New Disney World Addition Goes Haywire, Guests Continue To Feel Disappointed

in Disney Parks, Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World EPCOT's World Celebration Concept Art

Credit: Disney

One of the newest additions to Walt Disney World has stopped working, again.

A large geodesic sphere made up of triangular panels is seen against a clear blue sky at Disney World. Two palm trees are positioned in the foreground, with the lower portion of the sphere slightly obscured by angular structures.
Credit: Inside the Magic

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Guests visiting EPCOT recently may have noticed new LED lighting systems, which can be seen in the park’s World Celebration area. However, these lighting packages have encountered multiple issues since originally debuting earlier this year, with guests sharing concerning updates regarding the new LED lights on social media.

EPCOT has undergone perhaps the most significant transformation of any of the four main theme parks at Walt Disney World. First opening in 1982, EPCOT has evolved and changed over the decades, with the last few years being incredibly important for the theme park.

In 2022, EPCOT welcomed its very first roller coaster, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. EPCOT has also welcomed a variety of other rides and attractions in recent years, such as Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Journey of Water Inspired by Moana.

The park’s layout has also seen upgrades recently, though some projects went smoother than others, with EPCOT’s new lighting system still facing technical issues months later.

EPCOT’s Lighting System Goes Haywire

A monorail passes in front of a large, spherical structure lit up with a gradient of red, white, and blue lights at night, creating a futuristic atmosphere. The structure's geometric pattern is highlighted by the lighting. Trees are visible below the platform.
Credit: Disney

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Twitter/X user ShowcaseWishes shared an image of the LED lights failing to work again late Thursday night. These LED lights are planted in the ground in World Celebration, one of EPCOT’s four themed areas.

the ground lights at EPCOT are still not working

These lights were introduced along with World Celebration, which officially opened earlier this year. Unfortunately, World Celebration was not the only area of EPCOT suffering from technical issues, with lights on the park’s main fountain flickering as well.

This fountain is placed directly in front of Spaceship Earth, which is also lovingly referred to as the “EPCOT Ball” and is one of the first things guests see as they enter the park.

Twitter/X user TharinWhite shared a video of the flickering lights late Thursday night.

The amount of broken LED lights in the new areas of Epcot is almost funny at this point. Disneyland has a half red and half white bulb to blend in. Epcot has an epileptic’s nightmare in a multi-million dollar park improvement area. Things break, I get it. But this is months at this point.

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It’s unfortunate that so many of EPCOT’s new features are suffering from technical issues. These issues are even more disappointing, considering the park underwent an extensive refurbishment before they were added, with multiple areas of EPCOT closing to guests over the last five years.

Technical issues also persist for Magic Kingdom’s newest addition: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. This new take on Disney’s legendary log flume adventure Splash Mountain officially opened this summer but has suffered from extensive downtime and technical issues.

The ride has failed to open along with the rest of Magic Kingdom for the last several weeks, with guests reporting that various animatronics and other themed elements were not working during their time on Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. The ride has also endured several evacuations.

Fans are hoping these kinks will get worked out with Disneyland’s version of the ride, which is set to open this November.

What’s your favorite ride at Walt Disney World? Have you been to EPCOT recently?

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