Changes

The attraction that would one day be known as The Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros, began as a planned attraction for the Mexico pavilion titled "Las Tres Culturas de Mexico" (The Three Cultures of Mexico) <ref> http://www.lostepcot.com/worldshowcase.html </ref> . The ride was going to be an indoor/outdoor boat ride, which that took guests through the history of Mexico, showcasing its diverse culture. Las Tres Culturas de Mexico took its ride structure from [["it's a small world"]], and even used a similar, repetitive theme song. The attraction’s storyline came from a Mayan myth which told about the Gods gods taking the gift of music from the jealous sun, and giving it to the songless Earth. The myth concludes with the idea that "Life was all music from that time on” <ref name= "Martinvid"> http://www.martinsvids.net/?cat=10&paged=3 </ref>.

Although Las Tres Culturas de Mexico was fully designed in time for EPCOT Center’s opening day, Disney initially wanted to push the attraction’s construction back until EPCOT Centerthe park's Phase II <ref name= "Martinvid"/>. According to these plans, the attraction’s lagoon and load area were to be built first, with space left open for the boat ride itself to be constructed at the later date <ref name= "Martinvid"/> . When other World Showcase attractions were put on hold (including the planned [[Japan ]] attraction and [[Germany]]'s Rhine River cruise) however, Disney realized that they did not have enough attractions for the parks park's expected capacity. Eventually, Disney decided that they would need to construct the Mexico attraction, which was now called El Rio Del Tiempo, in order to help meet capacity <ref name= "Martinvid"/> . With both time and money running out, various cuts were made to the original designs for El Rio Del Tiempo. The whole attraction was moved indoors <ref name= "Martinvid"/> , and it was decided that the ride’s track would need to be shortened by 40%.

Following a very quick construction, El Rio Del Tiempo opened with the rest of EPCOT Center on October 1, 1982. Although the attraction had been quite popular at the time of its opening, attendance began to drop during the 1990s. During this time, rumors were prevalent that the attraction would be replaced by a new Donald Duck attraction; however when El Rio Del Tiempo closed for refurbishment in 1999 no such change took place <ref> http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/el-rio-del-tiempo/news/27jul1999-el-rio-del-tiempo-refurbishment-update.htm </ref>. Instead, at this time , the attraction was cleaned up and given new paint, just in time for Epcot’s Millennium Celebration.

On January 2, 2007, El Rio Del Tiempo was closed for a major refurbishment <ref> http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/el-rio-del-tiempo.htm </ref>. When the ride reopened on April 6, it featured a brand new storyline and was renamed The Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros <ref> https://www.mouseplanet.com/10926/Remembering_the_Magic_El_Rio_del_Tiempo__Gran_Fiesta_Tour_Starring_The_Three_Caballeros </ref>. True to its name, the Disney characters José Carioca, Panchito Pistoles, and Donald Duck, from the 1944 Disney movie The Three Caballeros were added to the attraction and the plot was changed so that Jose and Panchito now searched throughout Mexico for Donald. In order to tell the new story, HD screens were added to many of the attraction’s scenes and a new soundtrack was given to the ride <ref> https://www.mouseplanet.com/10926/Remembering_the_Magic_El_Rio_del_Tiempo__Gran_Fiesta_Tour_Starring_The_Three_Caballeros </ref>. At Furthermore, at this time the San Angel Inn was expanded into an area that was previously part of El Rio Del Tiempo <Ref name= "epcotbook">The Epcot Explorer's Encyclopedia: A Guide to Walt Disney World's Greatest Theme Park </ref>.

On December 4, 2015 , Animatronics of the Three Caballeros were added to The Gran Fiesta Tour's finale <ref name= "D23"> https://d23.com/after-35-years-historic-three-caballeros-figures-return-to-walt-disney-world-resort/ </ref>. The figures had previously appeared in the former [[Magic Kingdom]] attraction the [[Mickey Mouse Revue]], and they had been absent from Walt Disney World for 35 years <ref name= "D23"/>.