Epcot is full of innovations in itself.
Recently Epcot announced their big plans for the reconstruction of the entrance of Epcot. During this big renovation, Space Ship Earth will close for their own refurbishments, The Fountain View Star Bucks will be relocated, and Club Cool will be removed. There is no announcements if Club Cool will make a comeback in the future during the renovation.
But let’s travel back to June of 1998 when Club Cool opened to the public formally known as “Ice Station Cool”. Now if you grew up in Florida much like myself, snow isn’t something we see every day. In fact most of us kids in Florida have never played in snow, let alone seen it. Near the Fountains of Nations, you would approach a huge ice cavern with a large snow tractor in the front of it and almost instantly it would feel like you’ve plopped down in the middle of Antarctica.
You are then welcomed into a tunnel by a Cast Member and just before you reach the orange flaps hanging from the ceiling, you feel the icy breeze against your skin. In the middle of a blistery hot summer in Orlando, this was the moment you have been waiting for. You take one step further into the ice cavern and through the orange flaps to see clumps of ice down along the edges of the slippery pathway. It was snow! ACTUAL SNOW!
As a kid, your first instinct is to grab handful of that white stuff and chuck it at your sibling. Oh and we so did. My family and I would make chunky snow balls and hurl them at each other with giggles we couldn’t control. Before we knew it, the snow was down the back of our shirts and in our hair. We were breathlessly thrilled to have that moment between us. But of course, as the year progressed forward, the rules of Ice Station Cool forbid any snow ball activities. Oh well, at least we had those few times beforehand.
And of course as we journey on, we would past this creepy display of a frozen caveman reaching for a bottle of Coke. The sign read “This early human ancestor frozen in his hunt for refreshment was discovered in the sub-arctic. The Coca-Cola coolologists named him “Thirst Man” for obvious reasons. The object found frozen just beyond his grasp leads us to ask: What came first: Man or refreshment?” The exit of the cavern led into the Coca-Cola store.
The Coca-Cola store was HUGE!
This store not only contained a lot of Coca-Cola merchandise to buy, but it also homed the coolest drink stations. The drink stations gave samples of carbonated drinks from all around the world!
Now most of the flavors were sweet, except the infamous “Beverly” from Italy. Take on a swig of that, and it’ll make the hairs on your neck stick up. Its bitter! I love watching peoples’ expressions when they attempt to taste Beverly at Club Cool. These drink samples however were the perfect pitstop on any hot day in Orlando.
Ice Station Cool closes June 6, 2005 and reopens November 14, 2006
The entire building received a complete makeover including its’ name. The store was renamed to “Club Cool”. Even with a complete renovation, the drink stations returned and we were all excited.
The drink choices soon changed in October of 2013, but “Beverly” remained throughout the test of time.
My all time favorite drink from the Club Cool drink station, is the VegitaBeta from Japan. It’s a sweet nectar of passionfruit and apricot. I wish I could have bought a bottle of VegitaBeta at the Club Cool. I don’t understand why they didn’t sell the drinks they sampled out there. They would have made a profit for sure!
Til this day here in the year of 2019, Club Cool remains a fan favorite and is always busy!
But there is a downside to popularity, the drink stations were always crowded, the drink dispensers were usually out of their contents, cups were all over the floor and if you managed to weave in and out of the crowds, you would do it carefully because the floor was always covered in sticky soda. Cast Members would desperately try to keep it clean but it was a nightmare. If they were to bring back Club Cool, they would have to come up an alternate flooring idea to remedy the stickiness situation.
No closing date has been officially announced as of yet, but rumors report it will be anytime soon within the next two years. Will Walt Disney World preserve this amazing attraction in the future? Will we ever find ourselves back at those drink stations trying to quench our thirst with bizarre concoctions? I personally will always hold this attraction close to my heart because of the memories I shared with my family eighteen years ago.
Thanks for reading and please continue Disney adulting!
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-The Disney Adult
