I have looked everywhere for an answer to this question and no one seemed to have an answer. I now have what worked for me. I just guessed at the issue and solved it. I went to the flyout menu of the control panel (sometimes called the hamburger), it seemed that just about every item was checked. I started unchecking things I didn't need or want in the control box. For example transparency, crop image, anchor points, live paint, gradient tool - all of the items I could easily access in my tools menu. I didn't need them in the control bar. After unchecking quite a few of these my drop down font menu reappeared! I still have that annoying drop down greyed out menu, that won't seem to go away, but at least my drop down menu is BACK!!! Whoo hoo! Pass this around please, I know this question is everywhere, and no one seems to have an answer.