New Club Cool & Creations Shop Opening Soon at EPCOT!
Walt Disney World has announced the opening date for new Creations Shop and relocated Club Cool at Epcot. This is the first component of the massive Central Spine Redesign of that will eliminate Future World and replace it with 3 new neighborhoods has gained momentum in the last several months after pausing last year. (Updated September 7, 2021.)
The Creations Shop will be EPCOT’s new flagship front-of-park gift shop, replacing MouseGear. It’s currently one of the projects being actively worked on at the front of the park, with progress visible from the ground level behind the building if you’re passing Mission Space and heading towards Test Track.
Per Imagineering, the Creations Shop features a bold, sleek design that creates a showcase for the variety of items you’ll find while shopping at EPCOT. The retail location will be an open, bright, and welcoming environment with huge glass walls that allow sunlight to pour in and illuminate the environment. Disney is using color, materials, and light plus some unique EPCOT touches to harken back to the park’s storied past while looking towards its future…
September 7, 2021 Update: Walt Disney World has announced via social media that the “Epcot Light & Color Collection,” exclusive to Creations Shop will debut on September 15, 2021 when Creations Shop and Club Cool officially open.
As we’ve noted over the past few weeks, Creations Shop and Club Cool have been making tremendous progress and appear almost ready to open. It’s interesting that the official date comes first via a product release announcement, but we’ll take it. Speaking of which, below is a sneak peek at the Epcot Light Line that was announced:
As you can see in this new artist concept rendering below, there’s a large mural of Mickey Mouse along one of the shop’s walls (update: the photo below that is an actual look at the finished mural). Imagineering indicates that it was inspired by Mickey as the subject for creativity, but this is Mickey like you’ve never seen him before.
You’ll discover original homages to Mickey Mouse throughout the Creations Shop, including large murals and new art that showcases the character. Imagineering calls this an “art program” with completely original works that will “live on in this space” as a “testament to the park’s ability to inspire the dreamer in all of us.”
Walt Disney World’s goal is for Creations Shop to be more than a place to pick up a memento of your time at EPCOT. They want your every moment to be an experience worthy of the park’s vision and tradition.
The products you’ll find here will extend Disney storytelling and allow you to bring that experience home with you, all while encouraging you to explore your own expressiveness and creativity. (All Disney’s words, definitely not mine.)
Editorializing a bit, I think that’s mostly marketing fluff–and I’ve edited out some of the particularly fluffy fluff. Creations Shop probably will just be a regular ole gift shop, but with a more open floor plan, natural lighting, and Mickey Mouse art.
The concept art pretty much speaks for itself, but World of Disney is likely a preview of how it’ll look. I’m a fan of natural lighting and airy designs, but not homogeneous retail spaces. This is what that looks like to me, not anything interesting or uniquely Disney. That point has been made time and time again on this blog, so no need to rehash it here.
Personally, I wish Creations Shop would harken back to EPCOT Center by featuring art evoking the original spirit and design of the park, rather than Mickey Mouse. That seems like such low-hanging fruit and an easy way to throw fans a fairly superficial bone. That art could’ve just as easily been characters from Kitchen Kabaret, Horizons, World of Motion, or even Journey into Imagination. (How cool would an artistic interpretation of the above scene have been?!)
Also, the name Creations Shop is about as dull and boring as it gets. At least it’s not “Disney Creations Shop,” I guess.
On an unequivocally positive note, a revitalized Club Cool hosted by Coca-Cola will also open on September 15, 2021. This will be adjacent to the Creations Shop.
This will celebrate Coca-Cola in a fresh new way, while keeping the fan-favorite experience that invites you to explore tasty drinks from around the world. This space will also have some new magic to bring the global experience of Coca-Cola to life for you.
We’re actually much more excited about the return of Club Cool than we are the Creations Shop.
We have a ton of great memories from Club Cool over the years, right down to that sticky floor and the bitterness of Beverly. By contrast, most of my memories of MouseGear involve frustration.
It’s safe to assume most of you are also more excited about Club Cool. Back when all of these closures and changes were announced a couple of years ago, most of the negative comments and feedback centered around Fountain of Nations (RIP) with Club Cool being a close second.
I’d have to check the “Disney Tourist Blog Complaints Compendium,” but I don’t think a single reader mourned MouseGear. Suffice to say, the return of Club Cool will very much be a positive development in EPCOT’s evolution.
Per Imagineering, opening Creations Shop and Club Cool will be an important milestone in Walt Disney World’s ongoing transformation of EPCOT.
