Latest look at construction of the new food and beverage area at the center of EPCOT in World Celebration

mysto1 hour ago

"Lighting Lane". Genius!

vikescaper1 hour ago

If they are going to put up stanchions to block off the planter area, they may as well put up construction walls to build a nice little fountain in this area instead. If they start now, they could have it finished by EPCOT’s 50th in 2032.

Disstevefan11 hour ago

What a sad failure. I really want to hope all the future projects do not go this way and this was just because they were rushing to open something, anything.

Ayla1 hour ago

O M G

dmc4932 hours ago

Ok stanchions are gone but the area is still poppin’ (out)

FigmentFan822 hours ago

Big brain stuff right there

Skibum19702 hours ago

Pretty soon, you'll need a Lightning Lane pass to see the lights.

ToTBellHop2 hours ago

What the actual fudge.

dmc4932 hours ago

A lot of the lighting seemed a tiny bit popped up so idk if that’s newer or how it’s been for a while. There was only one or two egregious pop-outs. This is technically early entry but I can’t fathom the reason why they’d rope off this area

dmc4932 hours ago

They’ve cracked the puzzle. No one can complain about any of the plaza lighting if you’re not allowed to walk on any of the plaza

Disstevefan13 days ago

So todays Disney cant even do walkways. This is sad.

monothingie3 days ago

May I present to you the new official mascots of Epcot Center! Stanchy the Stanchion! They're all over the place in Epcot! In the middle of walkways covering up broken concrete. In the middle of the centerpiece covering up tripping hazards caused by poorly designed lighting. Directing people to kiosks to purchase delicious overpriced alcohol!

WoundedDreamer3 days ago

I finally visited the new Future World area (I can't remember the names of the new "lands" so Future World it is... World Celebration is one I think). The star of the show was Epcot's old Communicore east building. By removing the purple paint and adding transparent windows this building was catapulted decades into the future. Besides Spaceship Earth, I think Communicore may be the most timeless building at Epcot. I would not have made that argument years ago. It was only thanks to the subtle improvements that I was able to really begin to value this building. Lots of buildings conceptualized in the late 1970s are not exactly beloved right now. There's a theory that as buildings age they hit a period where they are neither new or historic. They engender neither excitement for the future nor nostalgia for days gone by. It is in that window when buildings face their staunchest criticism and possible destruction. I believe the Communicore east building should fall right in this time period. And yet, the building feels like one of the most "futuristic" buildings in Future World now. I was stunned at how well this building worked. I had seen it years ago during the renovation, but within the complete context of the new Future World it really shines. There's a tasteful simplicity to the sculpted pillars. Compared to some of the new buildings that are much busier, I think most people would prefer the simplicity of the Communicore east building. The architects/imagineers who developed Communicore should be proud. They made a building that stood the test of time. As for the rest of Future World... It's alright. Navigating through the center of the plaza was a little unsettling. It's not that I hated how things looked, but it felt a little off. Future World and World Showcase are all about the grand walkways linking the pavilions together.* It's their bread and butter. The central plaza subverts Epcot's norms and abandons these big walkways. There are dead ends and winding pathways. I think the architects threw that in as a way to contrast with the rest of Epcot. I can sort of see why they did this, but it ultimately was flawed thinking in my view. The central plaza is the exact place where the efficiency of Epcot's circulation methods are most needed! If you're traversing the heart of the park, you don't want to face dead ends or get disoriented. You want to move from point A to point B. Abandoning Epcot's core design language in the core of the park seems like bad strategy. Again, I don't hate how the individual features look, but within context I don't think it works. I think the criticism about the dearth of water is right. A successor to the Fountain of Nations or a water channel like the one that existed in the park's original iteration would have done wonders for the central plaza. Interesting stuff! *Tokyo Disneyland actually had a similar design language in its original park. I find it to be a little bit of a wonky park, mixing the Magic Kingdom and Epcot into one. Of course, many of those original features are being redeveloped.

Bocabear4 days ago

I think a lot of us feel the same way...Lifelong Disney fan, DVC owner...when you start seeing the bizarre changes and flubbed renovations you start to wonder what is going on....and then Universal builds a new park that looks like they are building on the legacy Disney created.... While Disney seems to be dumbing down and value engineering the experiences while continuing to up-charge for everything.... We have reduced the amount of our visits over the past few years... Just too difficult and filled with planning rather than the fun impromptu trips we used to make up there many times a year.... It is becoming not so much fun...