DuckTales World Showcase Adventure to finally debut at Epcot
“Woo-hoo!” Epcot will open “DuckTales World Showcase Adventure,” the latest incarnation of its park-wide interactive game, on Dec. 16, 2022.
A tech-savvy adventure
Using the Play Disney Parks app on their phone, guests will help Scrooge McDuck, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, and favorite pals from the hit television show “DuckTales” on a globetrotting search for the Seven Plunders of the World.
As guests complete missions, World Showcase’s architecture and props react to their presence. For example, in previous iterations of the experience, guests could prompt a rendering of fireworks to light up inside the Mexico pyramid, or initiate a jade monkey from rising in the pond outside the temple in China.
The seven participating World Showcase countries are Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Japan, France, and the United Kingdom. There are three assignments and a finale in each pavilion, and guests who play twice might get a slightly different game, even in the same country. Finishing the quest in all seven pavilions leads to a special final mission.
“Might solve a mystery…”
The game’s debut comes after Disney first announced the experience in Dec. 2019. With Disney mostly remaining quiet about the attraction thereafter, it seemed possible that it may have been scrapped. Such was the case with other canceled Epcot projects, like the “Mary Poppins” attraction planned for the United Kingdom pavilion, which former Disney CEO Bob Chapek previously mentioned was “put on hold” due to the pandemic. A welcome treat given its uncertainty, Disney confirmed “DuckTales” was still on the slate in Sept. 2022, and revealed its Dec. 16 opening date just days prior, on Dec. 12.
“…or rewrite history”
“DuckTales” is the third version of the attraction, following similar experiences connected to former hit shows from Disney Television Animation, “Kim Possible” (which ran at Epcot from 2009 – 2012) and “Phineas and Ferb” (which ran 2012-2020, closing with the pandemic). The different versions over the years effectively serve as history markers of Disney Channel hits from their time and of technology at large (the first version required guests to borrow a flip phone from Disney).
DuckTales Mania
If tradition follows, guests need not be familiar with “DuckTales” to enjoy playing DuckTales World Showcase Adventure. However, those who prefer to be acclimated prior to visiting the park can find all three seasons on Disney+. The reboot of the popular ‘80s show originally aired 2017 – 2021 on Disney Channel and Disney XD, and stars David Tennant from “Doctor Who” as the voice of Scrooge. The series was nominated for multiple Emmys and often included callbacks to some of its siblings from the retro Disney Afternoon programming block, like a cameo from a “Goof Troop”-era Goofy and a recurring story arc for Darkwing Duck.
The new Epcot experience isn’t the first “DuckTales” inclusion at Walt Disney World. In 2018 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Scrooge and Launchpad McQuack were a prominent part of the “Donald’s Dino-Bash!” overlay to DinoLand U.S.A. The two characters currently wave to guests from a flotilla that circles the park’s waterways.
To access “DuckTales World Showcase Adventure,” guests must download Play Disney Parks, available for free via the App Store and Google Play Store.
