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| Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros | |
|---|---|
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| Epcot | |
| Area | World Showcase,Mexico pavilion |
| Coordinates | 28°22′19″N81°32′48″W / 28.37194°N 81.54667°W /28.37194; -81.54667 |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | April 6, 2007 |
| Replaced | El Rio del Tiempo |
| Ride statistics | |
| Attraction type | Boat Canal |
| Manufacturer | Arrow Dynamics |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering |
| Theme | The Three Caballeros |
| Music | The Three Caballeros short |
| Capacity | 1656 riders per hour |
| Riders per vehicle | 16 |
| Rows | 5 |
| Propulsion | Propulsion Pumps |
| Number of drops | 0 |
 Wheelchair accessible | |
Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros is a musicaldark boat ride housed within the pyramid-shapedMexico Pavilion, at theEpcot theme park at theWalt Disney World Resort in Florida. It was the firstWorld Showcase attraction to feature Disney characters based onan existing property.Norway followed suit in 2014 when it closed itsMaelstrom ride to make room forFrozen Ever After, which opened in 2016.
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The attraction begins with posters indicating thatthe Three Caballeros are to perform a concert tonight.
After boarding the boats, guests float around theMayan pyramid and volcano in the back of the pavilion's main room. Soon, guests enter a tunnel on the side of the pyramid, wherePanchito Pistoles andJosé Carioca of The Three Caballeros introduce themselves, only to find out thatDonald Duck, the third member of the group, has run off, prompting Panchito and José to set off on a frantic search for their missing friend. The next few scenes show Donald touring Mexico and José and Panchito on a magicserape (a sort of Mexican flying poncho) looking for him.
The next scene has characters similar to 'It's a Small World' with dancinganimatronics and a Donald Duckpiñata. Once past this area, guests enter acave, which features different scenes of live-action footage with the Caballeros. After leaving the cave, there are three panels featuring aMariachi band in the first, some Mexican girls and Donald in the second and Panchito and José pulling Donald away from the girls in the third. From here, guests float intoMexico City, wherefireworks are going off overhead and the Three Caballeros are finally performing their concert.
The Gran Fiesta Tour replacedEl Rio del Tiempo (The River of Time) boat ride that previously was at the Mexico Pavilion from 1982 to 2007.
Panchito, the leader of the trio, is the only Mexican character of the three, as Donald is typically portrayed asAmerican while José isBrazilian.
The attraction's flume system and boats were manufactured byArrow Dynamics, who also worked on other water-based dark rides for Disney such asIt's a Small World andPirates of the Caribbean.
Eric Goldberg, best known for animating theGenie inAladdin, directed the animation for the ride.
On December 4, 2015, animatronics of the Three Caballeros from theMickey Mouse Revue were placed into the attraction's finale to replace projections of these characters.
| World Celebration |  | |
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| World Discovery | ||
| World Showcase | ||
| World Nature | ||
| Annual events | ||
| Other | ||
| Related | ||