Sure, anyone can cook… but what do you do if there are no chefs left in the kitchen? While we’ve been visibly tracking construction on Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at the France Pavilion in EPCOT, progress on the ride interior is at a standstill, making it nearly impossible for the beloved rat ride to open this year at EPCOT, after numerous setbacks.

Mass layoffs have both directly and indirectly affected projects throughout Walt Disney World, and while not officially laid off, those responsible for finishing the ride scenes inside the building—which, as you might imagine, are integral to the completion of the attraction—remain on furlough and will for a few more months still.

The work we’ve seen completed so far is being done purely on the exterior of the attraction and on the surrounding France Pavilion expansion… meaning that while the contractors are finishing up outsourced work, the interior of the attraction remains very unfinished. Interior set teams have not been back on site since the reopening of the parks, and much of the attraction is still incomplete, to the point where it would be impossible, barring a last-minute herculean effort, for Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure to open in 2020. So far, we’ve seen Standby, FastPass+, and Single Rider entrance signs installed at the attraction, the latter two of which are seemingly out of reach given current COVID-19 guidelines.

You’ll notice that Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, among other upcoming Walt Disney World attractions, was missing from the list of “priority” projects recently outlined for the Disney Parks. The projects that were listed are Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser at Walt Disney World, plus Avengers Campus and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disneyland Resort. Initially, many thought this was merely an oversight, but given the way the Remy project is progressing, it’s clear the Disneyland Paris transplant is low on the priority scale.

With likelihood that most offerings promised for Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary will not make the upcoming October 2021 deadline, it seems Disney will likely hold out on Remy, given that it’s something they can pick back up sometime in 2021 as one of few “guaranteed” things they can deliver for the 50th, given all the hurdles they’ve already faced this year. That is, unless they decide to open the ride with significant elements missing…

Tom Corless