Everything Epcot closed during its multi-year transformation

Out with the Old, In with the New

Imagineers set out to make Epcot “more timeless, more relevant, more family, and more Disney” in a sweeping, park-wide revamp. In doing so, the Walt Disney World park welcomed Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and major infrastructure improvements, among other new additions.

You can read more about the vision behind Epcot’s re-imagining and a timeline of its progress in our recent story.

Today, though, let’s take a look at the inevitable inverse of Disney’s transformation of Epcot. As Imagineers assessed the park’s roster, which attractions didn’t match those four qualities in its vision statement? What experiences weren’t timeless, relevant, family-friendly, and Disney-focused, at least in the eyes of the company?

Below is every attraction that became defunct during Epcot’s 2017-2024 re-imagining (in the order of each attraction’s closure). Opening and closing dates were sourced from D23’s “Disney A to Z” online encyclopedia, as well as Attractions Magazine archives.

Ellen’s Energy Adventure

The Universe of Energy Pavilion was part of Epcot’s opening day in 1982. Disney updated the pavilion’s long, educational attraction in 1996, dubbing the ride Ellen’s Energy Adventure. It starred familiar celebrities of the era: Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Nye, Alex Trebek, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

The attraction involved Audio-Animatronics dinosaurs and 96-seat ride vehicles. From start to finish, the experience clocked in at over half an hour.

Technical difficulties cut short the very last ride Ellen’s Energy Adventure ever took. The final group of guests on the ride’s last operating day, Aug. 13, 2017, had to disembark the vehicles mid-ride and walk through the remaining ride path. Abnormal for a ride evacuation, Cast Members allowed guests to take their time and observe the lights-on view of the attraction’s final moments.

Shortly thereafter, the staff of Ellen’s talk show presented the host with the “remains” of her robotic likeness, or so they said.

“This looks like Annabelle’s mother,” Ellen observed on-air, referring to the doll from “The Conjuring” universe. “We really could start a horror movie starring this.”

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the figure was fake, but a Disney collector claimed in early April 2018 to have sent Ellen’s team the figure to borrow. Later that month, the figure (or a figure, at least) was up for auction.

In May 2022, Disney opened Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind where Universe of Energy once stood. The former attraction’s building now houses Cosmic Rewind’s queue and pre-show. The roller coaster then launches riders into a newly constructed building, where the actual ride takes place.

“Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable”

Frozen Ever After wasn’t the first Epcot attraction to feature characters from a hugely popular animated film. Less than a year after the 1994 smash release of “The Lion King,” Disney opened “Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable” at Epcot. The film screened inside Harvest Theater on the second level of The Land Pavilion, replacing the former “Symbiosis” film.

“Circle of Life” involved Simba teaching Timon and Pumbaa a cautionary lesson about how they (and the audience) can better take care of their land. The 12-minute film featured new animation, as well as live-action, documentary-style footage. Long before live-action remakes of animated films were the norm, “Circle of Life” contained a nature montage set to its titular song, with many of its real-life shots mirroring the opening moments of “The Lion King.”

The attraction was directed by Bruce Morris (a story artist whose later credits would include “Hercules,” “The Princess and the Frog,” and “X-Men: Days of Future Past”) and Paul Justman (a music video director whose previous collaborations included artists such as Diana Ross and Rick Springfield).

“Circle of Life” closed in 2018, after which Harvest Theater remained empty for nearly two years. A high-definition nature film, “Awesome Planet,” debuted on Jan. 17, 2020. Narrated by Ty Burrell from “Modern Family,” “Awesome Planet” encourages a similar message as “Circle of Life.” The fan-favorite wall carpet remains in the pre-show area (pictured in the entrance corridor in the photo below).

“O, Canada!”

Opening date	Sept. 1, 2007
Final operating day	July 31, 2019
Replaced by	“Canada Far and Wide”

The original version of “O, Canada!” was part of Epcot’s opening-day lineup in 1982. Shot in Circle-Vision, the 360-degree film toured the sights and sounds of Canadian nature and culture. In 2007, Disney updated the film, blending new footage with the old. Coverage of its reopening was one of our first YouTube videos.

