Journey of Water featuring Moana coming to Epcot

[WorldExplorer]

It was stated by other previewers that they were encouraged to take photos and video but that they were explicitly told not to release them until a certain date.

Ah, okay. I know in previous previews they avoided pictures altogether, which seems smarter, so I presumed for this one, too. That's fair.

 

[aladdin2007]

I'm confused why this wasn't on the plot between Seas and Land? It'd be something decent to fill that space. This should've been a dark-ride instead. It would've fit and actually handle crowds. This is not something that should be in the center of the park.

I wasn't expecting much but I'm still disappointed. Still curious enough to see it in person though.

what a waste of a major expansion pad that would have been for what this is...

 

[SilentWindODoom]

I admit I said "one and done". Just pointing out discrepancy in some arguments.

There are plenty of arguers coming from both sides. I'm kind of taken aback by the sudden influx of "This is dumb and no one will ever go there, but it will be choked with people and an operations nightmare." We've gone full Yogi.

And how many anchored park redesigns?

"Anchored"? Again, 99% of hype I've heard comes from people complaining there's too much hype.

 

[lazyboy97o]

what a waste of a major expansion pad that would have been for what this is...

It could have been added in a way that preserved the expansion space.

 

[flynnibus]

"Anchored"? Again, 99% of hype I've heard comes from people complaining there's too much hype.

This is what happens when Disney has nothing else to talk about... because their 6+ year project is infact... full of hot air.

 

[UNCgolf]

There are plenty of arguers coming from both sides. I'm kind of taken aback by the sudden influx of "This is dumb and no one will ever go there, but it will be choked with people and an operations nightmare." We've gone full Yogi.

Have we? I don't remember seeing anyone say both of those things.

This feels like you're combining comments from different people.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

The saddest thing about the opening of any new Disney offering today is the inevitable hyperventilating by the Disney Adults/Man-Children.

It makes me weep for humanity.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

This is what happens when Disney has nothing else to talk about... because their 6+ year project is infact... full of hot air.

Redone entrance that removed the ugly tombstone and restored the prism fountain to its former glory. New point of light on SSE, redid the spine removing the new millennium tents and poles for more greenery, seating, and gardens. Removed decaying half closed Innoventions East, restored the floor to ceiling windows, sunken floors and added good food to a former burger and chicken nugget joint. Redid the shop to be less chaotic and confusing to navigate. Removed a dated ride for a new E ticket coaster that gets great reviews. Added a new restaurant to Mission SPACE to make a more complete space pavilion. A new purpose built festival center in the hub with dedicated meet and greets and replaced a formerly closed off building that wasn’t in use since 2015. Added a new walk through that tied edutainment and acts as an opening for the land and seas pavilions. Redid an old film for a new ip less in the Harvest Theater. Canada updated a film for a more edutainment toned then it’s former version. France added the first new ride to world showcase since the 80s and a back area to the pavilion with more dining. America removed a glorified McDonalds for great bbq place with terrific food.

 

[seabreezept813]

This looks like something I can stroll through with little kids while waiting out a rider swap. Disney is 50/50 with that kind of stuff. Test track, excellent post ride area for kids to play. Soarin.. boring terminal but room for kids to run around a little. Guardians needs something, with the hub all walled off it is hard to find anything for the little ones while waiting for this one.
That’s the thing though, our last trip we found the water squirters to get riders on Kali River, which entertained my kids. The thing about moments or experiences like that at Disney is they really don’t need to be advertised, they are more special when you happen upon them, and sometimes luckily with not many crowds (Splash playground for ex). Disney has to be choosing to be purposefully manipulative because there’s no way they don’t think that the general public, who will ask where Harry Potter land is while in Epcot, will expect this to be a ride. I don’t always agree with Disney’s decisions but I can usually at least make some logic of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if guest services ends up with lines of parents complaining about the Moana ride that doesn’t exist.

 

[flynnibus]

Redone entrance that removed the ugly tombstone and restored the prism fountain to its former glory. New point of light on SSE, redid the spine removing the new millennium tents and poles for more greenery, seating, and gardens. Removed decaying half closed Innoventions East, restored the floor to ceiling windows, sunken floors and added good food to a former burger and chicken nugget joint. Redid the shop to be less chaotic and confusing to navigate. Removed a dated ride for a new E ticket coaster that gets great reviews. Added a new restaurant to Mission SPACE to make a more complete space pavilion. A new purpose built festival center in the hub with dedicated meet and greets and replaced a formerly closed off building that wasn’t in use since 2015. Added a new walk through that tied edutainment and acts as an opening for the land and seas pavilions. Redid an old film for a new ip less in the Harvest Theater. Canada updated a film for a more edutainment toned then it’s former version. France added the first new ride to world showcase since the 80s and a back area to the pavilion with more dining. America removed a glorified McDonalds for great bbq place with terrific food.

