EPCOT has been going through a MAJOR transformation.

So many new things have made their way to the innovative park like new rides, new experiences, and new characters (hi, Figment!). Disney informed us that all EPCOT projects will be completed by December 2023. If you’ve been keeping track like we have, you might realize that there’s a pretty long list of projects that still need to be completed by this timeline. Let’s take a look at everything that still needs to be wrapped up in EPCOT!

We love visiting EPCOT! It’s certainly a favorite park for many. You can visit 11 different “countries” in one day, eat delicious food, and ride some awesome new rides! We know planning a day in EPCOT can be challenging especially with all the transformations happening, so we made a complete EPCOT checklist. You can check it out below to help you on your next trip!

There are so many projects that are still incomplete or just not open yet. We are getting a little worried about them all being wrapped up and ready to go by December! That’s only three months! Here’s the list of projects still needing to be completed or opened.

World Celebration

Dreamers Point

We are still waiting for the beautiful bronze statue of Walt himself. The statue, “Walt the Dreamer”, will celebrate Walt’s innate forward-thinking and how he always looked toward the future. 

The statue was displayed the the 2022 D23 Expo, but we’re still waiting for it to make its debut in EPCOT. Once inside the park, the statue will be surrounded by gardens to “pique curiosity”, a wishing tree, and a story fountain.

It is intended to be ready for viewing in EPCOT by December 2023.

CommuniCore Hall and CommuniCore Plaza

A new “home base” for all EPCOT festivals is set to open by December as well. CommuniCore Hall and CommuniCore Plaza will be the event centers for the seasonal festivities that go on in EPCOT.

CommuniCore Plaza is where people will be able to enjoy large-scale concerts or intimate performances. It will be an outdoor space to hang out in and gather during the different events. In late August- early September, we were still seeing work being done on the plaza.

CommuniCore Hall will be a festival hall where we will be able to see demonstrations and enjoy other experiences with food, art, music, and more.

There will be food demonstrations, a mixology bar, and exhibition and gallery space. But same as CommuniCore Plaza, we were still seeing a lot of construction in early September.

We really hope Disney can stay on their timeline and have these spaces done by December! We’re really looking forward to experiencing festivals in a bigger way!

World Celebration Gardens

The World Celebration hub will be divided into many different gardens. The center will have a planter that is based on the EPCOT logo and the gardens around it will evolve with the seasons. 

They will also “take on a whole new life” according to Disney at night when lighting will create a whole new evening experience. This will also change throughout the seasons.

There will also be big artistic elements like topiaries and sculptures in the gardens that coordinate their lights with those on Spaceship Earth. This is also supposed to be done by December. We haven’t heard much for updates, though.

Mickey and Friends Meet-and-Greet

Once CommuniCore Hall opens, we should be seeing a new location for character meet-and-greets called “Mickey and Friends”. 

We would expect this new meet-and-greet location to open around the same time that CommuniCore Hall does. So we’ll be on the lookout for it in the next three months!

New Night Time Show

Luminous: The Symphony of Us

EPCOT has gone through its fair share of nighttime shows. Since 1999 we had Illuminations, then a brief stint with EPCOT Forever, then Harmonious (have we forgotten about the barges?), and then back to EPCOT Forever (currently showing nightly).

Now, we are getting another NEW nighttime show in EPCOT! It will be called Luminous: The Symphony of Us. Disney has said that this show invites “everyone to gather around World Showcase Lagoon for a show that will unite us through commonalities of the heart in a dazzling display of fireworks, lasers, music, and light. Featuring an original composition along with select songs from the Disney songbook, this new spectacular will remind us that we’re more alike than different, connecting our hearts together as one.”

This new show is set to debut on December 5th, 2023. So mark your calendars and meet us there!

Imagination Pavilion

Ok, so we’ve been seeing a bit of new construction going on near the Imagination Pavilion, and honestly we have no idea what it could be.

We haven’t heard any announcements about this construction, we just started noticing it. Hopefully, we hear more about this soon if everything is supposed to be complete by December 2023!

Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana

So technically the new Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana attraction IS complete. We are just over here impatiently waiting for it to open!

It is set to open to all guests on October 16th, 2023!  So we know this will certainly be open before December, but since it’s not YET open, we had to include it in this list.

There you have it, all the HUGE projects Disney still needs to wrap up before December. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on all of them!

In the meantime, check back to the Disney Food Blog for other Disney updates!

Want to learn more about each of these new experiences? Click here!

Do you think Disney will have everything complete by December 2023? Let us know in the comments!