Another Donald Duck Gone?! Piñata and More Missing from Gran Fiesta Tour. Back in 2021, the Disney fan sites went crazy reporting on the Donald Duck animatronic being replaced with a plant on a stick wearing a sombrero. This caused Disney Parks fans’ heads to explode. Clickbait headlines ruled the internet then, with what could be my favorite headline, “¿Dónde Está Donald Duck? Gran Fiesta Down to Dos Caballeros”. Now, another Donald Duck is missing from the Epcot ride. This time it is the Donald Duck piñata, and the scene opposite of the kid with a calf on his head that is carrying a cart of fireworks.
Gran Fiesta Tour starring The Three Caballeros closed back on January 6th, 2025, for a lengthy refurbishment. When it reopened on March 15th, 2025, we noticed there is better lighting throughout the ride, along with new 4 K projections on the screens for the animation. Plus, the Audio seems to be louder and clearer.
So, while those cool animatronic scenes might come back eventually, it’s a bit puzzling. The ride was down for almost six weeks – you’d figure they’d have ironed out all the kinks and had everything working when it reopened. But here we are, a month later, and those figures are still nowhere to be seen.
There were no real changes to the story. But we had a nagging feeling like something was off, though, and it took us a few rides to figure it out. Donald is Missing! ¿Dónde Está Donald Duck? Along with the kid, holding a bull carrying a cart full of fireworks, on his head! The scene we are specifically mentioning is, after you cross under the bridge with Fiesta Hoy and the skeletal mariachi band, Donald Duck has been made into a Piñata hanging by his neck, the back of his shirt. A little boy is blindfolded, holding a stick ready to break open Donald.
On the same platform of animatronics, a beautifully dressed girl is holding the end of a rope that goes over a wooden support column and holds Donald piñata in the air. While another child dances around. That whole scene is missing, except for the little girl dancing around. Where are you, Donald Duck?
Directly across from the Donald piñata scene, there was a scene of a child holding a bull carrying a cart full of fireworks on his head (I love writing about Disney, that feels like a brand new sentence). That is also missing.
Check out a past video that has the scenes we are talking about:
Another Donald Duck Gone?! Piñata and More Missing from Gran Fiesta Tour
Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros – Take in the sights of Mexico and the antics of 3 feathered amigos on this gentle boat ride through the Mexico Pavilion.
¿Dónde Está Donald Duck? – Donald’s disappeared south of the border, and it’s up to the other 2 caballeros from the musical trio—Panchito, the Mexican charro rooster, and José Carioca, the Brazilian parrot—to find him.
Cruise down the Rio Grande on a dark boat ride past some of the most famous sights and cities in Mexico. Is that the missing mallard climbing a Mayan pyramid in Chichen Itza?
Hilarity and hijinks ensue as the birds go in hot pursuit of their wayward friend throughout this fun-filled ride for all ages.
A Very Animated Experience – Inspired by the 1944 Disney film The Three Caballeros, your adventure comes to life against a backdrop of live-action footage, hand-drawn animation and the jaunty musical score from the movie.