These “fun and energetic locations” (Disney’s words, not mine) will continue the reimagining of what will soon be a new neighborhood at the entrance and center of the park, called World Celebration. Late last year Disney unveiled a new fountain at the main entrance, followed this spring by new flags, lighting and music that further re-energize your entry into EPCOT. Creations Shop and Club Cool extend that forward momentum.
The big unanswered question is whether this means we’ll soon see a reduction in the sea of construction walls throughout Future World. Our guess is not really. While it would be wonderful to have a walkway connecting from Spaceship Earth past the Electric Umbrella replacement to the new Club Cool and Creations Shop and beyond to World Showcase, that’s probably not what’ll happen here–at least, not in September 2021.
While work on the former Innoventions building that houses all of the aforementioned locations is progressing quickly, the central core of Future World behind Spaceship Earth is still essentially an empty construction area, and a lot would need to be done there in a relatively short amount of time to open any walkways. More likely, there will be entrances to the new Club Cool and Creations Shop from the Test Track and Mission Space side of Future World, which currently functions as a bypass. Regardless, this is good news–progress is being made on the EPCOT overhaul, and we’re excited to see a future with fewer walls!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the design for the new EPCOT Creations Shop? Does the concept art for the new store “inspire the dreamer” in you? 😉 Bummed that it’s dropping the MouseGear name? Excited for the return of Club Cool? Hoping an announcement on the Electric Umbrella replacement is next? Looking forward to Future World’s transformation into three new neighborhoods, or sad to see some of these things go? Other thoughts? Any questions we can help you answer? 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!
I completely disagree with your assessment of the old Mouse Gear. It was my favorite place to shop in Disney! I always looked forward to shopping for such an array of Disney products in one place. Why do you assume everyone disliked it? That is so annoying. I do look forward to Club Cool returning! It was a small thing but so much fun!
I wore my Beverly t-shirt at Epcot earlier this week and got so many comments from CMs and a few woke park guests. Even Goofy passed by in one of the cavalcades, pointed at my shirt and made a quick “throwing up” motion. So obviously the demand is still there. I don’t know that it was confirmed that Club Cool would be back, so this is great news!
Wife and I are super happy cool club is returning! We always hit that spot and with our new relocation to Orlando this will be a more often stop LOL. I do find it funny all renditions of EPCOT exclude the Guardians of the Galaxy building in them! Even they know it is an eyesore!
How my kids loved club cool!
“The products you’ll find here will extend Disney storytelling and allow you to bring that experience home with you, all while encouraging you to explore your own expressiveness and creativity.” Not it won’t. It will only enrich Disney’s pockets. We have never been inside Mousegear, been going to WDW 10 years. And we are never going to this new store either.
Okay, I have to give a shout-out to Mouse Gear. I was freezing because I did not anticipate that Orlando would be so cold in February, so I went in the shop, picked out the sweatshirt and sweatpants I liked, and then a fabulous cast member went off to dig through the back looking for my size. I am forever grateful to her. She kept me alive through Illuminations that evening!
I also am thrilled about Club Cool returning – and not just because I enjoyed the old incarnation. I was stuck in Morocco (the real one) in March 2020, when the whole country shut down because of the pandemic, and I fainted twice from low blood sugar because I could not get enough to eat. On each occasion, I was able to get Coke, and it brought me back to life. I know it could have been Pepsi or Fanta, but the brand that actually restored you is the one you remember and treasure. I would just like to tell some Coca-Cola employee that I respect the high sugar level in their original beverage.
I agree with Tom that we cannot leave the memories of the old Epcot to crumble into dust. I wish that Disney would find some way to pay homage to Wonders of Life, Universe of Energy, and other happy memories of the past. They did manage to make a star out of Figment recently!
Good grief, that copy for the new store is nauseating.
I mourn MouseGear… but, will withhold judgment on the new Creations Shop until I see it myself. Epcot was a mess last time I was there! It will be nice once that at least is gone, but I loved MouseGear. It was one of my favorite shops. I am glad to hear Club Cool is coming back, too. I was worried it was gone forever, so my mourning is lessened with that at least.
It must be quite a challenge to come up with the latest and greatest room in which to sell a magnet, keychain and mug. Funny how getting Club Cool back makes me feel happy again though, lol. Couldn’t agree more with you on this post, thanks.
in all my trips, i still have never gone into club cool. one of those things i always remember too late.
i totally agree that murals of past epcot would have satisfied a lot of fans of OG epcot. thye would have had lots of choices. world of disney more or less got ruined with it’s new “design”, would expect the same here.
