For the last 7 years, since literally before the movie was released in theaters, there have been persistent and credible rumors of a Coco attraction coming to Walt Disney World. This post takes a look at the likelihood of a boat ride coming to EPCOT or one of the other parks, along with a history of the rumors–and official announcements–about Coco being added to WDW.
With the recent development that Gran Fiesta Tour in the Mexico pavilion at EPCOT is closing in 2025 for a multi-month refurbishment of undisclosed nature, there has been renewed buzz about the ride being reimagined. This is probably the best place to begin, as Walt Disney World has announced that Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros at is scheduled for a temporary closure beginning January 6, 2025.
According to the company’s calendar, the boat ride is currently scheduled to reopen by March 15, 2025. Of course, refurbishments are always subject to change, so Gran Fiesta Tour could reopen earlier or later. The current timeline suggests that the goal is to have it back towards the beginning of the 2025 EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival and start of the Spring Break season.
Gran Fiesta Tour is a fan-favorite boat ride featuring two of the Three Caballeros (Jose Carioca and Panchito) with Mexico’s culture as a backdrop as they search for the third caballero (Donald Duck). The attraction weaves culture together with Disney characters in a fun experience for anyone who likes boats, Mexico, fiestas, or waterfowl. And who doesn’t enjoy at least one thing from that trio?!
In the grand scheme of things, Gran Fiesta Tour is a very minor attraction. It’s tucked away into the Mexico pavilion and the biggest criticism of it is exactly that–that it’s a minor attraction. The wait time reflects that, though, as does just about everything associated with the ride. It features a tie-in to an obscure movie, doesn’t offer Lightning Lane, and has zero hype.
Our hope and expectation is that Gran Fiesta Tour is simply getting some TLC and necessary maintenance during this multi-month closure in 2025. In all likelihood, this has nothing to do with a ride reimagining. It’s probably more about keeping the attraction looking great. Perhaps avoiding a repeat of the somewhat comical scenario a couple years ago when the Gran Fiesta finale Audio Animatronics vanished and were replaced with cardboard cutouts.
However, this Gran Fiesta Tour refurbishment is sure to rekindle old rumors–and beyond that, we think something will happen here eventually–so let’s take a deeper dive…
We love Gran Fiesta Tour and have practically zero complaints about it (we miss the old music, but that’s minor), but we also enjoy it for what it is. Of course, it being a minor attraction, there have been rumors and speculation since 2017 that Coco would replace Three Caballeros as the IP-integration in Gran Fiesta Tour with the ride revolving around Dia de los Muertos.
After all, the reimagining of Maelstrom into Frozen Ever After was fresh in minds, in Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and other EPCOT expansion had yet to be revealed. We first reported on this Coco rumor way back in September 2017–over a couple of months before the film was released (and alongside a paid FastPass rumor)–and again in November 2017 around opening weekend when the movie already had an A+ audience score and was beating box office projections.
Our speculation at the time was that the attraction overlay would only be greenlit if Coco was a smash success, and if Coco was a smash success, its feasibility in the Gran Fiesta Tour would be unlikely. Stated differently, there would be no incentive to evict the Three Caballeros unless Coco were a cultural sensation. If that happened, it wouldn’t be practical for the film to land in the Mexico pavilion due to the limited space inside for a queue.
From what we understand (and recall), the latter is what happened. In late 2017 and 2018, Imagineering and park operations did feasibility testing to determine what would be necessary to accommodate Coco in the Mexico pavilion.
Basically, even with a fairly large-scale redesign of the Mexico pavilion that involved removing and retooling the retail shops (much of which would be outright replaced by a longer and more elaborate queue), there still wasn’t even space to make it happen. Concerns already existed about congestion in and around the Mexico pavilion, making a Coco boat ride a non-starter.
Obviously it’s been a while, but I don’t recall hearing anything credible about Coco coming to the Mexico pavilion after 2018. I’ve wondered a few times whether Walt Disney World would be willing to revisit the idea and use a virtual queue (something they’re not averse to on a long-term basis–see Cosmic Rewind) or Lightning Lane. Or both. Even so, there still might not be sufficient space in the pavilion, and it’s even more true today that congestion in and around the pavilion can be nightmarish.
Coco coming to EPCOT has quieted in the years since, but Coco coming to Walt Disney World as a whole has not. The film was considered for both Beyond Big Thunder in Magic Kingdom and Tropical Americas in Animal Kingdom before ultimately not ending up in either. Its omission from Tropical Americas is especially interesting, as it appears that the version of that land with a fairly superficial Coco presence was fairly far along.
