Credit: Erica Lauren, Inside the MagicWith the 2026 D23 Expo fast approaching, Walt Disney World fans are anxiously awaiting a massive slate of theme park announcements. It is no secret that Disney is currently pouring billions of dollars into its Florida property. Magic Kingdom is actively ripping up Frontierland, Disney’s Animal Kingdom removed Dinoland U.S.A. to build Tropical Americas, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios is bracing for Monstropolis.
Because three of the four Walt Disney World theme parks are currently undergoing—or about to undergo—massive, landscape-altering construction projects, a massive question mark now hovers over the fourth: EPCOT.
EPCOT just recently completed a grueling, multi-year transformation that finally filled in the massive “dirt pit” in the center of the park and brought us the Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana. But despite the shiny new World Celebration gardens, two of the park’s most iconic, historic dark rides are desperately aging. Both Spaceship Earth and Journey Into Imagination with Figment are begging for a massive overhaul.
However, according to theme park insiders and industry predictions, EPCOT is likely to get only one major ride update announced at D23 this year. And unfortunately for hardcore Disney purists, it is not the ride they really want.
Here is why Disney is actively prioritizing Spaceship Earth over Figment, and why—given the massive spending happening across the rest of the resort—EPCOT actually deserves to get both.
The Brutal Truth: Spaceship Earth Needs It More
If you ask any diehard EPCOT fan which ride needs to be gutted and rebuilt from the ground up, the answer is almost universally Journey Into Imagination with Figment. The current version of the ride is widely considered a massive downgrade from the 1983 original, and fans have spent over two decades begging Imagineering to bring back the Dreamfinder and restore the pavilion to its former glory.
But fans are likely going to be disappointed when the D23 Parks Panel kicks off. Industry analysts and theme park experts predict that the spotlight will instead fall on the giant golf ball at the front of the park.
Disney is expected to announce a massive, multi-year reimagining of Spaceship Earth officially—and from a purely logistical standpoint, it makes total sense.
The Ghost of the 2019 Overhaul
We already know Disney wants to update Spaceship Earth because they already announced it. Back at the 2019 D23 Expo, Disney formally revealed “Spaceship Earth: Our Shared Story.” The park’s grand icon was slated for a massive refurbishment, including brand-new show scenes, an entirely new musical score, updated narration, and a dynamic “Story Light” to guide guests through the history of human communication.
That project was ultimately delayed indefinitely and effectively killed by the 2020 COVID-19 park closures. Disney was forced to slash capital expenditures, leaving Spaceship Earth to operate in its current aging state. Announcing a revived, perhaps modified version of this project at the 2026 D23 Expo allows Disney to finish what they started finally.
Ride Reliability and Downtime
Beyond the thematic elements, Spaceship Earth is suffering from severe mechanical fatigue. The ride system is ancient. While Disney has performed a few short “duct tape” refurbishments over the last couple of years to keep the omnimovers running, routine maintenance can only do so much. The attraction is experiencing increased downtime, and the infamous descent backward in the dark feels more like a missed opportunity than a grand finale.
Spaceship Earth is the park’s thesis statement and its visual icon. Having a high-capacity attraction with great uptime at the very front of the park is absolutely vital for EPCOT’s crowd flow. Disney simply cannot afford to have its flagship icon constantly breaking down. Fixing Spaceship Earth isn’t just about updating the animatronics; it is an urgent operational necessity.
The “Singles and Doubles” Strategy
Disney Imagineering seems to be leaning heavily into a “singles and doubles” strategy for Walt Disney World right now. Rather than building massive, billion-dollar mega-lands from scratch every year, they are taking existing, popular attractions and giving them mega-budget overhauls.
We saw this exact strategy executed successfully with the transformation of Splash Mountain into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, the recent track rebuild of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the Test Track update at EPCOT.
Spaceship Earth perfectly fits this strategy. Imagineering can use the existing multi-story ride track and infrastructure while focusing its budget entirely on thematic “window dressing,” upgraded animatronics, and a reliable control system. It is a highly efficient way to market a “brand-new” experience without the staggering cost of a ground-up build.
The Wildcard: Could EPCOT Actually Get Both?
While all signs point to Spaceship Earth taking the EPCOT spotlight at this year’s D23 Expo, there is a compelling argument that Disney should also announce an overhaul of Journey Into Imagination with Figment.
Look at the sheer scale of the construction happening across the rest of Walt Disney World:
- Magic Kingdom is getting a massive Cars expansion and a Villains Land.
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom is building Tropical Americas featuring Encanto and Indiana Jones.
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios is getting Monstropolis.
With so much money flowing into the other three gates to prepare them for the next decade of operation, EPCOT shouldn’t be left behind with a single ride update.
If Disney truly wanted to win over the hardcore fanbase at D23, it would announce a timeline for Spaceship Earth’s long-overdue “Shared Story” reimagining. At the same time, Journey Into Imagination is simultaneously greenlit for a complete, ground-up creative rebuild.
Why Figment Might Be Pushed to 2027
However, if Figment doesn’t get mentioned in Anaheim this year, fans shouldn’t completely lose hope.
Depending on the scope and scale of the Spaceship Earth project, Disney might want to stagger the closures so EPCOT doesn’t lose too much ride capacity all at once. Knocking out Spaceship Earth first ensures that the front of the park is a high-capacity sponge for crowds. Once that is operating smoothly, Walt Disney World would have the capacity to take the Imagination pavilion offline for a year or two.
Furthermore, pushing the Figment announcement off a year could mean saving it for the 2027 Destination D23 event, which takes place right in Walt Disney World’s backyard. Announcing the triumphant return of the Dreamfinder to a hometown crowd of Florida locals and Annual Passholders would generate a deafening roar of approval that a California crowd simply couldn’t match.
While everyone is crossing their fingers for a massive Imagination Pavilion overhaul, prepare yourselves for the reality of theme park logistics. When the executive team takes the stage this August, the biggest news for EPCOT will almost certainly involve thanking the Phoenicians.
