For the final 7 years, since actually earlier than the film was launched in theaters, there have been persistent and credible rumors of a Coco attraction coming to Walt Disney World. This submit takes a have a look at the chance of a ship experience coming to EPCOT or one of many different parks, together with a historical past of the rumors–and official bulletins–about Coco being added to WDW.
With the latest improvement that Gran Fiesta Tour within the Mexico pavilion at EPCOT is closing in 2025 for a multi-month refurbishment of undisclosed nature, there was renewed buzz concerning the experience being reimagined. That is most likely the most effective place to start, as Walt Disney World has introduced that Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros at is scheduled for a brief closure starting January 6, 2025.
In accordance with the corporate’s calendar, the boat experience is at the moment scheduled to reopen by March 15, 2025. After all, refurbishments are at all times topic to alter, so Gran Fiesta Tour might reopen earlier or later. The present timeline means that the objective is to have it again in direction of the start of the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Backyard Competition and begin of the Spring Break season.
Gran Fiesta Tour is a fan-favorite boat experience that includes two of the Three Caballeros (Jose Carioca and Panchito) with Mexico’s tradition as a backdrop as they seek for the third caballero (Donald Duck). The attraction weaves tradition along with Disney characters in a enjoyable expertise for anybody who likes boats, Mexico, fiestas, or waterfowl. And who doesn’t take pleasure in a minimum of one factor from that trio?!
Within the grand scheme of issues, Gran Fiesta Tour is a really minor attraction. It’s tucked away into the Mexico pavilion and the most important criticism of it’s precisely that–that it’s a minor attraction. The wait time displays that, although, as does nearly all the things related to the experience. It contains a tie-in to an obscure film, doesn’t provide Lightning Lane, and has zero hype.
Our hope and expectation is that Gran Fiesta Tour is solely getting some TLC and mandatory upkeep throughout this multi-month closure in 2025. In all chance, this has nothing to do with a experience reimagining. It’s most likely extra about preserving the attraction trying nice. Maybe avoiding a repeat of the considerably comical state of affairs a pair years in the past when the Gran Fiesta finale Audio Animatronics vanished and have been changed with cardboard cutouts.
Nonetheless, this Gran Fiesta Tour refurbishment is bound to rekindle outdated rumors–and past that, we predict one thing will occur right here ultimately–so let’s take a deeper dive…
We love Gran Fiesta Tour and have virtually zero complaints about it (we miss the outdated music, however that’s minor), however we additionally take pleasure in it for what it’s. After all, it being a minor attraction, there have been rumors and hypothesis since 2017 that Coco would change Three Caballeros because the IP-integration in Gran Fiesta Tour with the experience revolving round Dia de los Muertos.
In spite of everything, the reimagining of Maelstrom into Frozen Ever After was contemporary in minds, in Remy’s Ratatouille Journey and different EPCOT enlargement had but to be revealed. We first reported on this Coco rumor manner again in September 2017–over a few months earlier than the movie was launched (and alongside a paid FastPass rumor)–and once more in November 2017 round opening weekend when the film already had an A+ viewers rating and was beating field workplace projections.
Our hypothesis on the time was that the attraction overlay would solely be greenlit if Coco was a smash success, and if Coco was a smash success, its feasibility within the Gran Fiesta Tour can be unlikely. Said in another way, there can be no incentive to evict the Three Caballeros until Coco have been a cultural sensation. If that occurred, it wouldn’t be sensible for the movie to land within the Mexico pavilion as a result of restricted house inside for a queue.
From what we perceive (and recall), the latter is what occurred. In late 2017 and 2018, Imagineering and park operations did feasibility testing to find out what can be essential to accommodate Coco within the Mexico pavilion.
Principally, even with a reasonably large-scale redesign of the Mexico pavilion that concerned eradicating and retooling the retail outlets (a lot of which might be outright changed by an extended and extra elaborate queue), there nonetheless wasn’t even house to make it occur. Issues already existed about congestion in and across the Mexico pavilion, making a Coco boat experience a non-starter.
Clearly it’s been some time, however I don’t recall listening to something credible about Coco coming to the Mexico pavilion after 2018. I’ve puzzled a couple of instances whether or not Walt Disney World can be prepared to revisit the thought and use a digital queue (one thing they’re not averse to on a long-term foundation–see Cosmic Rewind) or Lightning Lane. Or each. Even so, there nonetheless won’t be adequate house within the pavilion, and it’s much more true right now that congestion in and across the pavilion will be nightmarish.
Coco coming to EPCOT has quieted within the years since, however Coco coming to Walt Disney World as an entire has not. The movie was thought of for each Past Large Thunder in Magic Kingdom and Tropical Americas in Animal Kingdom earlier than in the end not ending up in both. Its omission from Tropical Americas is very fascinating, because it seems that the model of that land with a reasonably superficial Coco presence was pretty far alongside.
