It’s not only Jose and Panchito asking “¿dónde está Donald?” The Donald Duck Audio-Animatronic remains missing as of yesterday on Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros at EPCOT.
Three days ago, the figure was propped up against a box following a malfunction, and then, he was removed entirely. In his place, a sombrero and flowers are on display.
This comes five months after the Jose Carioca animatronic was removed for over a week due to a similar malfunction. (And I don’t want to make accusations, but Panchito looks particularly happy. What are you hiding?)
Of course, this unforeseen situation does negate the ending of the attraction, where Donald is reunited with his friends for a grand finale. The Audio-Animatronics actually come from the Mickey Mouse Revue, which was an opening day attraction at the Magic Kingdom before closing in 1980 to make the move to Tokyo Disneyland, where it ran from 1983 to 2009. In August 2015, the trio returned to Walt Disney World to enhance the ride.
Be rest assured, WDWNT will provide updates on the status of the finale until Donald finally returns.
Comments from my friends when I shared this:
“Flowers with Sombrero is my favorite Disney character. Good to see them finally get recognized.”
“Flowers x Sombrero OTP”
Poor donald duck
:(