EPCOT's Oaxacan wood carvers are leaving the Mexico pavilion at the end of August, and the whole stand is 50 percent off

A sheet of pink lined notepad paper is propped up at the back of a table crowded with carved animals, with "THE ENTIRE STORE $50% OFF" written on it by hand. The sign itself announces only the markdown. The reason for it is that the Oaxacan wood carving stand in Plaza de los Amigos, inside EPCOT's Mexico pavilion, is leaving at the end of the month.

WDWMagic reported the closure on Tuesday, writing that "The Oaxacan wood carvers at EPCOT's Mexico pavilion are closing at the end of the month." Disney has not announced it, has not given a last day, and has not said what will happen to the space.

The news came from a guest, not from Disney

The earliest account we can find came from a WDWMagic forum member posting as christine7257, who wrote on Sunday afternoon after visiting the pavilion that day. "But the animal wood carvings that have been there forever - done by the same couple for a long time - are leaving. All items currently 50% off. He said end of this month," they wrote, adding that "The gentleman was very professional, but it was obvious this wasn't his choice."

That is a guest relaying a conversation, not an official statement, and it is worth holding it as such. Two days later WDWMagic published its own photographs of the stand, with the sale signs up.

Everything is half off, including the expensive pieces

The discount is 50 percent off the marked price, and it applies to the whole stand. The small figures crowding the front of the tables carry tags in the $45 to $70 range. Further back, a large blue spotted lizard hangs from a stand with a hand lettered orange tag reading "REG. $350," then "50% OFF," then "$175.00," so the top of the range runs well into the hundreds.

The EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival opens on Thursday, August 27, so the sale runs straight into it. The festival crowds arrive with only a few days left, and anyone who wants a carving has roughly a week.

What is actually on the tables

A printed red interpretive card at the display explains the craft: "Each of these original figures is handmade from Copal wood harvested from the hills surrounding the Oaxacan Valley in southern Mexico. Local artisans use machetes and pocketknives to carve these fantastic figures. Once the rough shape is carved, the artisans hand sand and meticulously paint each piece."

The figures are the fantastical painted animals widely known as alebrijes, and they are sold here from open tables rather than off a shelf.

A stand on the ledge, next to La Cava del Tequila

The stand works from a row of long tables on the raised ledge above the floor of Plaza de los Amigos, the dimly lit indoor market inside the pavilion's pyramid. WDWMagic puts the location "right next to La Cava del Tequila," whose entrance sits at plaza level, down off the ledge.

WDWMagic raised the possibility that the space becomes extra queuing room for that bar, and flagged the idea as unconfirmed: "That proximity has us wondering if the area could become extra queuing space for the bar. Disney has not confirmed this, so treat it as speculation for now." Nothing beyond the adjacency supports it at this point.

What we do not know

Quite a lot, still. The vendor has not been named publicly. No exact last day has been given beyond "end of the month." WDWMagic describes the carvings as having "sat in a corner of the pavilion's marketplace for decades," which is the outlet's characterization and not a number Disney has confirmed, and no start year has been published anywhere we can find. And there is no word on whether the vendor is being relocated, retired, or simply not renewed.

If you want one, the tables are on the raised ledge above the plaza floor, alongside La Cava del Tequila, and the sale is running now.

Sources

• WDWMagic, "Longtime Oaxacan Wood Carving Shop Closing at EPCOT Mexico Pavilion"
• WDWMagic Forums, "Oaxacan Wood Carvings Leaving Mexico Pavilion in EPCOT"

Image credits

All photographs by WDWMagic.