Club Cool, Starbucks and Character Spot All Closing September 8th in Epcot

UPDATED 9/7/19: Disney has confirmed the closing of some major Epcot Future World landmarks including Starbucks, Club Cool, Innoventions, Character Spot and more, starting September 8, 2019. We have the details on the closings and which ones are expected to reopen.

All of these changes of course are going to come after the big Summer rush is over and the crowds start to die down some. Let's look at each one:

Character Spot:

Currently home to a character greeting spot that hosts: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Daisy Duck, Joy and Baymax.

The current Character Spot will be closing with temporary locations for the characters set up. Here is where you'll be able to find them once construction starts:

• Mickey Mouse and Goofy - Innoventions West temporarily, then to Imagination! pavilion.
• Minnie Mouse - World Showcase Gazebo
• Daisy Duck - American Adventure
• Joy - unknown
• Baymax - unknown

These locations can change and it's not entirely known what will eventually be all their permanent locations once construction is finished, and in the case of Baymax and Joy, whether they will continue to be Epcot meet and greet characters long-term.

We'll keep you posted on all the updated locations as they come...

Club Cool:

Beverly Fans are obviously upset about this closing down, but there may be hope still. According to Disney, Club Cool is still in the "future plans" for Epcot, but they haven't gone into detail about exactly what that means. Sounds like they will be choosing a new location somewhere else in one of the three new neighborhoods that currently makes up Future World, but no word on where that could be.

Starbucks:

Yes Starbucks is closing in its current Epcot location, but don't fret coffee lovers, Disney is opening a temporary Starbuck location in the Odyssey pavilion also located in Epcot's Future World.

A more permanent Starbucks location will be built in Epcot at some point, though Disney hasn't yet commented on where exactly at is going to be.

Innoventions:

At this time Innoventions West is going to be demolished included Colortopia.

Electric Umbrella and Mouse Gear:

It seems like both the Electric Umbrella and Mouse Gear will remain during the initial September closings, but will close in the winter. Mouse Gear will have a temporary location until a permanent one is built in the future.

Pin Central and Camera Center:

Obviously people are going to want to keep trading pins and Pin Central Pin is temporarily moving to the Camera Center until a permanent location is found. No word what's happening to the Camera Center yet....

Fountain of Nations:

The Fountain of Nations will also be closed on this date to make room for the reimagined Future World.

We will start to see construction walls go up for all the Epcot closings starting September 8 once everything is closed.

Again this reimagining of Epcot's Future World is all part of the bigger "Project Gamma" which is designed to reimagine Epcot going into its 40th anniversary in 2022.

We heard much more about Disney's plans for Epcot at the D23 Expo where they have said they will be sharing a lot more exciting details of all the projects to come! Here are just a few of them that we know about:

• The Epcot Entrance Overhaul
• Epcot Dissolving Future World, Creating 4 Neighborhoods
• Spaceship Earth Renovation
• a Guardians of the Galaxy Roller Coaster replacing the Universe of Energy
• the France Pavilion expansion and Remy's Ratatouille Adventure construction
• a Moana Attraction
• a Mary Poppins Attraction
• the 2 new Epcot Nighttime Spectaculars
• the rest of Project Gamma including a new Festival Center Center
• the Play Pavilion going into the old Wonders of Life pavilion.
• Club Cool and Innoventions demolition

ORIGINAL POST 3/5/19: Yesterday we learned about new permits that Disney has recently filed regarding the Epcot Entrance overhaul and moving the Leave a Legacy monoliths. Now it looks like these permits also include the demolition of Innoventions, and closures to Starbucks, Club Cool and the Character Spot.

We know Epcot is in the middle of a multi-year overhaul with new attractions and restaurants coming to it. The part happening to the entrance and around Spaceship Earth is being called "Project Gamma" or "Project G" a noted in the latest permits.

At first it seemed that these permits were only related to the new Epcot entrance construction, but as pointed out, the Innoventions West building is going to be demolished also. From what was revealed at the D23 Expo, these permits cover the demolition of both Innoventions West immediately, and it looks like the Innoventions East building will stick around for some time.

For now it seems that it will only be Innoventions West meaning closures to Club Cool, The Character Spot and the Fountain View Starbucks location. Starbucks will be heading over to the Odyssey Center, which we recently learned will be transformed into the Epcot Experience Center, while The Character Spot will move to the Imagination! pavilion where the Ralph and Venellope character meet and greet currently is.

If things go as planned, Innoventions East won't be demolished until after Project Gamma is finished, meaning we won't see any changes to MouseGear or the Electric Umbrella until after the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World in 2021.

No word yet on exactly what is coming to replace the Innoventions East or West buildings, or if Club Cool will ever come back. There's no doubt in my mind Innoventions has to go. As much as I loved it as a kid, it's time has passed, and it happened over a decade ago already. Something new needs to take its place and I don't think it's going to be based on technology the way Innoventions was. It has to be something Disney can stay on top of and not let get obsolete.

I personally would be kind of upset to lose Club Cool forever, as I love going in there to have a refreshing soft drink and I love the nostalgia of it. Maybe there's a way Disney could put it back in to whatever the new structure is.

No official dates are given on the permits to when the project begins, though the work is set to finish within a year, so that means things should start getting going soon.

One thing is for sure, Epcot is going to look TOTALLY different in the next 3 years. Just look at this concept art Disney released a couple years back of the new Epcot:

You can even see the completely different layout leading into World Showcase Lagoon. Now things have changed a bit since Disney released this art, but it gives you an idea of what type of change we're talking about. We'll probably get an updated version at the coming D23 Expo in August.

That's not to mention the rumored extensive refurbishment to the Spaceship Earth attraction, with multiple new scenes being added and refreshing done to the remaining ones.

My only concern is that Epcot is going to turn into the new Hollywood Studios in that it will be a complete construction zone with walls up everywhere for the next couple of years. It would be nice if Disney didn't always wait till everything needs updating at once so as not to have so much stuff being worked on at the same time.

This is also only one part of the Epcot transformation as many new attractions are coming to the park including a Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster, Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, Epcot Forever fireworks show, new restaurants and the just announced Kid's Play Zone which is taking over the Wonders of Life pavilion. All of this will be ready by 2021 when Walt Disney World will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary.

Disney shared plenty of new details about the Epcot Transformation at the D23 Expo and you can check out all of those announcements here for more info:

Stay tuned here at Ziggy Knows Disney for more...

In the meantime check out our Walt Disney World Construction Updates and Walt Disney World Attraction Closures for more progress on all the projects going on around Disney World as we continue to bring you the latest!

Your Thoughts:

I want to know what you think about the closure of all these Epcot Future World locations...

• Are you happy about the changes?
• What would you like to see replace them?

Let us know in the comments section below!

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