These were probably also the right decisions. While Coco could’ve been a great fit bordering Big Thunder in Frontierland, Cars is undeniably the bigger franchise, and I have no doubt that I’ll be taking my grandkids to Cars 12 someday. That isn’t to say it’s a good fit for Frontierland–although I think it could be–just that it has wider reach.
Conversely, Coco’s presence in Tropical Americas felt too small. Like it would only be part of the little village, carousel, and reimagined restaurant. The movie is sufficiently popular to justify more than that, and among key demographics. Less objectively, Coco is just a fantastic film that would lend itself to a wonderful boat ride. It’s for this same reason that I think a Gran Fiesta Tour overlay would probably be a disservice.
One way or another, I’m totally on board with a Coco attraction. It’s easily one of the best–and arguably the very best–animated film in recent memory, rivaling Moana, Inside Out, Frozen, and Zootopia. (Obviously subjective, but those are the quality hits from my perspective.)
It would seem that Disney Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro agrees. During his and Bob Iger’s “Turbocharge Tour” last year, the franchises repeatedly mentioned to media and at various conferences were Moana, Frozen, Encanto, Zootopia, and Black Panther. This isn’t a huge surprise, as Coco has been a fixture of entertainment offerings in the parks since its release. It seems to have enduring popularity and has already become a modern classic.
What’s also notable is that Disney did announce a Coco boat ride for Disney California Adventure during the recent D23 Expo. That Coco attraction will be filled with the characters and music from the beloved movie, as you join Miguel on a trip to the land of the dead in a boat ride.
For the DCA Coco ride, Walt Disney Imagineering will draw inspiration from beloved classics, like Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. “We’re bringing our skeletal cast of characters to life in a big way through the latest Audio-Animatronics technology,” D’Amaro told the crowd. “These figures will appear in ways you’ll have to see to believe.”
Work on the Coco boat ride at DCA won’t even begin until 2026, suggesting the ride won’t debut until 2029 or 2030. It’s also worth noting that the landing spots for the attraction within the footprint of Disney California Adventure are fairly small, so unless it’s part of actual expansion a la DisneylandForward, it’s going to be a bit of an intimate attraction.
As soon as I heard the announcement at D23, my first thought was that it’s one of those “good ideas that won’t die” in Imagineering, and they finally found a home for the Coco boat ride after trying to make space in EPCOT and then Magic Kingdom. My second thought was that they’ll eventually make it work at Walt Disney World, and it’ll probably end up at EPCOT.
To be clear, I don’t think this 3-month (or so) refurbishment of Gran Fiesta Tour is a ride reimagining into a Coco attraction. It’s far, far too short for that. Whenever that does happen–if it does happen–we’re probably looking at a closure of at least 18 months (if not 2 years) to improve crowd flow in and around the Mexico pavilion.
This probably isn’t even laying the ground work for a reimagining, a la what we’ve seen with Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster getting lengthy regular refurbishments over the last couple of years. It’s possible that the work on Gran Fiesta Tour is being done to extend the usable life of the attraction, and pave the way for a Coco boat ride down the road, but even that’s a stretch. Most likely, this is totally unrelated to Coco, and not being done with it in mind.
Ultimately, the reason I’m convinced that Coco will land at EPCOT as part of the 10-year plan for Walt Disney World is mostly by process of elimination. It got cut from the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom plans, and this parks are getting their big expansions in the next 5 years. Both will probably get more in the second half of the decade, but Coco is no longer rumored to be in the running. Nor is it the “big” land replacing Animation Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
This leaves EPCOT. The park that is supposedly “done” with its overhaul and good to go for the next 5 years. My strong suspicion is that Walt Disney World will be disabused of that notion in a year or two, and will be left scrambling for something marketable. We’ve previously covered ride reimagining options in the front half of the park, namely Journey into Imagination and Spaceship Earth.
Another crowd-pleasing ride in World Showcase would hold a lot of appeal, while also help balancing out the park. Logistics do present a major hurdle, but Disney will either figure them out or ignore them. Coco is just too big and too good to ignore, and my strong suspicion is that eventually leads to it ending up in EPCOT.
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Your Thoughts
Thoughts on a Gran Fiesta Tour ride reimagining featuring Coco? Does the idea of a modern attraction inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion excite you? Think the logistics could work with a Coco boat ride in the Mexico pavilion, or would it lead to nightmarish lines, crowds and congestion? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