Proud Canadian Martin Short hosted the 2007 version of “O, Canada!” That makes two Epcot films on Short’s résumé, the other being “The Making of Me,” a sex-ed film (yes, really) inside the former Wonders of Life Pavilion.

“O, Canada!” closed in 2019, replaced by “Canada Far and Wide” on Jan. 17, 2020. The new Circle-Vision presentation is narrated by (also proud Canadians) Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy, both of whom incidentally co-starred with Short on the “Second City Television” sketch comedy show in the ’80s. O’Hara and Levy are arguably best-known to today’s generation as Moira and Johnny Rose in “Schitt’s Creek.”

When Epcot opened, representatives from nations around the world brought water from their home countries to pour into the Fountain of Nations during a dedication ceremony featuring Lillian Disney, Walt Disney’s widow (a similar international ceremony marked the opening of “it’s a Small World” at Disneyland).

Official Disney books and resources differ on the quantity of nations and the exact date of this ceremony. Regardless, about two dozen representatives participated in the dedication sometime during October 1982.

Along with much of the surrounding facilities within the central spine of Future World, the Fountain of Nations closed in fall 2019.

While we’re in the neighborhood, let’s touch on the area between the Fountain of Nations and Spaceship Earth, which closed at this same time. In “The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot,” author and Imagineer Alex Wright referred to this area as Millennium Plaza. Fiber-optic pavement, triangular canopies, and a large pin-trading station were among its highlights. The next few defunct items in our list emanate from this central area.

Today, the central spine of Epcot is home to World Celebration Gardens. The area, which features a statue of Walt Disney, opened Dec. 5, 2023.

In lieu of a dancing fountain, the area’s lights now synchronize in tandem with Spaceship Earth’s lighting package.

Innoventions

Opening date	July 1, 1994
Final operating day	Sept. 7, 2019
Replaced by	Connections Eatery Connections Café Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana

Before modern-day marvels like interactive queues or the Play Disney app, Walt Disney World guests could experience high-tech wonders at Innoventions. The walk-through attraction contained hands-on exhibits showcasing the latest technological breakthroughs. Guests could tour at their own pace.

Innoventions replaced CommuniCore, an attraction similar in nature. By 1993, the Orlando Sentinel wrote, CommuniCore had become “a mishmash of outdated interactive computer programs.”

In contrast, Innoventions was, as the Sentinel reported upon its 1994 opening, “draped with eye-piercing neon, hyperactive strobes, thumping speakers, and enormous video screens.” At the time, exhibits included a bathroom of the future and an “Aladdin” VR ride.

Disney continually updated the roster of Innoventions exhibits. Activities across very different topics and experiences, from observing an environmentally-friendly home to painting a studio with a magic paintbrush.

Innoventions was also home to The Sum of All Thrills, an attraction in which guests could design and ride their own virtual roller coaster. The Sum of All Thrills utilized the Kuka arm as its ride system, the same technology behind Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal Islands of Adventure. As the Orlando Sentinel noted in 2009 when The Sum of All Thrills opened, the virtual ride offered Epcot guests an inadvertent sneak preview of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade, which would open the following year.

Initially commanding two entire buildings, Innoventions gradually offered fewer and fewer exhibits as time progressed. The shell of its once-vibrant self closed for good in fall 2019. The space formerly occupied by Innoventions’ pair of buildings is now home to Connections Eatery, Connections Café, and Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana.

The spirit of Innoventions lives on, kinda, in the interactive games still open in the post-show areas of Spaceship Earth, Mission: Space, and Journey Into Imagination with Figment.

“IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth”

“IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth” debuted as Epcot’s new nighttime spectacular at the onset of the park’s Millennium Celebration. The show’s tenure lasted 20 years, to the day, but if you count its previous iterations, the show’s total residency in Epcot began in 1988.

With a large globe in the middle of World Showcase Lagoon that opened to reveal a lit torch, “IllumiNations” told an abstract story of life, struggle, and unity.

The show’s anthem, “We Go On,” carried this message through its lyrics: “We can see a new horizon built on all that we have done and our dreams begin another thousand circles ’round the sun.”

