epcot construction update 2021
World Nature will feature the Living Seas, the Land Pavilion, and the Imagination Pavilion and many new additions too. In true Disney form, Harmonious will feature large barges, fireworks, lasers, LED video screens, fountains, fire, and more. This will open of the finder function which will help you find you family’s tile. If everything goes well we could see this open in the next couple of weeks. The construction hasn’t started on the East Side monoliths yet, but the construction walls are down around the monoliths from the West Side and guests can freely walk over the top of them. WDWNT Daily Recap (3/18/21): Moana Overlay Concept Art for Enchanted Tiki Room, Cinderella Castle Turrets Repainted, EPCOT Construction Updates, The Chapeau Closing for Refurb on March 27th, and More April 22, 2021 Disney Changes 2021 – Know Before You Go! Since our last look at the Epcot entrance construction, we’ve see the new Tram drop-off open and a new, much more convenient bag check appear on the scene. The most exciting part of this update is the return of the fountain pylon spires. Guests arriving by bus or from the parking lot will walk directly under here to the left and start heading in: This looks like the new footings are being installed for a structure near the monorail station, but no word yet on what this is: This is where guests arriving from the buses will enter. You will spin around, go backwards and get a pretty adventurous ride. Here we have the center of the Epcot entrance, strange not to see any festival decorations up. Here you can see a good look at the entrance plaza which is going to be a lot greener as time moves on: Just outside the West Side bag check, new landscaping is being put in with trees and other plants: The other bag check on the East Side isn’t quite as far along, and you can see the base for concrete forms starting to be installed: Over in the plaza, the West Side is back behind construction walls. The old Future World at Epcot will be transformed into three distinct neighborhoods, World Celebration, World Nature, and World Discovery during the Epcot renovation! Disney is still working on a vibrant new color palette for the entrance which will tie into the four new neighborhoods of EPCOT: World Celebration, World Discovery, World Nature, and World Showcase. I grew up on Disney and it has and continues to be a huge part of my life. Last time we looked at the Epcot Entrance, the East Side bag check was just starting to get the concrete forms put in. Many are wondering when the Leave a Legacy monoliths are going to be demolished on the East Side of the Epcot entrance. Now let’s move up to inside the park and check out the progress of the paving inside the Entrance plaza: Lots of concrete has been poured in the last few days, and it almost reaches up to the fountain! 7 Disney World Things You Can’t Do in 2021. The theme park is undergoing a MASSIVE overhaul that will totally transform the theme park. If you thought that was a lot, get a look at the pavement being torn up on the West Side of the entrance plaza: In order to get the new pavement in, the old one must come up. Stay tuned for more updates soon…. My name is Ziggy and I love Disney, everything Disney! This will include the new water based Moana attraction and an update to what used to be the Character Spot … The best time to see the pylons is at night when they come alive, reflecting the vibrant colors from the nearby Spaceship Earth. The Mary Poppin attraction would take guests high above the trees of Cherry Tree Lane on this slow moving family attraction. Walt Disney Imagineering Zach Riddley released several official images of the fountain and had this to say about the project: “I’m excited to share a first look at the pylons we installed last night as we continue to reimagine the EPCOT main entrance fountain, which has anchored this area since the park opened in 1982. Among other topics, this one covers construction at the Polynesian, Stargate installation at EPCOT, holiday brunch menus at resorts, and more restaurants returning. If it looks familiar to you, there is a good reason. Best Disney Springs Restaurants For Every Disney Vacation! Here is a look from above at the loading area for the West tram. Many of your favorite Epcot attractions may be temporary closed and you will certainly see many scaffolding walls but it will all be worth it for the great Epcot updates coming soon! We noticed more and more wood paneling on the … Before it would take forever to go through, especially at midday. However starting next week the last remaining Leave a Legacy monoliths on the East side are going to be demolished. Little did they know that would be the first of an uncountable number of trips we would take. (UPDATED 2/9/20: This is a construction update for the EPCOT Entrance renovation for February 2021. Let’s start with a couple of special brunch menus coming to resort restaurants at Walt Disney World. The bag check is right underneath here: It’s also so a huge improvement that if you get to Epcot on the Monorail, you don’t have to wait in any bag-check line, you can proceed right to the turnstiles! We promise not to spam you. The final addition to World Discovery is the Play Pavilion. Sign up for insider Disney tips, tricks to make the most out of your vacation, and Disney news! Our first shot gives us an aerial look at the Epcot parking lot where some of the fences going up are starting. Best Backpacks and Diaper Bags for Disney! In any Construction of building, entrance is very important. The final addition to the updated Epcot is World Discovery, on the left side of the park. Yesterday, we popped by Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort where slow and steady could best describe the construction work currently underway! Great blog indeed, will visit again future to read more! The new Beauty and the Beast sing-along is a great World Showcase attraction for families! Now the other side is back behind construction walls again too. But which one should we follow, it is still a issue. |, How To Navigate the Disney Skyliner System |. China didn’t have a 360 degree Circle Vision movie in the past, but “Wonderous China” will take guests on a journey through China in this Epcot update! Wondering how to get to the new tram? These new panels are a great addition to the entrance, and we’re happy that guests can still go and see the old photos, without having those old monuments right in the entrance plaza to the park. In addition, Disney has added way more green to the area with trees dominating the scenery. EPCOT ‘Future World’ Construction Update – March 2021 Checking in on Guardians Coaster, Future World demolition, and more construction going on EPCOT in Walt Disney World orlandoparkstop.com At some point in 2021, they will be relocated to a new display which will have them looking “better than ever.”. January 23, 2021 January 23, 2021 5 Comments on Epcot Construction Updates for 2021 and Beyond. The final addition to the France Pavilion is a new Beauty and the Beast sing-along. The construction continues up to under the Monorail station: This whole area is getting a new floor. If you ride on the monorail you will get a much clearer idea of the layout for the new plaza and see all the space available. It makes the work straight and easy for us. Notice the fresh concrete surface: Moving up closer to the entrance this is right in front, and will be the main entrance for guests arriving from the parking lot: The most beautiful part of the new Epcot entrance will be the gardens that greet you once inside the park. Just a couple weeks ago, this was the scene in the last portion of the Epcot entrance plaza: Workers were busy tearing up the old pavement and flattening out the ground for the new one. Lastly, we are going to check out the new water management being built along the monorail line: Those are the updates so far this month, but obviously a lot more is to come soon as things are just getting started! Now let’s get to the Epcot entrance. Scroll down for the latest construction photos of the EPCOT Entrance, Leave a Legacy demolition, and the majestic new fountain installed at the park’s entrance…. Crazy enough, Space 220 was supposed to open in late 2019 but due to delays and the ongoing pandemic, Space 220 still hasn’t opened. As there are so many updates related to it. Check your email for exclusive Disney vacation tips and tricks! The most significant changes to World Showcase will be in the France pavilion. This multi-use structure was planned to be build in part of the newly flattened area in the center of the park, but has been rumored to have been cut in recent months. In fact, if you look at the 3D model in the Epcot Experience, it shows what the new fountain looks like: If you look closely, the top is different, with three vertical pieces going upward from the center, but the base of the fountain looks like it will be the same as it is now: Of course, it will be touched-up a bit with a new finish, but the structure of it should stay the same. Here we can see an overview of the Epcot entrance starting with the East and West parking lots on the right, monorail station in top middle with the new tram drop-off to the right of that and the park entrance to the left: Probably the thing I’m most excited for with this whole Epcot entrance update is the faster bag check when getting into the park. Due to the pandemic, it is possible that this ride will be delayed. Ok, now let’s take a look at the actual Epcot Entrance Plaza in its current state: Last time we saw the concrete was ready to pour here in the plaza, and now we can see that some concrete has already been installed towards the front of the East Side: There are two distinct colors on the pavement. March 2, 2021 Denise 0 Comments Epcot, Epcot Construction Update, Innoventions West, Mouse Gear, Walt Disney World. Disney looks to be nearing completion on Remy’s Ratatouille so we expect this attraction to open in 2021. It may still be a little while because there are no traces of construction walls up yet around the remaining monoliths. Construction walls are up and not a monolith in sight! This whole area should be completely covered with the new concrete in a matter of days: A perimeter is going around the fountain, where there will be a different design in the concrete: Seeing all these changes happen so fast is exciting and makes me hopeful for the speed of the project! Thanks for subscribing! Not all the work on the EPCOT entrance is complete, however, and Disney still has more work to do even though new features like planters, pathways and lush landscaping have all been installed. WDWNT Daily Recap (3/18/21): Moana Overlay Concept Art for Enchanted Tiki Room, Cinderella Castle Turrets Repainted, EPCOT Construction Updates, The Chapeau Closing for Refurb on March 27th, and More This post may contain affiliate links; … Machinery is used to cut through the pavement, and then it’s pulled up section, by section. Of course, the main feature of the entrance plaza is the fountain. This article is very helpful. If arriving in tram you can’t get to the new bag check yet, you have to still use the one indicated by the middle arrow: Now that we’re past the bag check, let’s move into the park. This is different from the other side that left the old floor in place and just took out the