Construction Update: Epcot’s World Celebration looking good
It’s been several years since Disney announced plans for Epcot’s largest expansion ever, and while some projects have been completed – most recently, A Journey of Water Inspired by Moana – this construction update shows others still have a way to go.
At D23 Expo in 2019, Imagineer Zach Riddley revealed that Epcot’s reimagination would include new attractions (some which never materialized) and four “neighborhoods” – World Showcase, World Celebration, World Nature, and World Discovery – plus, a new entrance plaza, event pavilion (called CommuniCore Plaza), and Dreamers Point featuring a statue of Walt Disney.
Thanks to aerial photos from @bioreconstruct on X, we can see exactly how Epcot’s final projects are coming along.
CommuniCore Plaza
Epcot certainly looks beautiful from 3,100 feet, but as we get closer, we can see there’s plenty of work underway in CommuniCore Plaza and the surrounding areas.
In an aerial photo of the World Celebration walkways and gardens between the main Epcot gift shop and CommuniCore Plaza, bioreconstruct labels the following:
- Pavers forming a patterned walkway
- Many of these trellis-style structures were recently added
- Disney 100 photo opps
- Purple Martin nests
World Celebration
An overview of World Celebration (scheduled to open in December) shows us that much of the area already has landscaping, including a variety of trees.
Epcot’s five-ring logo (which concept art shows as a colorful flower garden) is being filled with sand in preparation for planting, dashing the hopes of those who hoped Disney might turn it into a fountain instead.
Dreamers Point
In Dreamers Point, it looks like Walt Disney World’s newest statue of Walt Disney (revealed at D23 Expo 2023) may be waiting patiently in a brown box (at the center of the photo) for installation.
When asked about the brown-colored “flower-like” structures in the photo, bioreconstruct said they’re for shade “and likely also lighting.” He also noted they feature “translucent patterns that the sun shines through [and] the shapes seem to have been influenced by Louis Comfort Tiffany vases.”
Additional Epcot Construction
Backstage near Spaceship Earth, an arrow marks where a gate is under construction. Bioreconstruct notes the grey concrete walkways are a bypass that will return backstage and the section to the left of the arrow is circulation and filtration for Journey of Water.
Heading over to World Showcase Lagoon, we can see staging underway for the upcoming “Luminous: The Symphony of Us” nighttime spectacular (starting Dec. 5, 2023).
The numbers 1, 2, and 3 mark locations where barges will dock (unknown what the pairs of pilings are for) and stars mark where six pyrotechnic platforms will be anchored. According to bioreconstruct, the other eight buoy pairs are for Epcot Forever.
We will continue to keep an eye on the progress at Epcot (and elsewhere in Orlando), so stay tuned for the next construction update.
