. Those elements come at a steep price of $69.99, though.
Our last find is our headliner, in more ways than one. This Baby Yoda “The Child” ear headband made a very surprising, and cute, appearance today at EPCOT. Naturally, this pair of ears deserved its own post — click here to check it out for pricing and additional photos.
In Future World East, additional tables and seating have been added in anticipation of the busy weekend, allowing guests more ‘sanctioned’ options for where to stop and eat or drink.
At The Seas Pavilion, we were lucky enough to catch a diver working with one of the dolphins in the aquarium.
Making our way to The Land Pavilion, we once again see that an exterior queue has been put into place to handle the additional crowds of a busy weekend. Today, it stretched to the stroller parking area of The Seas Pavilion. Thankfully, the line moved fairly quickly, getting us inside The Land in short order.
At Journey Into Imagination With Figment, guests were also lining up outside to enter a pavilion. In this case, it was a 20-minute wait for the attraction, according to the wait time display.
Heading into World Showcase, the Mexico Pavilion continues our themes of lines at pavilions. Being fully enclosed, the capacity of the pavilion is limited, and the line stretched to the point where no additional guests were allowed to get into the line.
Next door at the Norway Pavilion, there were two new finds waiting for us. First is this Mickey-shaped Norway ornament, one of many new items to join Norway’s merchandise collection.
The other, much bigger, development is the return of School Bread to the Norway Pavilion! We, like many EPCOT fans, have anxiously awaited the return of this treat as Kringla remains closed for the foreseeable future.
At the Germany Pavilion, there was no shortage of guests waiting for beer, pretzels, and other wonderful German treats. Lines for all walk-up food locations were fairly full, though they were generally managed well to keep walkways clear.
Heading on to The American Adventure, we spotted Anna and the Frozen Promenade starting its loop of World Showcase.
Block & Hans was once again open today. Like Islands of the Caribbean, Alps, and Spain booths, Block & Hans will open occasionally “as needed” when attendance is expected to be higher.
Hops & Barley is getting in on the long line action, and demand for this very popular festival booth outpaced the queue that was prepared for it.
Mitsukoshi, the large retail store in the Japan Pavilion, also had quite a line in the afternoon.
While we were near the International Gateway Skyliner station, we took a run in it to see how the France Pavilion Expansion is coming along. Sure enough, work continues to progress, and we’re now seeing landscaping added throughout the area.
When we were hopping back onto the Skyliner to return to EPCOT at the Riviera Resort station, we noticed this sign advising guests that Park Pass reservations are no longer available for today — a first since the parks reopened in July.
Our last stop within World Showcase today, we checked out World Showplace. There was a short queue to enter, but booth lines within were about the same as any other Saturday. We also have the opportunity to do some shopping now, thanks to the release of the Taste of EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival merchandise.
Back in Future World, the line for Test Track was a very high 85 minutes, with extra outdoor queue being utilized to keep guests out of walkways while lining up for the attraction.
Spaceship Earth had a more reasonable 25-minute wait and was similarly leveraging its extra queue space to keep crowds tidy.
Shifting gears to construction, the nearby Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind has inched ever-closer to the installation of solar panels on the roof, a feature that the building held for many years.
The Play! Pavilion’s progress has been much steadier and with no particular feature being anxiously awaited, with most of the development happening inside the structure.
The same is true for Space 220, where some basic outdoor walkway work has occurred, but the heart of the project is hidden inside with no known opening date to speak of.
The demolition of the Innoventions buildings, however, has been a much more guest-facing project. While work has slowly resumed since the park reopened, progress has been fairly slow.
Unfortunately, even parts of the building that aren’t part of the demolition seem to be getting that treatment on accident.
Finally, one project we have been keeping an eye on for the last couple of weeks seems to be nearing completion — at least, as far as EPCOT is concerned. The monorail beam running through the parks has now been completely cleaned, with the soiled sections picking up near the parking lot. It’s not a major thing, but having a clean monorail beam inside the park helps improve the aesthetics of what is already a pretty rough-looking park at the moment.
Thank you for joining us as we checked out EPCOT during the busy weekend. Are you planning to visit during the Labor Day holiday, or are you avoiding theme parks at all costs during these busy times? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!