EPCOT is undergoing one of its biggest transformations since its debut. The project's leading Imagineer explains everything Disney fans should know.
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World Celebration
World Celebration will give EPCOT's festival programming space to "blow out their ideas, something they've never been able to do before," according to Mallwitz.
The neighborhood's new CommuniCore Plaza will feature a garden with seating and space for guests to enjoy entertainment from a covered performance stage, snacks from festival kiosks inside the plaza or simply, conversation.
"We can host something as small as a violin duet or a Burning Man installation," he said.
Adjacent CommuniCore Hall will offer roughly 8,000 feet of climate-controlled exhibit space for additional festival offerings that won't depend on Florida weather.
"What better place than in the front, right? " Mallwitz said. "On grade, accessible at all points, and then the space itself as well is subdividable in two, so we can actually have two different sets of programming happening at the same time. Oh, and by the way, that programming can then be broadcast to the external component, to the external courtyard, or shared in whatever format we'd like ... Our opportunities shouldn't be limited by our facility, so let's let our facility help us get where we want to be."
The building itself will be embedded with LED paneling so "that we can change color, we can pulsate, we can reflect what's happening in there," Mallwitz said. "We can defer or lean into any programming that is happening on Spaceship Earth and kind of create that celebration, create that connection."
Two other World Celebration areas of note are Mickey & Friends, a permanent location where guests can meet Mickey Mouse and his pals, and Dreamer's Point, which will feature a new statue of Walt Disney.
World Discovery
...Disney is reevaluating the concept of its previously announced PLAY! pavilion, which had been eyed for the former Wonders of Life site.