monoliths. Disney Imagineers worked hard to work in the original geometry while at the same time, making this one unique. Full disclosure, I only post products that I have or recommend! In fact this area will have new gardens and pathways winding through, so it will certainly be a sight to see! We are back at Epcot for a full construction update. The Eastern section of the parking lot is where the majority of the changes (at least at first) are going to be concentrated in. If you jump up in the Monorail that circles the Epcot entrance you can see over the walls and that the monoliths are really gone: There is plywood in place on the ground covering up the massive holes that the Leave a Legacy monuments have left. Walking up further, however, you’ll see that one important icon at the entrance hasn’t been completed yet…. The fountain has 3 acrylic pylons, each standing over 16 feet tall and featuring the EPCOT logo on the top. World Showcase is also receiving a new restaurant, Le Creperie De Paris. Work only started in May and they’ve already pulled down all the Leave a Legacy monoliths, and are at a good point with this half for the new pavement. Behind it, the barren Innoventions West still awaits demolition. For information on Disney World’s Epcot updates, check out the Disney Parks Blog and the D23 webpage. Hope you all enjoy the video! The rest of the projects are yet to be confirmed for 2021, however, we do hope to see them as soon as possible! When the pylons were first installed, a metal brace was set up in the middle to hold the pylons together. In fact, workers put up a new set of walls surrounding just the fountain, until the retro-styled addition is completed in 2020. Plus, they look awesome in front of Spaceship Earth! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Let’s see the latest. It’s the perfect way to introduce guests to a park which has drastically changed in the last 40 years, yet still give it something that fans love from the 1982 version. Also, be on the lookout for more changes coming to the entrance soon. We can hardly wait to see what this all looks like when done and how the fountain will be too! Scroll down more to see the evolution of this project…. Now we get our first look at the green fences up around the Epcot entrance perimeter: Usually Epcot has two trams stops in this part of the parking lot, but the one all the way to the left is now left behind the construction fences leaving us with only one for now: The fences are highlighted in yellow and serve as the approximate borders of the construction. A major Epcot update to World Showcase would a Mary Poppin’s themed attraction at the UK pavilion. Epcot Construction Updates for 2021 and Beyond January 23, 2021 Epcot Renovations Coming in the Future At the D23 conference in 2019, Disney announced many big changes coming to the Disney Parks in the next few years. A huge change is going on, that is incredible. That brace though has since been removed and the pylons locked in place. . Keep watching as more updates are on the way. New electrical conduit and other utilities are also being run underneath the plaza like on the other side which will be used for special effects there. An update on the construction taking place in the Future World section of Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort in January 2020. The West Side is open right now for guests to enter the park. Disney is likely making this change as part of Walt’s original vision for Epcot. The new fountain is visible from almost all angles of the entrance and can been seen standing in front of Spaceship Earth through the winding and lush pathways. Epcot, News. Be sure to check him out!! Disney is using brand new Imagineering technology with the Guardians coaster so the ride rotates 360 degrees and launches you backwards. Here is a latest look at the construction there: Disney is working on major upgrades to the entrances of all 4 theme parks before the 50th anniversary in 2021, so improving the accessibility is a must: That’s all for this week about the Epcot entrance construction progress. Our Top Epcot Tips for 2021 include the latest information that will keep you ahead of the rest of the crowd. One of the cool things is a new QR code feature which makes it easy to find your photos. Next, we see the new Tram Loop open at the entrance: The tram loop is opening in phases and this is the West loop now functional. Guests will be able to experience all sorts of new adventures when it’s all said done. With the 2021 Taste of EPCOT International Festival of the Arts running through February 22, the “Expression Section” paint-by-number mural is coming out beautifully! They have to have all this done by August 29 when Food and Wine opens up so we’ll continue to keep an eye out on this moving forward. Also, don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Weekly E-Mail Newsletter. Once you make your way in front of Spaceship Earth, you can get an up-close look at the reimagined fountain. These are to house the new nighttime spectacular, Harmonius, coming soon to Epcot. Disney announced its plans for the new Epcot Entrance renovation last year and construction is now well underway. In the Canada pavilion, the current Circle vision movie has been replaced with “Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360.” This new addition to Canada, offers new scenes and a new storyline. This is by far the most exciting moment of the entrance construction so far, and it brings out all the nostalgia for the EPCOT of old that fans love. When the Leave a Legacy monuments were taken out of the EPCOT entrance, we knew Disney was moving them to another location, and today they