Journey of Water featuring Moana coming to Epcot

[skimbob]

I will be happy when it is done and the construction walls come down.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Journey of Water itself is unchanged from the original vision for the space. The gardens, festival center, and rear exit from Spaceship Earth are what ended up being modified.

Somebody fact check me, but I think the original version of this attraction was to be a non IP, "edutainment" attraction about the journey of water, then sometime later the Moana IP was slapped on it, and all the references to Moana added.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Is there anyone who's actually excited about this "attraction" when it finally opens?

It's going to be a nice place out of the direct sunlight to check my Genie+ app to see where my NEXT LL will be.

 

[Mr. Stay Puft]

I am, excited to see it all completed alongside the hub which should look gorgeous at night, especially with a glowing SSE in the background the lighting on Connections and Creations and having them all synced up. Should be gorgeous, especially with all the greenery.

Looking forward to the aesthetics more than Tron. Think people are really sleeping on the impact it’ll have.

I hope so too, as a fan of old school Epcot, I admit the park has needed a face-lift for a long time. I just personally don't see this as a draw for park goers. I see it as something they'll walk past or walk through quickly, say "oh that looks nice," before heading straight to whatever "real" attraction (Gaurdians, Test Track, Frozen) they're wanting to do there.

I'm for adding ambiance to the parks and I know Disney is not, and should not, be all about rides per se. I just think this particular attraction is very meh.

 

[James Alucobond]

Somebody fact check me, but I think the original version of this attraction was to be a non IP, "edutainment" attraction about the journey of water, then sometime later the Moana IP was slapped on it, and all the references to Moana added.

Perhaps a long time ago before plans were solid. But the plans with the Festival Center included Journey of Water with the exact same layout. The only differences in that quadrant were a flyover behind the attraction to access the Festival Center and a slight extension of the building on the southern edge of Journey of Water to fill out the space slightly where the path toward The Land bent downward instead of cutting straight across.

 

[Kamikaze]

Somebody fact check me, but I think the original version of this attraction was to be a non IP, "edutainment" attraction about the journey of water, then sometime later the Moana IP was slapped on it, and all the references to Moana added.

It would never have been approved without IP.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Is there anyone who's actually excited about this "attraction" when it finally opens? Especially since it's been budgeted to hell from its original plan, which wasn't all that exciting either.

Putting aside of course, the end to all the construction behind Spaceship Earth.

I am, I love wandering around the treehouse, Tom Sawyers island, and areas like the maze in DL Paris too though so this is right up my alley.

I think Disney needs more areas you can just explore without waiting in a huge line first.

 

[Kamikaze]

Is there anyone who's actually excited about this "attraction" when it finally opens? Especially since it's been budgeted to hell from its original plan, which wasn't all that exciting either.

I think it will be a fun little walkthrough. Not everything has to be top tier attraction.

 

[Mr. Stay Puft]

Perhaps a long time ago before plans were solid. But the plans with the Festival Center included Journey of Water with the exact same layout. The only differences in that quadrant were a flyover behind the attraction to access the Festival Center and a slight extension of the building on the southern edge of Journey of Water to fill out the space slightly where the path toward The Land bent downward instead of cutting straight across.

That's what I was thinking, that originally it all part of a large encompassing area with mutiple parts as part of a cohesive walk through attraction.

 

[Disstevefan1]

It would never have been approved without IP.

We can agree to disagree.

 

[Mr. Stay Puft]

I think it will be a fun little walkthrough. Not everything has to be top tier attraction.

I am, I love wandering around the treehouse, Tom Sawyers island, and areas like the maze in DL Paris too though so this is right up my alley.

I think Disney needs more areas you can just explore without waiting in a huge line first.

I don't disagree, Disney doesn't need every attraction to be a thrill ride or even a ride at all. Or even a show. I very much enjoy the more ambient, immersive attractions that you can explore.

Im just not excited about this particular attraction. But to each their own. We can all agree on being excited about construction walls coming down at the very least.

 

[Kamikaze]

We can agree to disagree.

Theres nothing to disagree with.

The argument about whether or not it could exist without IP is different.

I'm saying literally - it would not have been approved to be built without an IP tie in.

 

[James Alucobond]

That's what I was thinking, that originally it all part of a large encompassing area with multiple parts as part of a cohesive walk through attraction.

There really wasn't any cohesion, though. Journey of Water was always a self-contained walk-through with both its sole entrance and exit facing The Seas near Coral Reef Restaurant. There's actually more connection between Communicore Hall and the center of the park than in the tabletop design since it has a two-sided stage that can play omnidirectionally and allows guests to pass freely from the gardens toward Imagination. In the plans above, you can see that the Festival Center as originally designed was actually completely cut off from the center of the park by a planted berm.

 

[Kamikaze]

I don't disagree, Disney doesn't need every attraction to be a thrill ride or even a ride at all. Or even a show. I very much enjoy the more ambient, immersive attractions that you can explore.

Im just not excited about this particular attraction. But to each their own. We can all agree on being excited about construction walls coming down at the very least.

Eh, Moana is great. So I'm in.

 

[Mr. Stay Puft]

Eh, Moana is great. So I'm in.

It's a very well done movie, I agree. One of Disney's best I'd say.

 

[Mr. Stay Puft]

There really wasn't any cohesion, though. Journey of Water was always a self-contained walk-through with both its sole entrance and exit facing The Seas near Coral Reef Restaurant. There's actually more connection between Communicore Hall and the center of the park than in the tabletop design since it has a two-sided stage that can play omnidirectionally and allows guests to pass freely from the gardens toward Imagination. In the plans above, you can see that the Festival Center as originally designed was actually completely cut off from the center of the park by a planted berm.

I suppose I may have misinterpreted what Disney's original plans for Epcot's makeover for this area then.

 

[James Alucobond]

I suppose I may have misinterpreted what Disney's original plans for Epcot's makeover for this area then.

It's easy to be confused since art like this came out along the way too, where every part of the original CommuniCore was leveled aside from the current location of Connections. Also, we didn't initially have access to the site plan, and Journey of Water was especially difficult to read in some of the artwork.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Theres nothing to disagree with.

The argument about whether or not it could exist without IP is different.

I'm saying literally - it would not have been approved to be built without an IP tie in.

It was in the original plan without Moana and Moana was added later.

I guess what you are saying it would have been removed from the original plan if it did not get an IP attached to it.

Today, it’s very possible.

 

[Mr. Stay Puft]

It's easy to be confused since art like this came out along the way too, where every part of the original CommuniCore was leveled aside from the current location of Connections. Also, we didn't initially have access to the site plan, and Journey of Water was especially difficult to read in some of the artwork.
View attachment 707737

They also featured the model of this in the Epcot preview area inside The Odyssey pavillion that further gave me the impression it was all part of one big cohesive area.

IMO I don't think Disney did a great job explaining their plans for Epcot's makeover. Granted things get changed and altered up to the last minute all the time, but between this and Play!, a lot of us couldn't quite figure out what these new plans consisted of.

 

[Kamikaze]

It was in the original plan without Moana and Moana was added later.

I guess what you are saying it would have been removed from the original plan if it did not get an IP attached to it.

Today, it’s very possible.

This is not correct.