Construction walls removed around Guest Relations area and Spaceship Earth at EPCOT

Jul 07, 2023 in "EPCOT"

Posted: Friday July 7, 2023 10:40am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Most of the construction walls were removed earlier this week in World Celebration around Guest Relations and Spaceship Earth at EPCOT.

Behind the walls are landscaped areas with shrubs and palm trees.




World Celebration is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, along with the opening of Journey of Water Inspired by Moana in World Nature.

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MrPromey8 minutes ago

Yeah, one could argue it provided more of a guest experience than the new greenery which, while nice is simply something that not only replaces that as a bottleneck but also removes additional space in the central spine for guest flow. That'll all look nice to walk past during the day as people head to attractions but I suspect that, while an improvement over the not-so-temporary wall experience, it'll be a loss in efficiency when it comes to the crowds exiting the park after the new nighttime show from what had been there previously.

Virtual Toad19 minutes ago

Honest question: did Disney do all the creative work on this plan themselves? Or were outside consultants brought in? Asking because the (nearly) finished product seems very similar to several recent downtown/urban renewal projects that feature prominent green spaces and opportunities for "activation."

lazyboy97o47 minutes ago

To what end? There’s no payoff. No connection to a larger idea, a theme. Nor does it provide orientation to the land, something this project was supposed to address.

UNCgolf50 minutes ago

The water show synchronized to music was a really nice plus to the area that's now lacking.

Jambo Dad1 hour ago

I did. Teat out the stage that was built around it, adjust Journey of Water to fit, and don't tear down communicore just to rebuild it because they realized it was a stupid idea. That alone would have perhaps freed up enough for the Spaceship Earth upgrades.

Disney Analyst1 hour ago

I mean, I like a water feature myself, but I never found the fountain of nations particularly interesting enough to lament its loss 😅

MrPromey1 hour ago

"More trees" is, after all, the Iger creative touch!

Andrew C1 hour ago

Its okay...this is a safe space.

Incomudro2 hours ago

Count me in an one of those, it's not some type of fetish to like fountains. Fountains are quite a popular thing for people since Roman times, and were though important enough for Disney to create the Fountain of Nations.

Incomudro2 hours ago

The new building is more than a simple meet and greet now. It's going to be open on both sides, with lots of possibilities for use. I find it to be a vast improvement, and very much prefer it to them having left the structure as it was.

_caleb2 hours ago

Some of you people have a weird thing for fountains

fgmnt2 hours ago

Especially difficult to see the poor stewardship of this redo’s funds while the shadow of a languishing Spaceship Earth looms literally overtop the hub.

MisterPenguin2 hours ago

Putting a *park* in a *park*... who ever heard of such a thing?!!?/!1

Epcot82Guy2 hours ago

Leaving aside the timeline and the loss of the fountain, the redo of the central area in this garden-like setting is a nice change. It's just hard to look at this and not think what could have happened had they just left and redone the 4 main buildings with this as the central concept. Then used the funds saved on other projects.