And which of those actually serve about correcting the course of EPCOT or support the rebranding? 1/3 of the stuff you listed was 'remove' with really little substance back. 1/3 were updates that again, really have little to do with the reimagining of EPCOT.. they were just done along with it (Rat, Space 2020, etc).

Like I said in an earlier post... the best thing going for the project was redoing the entrance plaza.. the rest is like putting a city park in replacement of a theme park. What is going to draw you to spend time in the center of future world these days? Admiring the trees?

 

[GhostHost1000]

Never thought I'd see the day themed waterfalls/fountains were considered such a big attraction at Disney, especially when it's at the wrong park. My how things have changed and so many fans just accept any Disney thing as awesome now.

I may be in the minority here I don't know, and I hate to be so negative about things and a place I love, but the amount of questionable decisions Disney has made over just the last couple of years is mind-blowing to me

 

[SamusAranX]

I'm glad you're into a completely empty pavilion across the way that drastically needed something put into it, and you're also into a proposed scrapped potential refresh or re-theme for imagination.... As well as the drastically much needed spaceship earth refurb being cancelled..

...all in favor of the multi million dollar water playground.

Mention the okay-ish projects and forget about all the things Epcot needed and was supposed to get.

Even Mary Poppins tea-cups would have been better utilized than this. And out of the way, too.

It’s mind boggling. EPCOT is crying and begging for actual attractions and people are “happy” we get a glorified garden and a pavilion for more festivals.

 

[SamusAranX]

It's cute and will be a distraction for the children (and adults) who have no concept of what a quality Disney edutainment experience should be like. Thanks for the rule breaking Tik Tok for showing us the experience so I don't have to waste my time next spring.

I finally watched on the app and it was cringe. “You’re gonna LOVE this!”

 

[GhostHost1000]

I finally watched on the app and it was cringe. “You’re gonna LOVE this!”

My thoughts as well. The person I talked to who has seen or “experienced” this was also not so positive about this.

I’m afraid to know how much this project actually cost

 

[TheMaxRebo]

And which of those actually serve about correcting the course of EPCOT or support the rebranding? 1/3 of the stuff you listed was 'remove' with really little substance back. 1/3 were updates that again, really have little to do with the reimagining of EPCOT.. they were just done along with it (Rat, Space 2020, etc).

Like I said in an earlier post... the best thing going for the project was redoing the entrance plaza.. the rest is like putting a city park in replacement of a theme park. What is going to draw you to spend time in the center of future world these days? Admiring the trees?

I actually think when done the central area could be a nice place to change out and relax. Will have lots of trees, have the live music, places for food and drinks, etc

Not really a destination or like a main thing on my planning spreadsheet, but just a "chill and recharge" area which I think all the parks need

Again, I think it would go over a lot better if this was opening the same time at Guardians, Rat, etc and this was the new area you spend time in in-between doing the other new stuff, not the capper to to the project that it has become

 

[Incomudro]

Redone entrance that removed the ugly tombstone and restored the prism fountain to its former glory. New point of light on SSE, redid the spine removing the new millennium tents and poles for more greenery, seating, and gardens. Removed decaying half closed Innoventions East, restored the floor to ceiling windows, sunken floors and added good food to a former burger and chicken nugget joint. Redid the shop to be less chaotic and confusing to navigate. Removed a dated ride for a new E ticket coaster that gets great reviews. Added a new restaurant to Mission SPACE to make a more complete space pavilion. A new purpose built festival center in the hub with dedicated meet and greets and replaced a formerly closed off building that wasn’t in use since 2015. Added a new walk through that tied edutainment and acts as an opening for the land and seas pavilions. Redid an old film for a new ip less in the Harvest Theater. Canada updated a film for a more edutainment toned then it’s former version. France added the first new ride to world showcase since the 80s and a back area to the pavilion with more dining. America removed a glorified McDonalds for great bbq place with terrific food.

Well, when you put it that way...

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It’s mind boggling. EPCOT is crying and begging for actual attractions and people are “happy” we get a glorified garden and a pavilion for more festivals.

