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Photo by Chris Bales, 2012 |
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When you want a quick soft drink at Yester Epcot, you have two choices. You can pay theme park prices for familiar Coca-Cola products in plastic bottles or large paper cups at quick service locations throughout the park. |
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Or you can pay absolutely nothing for unlimited amounts of unfamiliar Coca-Cola products in itty bitty paper cups at Club Cool. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Main entrance |
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As you walk from the Spaceship Earth geodesic sphere to World Showcase Lagoon, Club Cool is on your right. It’s on the other side of Fountain of Nations plaza from MouseGear, Epcot’s huge merchandise emporium. Step inside. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2011 Festive interior of Club Cool |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2011 International Coca-Cola merchandise |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2011 Flavors around the World |
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The highlight of Club Cool goes by the name Flavors around the World. It’s your opportunity to sample some Coca-Cola products from distant continents. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Self-service |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2011 |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2011 Eight flavors in 2011 |
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There are supposed to be eight flavors to sample, but sometimes one or two flavors are unavailable. After all, the syrup has to come from all around the world. Most flavors are sweet. In fact, they can be extremely sweet. It’s uncertain whether these beverages are this sweet in the countries where they originate, or if it’s just how the syrup-to-water ratios are set at Club Cool. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Eight flavors in 2015 |
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The next time you return, you could find new flavors. One flavor is a constant. It’s Beverly. Coca-Cola sold this carbonated, non-alcoholic apéritif in Italy from 1969 to 2009. It’s bitter, not sweet. Now, Coca-Cola only makes it for sampling at their World of Coca-Cola museum in Atlanta, Georgia, and other Flavors Around the World locations—such as Club Cool. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2018 Wet floor = Sticky floor |
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You may find your shoes sticking to floor. It seems that the sugary beverage samples are often spilled. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 American Coca-Cola products for sale |
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If Sparletta Sparberry Soft Drink and the other international flavors leave you longing for familiar Coke products—or you just want to buy a bottle of Dasani water to wash the taste of Beverly from your mouth—head to the “Cold Drinks” counter. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2018 Club looking cooler at night |
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As you head to the park exit, you may want to drop in again. It would be an opportunity to see if Beverly is really as nasty as you remembered from earlier in the day. |
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Club Cool officially opened November 18, 2005, replacing a Ice Station Cool, an earlier Coca-Cola showcase in the same location at Epcot. |
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Photos by Allen Huffman, 1998 (top) and Chris Bales, 2012 (bottom) Ice Station Cool (1998–2005) and Club Cool (2005–2019) |
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So let’s take a quick look at Ice Station Cool, which opened in July 1998. In an odd bit of theatrical theming at Epcot’s otherwise modern Communicore, Ice Station Cool was themed as an exploration site in a polar region. A snowcat with Coca-Cola bottle-shaped treads sat in front of a tunnel into the “ice.” A plaque on the outside read, “Refreshus Maximus Expeditions, led by Coca-Cola Coolologists, have explored the farthest reaches of the globe. Their mission, to discover the origins of Cool.” |
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Photos by Allen Huffman, 1998 Ice Station Cool entrance and Thirsty Man behind glass |
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After entering the bitterly cold tunnel—with real snow swirling in the air and collecting on the ground—guests saw that the Refreshus Maximus Expedition had made a gruesome discovery. The perfectly preserved frozen corpse they called Thirsty Man was behind glass. He was clutching a prehistoric Coca-Cola. The plaque below the glass read, “This early human ancestor frozen in his hunt for refreshment was discovered in the sub-arctic. The Coca-Cola Coolologists named him ‘Thirsty Man’ for obvious reasons. The object found frozen just beyond his grasp leads us to ask, what came first: Man or Refreshment?” |
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Photos by Allen Huffman, 1998 Inside Ice Station Cool |
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The interior of Ice Station Cool maintained the expedition theme to some degree, but also introduced a global Coca-Cola theme. As would also be the case at Club Cool, guests could sample international Coca-Cola products. Ice Station Cool closed in June 2005. As already noted, Club Cool opened in the same location on November 18, 2005. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2018 Club Cool as it looked it its final years |
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After operating almost 14 years, Club Cool closed September 7, 2019. Disney had new plans for the site of the building. |
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Artist Concept Only © Disney World Celebration Festival Center concept art |
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As part of a major transformation of Epcot announced in 2019, Disney would build a three-level Festival Center. The architectural marvel would serve as the home base for Epcot’s signature festivals and other events. At least that was the plan. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2019 November 2019 demolition of the building where Club Cool had been |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2020 Gone in January 2020 |
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When Disney closed its parks around the world in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company postponed or cancelled many elements of the Epcot transformation, including the Festival Center. Perhaps, it will be resurrected some day. Although Club Cool’s building is gone, Club Cool would return. The Disney Parks Blog broke the news in its April 9, 2021 announcement of the new Creations Shop replacing MouseGear: “Adjacent to the shop will be a revitalized Club Cool Hosted by Coca-Cola, which will also open this summer. 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.” The new Club Cool opened adjacent to Epcot’s Creations Shop on September 15, 2021. After two-year absence, you can once get samples of Beverly. |
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© 2022 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated January 24, 2022 |
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