These have been most likely additionally the suitable choices. Whereas Coco might’ve been an important match bordering Large Thunder in Frontierland, Automobiles is undeniably the larger franchise, and I’ve little question that I’ll be taking my grandkids to Automobiles 12 sometime. That isn’t to say it’s a great match for Frontierland–though I believe it might be–simply that it has wider attain.
Conversely, Coco’s presence in Tropical Americas felt too small. Like it might solely be a part of the little village, carousel, and reimagined restaurant. The film is sufficiently well-liked to justify greater than that, and amongst key demographics. Much less objectively, Coco is only a improbable movie that may lend itself to an exquisite boat experience. It’s for this identical motive that I believe a Gran Fiesta Tour overlay would most likely be a disservice.
A method or one other, I’m completely on board with a Coco attraction. It’s simply among the best–and arguably the very greatest–animated movie in latest reminiscence, rivaling Moana, Inside Out, Frozen, and Zootopia. (Clearly subjective, however these are the standard hits from my perspective.)
It might appear that Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro agrees. Throughout his and Bob Iger’s “Turbocharge Tour” final 12 months, the franchises repeatedly talked about to media and at varied conferences have been Moana, Frozen, Encanto, Zootopia, and Black Panther. This isn’t an enormous shock, as Coco has been a fixture of leisure choices within the parks since its launch. It appears to have enduring recognition and has already turn into a contemporary traditional.
What’s additionally notable is that Disney did announce a Coco boat experience for Disney California Journey in the course of the latest D23 Expo. That Coco attraction will likely be stuffed with the characters and music from the beloved film, as you be a part of Miguel on a visit to the land of the useless in a ship experience.
For the DCA Coco experience, Walt Disney Imagineering will draw inspiration from beloved classics, like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. “We’re bringing our skeletal solid of characters to life in a giant manner via the most recent Audio-Animatronics know-how,” D’Amaro informed the group. “These figures will seem in methods you’ll should see to consider.”
Work on the Coco boat experience at DCA received’t even start till 2026, suggesting the experience received’t debut till 2029 or 2030. It’s additionally price noting that the touchdown spots for the attraction throughout the footprint of Disney California Journey are pretty small, so until it’s a part of precise enlargement a la DisneylandForward, it’s going to be a little bit of an intimate attraction.
As quickly as I heard the announcement at D23, my first thought was that it’s a type of “good concepts that received’t die” in Imagineering, and so they lastly discovered a house for the Coco boat experience after attempting to create space in EPCOT after which Magic Kingdom. My second thought was that they’ll ultimately make it work at Walt Disney World, and it’ll most likely find yourself at EPCOT.
To be clear, I don’t assume this 3-month (or so) refurbishment of Gran Fiesta Tour is a experience reimagining right into a Coco attraction. It’s far, far too brief for that. At any time when that does occur–if it does occur–we’re most likely a closure of a minimum of 18 months (if not 2 years) to enhance crowd circulation in and across the Mexico pavilion.
This most likely isn’t even laying the bottom work for a reimagining, a la what we’ve seen with Rock ‘n’ Curler Coaster getting prolonged common refurbishments over the past couple of years. It’s doable that the work on Gran Fiesta Tour is being finished to increase the usable lifetime of the attraction, and pave the best way for a Coco boat experience down the highway, however even that’s a stretch. Almost certainly, that is completely unrelated to Coco, and never being finished with it in thoughts.
In the end, the rationale I’m satisfied that Coco will land at EPCOT as a part of the 10-year plan for Walt Disney World is generally by technique of elimination. It obtained minimize from the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom plans, and this parks are getting their huge expansions within the subsequent 5 years. Each will most likely get extra within the second half of the last decade, however Coco is now not rumored to be within the working. Neither is it the “huge” land changing Animation Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
This leaves EPCOT. The park that’s supposedly “finished” with its overhaul and good to go for the subsequent 5 years. My robust suspicion is that Walt Disney World will likely be disabused of that notion in a 12 months or two, and will likely be left scrambling for one thing marketable. We’ve beforehand lined experience reimagining choices within the entrance half of the park, specifically Journey into Creativeness and Spaceship Earth.
One other crowd-pleasing experience in World Showcase would maintain a whole lot of attraction, whereas additionally assist balancing out the park. Logistics do current a serious hurdle, however Disney will both determine them out or ignore them. Coco is simply too huge and too good to disregard, and my robust suspicion is that ultimately results in it ending up in EPCOT.
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Your Ideas
Ideas on a Gran Fiesta Tour experience reimagining that includes Coco? Does the thought of a contemporary attraction impressed by Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion excite you? Suppose the logistics might work with a Coco boat experience within the Mexico pavilion, or wouldn’t it result in nightmarish strains, crowds and congestion? Do you agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions? Listening to your suggestions—even once you disagree with us—is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