I'm not happy for this instead of more attractions - I think both are needed. But also trying to evaluate it on its own for what it is rather than what it isn't... I do see some positives to this and his area - but do also think more attractions are needed

 

[Turtlekrawl]

There's a lot of difference between Journey of Water and the DLP walkthroughs.

The DLP Walkthroughs are all sumptuous, high-quality, inexpensive . . . they contribute directly to the theme of their land, fulfill an aspirational moment relative to their theme, and only one of them opened as a standalone offering - Les Mysteres du Nautilus, which opened during the construction of their Space Mountain in anticipation of needing to be able to handle more crowds in that corner of the park in 11 months when Space would be complete. They're each tucked in corners that are not really large enough for alternate use, and sometimes hidden in plain sight offering an opportunity to explore spaces that the Stateside parks would mostly leave empty. None of these attractions were marketed heavily (though of course the landscape was different then without Social Media), and all of them were meant to address the pressing capacity concerns of the park. The financial failure of EuroDisneyland is usually painted with a brush that glosses over the details - they built far too much hotel space given most guests were either local or chose to stay offsite in the City, which put the overall resort in the red, but the Park itself did gangbusters from day one. They needed more places for guests to be, and fast, hence the greenlighting of additional walkthroughs that could open in the first 2 years of the park. The ones that opened with the park - the Castle Walkthrough, the Dragon's Lair, and Alice's Curious Labyrinth, the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, and (arguably) Adventure Isle - were all solid if minor offerings that were complemented by a healthy menu of attractions throughout DLP. In the early days The Dragon's Lair in particular was cited as the #3 attraction in the whole park in terms of guest satisfaction, so it far outperformed expectations.

Meanwhile EPCOT's new walkthrough appears to be far too little too late on nearly every front, excepting expense and footprint -
EPCOT has been faltering thematically for years, with neither guests nor management seeming to know what the park should actually be, and Moana only contributes to that confusion. The park is short on meaningful attractions that draw guests in, and not making full use of the capacity it already offers, so adding "just anything" is not what's needed. While the rockwork and foliage appear nice on their own, they're stuck in a spot that offer few clues as to why they're there. They've added one of their most popular properties to the marquee despite the attraction making no real attempt to deliver a genuinely satisfying "Moana" experience. Despite this, the attraction has managed to cost many millions of dollars - far more than any of the DLP walkthroughs. Construction has taken many years on what amounts to an outdoor queue for a larger attraction that doesn't actually exist, and that process has been charted by Disney and fans alike, creating an outsized impression of the attraction's significance. The attraction seems to be pulling from a bag of tricks that its neighbor has already been offering for 40 years. Due to its placement, it physically is the literal centerpiece attraction of what was meant to be the parks revitalization plan, hardly any of which came to pass. That real estate could and should have been used on an attraction that helps state clearly what the new direction of the park is. Instead JoW merely suggests that EPCOT is a place you can find characters, but the logic of who and why remains pretty mysterious. On top of that, the people who are most likely to see through those mistakes and hiccups to evaluate the attraction on the level it was meant to be appraised (The Cast and their guests) are saying it still manages to underwhelm. The uninitiated guest that thinks this is a new "Moana Ride" is not going to be so kind.

I'm sure I'll be able to enjoy Journey of Water for what it is, but the DLP Walkthroughs are like the sprinkles on an already fabulous cake. Journey of Water . . . has not been set up to be that.

Yep. One under-hypes and over-delivers.

The other... seems to go the other way.

 

[HauntedPirate]

And which of those actually serve about correcting the course of EPCOT or support the rebranding? 1/3 of the stuff you listed was 'remove' with really little substance back. 1/3 were updates that again, really have little to do with the reimagining of EPCOT.. they were just done along with it (Rat, Space 2020, etc).

Like I said in an earlier post... the best thing going for the project was redoing the entrance plaza.. the rest is like putting a city park in replacement of a theme park. What is going to draw you to spend time in the center of future world these days? Admiring the trees?

Agreed. What they did further pushed Epcot towards MK2.0 instead of helping it re-find its unique identity.

I wish I had the time to properly take a shotgun to the post you quoted but... I don't. The only thing they got right was restoring the entrance plaza. End of story.

 

[SamusAranX]

I'm not happy for this instead of more attractions - I think both are needed. But also trying to evaluate it on its own for what it is rather than what it isn't... I do see some positives to this and his area - but do also think more attractions are needed

I do agree that as an adjunct to a large expansion this would be better received and a more organic component. But when it's actually the only *new* attraction opening for the next two+ years, you have to wonder what Disney is thinking.