The soundtrack of “IllumiNations,” composed by Gavin Greenaway, was part of the 2000 Super Bowl halftime show, along with music from “Tarzan” and Epcot’s “Tapestry of Nations” parade. Disney also used the “IllumiNations” score as part of various presidential election and inauguration coverage in the 2000s, according to a former Disney Live Entertainment executive, as well as a film Disney produced for the Department of Homeland Security, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Following the closure of “IllumiNations,” Epcot played musical chairs with its interchanging nighttime spectaculars. The most recent production, “Luminous the Symphony of Us,” debuted Dec. 5, 2023.

Mouse Gear

Opening date	September 1999
Final operating day	Jan. 4, 2020
Replaced by	Creations Shop

Epcot’s flagship merchandise location, Centorium, opened with the park in 1982. Located in the center of what was then known as Future World, the store was replaced by Mouse Gear in 1999 at the onset of the park’s Millennium Celebration.

Dubbed “Gifts with Real Character” on its entrance signage, Mouse Gear was themed as a factory of sorts operated by Mickey and pals.

Props and design elements supported this idea with giant gears, industrial pipes, and toons, like the silhouettes below of Daisy Duck, Professor Ludwig Von Drake, and Gyro Gearloose.

One prop in Mouse Gear was a relic of Epcot history: the Dream-Catching Machine from the original version of the park’s Journey Into Imagination attraction, which featured Dreamfinder and Figment. The prop is now under the care of the Walt Disney Archives.

Though many items for sale in Mouse Gear were Epcot-specific, much of the inventory could also be found at other huge Disney gift shops onsite, like Emporium at Magic Kingdom or World of Disney at Disney Springs.

Mouse Gear closed in early 2020 as Disney built a new store to align with the style of the World Celebration project. In the interim, a temporary Mouse Gear opened Creations Shop opened nearby, but the bare-bones establishment was essentially Mouse Gear in name only, void of theming.

Creations Shop opened as the permanent replacement to Mouse Gear proper in September 2021. Its predecessor’s cartoony, whimsical aesthetic was replaced by sleek, modern furnishings and a more open floor plan.

Epcot Character Spot

Opening date	May 2007
Final operating day	Jan. 4, 2020
Replaced by	Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana Mickey & Friends at CommuniCore Hall

If you visited Epcot in the ’90s or early 2000s, you may remember Disney Characters On Holiday. Riding a double-decker bus, a group of around a dozen characters toured Epcot, waving to guests and eventually pit-stopping for a set of meet & greets. While a uniquely Epcot concept — like guests, the characters were “on holiday” touring World Showcase — Disney Characters On Holiday was sometimes difficult to track down.

The solution? Build a dedicated place where guests would be guaranteed to find characters all day long. After a brief stint as Epcot Character Connection from 2005-2007, the park opened Epcot Character Spot near Innoventions West in Future World. The space was formerly home to Pasta Piazza Ristorante (and half of Sunshine Terrace Restaurant before that).

The location offered arguably the biggest bang for your buck in all of Walt Disney World: wait in one line, then meet multiple popular characters, one after the other, in their own professionally lit photo-op. At various points in Character Spot’s history, it hosted anywhere from three to six characters (Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy the constants among transitions).

Later, a second Character Spot location opened directly next door, welcoming Baymax from “Big Hero 6” in 2015 and Joy and Sadness from “Inside Out” in 2016.

The annex location contained themed props connected to the settings of their respective characters, such as Riley’s memories and Hiro’s gadgets.

When Epcot’s park-wide construction commenced in fall 2019, Mickey’s side of Epcot Character Spot closed and relocated to a temporary location nearby. In early 2020, Character Spot in all of its forms closed permanently. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Joy set up shop elsewhere throughout Epcot. Sadness and Baymax retired for the time being.

Today, the Character Spot’s annex property is home to Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, which opened Oct. 16, 2023. Adjacent to that, World Celebration is now nearly complete. Its final remaining piece still under construction, CommuniCore Hall, will contain an exhibition space for Epcot’s seasonal festivals, as well as a permanent character greeting location. The building is named in tribute to the aforementioned CommuniCore attraction.