have just released some exciting new details about the project. This is a completely different monument, much taller and wider than the previous ones, and it includes a bright new color scheme of yellow, blue, pink, purple, and orange. Since then much progress has been made on the new tram loop, plus work on where the garden areas will be at the entrance. The design of the pylons harkens back to classic EPCOT and imitates the design of the original fountain when the park opened in 1982. Many thanks to @Bioreconstruct who takes amazing shots of all the construction projects happening around Disney World and most of all the awesome aerial shots giving us an overhead view of all the ongoing projects. Recently Disney added stones to the side of the fountain face to see what a cascading effect would look like: Since then, however, those stones have been removed from the fountain. You can Sign Up Here: Join our E-Mail Newsletter, Let’s take a look at the construction underway at the Epcot entrance now…. Here we can see a couple of weeks ago, concrete forms being prepped for some of those gardens: Here is some concept art from the Epcot Experience exhibit, which shows what those gardens will look like. Constrution plays very important role for our house or any other things this blog content is superb and very clear about construction work significant detail are available too. I am so excited about these changes! At the EPCOT Experience I noticed the World Celebration Festival Center is still front and center in much of the concept art. Before we look at what’s happening at the Epcot Entrance plaza, be sure to read all the EPCOT Future World construction updates where we show you all the individual projects happening inside the park. World Celebration. Guardians of the Galaxy. I like how you have researched and presented these exact points so clearly. If you have any problems finding it, you can visit Guest Relations for help. The old one was a more reddish color while from the concept art the new pavement looks part white and part grey. You will have the chance to dine with panoramic views of outer space. This new addition opened in January 2020 so you can visit now! And, each time we see construction in the parks, we get more excited about the attraction’s big debut! Bye-bye Beverly. Here is the West Side of the Epcot entrance with the construction walls now down and the area where the Leave a Legacy monoliths were is totally free: The only remnants of Leave a Legacy are the concrete-filled holes where the monoliths were. This should put a huge smile on the face of any fan of the classic EPCOT Center and give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. As you can see on the left of the photo, they are adding a totally new facing to the fountain, which will soon wrap around the entire thing. Keep checking back here at Ziggy Knows Disney as we’ll continue to update the page…. I can’t wait to reveal the completed look for this fountain later this year!”. We’ve had a bunch of changes at the Epcot entrance in the last few months and just recently the first half of the completed new entrance was finished. All of the old Leave a Legacy photos have been saved and transferred over to these new monuments. Thanks . In the future, Spaceship Earth will be likely still be updated to focus on storytelling and how stories impact human connection. ***Disclaimer*** This post contains affiliate links. The West side Leave a Legacy monoliths at the Epcot entrance have been down and covered over now for well over a month without any action on the project. Looking over at the West Side ones though is a different story…. With Disney’s 50th anniversary coming up in October, the goal was to have many Epcot changes done by October but COVID had other plans! Starting today, the first section of the new Leave a Legacy wall is now open in a new location just outside EPCOT park. Before we do that though, let’s jump in and take a look at the sidewalk expansion that connects World Showcase to Future World over by the Journey Into Imagination side of Epcot: This has expanded tremendously since last week and you can see the size and scope of this transformation. Now if only they would update the trams a bit to look more modern…. Included in the D23 announcements, was that Epcot will be majorly renovated over the next few years. Let’s take a look: The monorail is a great place to see all the work in Epcot, and right under the monorail we see the construction fence which goes around the perimeter: All under and around the monorail station are new pathways being laid and new trees planted. Let’s take a look: From this aerial image, we can see the entirety of the Epcot Entrance. If the design of the new acrylic pylons looks familiar, it’s for good reason. Guests are being re-routed a bit, but hey, we’re used to that around WDW aren’t we by now? Hopefully the Epcot updates will feature a Mary Poppins attraction in the future though. My guess is that they are replacing this whole side and preparing it for how it looks in the concept art and leaving the other side as the walking path until this side is done. For more construction updates in Walt Disney World you can check out our reference page with links to all the major ongoing construction projects including new attractions and hotels. As you can see above, the East Side Leave a Legacy monuments are still intact for the time being. Look down towards the bottom: Now a couple of weeks later, those areas are starting to take shape even more with a triangular one around the footing for the monorail, and a larger one in front of that: This side will still take months to complete, and when it is finished workers will