Disney World guests are used to seeing long wait times for rides like Flight of Passage or Rise of the Resistance, but certain attractions almost never experience a rush. Rides like Journey into Imagination with Figment and The Seas with Nemo & Friends rarely exceed a short wait. Even classic experiences such as The Carousel of Progress and Tom Sawyer Island remain easy walk-ons, with the latter now confirmed to be closing permanently in the future.
But when rumors start swirling about a ride’s potential closure, things change fast. We’ve seen it before—when Disney confirms a ride is on its way out, guests suddenly flock to it for one last experience. It happened with The Great Movie Ride and Maelstrom, and now, all signs point to Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros being the next ride to experience this phenomenon.
Gran Fiesta Tour Reopens, But for How Long?
Gran Fiesta Tour, the slow-moving boat ride located in EPCOT’s Mexico Pavilion, is reopening on March 15, 2025, following a brief refurbishment. While the closure was short, the ride’s return is expected to draw significantly higher crowds than usual. Typically, guests can walk onto this attraction with little to no wait, but demand is surging as more people speculate about its future.
For years, rumors have suggested that Gran Fiesta Tour could eventually be reimagined into a Coco-themed ride. While nothing has been announced by Disney, the growing emphasis on expansion projects in Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom suggests EPCOT could be next in line for a major shake-up. With The Three Caballeros characters fading from the mainstream and Coco remaining wildly popular, the Mexico Pavilion feels like an obvious candidate for an update.
Fans Racing to Ride Before It’s Too Late
Disney hasn’t confirmed any plans to replace Gran Fiesta Tour, but the pattern is familiar. Even the smallest refurbishment can trigger speculation, and Disney’s track record shows that older attractions often don’t last forever. Some guests are heading to EPCOT simply to get a final ride in, just in case.
The reopening comes at a particularly busy time, with EPCOT’s Flower & Garden Festival drawing in larger-than-usual crowds. That means wait times for Gran Fiesta Tour—normally one of the easiest rides to hop on—could reach record highs. The last time something similar happened was with Splash Mountain, where fans lined up for hours just to ride before its transformation into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
What This Means for EPCOT’s Future
While Disney is keeping quiet about any major changes to Gran Fiesta Tour, it seems inevitable that EPCOT will eventually refresh the Mexico Pavilion with something new. For now, fans who want to experience the attraction in its current form should make it a priority before its fate is sealed.
If the past is any indication, these types of rumors don’t surface without reason. Whether Coco is on the horizon or not, Gran Fiesta Tour is experiencing a rare moment of attention—and for many guests, this could be their last chance to take one final voyage through Mexico with The Three Caballeros.
