Credit: Inside the MagicAn entire land at Walt Disney World Resort remains closed without an official statement.
While there are developments happening at Walt Disney World Resort, the truth is that construction has been focused on just a few areas around the area. Magic Kingdom Park recently opened TRON Lightcycle / Run after several years of construction and closed down Splash Mountain permanently to make way for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Since January, Walt Disney Imagineers have been working hard to dismantle Splash Mountain and get Disney World Guests ready for Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which is set to open in late 2024.
However, that’s only one project happening in Walt Disney World Resort currently. Disney Park fans have waited to hear about what might happen to the soon-to-be-abandoned Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser and if it might be connected to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the future. Guests have also been watching Dinoland, U.S.A., in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, for potential expansion and closures, but nothing has come to fruition as of yet.
The Disney Park with the most construction happening right now is none other than EPCOT.
EPCOT has seemingly put the finishing touches on Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, which is currently undergoing test runs for Disney Cast Members. While no date has been announced for the opening of the walkthrough attraction, the expectation is that it will be open by the fall of this year. This leaves one major project in the Disney Park, however, and nothing has been said about it.
Disney has completely changed the layout of what EPCOT once was. The theme park is now divided into four neighborhoods: World Nature, World Showcase, World Discovery, and World Celebration, which has yet to open. When the land opens, it will be home to a statue of Walt Disney himself and an area called Dreamers Point. No rides will open with the land, but it will give Guests another area to enjoy and immerse themselves in the theming of EPCOT.
While Disney has not released an official statement on the land, which remains closed off to Guests, we did recently get a look at what’s happening inside the closed-off area.
Twitter account @bioreconstruct posted aerial photos where we can see the new developments happening at World Celebration.
Aerial overview of World Celebration. Many walkways are complete. There’s pavement also at what will be a 5-ring EPCOT logo at center, next to walls forming the globe in the logo.
Aerial overview of World Celebration. Many walkways are complete. There's pavement also at what will be a 5-ring EPCOT logo at center, next to walls forming the globe in the logo. pic.twitter.com/yLjp4JGXuh
— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) August 10, 2023
If you’ve been following this project, you can see just how far Disney has come in getting this area opened to Guests. Most walkways are now paved, and they are beginning to add theming. Just a few months ago, the area was essentially a bunch of dirt with some staging.
For now, we’ll have to wait and see when the land might open to Guests. The expectation was that it would open in “late 2023,” but no update from Disney World could mean that the project is going to take a little more time than previously expected, but this is strictly speculation.
What do you want to see the future hold for EPCOT? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments!