Mariachi Cobre now plays inside the Mexico pyramid, and Kidcot has taken the spot by the door

By entgrove · September 15, 2026

Mariachi Cobre, EPCOT's resident mariachi ensemble since 1982, has moved from its outdoor stage near La Cantina de San Angel to inside the Mexico Pavilion pyramid, taking over the former Kidcot space. The Kidcot Fun Stop has reopened directly inside the pyramid entrance.

Mariachi Cobre has moved indoors. The group that has been EPCOT's resident mariachi ensemble since 1982 now performs inside the Mexico Pavilion pyramid, in the spot the Kidcot station used to occupy, and Kidcot itself has shifted to just inside the pyramid entrance.

Mariachi Cobre Moves Inside the Pyramid

Mariachi Cobre has performed outdoors for years, near La Cantina de San Angel on the World Showcase Lagoon side of the pavilion. The new position puts them inside the pyramid, in the space the Kidcot station previously held.

For a group that plays roughly 25-minute sets through the day, the practical difference is considerable. Central Florida afternoons in summer are hot and reliably wet, and an outdoor stage on the lagoon promenade loses shows to weather in a way an indoor one does not. Moving inside also puts the music into the pavilion's covered marketplace (the permanently dusk-lit plaza with the volcano, the river and the market stalls) where sound carries rather than dissipating across an open walkway.

The trade is exposure. An outdoor set near the Cantina caught guests walking the promenade who had no intention of entering the pavilion; an indoor set is heard by people who have already stepped through the door.

Fifty-Five Years of Mariachi Cobre, Forty-Four of Them at EPCOT

Mariachi Cobre was founded in 1971 in Tucson, Arizona, and has served as mariachi ambassador to the world since 1982, the year the group began performing at EPCOT. That start date is the park's own: EPCOT Center opened on October 1, 1982, which makes Mariachi Cobre one of the very small number of acts to have been part of the park from its first year and to still be performing in it.

They are, in other words, not a rotating World Showcase act. They are among the longest-running live performances at Walt Disney World, and a location change for them counts as pavilion news rather than a schedule note.

Kidcot Reopens Just Inside the Pyramid Entrance

The Kidcot Fun Stop in the Mexico Pavilion had been dismantled and out of service in recent days. It is back, still inside the pyramid, now positioned directly inside the entrance rather than deeper in the space.

Kidcot Fun Stops run in every World Showcase pavilion. Children collect an international memento carrying facts and activities about each country's culture and traditions, working their way around the promenade and adding to it pavilion by pavilion. The stops are free, staffed by Cast Members from the country they represent, and they remain the most effective device Disney has for getting children to walk the full World Showcase circuit willingly.

Placing it at the entrance is the sensible arrangement of the two. Kidcot works best when families spot it without hunting: a station just inside the doorway catches every group that enters, which is the whole point of a stop designed to be collected.

Where to Stand, and When the 25-Minute Sets Run

If you have been catching Mariachi Cobre by the water at La Cantina de San Angel, that vantage point is gone. Head through the pyramid doors instead, and expect the music in the marketplace plaza rather than on the promenade. Kidcot is now the first thing on your right-hand side as you enter, so families can collect the Mexico memento on the way in rather than doubling back.

Sets run about 25 minutes, several times a day, and the schedule changes. Check the My Disney Experience app on the morning of your visit rather than working from an old times guide: it is the only listing that reflects the new location.