I’ll miss them bothWalt Disney World is always going to be changing. In the past few years we’ve seen major changes at the Magic Kingdom with the addition of New Fantasyland. Downtown Disney transformed into Disney Springs and has two new areas. Pandora – The World of Avatar has given new life to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Toy Story Land was added last year to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is set to open on August 29. That leaves Epcot. People have said for a while that the park needs an upgrade, and that is about to happen. The entrance of the park is all going to change, there are new restaurants coming, and a new family area has been announced as well. With all of the upgrades, that means that some things will have to close. Here is what has been recently announced and confirmed. We will probably learn more in August at the D23 Expo in Anaheim.
Colortopia, The Fountain of Nations, Innoventions East, and Nanooze Break will all close on September 8, 2019. (The last day that they will be open is September 7.) These closures seem to be permanent.
There are two other September 8 changes that you will want to know about. September 7 will be the last day for the current locations for Epcot Character Spot and Club Cool. The characters will greet in other locations for the time being. Club Cool will, according to Disney, “reopen in a new capacity at a future merchandise location”. Here’s hoping that the samples of international Coke products will still be free.
Sometime this fall, Fountain View is going to close as well. There will be a temporary location set up for the park renovations, so you will still be able to get your Starbucks fix.
There are two other major changes coming later in the year. The counter service restaurant Electric Umbrella will close before the end of the year. There are conflicting reports on whether it is for refurbishment or will reopen as something entirely different. Epcot’s large Mouse Gear store will move to a new temporary location later this year.
While it is not in the front of the park, it has also been announced that Liberty Inn in the America Adventure Pavilion is closing on July 8. It will eventually reopen as Regal Eagle Smokehouse. This one breaks my heart a bit, Liberty Inn is my favorite place for Beyond Burger at Walt Disney World.
These aren’t the only changes. The entire front of the park is about to change, so the small locations when you first walk in will not be around much longer as well. Remember as well that IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth is ending its run on September 30. While change can be good, it’s sad to see so much happening at once. When I hear more, I’ll let you know.