Ah, a Kitchen Kabaret call-out (I can’t bring myself to spell ‘call’ with a ‘k’). I enjoyed that attraction. I also liked ‘Cranium Command’ in the lamented Wonders of Life pavilion, because most anything with Charles Grodin and without a Saint Bernard is awesome.
Some art from Wonders of Life would also be great!
So are they putting in something like Electric Umbrella that you know of?
Yeah, last I heard it was going to be a ‘reimagined fast casual dining concept.’
As for what it’ll look like–the concept art above, but a restaurant. (Unless something has changed from what I last saw–doubt it.)
I knew right away that it wasn’t your writing but Disney PR. It reeked of insincerity in its attempt at creating excitement where none exists. When it’s you writing it has personality.
You were wise to give Imagineering credit for the souless paragraphs of fluff and a big thank you for defluffing.
Of course I welcome any news of projects nearing completion as it potentially means walls coming down. As for getting excited about Club Cool I couldn’t be more excited if they were opening a pavilion called Free Empty Calories!!!
I did find it ironic to see Club Cool in the same sentence with the word health but you’re right about it being good news in relation to an easing of safety protocols unless they do what the resorts do with an aide getting your choice of beverage for you.
By the way any building with Sarah in it qualifies as Cool!
“I did find it ironic to see Club Cool in the same sentence with the word health…”
Haha, yeah. I seldom drink soda these days, but will absolutely make an exception for a comprehensive taste test and comparison once Club Cool reopens! 😉
I buy way too much Disney merch to pretend that the aesthetics of any of the stores affect my spending when I’m on property, but the temporary Mousegear is so awful that even I make that a quick run in, grab what I want, and rush out. I’m glad we’ll be relieved from that setup soon. And hurray for Club Cool’s grand return. But I remain so confused by what’s actually planned for all that construction and underwhelmed by most of what’s been announced so far. I hope there are some exciting announcements soon.
The huge central area will mostly be landscaping, but much of the details are now unknown as Imagineering went back to the drawing board with some aspects of the overhaul. Hopefully we’ll get some new art soon–and hopefully it’s ambitious. With the economy and travel bouncing back faster than expected, there’s really no good reason for significant cuts.
So Disneyland gets an Avengers Campus this summer..
Disney World gets flavored cola.
Sounds about right.
Tom,
Thanks for the usual excellent data dump of great and useful information
I think Epcot needs to evolve from what Walt originally wanted. Time and society move on. Future World is no longer “futuristic.”
As for marketing and buying stuff…meh. That’s not why I go to WDW, although I am curious how much revenue Disney makes from selling tshcotskes (sp?)
What is the timeline for completing the 3 neighborhoods?
***
…looking forward to Future World’s transformation into three new neighborhoods, or sad to see some of these things go? Other thoughts?
“I think Epcot needs to evolve from what Walt originally wanted.”
In fairness, I think the Walt Disney Company did exactly that back in the 1980s. The original EPCOT Center that was built had, at best, a tenuous connection to Walt’s vision. It was just spun as such for the sake of marketing and PR.
Sort of like how the new incarnation of EPCOT is being marketed with nostalgia even though it’ll be dramatically different. 😉
No timeline for completion of the three neighborhoods. My guess is 2023.
Fun that Club Cool is returning – I’m fascinated to see how much it will have changed in delivery and concept. My only (and always) wish for Club Cool was they they would sell 4-packs or 6-packs of popular flavors in the store. Especially Beverly!
We love Club Cool. Nothing beats stopping in on a blistering Florida day to get your fill of cold beverages on the house. Very happy to see its return to Epcot. Now, we just have to figure out if a return trip to Disney is worth it these days with all of the changes over the past few years.
I just can’t get over the fact that no one vetoed the name Creations Shop.
I think “Creations Shop” is the type of name you get when everything is workshopped and guest surveyed to death.
I’m so excited to hear the return of Club Cool. I’m not going to lie, I thought it would be forever extinct. We have fun memories and enjoyed it.
I feel the same way about these remodels on stores. I miss the characters. I remember taking my kids to World of Disney and they loved the characters hanging off the ceilings. It felt more “Disney” than the current warehouse feeling. Blah.
Anyways, I’m looking forward to this summer!
“I’m so excited to hear the return of Club Cool. I’m not going to lie, I thought it would be forever extinct. We have fun memories and enjoyed it”
I always expected it would be back, if only because Disney has a strong and valued relationship with Coca-Cola…and they probably foot the entire bill for the exhibit.
Didn’t expect it to be this year, though. So that’s a plus!