Nín hǎo (hello) from EPCOT! We’re ending the weekend — and the month — here at the home of Taste of EPCOT International Festival of the Arts. There’s quite a bit going on, though as usual, a lot of it is in the form of construction — though we have new merchandise and art, too. Let’s see what’s new!
At Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, we’ve seen the addition of a lot of protective wrap onto the plywood which we hope will become solar panel mounts. We also got a great look at the façade for the attraction, as it gets closer to being fully enclosed.
At the Play! Pavilion, a small — but satisfying — step was achieved as the final roof tile was finally replaced, now making for a matching surface after several months of roof work.
At the future home of Mouse Gear, we’ve been seeing a majority of the work at EPCOT happening in this one area as the structure is refitted for the anchor shop to return to its past home. Additional framing and glass are installed on a daily basis, as are interior elements.
Of course, when Disney giveth, Disney taketh away, and as such the demolition of Innoventions West presses on, though at a much more agonizing pace.
Getting away from construction for just a moment, we did locate a timely addition to the ear headband lineup as this Class of 2021 graduation cap version has arrived at EPCOT ahead of graduation season.
Outside of the Imagination Pavilion, Winnie the Pooh was meeting and greeting as he often does — when the weather is suitable.
The play zone near Traveler’s Café continues to be revamped, though what the area will end up becoming is still a mystery.
The displays for Taste of EPCOT International Festival of the Arts invite us to move away from the construction zone that is (or was) Future World, and head towards World Showcase.
Some amazing new perspective art, done in chalk, was created by artist Nate Baranowski. This colorful, dimension-breaking piece features Louis from “The Princess and the Frog”.
At Pop Eats!, the souvenir soup can, which is actually plastic, has returned. Shortly after the opening of the festival, guests received a basic white cup for the plates including tomato soup.
Conversely, Gran Fiesta Tour continues to have basic paper products in place of the genuine article, as the animatronics for the Three Caballeros continue to be missing.
While the new year has arrived for many of us around the world, in China it arrives on February 12th. In keeping with that timeline, a Chinese New Year “Year of the Ox” lantern is now available at House of Good Fortune in the China Pavilion. The lantern lights up with flashing and fast-changing patterns, including a Mickey head shape. The lantern sells for $19.99.
The Mezzo Mix in the Germany Pavilion was temporarily unavailable today. It’s been available since it returned to Das Kaufhaus back in September, and is expected to return again soon.
La Gelateria, the upcoming gelato stand in the Italy Pavilion, continues to progress little by little as exterior details are slowly added.
At the American Adventure, we checked out the “Creating Tradition” exhibit, which will be joined — not replaced — by the new “The Soul of Jazz: An American Adventure” exhibit.
Within the Morocco Pavilion, the restrooms remain hidden behind construction walls as they are refurbished. The restroom refresh is one of many projects that have happened, and are happening, now that Disney has taken over management of the pavilion.
Over at the France Pavilion expansion and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, there’s not much new to see as the expansion has been in, effectively, a finalized state for some time now. In fact, filming was going on within the expansion for several hours today, beginning well before park open and wrapping up in the late afternoon.
We finish up our day in World Showplace, enjoying the gentle tunes played by Carol “The Piano Lady” Stein. She can be heard playing guests’ favorite Disney tunes, just as she did at Rose & Crown Pub before the park closed in March.
We appreciate you joining us today as we circled around the world at EPCOT. Make sure you’re always in the know — follow @WDWNT on Twitter to have all of the latest Disney news delivered directly to your Twitter feed!