96 Days: Epcot Rumors

The whole post-a-day thing may not be exactly happening. But I'll try :-)

So Epcot just turned 35 and is in need of some love. The festivals have been great, but Future World is a shadow of its former self and the World Showcase hasn't seen a new pavilion in many moons. The Walt Disney top brass has promised a huge investment in Epcot over the next several years, big to the tune of billions of dollars, but has been pretty vague about the specific plans. As far as World Showcase is concerned we are to get a new Ratatouille attraction in France for sure, but nothing else has been confirmed.

This has left the rumor mills turning at full tilt. Two new national pavilions have been rumored to be pretty safe bets, Spain and Brazil. But Spain was to include a ride based on Gigantic, a planned re-telling of the Jack and the Beanstalk story set in Spain, and Gigantic has been scuttled. Will Spain survive?

An article I read a couple days ago (and I can't for the life of me remember what blog posted it) says no. This is a bit of a bummer from the perspective of wanting more countries represented, but it leaves money in the budget for other things, and those things are interesting.

Brazil is apparently on track, but will not feature an attraction. Its big draw will be a Brazilian Steakhouse, which is fine by me. The problem this leaves, because of the loss of Spain, is one of crowd flow/control. Disney Imagineers want an attraction in the space between Norway's Frozen and France's Ratatouille and that was to be Spain's Gigantic. Now they are looking at existing pavilions in which to build a ride and Japan has risen to the top of the list. One option is a Matterhorn-style coaster based upon Mt. Fuji. This was part of the original plan for the Japan pavilion so it stands to reason it's still on the board. But the other option is the one I'm excited for. Big Hero 6!

Big Hero 6 did well in theatres, the meet and greet with Baymax is popular and the franchise has a new cartoon on the Disney XD channel that is also performing well. The characters tie in well with Japan. I think it's a winner. LEt's see if the Imagineers think the same thing!

26 Days: Mo Muppets, Mo Muppets, MO MUPPETS

So as if getting to eat in Rizzo's pizzaria and go potty in Gonzo's Water Works wasn't enough, Disney added Sam the Eagle, Kermit, Piggy and friends to Liberty Square with two live shows. That has the Stites fam all kinds of excited. But imagine when I spot this on Twitter!

Photo by Jenny Burke

It's Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker! On their Muppet Mobile Lab! In Epcot! I mean, what if we get to see Muppets in THREE parks?!?!? How cool is that?

Word is the Mobile Muppet LAb was appearing throughout the day today behind Spaceship Earth in Future World. I'm really hoping this is a new thing that lasts through our visit in just 26 days!