Refreshment Outpost
Quick Service Food and Beverage Location, EPCOT | Walt Disney World Resort
© Disney
How do you turn a Coca-Cola partnership into an immersive guest experience?
PROJECT OVERVIEW
This EPCOT quick-service food and beverage location was ready for a refresh, creating an opportunity to rethink the story, identity, and guest experience of the space.
Working with the creative and design teams, I helped develop the narrative and guest-facing details that gave the refreshed location a distinct identity within EPCOT. I considered how the story could carry through the physical environment, from visual details and environmental elements to the smaller moments guests encounter along the way.
The goal was to create a cohesive experience where the food and beverage offering, storytelling, and physical environment worked together to make the space feel more inviting, intentional, and unmistakably Disney.
A little storytelling, a little design magic, and a lot of attention to the details that turn a place to grab a bite into part of the guest experience.
DESIGN CHALLENGE
The location already had an established identity and purpose, but the refresh created an opportunity to rethink how the space could feel and function as a guest experience.
The challenge was to give the location a renewed sense of personality without losing its connection to the larger EPCOT environment. At the same time, the experience needed to support an important Coca-Cola partnership, creating a space where the partner brand could feel naturally integrated rather than simply added onto the environment.
That meant balancing multiple priorities: the Disney guest experience, the location’s story and identity, the food and beverage offering, the physical environment, and Coca-Cola’s role as a brand partner.
The storytelling needed to work across multiple touchpoints:
IDENTITY
How can the refreshed location establish a distinct personality within EPCOT?
STORY
What narrative can give the space a reason to exist beyond simply serving food?
PARTNERSHIP
How can Coca-Cola be integrated into the experience in a way that feels authentic to both the partner brand and the Disney environment?
ENVIRONMENT
How can storytelling and brand elements become part of the physical experience?
GUEST EXPERIENCE
What details can make the space feel more inviting, memorable, and connected to the larger Disney experience?
The goal wasn’t simply to refresh the space or incorporate a partner brand.
It was to create a cohesive experience where Disney, Coca-Cola, story, environment, and food and beverage all felt like they belonged together.
MY ROLE
STORY DEVELOPMENT & WRITING
I crafted a new backstory for the space, using Coca-Cola’s history, personality, and brand heritage as the foundation for the refreshed guest experience.
RESEARCH & CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
I researched the history and creative potential of upcycled musical instruments, exploring how recycled materials could become part of the space’s visual language and storytelling.
AUDIO & ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERIENCE
I collaborated with audio designers to refine the background music track, helping establish the atmosphere, rhythm, and overall feeling of the guest experience.
GRAPHICS, PROPS & ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
I partnered with the graphics fabricator and concept artist to develop environmental graphics and props, translating the story into tangible details throughout the space.
Together, these elements helped create an environment where the Coca-Cola partnership, storytelling, design, and guest experience worked together to give the refreshed location a distinct identity.
RESULTS
IMPROVED GUEST COMFORT
Expanded shaded seating, creating a more comfortable environment for guests to pause, gather, and enjoy the space.
INTERACTIVE GUEST EXPERIENCE
Added interactive musical instruments that invited guests to engage with the environment and become part of the experience.
REFRESHED ENVIRONMENTAL STORY
Developed a new narrative for the existing space, giving the location a clearer identity and connecting its physical details to the Coca-Cola story.
CORPORATE ALLIANCE INTEGRATION
Integrated Coca-Cola’s history, personality, and creative assets into the refreshed environment, helping the partnership feel like a natural part of the guest experience rather than an added brand element.