UPDATE: The information below from Scott Joseph has been walked back and the EPCOT restaurants will reopen at an undetermined date in the future. Our original article continues below.
In a piece outlining the retirement of chef Bruno Vrignon, the executive director of some of the France pavilion restaurants isn’t ready to say that the dining locations will ever open again, much less announce a reopening date.
It’s no secret that the Disney Parks are struggling to get guests to visit during the middle of an ongoing pandemic, but business is open and it needs paying customers to survive. The Disney Parks posted a $2 billion loss in the third quarter with no domestic theme parks open. Now, the Walt Disney World Resort is approaching a month of operations after an unprecedented closure, and some of the branches of business under the “theme parks” umbrella are struggling. Just recently, we saw the closure of the Tangierine Café in the Morocco pavilion due to a lack of demand.
In the piece by Scott Joseph, JBI LLC executive director Eric Weistroffer painted a grim picture of the restaurant operations in the France pavilion:
Asked when the restaurants would reopen, Weistroffer mused that the real question was if they would reopen. Most of the French staff members, including almost all of the servers, returned home when Epcot closed. Although the theme park has opened, its attendance numbers have not been sufficient to fully reopen all the culinary operations, he said, or to bring back the furloughed staff.
The France pavilion was situated to be the big draw this summer at EPCOT with the debut of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure likely planned for earlier this summer, if it hadn’t been for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to a new attraction, guests would have been treated to an authentic crêperie as well. Now, an opening date for both the attraction and crêperie is fleeting, with Disney taking down the “Summer 2020” signage around the pavilion.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
As a pass holder, I am disappointed that I am unable to get a reservation to visit the parks. I’m willing to go the parks, eat at the restaurants and shop, but I can’t get access. Maybe Disney should consider letting a few more pass holders visit?