Exciting new details at Epcot’s upcoming Moana water walkthrough

Seen above, progress has continued for this upcoming walkthrough attraction at Epcot. This will be one of numerous new offerings at Epcot in the coming years, along with the already completed offerings like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, the Connections Café, the Creations Shop, the new Spaceship Earth exterior lights, and new Epcot entrance.

While this project has taken a while to build so far, it is still possible to notice week-to-week progress. Seen above, Disney is literally laying the ground work for where guests will walk, explore, and discover this new area. According to the Imagineering team:

“Throughout Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, guests will have the opportunity to discover characters from the Walt Disney Animation Studios film ‘Moana’ carved into the rocks and waterways of their surroundings. Our Imagineers worked closely with the studio to develop the artistic style of these characters who will naturally take form within the water-filled landscape. We are excited to see guests make their way through this self-guided trail next year and discover how Moana and her friends truly inspired the surroundings of this experience!”

Bioreconstruct snapped this photo Aug. 27, 2022, giving a first look at these carved faces in the concrete rockwork.

Disney also gave us these close-up looks at other concrete-formed details in this space. We have seen, on many occasions, how incredibly talented Disney craftspeople can be with concrete. These details are just some of the many we expect to see once this Moana walkthrough attraction opens in 2023.

While obviously a more vague conceptual piece, the Walt Disney Imagineering Presents: The Epcot Experience attraction did give a good general feel of the experience. The focus is clear: it’s about water. But, water can be interpreted in many ways. From the “Moana” film, water took on life as a character in the film. In our world, water can clean, water can carve stone, water can be refreshing, water can destroy homes. It is up to the Imagineers to decide which, or all, aspects of water will be showcased at Epcot.

Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana is being built behind construction walls, but a good camera, or a ride on the Epcot-TTC monorail loop, will give you views such as this. Make sure to get on your tippy-toes next time you visit Epcot if you are hoping for a sneak peek.

That same large rockwork can be seen in the photo, above. Bioreconstruct suggests that the holes in the rockwork in the foreground could be for lighting or speakers. As you can see, while the rock in the background is far along, there is still a lot of work to do. Steel, wiring, dirt, carved concrete, and paint all currently stand in your way of experiencing this attraction. The thin, curved, white objects sticking out should eventually become faux trees, closer to those seen in the first set of images.

Seen amidst the construction is what could possibly be a hidden skull rock reference, not yet confirmed due to visibility restraints, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think that Imagineers would like to reference this famous bit of rockwork inside of this attraction. In front of this bit of rockwork, we can see laid-out stone for a walking path. For ease of use with wheelchairs, ECVs, and strollers, it can be assumed that grout will perfectly fill in the crevices for a smooth walkway surface. But, there is also the chance that this is a specific water play area, where water could be used to flow through the rocks.

Last, but certainly not least, we get a great view of the progress on the “Moana” Heart of Te Fiti rock. This will be an iconic, and quite Instagrammable, photo location. According to Disney’s concept art of this Moana walkthrough, there should be numerous cascading waterfalls flowing in and around this structure. For size reference, use the scaffolding or look at the yellow and black shop vacuum on the far right side. These pieces of equipment are usually around three feet tall. While certainly tall, this is not a massive piece of rockwork.