then wall off the other side and start over there. Epcot Construction Updates for 2021 and Beyond. A long awaited addition to World Discovery is the Space 220 restaurant. Lovely blog indeed, thanks for sharing such interesting construction updates. Hollywood Studios Construction Updates. In the bottom right is the entrance plaza which is already after you go through the tapstiles. At the D23 conference in 2019, Disney announced many big changes coming to the Disney Parks in the next few years. Our design team took special interest in looking back to the original geometry for inspiration and infusing new features with a little bit of added magic to bridge the past, present and future of EPCOT. In our last update, we saw the new Epcot bag check-in place, as well as the paving starting in the Epcot entrance plaza. Here we can see the latest look at the section of land once you go past the turnstiles and into Epcot: Construction workers are preparing the ground to be paved around that big planter. Happy Tuesday Disney friends! That should be awesome to behold! The former Future World building has been gradually removed since late 2019. The acrylic pylons themselves are 16ft tall and weigh more than 4000 lbs each. Don’t want to fall in there! The rest of the France pavilion’s expansion will also be opening on that day, including the new crepe restaurant. it’s kind of ironic that everyone always called them tombstones and now it does look like something was buried there….hahahaha! The Epcot Entrance Fountain is going back to its roots and will have a centerpiece consisting of three glass spires pointing upward toward the sky. A really cool effect though is the sparkles built into the new pavement on the other side of the fountain: They look like little fragments of glass and other shiny objects which will be perfect for a cool lighting effect around the fountain at night! In our last update, we saw the “Leave a Legacy” monoliths totally demolished on the West Side of the Epcot entrance. EPCOT Photo Update March 28 2021: Future World Construction, Flower & Garden and Barges By Alicia Stella, Theme Park Shark Author Updated 12:42 PM EDT, Mon March 29, 2021 Keep scrolling down to see even more of the previous construction progress, especially the Leave a Legacy demolition. Similar to the Canada Circle Vision update, China is also receiving an update to their movie too. We are taking a look at the updated Disney World entrance at Epcot, the new fountains, construction progress at the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride and more. I have so many amazing memories going to Disney with my family and friends and it has been interwoven into my DNA. Along with the Epcot construction, Spaceship Earth was supposed to get a major refresh but this has been put on hold with the COVID pandemic. For information on Disney World’s Epcot updates, check out the, Epcot Construction Updates for 2021 and Beyond. If you enjoyed this article, as always I appreciate it if you’d share it with others via social media. That means that in the next week this area should be back open to the public to walk on. The last time we were at Disney we were SO disappointed by Epcot but I can’t wait to see how these changes will provide our family with a holistic experience next time! With all the Epcot updates and changes coming up, it is important to note that World Showcase will continue to be “a celebration of culture, cuisine, architecture, and traditions – infused with new magic” and remain relatively unchanged. This is the new floor being installed on the bus side of the entrance: As we look down underneath the monorail station the ground is still being prepared: Guests from the trams and buses will pass through here: Conduit and piping are still being run through the beginning section: Outside towards the buses bulldozers are preparing the land for further construction, though this part is a bit further off: Some tubes which look like they are for water: Now let’s take a look inside the park at the Epcot entrance: The left side when you enter is still totally behind construction walls and you can see the Leave a Legacy monoliths are no more: New piping is being installed underground to support all the plants in the new entrance which will be like a garden: The flower bed that used to greet guests has also been torn up in the middle of the entrance: While the rest of the floor is torn up too. There we bring you the latest updates on all the newest additions to the park as well as vacation planning tips. We call this: “Clean Epcot” and something I personally wish we’d see a whole lot more. EPCOT Construction Update: France Expansion Gets Finishing Touches in Epcot , Walt Disney World Posted on January 11, 2021 January 11, 2021 by Katrina Allen Leave a comment Now we’re back to the West Side again as they will have to tear up the old pavement for the new one. This coincides with the expansion happening on the other side of Spaceship Earth with the Fountains of Nations and Club Cool disappearing from Epcot’s Future World. Meanwhile just outside the entrance of the park, big work is going on to get guests to the park entrance smoothly. So far they have left it in place. We're taking a look at ALL the construction happening in the theme park right now! Of all the planters, you’ll notice the biggest one in the center has returned, which will continue to give guests a preview of the various Epcot festivals held here throughout the year. Here we have the walkway next to the new Tram drop-off which is being prepared for a concrete pour: Once that is finished it will open up some space in front of the Monorail station and make reaching the bag check easier.