Concept art for the building features “Mickey & Friends” in large lettering on the structure’s exterior. It remains to be seen how similar the meet & greet will be to its predecessor, which friends will appear there with Mickey, and when it will open.

Full-Time Operations for “Impressions de France”

“Impressions de France” isn’t outright closed, but its former self is missed all the same. The travelogue film previously commanded all-day screenings within the France Pavilion. Starting in early 2020, though, the new “Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along” occupied the theater for most of the day.

Guests can still view “Impressions de France,” but only during the first 30 minutes and final two hours of Epcot’s park hours.

As author Aaron Wallace points out in “The Thinking Fan’s Guide to Epcot,” “Impressions de France” is Epcot’s only opening-day attraction still operating in its original form, the same as guests experienced it in 1982.

Electric Umbrella

Opening date	June 24, 1994
Final operating day	Feb. 15, 2020
Replaced by	Connections Eatery Connections Café

Electric Umbrella, a quick-service restaurant, opened in summer 1994 alongside Innoventions, its next-door neighbor. The location mostly served typical fast-food fare. Electric Umbrella replaced a restaurant called Stargate.

Neon and other décor in primary colors reflected the restaurant’s name literally.

Guests could dine indoors, choosing upstairs or downstairs, or outside.

Electric Umbrella closed in winter 2020, the last entity in its general proximity to bid farewell in preparation for Epcot’s re-imagining.

The restaurant’s replacement opened Apr. 27, 2022. Taking up the former real estate of both Electric Umbrella and Innoventions East, the double-header Connections Eatery (a quick-service location) and Connections Café (Epcot’s new Starbucks spot) share dining room space in the renovated floor plan. The polished, blank-slate aesthetic matches Creations Shop next door, and stands in contrast to the busyness of Electric Umbrella’s design choices.

As for the food, the menu at Creations Eatery still has fast-food standards, but also some healthier selections too. The food presentation has also migrated to feel more at home in the 2020s than the 1990s.

Tokyo Dining

Upon opening in 1982, Epcot’s Japan Pavilion featured a pair of dining locations within the Mitsukoshi restaurant complex: Tempura Kiku and Teppanyaki Dining Room. In 2007, Tempura Kiku became Tokyo Dining, while Teppanyaki became Teppan Edo. The latter remains open today, but in November 2022, Tokyo Dining closed.

The space formerly occupied by Tokyo Dining reopened in August 2023 as Shiki-Sai: Sushi Izakaya. Having closed 15 years after first opening its doors, Tokyo Dining is the newest entity in our list to close during Epcot’s ongoing transformation.

The official description for Tokyo Dining, still live on Disney’s Australian website, reads:

Be transported into a true cultural experience through the harmony of traditional Japanese food and hospitality. Enjoy the vibrant feel of modern Tokyo as you watch our talented sushi chefs prepare their works of culinary art, as dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows overlook World Showcase Lagoon.

Dine on grilled steaks, fresh fish, a variety of unique items and popular Bento Box presentations—perfect for both the traditionalist and those who like new and exciting tastes.

Original Parking Lot Names

Like all Walt Disney World theme parks, Epcot divides its parking lot into named sections to help guests remember where they parked. During Epcot’s first decade (at least by 1987, according to an article published that year in the Orlando Sentinel, but perhaps since opening day 1982), its parking lot names reflected the curriculum of Future World pavilions: Communication, Energy, Harvest, Imagination, Mobility, and Space.

At some point, Disney renamed the lots to different nouns and verbs that captured the spirit of the park’s futuristic optimism: Amaze, Create, Discover, Explore, Imagine, Journey, and Wonder.

In January 2023, Disney restructured Epcot’s parking lot names again. The lot is now divided into two main sections — Space and Earth — with smaller subsections named after Disney characters.

The Space lot is ruled over by WALL-E, EVE, Rocket, and Gamora. Meanwhile, the Earth lot features Moana, Heihei, Crush, and Dory. All except WALL-E and EVE star in various Epcot attractions. New signage reflected the fonts and color schemes of the park’s revamped main entrance.

Do you have memories of visiting Epcot with family or friends and experiencing any of the attractions that closed during the park’s recent transformation? Share this story with them so they can relive your vacation memories together.