Officially, as of right now, every single Walt Disney World construction project is officially moving forward. However, according to inside sources, due to the financial issues caused by the parks and resorts shutdown due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Disney is quietly discussing delays and cancellations of some of its bigger and farther out projects. However, it looks like, at least according to a ShopDisney listing, one part of Epcot’s transformation may be going forward and could be opening earlier than expected.
Journey of Water Inspired by Moana reportedly opening next year
Disney announced last year that the first-ever attraction based on the Walt Disney Animation Studios hit film Moana is coming to Epcot. Named Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, this new attraction will let guests interact with magical, living water in a beautiful and inspiring setting as part of the reimagined Central Spine of the park, which will lead to new lands in the area of the park formerly known as Future World. This walkthrough trail will consist of a number of water features and will have several child-friendly interactive areas.
And though no construction is going on inside Epcot right now, a ShopDisney listing for a poster promoting the new attraction stated that the Journey of Water Inspired by Moana is on track to open sometime in 2021. However, several hours after initially appearing on the ShopDisney, the text about the opening date was removed. You can see a screenshot of the original copy below:
Though this could be accurate, we’d guess that this is old text accompanying this product listing, as work on this project had only just barely begun when Epcot shut down back in March, and with the parks waiting until summer at the earliest to reopen, it seems very unlikely that this attraction will be ready to begin welcoming guests in the next 18 months. And we’d bet this isn’t going to be the only attraction to miss an opening target at Epcot….
Could we see big changes to the larger Epcot reinvention project?
Image: Disney
Looking more broadly, the overhaul of Epcot’s central area had previously been slated for a 2022 completion date, and while the 2021 date for Journey of Water Inspired by Moana might have made sense within the context of this original project, if other aspects of this larger undertaking are delayed (or even cancelled), we’d expect a revised opening date to be shared after Disney reopens its theme parks later this year.
As it stands there are still some parts of the former Innoventions West area that have yet to be demolished in order to make room for the redesigned central area of the park, and work has yet to begin on several projects, including the Spaceship Earth reinvention, Dreamer’s Point, the Permanent Festival Center, the unnamed Mary Poppins attraction, and the Play! Pavilion. It is unknown exactly how the closures will affect these still in-development attractions, but we’d guess at least a few will be delayed or cancelled in the wake of this extended closure, and hopefully we’ll have more details in the near future about what to expect from Epcot post-shutdown.
Image: Disney
As we’ve said previously, there is no way to know exactly how long theme parks will be dealing with the effects of Coronavirus, but while this situation is continuing, all travelers should check out the CDC’s official site here, which has information on the virus and how to prevent its spread.
