Disney News

Tag: Epcot

  • Six Story Icon Ring Moved into ECOT Lagoon for New Nighttime Spectacular

    Six Story Icon Ring Moved into ECOT Lagoon for New Nighttime Spectacular

    Disney has not yet determined when “Harmonious”, EPCOT’s next spectacular will debut, but they have given us an update of the progress of the project.

    “Early in our plans for the transformation of EPCOT, we recognized the power and potential this new show has to tell a story of global connection and celebration,” Disney said in a post. “This grand, original spectacular is a tribute to the power of story and song that unite us, leveraging music and visuals from across Disney and artists around the world.”

    Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Live Entertainment teams are hard at work building on that legacy with “Harmonious,” and while the show is still in the early stages of development with more finishing details to come, you can still take a look at some recent progress in the video below:

    “Harmonious” is a global effort, truly embracing the magic of possibility. In recent weeks, Disney Live Entertainment technical designers across the country have been programming various elements of the show, from media and fountains to lighting and pyrotechnics, working in a completely virtual environment. Music producers at Walt Disney Imagineering have been remotely directing recording sessions with an incredibly diverse array of musical artists, performing in studios around the world.

    Once complete, “Harmonious” will be one of the largest nighttime spectaculars ever produced. They’re busy setting the stage of this innovative toolkit, preparing each of the show’s five floating platforms to take its place on World Showcase Lagoon. Positioned like a compass, these platforms house the primary show equipment for “Harmonious,” and on the recently-placed center platform stands an iconic six-story-tall central ring structure, supporting a high-density water curtain, moving lights, fountains and more.

  • New Enhanced Lighting Design Coming to Spaceship Earth will be Permanent at EPCOT

    New Enhanced Lighting Design Coming to Spaceship Earth will be Permanent at EPCOT

    In honor of Disney World’s 50th anniversary, Spaceship Earth — the parks icon — is recieving an “EARidescence” lighting design that will be a permanent fixture of the park long after the celebration ends.

    “This permanent new lighting will continue beyond ‘The World’s Most Magical Celebration’ as a defining feature of the park,” according to Disney Parks.

    As we previously reported, a multi-year transformation of EPCOT is underway that will reimagine the park while keeping true to the original vision and the new lights will shine across the reflective panels of Spaceship Earth, connecting to one another and resembling stars in a nighttime sky as you can see below:

    • Spaceship Earth Beacon of Magic

    At the 2019 D23 Expo, Imagineer Zach Riddley discussed a new and enhanced lighting package will soon be installed on the exterior of Spaceship Earth, EPCOT’s icon.

    Take a look below at all of the transformations underway at EPCOT:

    Beginning Oct. 1, Walt Disney World Resort will throw “The World’s Most Magical Celebration” in honor of our 50th anniversary of the Resort.

  • Leave A Legacy Wall Returns to Epcot with a New Look and Location

    Leave A Legacy Wall Returns to Epcot with a New Look and Location

    Disney World has announced that Leave A Legacy is returning to EPCOT!

    As part of the multi-year transformation EPCOT, the original Legacy sculpture (previously in front of Spaceship Earth) was removed, but Leave A Legacy now lives on in a beautiful new setting just outside the park.

    These newly designed panels are the first of many that will be installed outside the EPCOT touch points, featuring vibrant hues from the park’s new color palette. Along with the fresh look for Leave A Legacy, the beautiful fountain and gleaming pylons further illustrate the park’s transformation and the magic of possibility.

    For anyone ewho wants to search for a tile at the new location, guests can use their smart device to scan the QR code at the Leave a Legacy display. This opens up the tile finder search feature, which can provide the coordinates for a tile’s location. Guests can also visit the EPCOT guest Relations team for assistance.

    The former home of the Leave a Legacy monuments now features additional flower beds, followed by a reimaged water fountain that harkens back to Epcot’s opening in 1982.

  • First Look: New Entrance Fountain at EPCOT Celebrates the Past, Present and Future

    First Look: New Entrance Fountain at EPCOT Celebrates the Past, Present and Future

    As we previously reported, a multi-year transformation of EPCOT is underway that will reimagine the park while keeping true to the original vision and now crews have removed all the “progress walls” from the main entrance plaza, giving you the first full look at the reimagined entrance fountain.

    Now in front of iconic Spaceship Earth you’ll now see a reimagined fountain, standing in the footprint of the original that welcomed guests on the park’s opening day in 1982.

    While there is still more work to be done, the area is much more open and welcoming now. It features new planters, pathways, lush landscaping and a vibrant new color palette that will eventually tie into the four new neighborhoods we’re creating inside the park – World Celebration, World Discovery, World Nature and World Showcase. Take a closer look at the new fountain below:

    “Our design team took special interest in this water feature, as we looked back to the geometry of the original for inspiration while creating some new magic of our own. In the fountain’s center is a brilliant light, a unique liquid-cooled fixture we’ve designed with new capabilities that complement the fountain’s changing colors and will coordinate with new lighting coming to Spaceship Earth and the upcoming World Celebration beyond,” Disney Parks said.

    Three acrylic pylons, each standing over 16 feet tall and featuring the park’s logo, surround the fountain and hearken back to the creation of EPCOT. Their timeless design and vertical presence draw your eye upward toward the sky – perfectly framing views of Spaceship Earth.

    This new fountain is the centerpiece of EPCOT’s entrance plaza, which we’ve designed as a welcoming area that brings people together. The greenery and use of water celebrate a harmony between humanity and the natural world. This park was built to inspire optimism, and we’re infusing this transformation with the magic of possibility.

  • New Walt Disney Statue Being Added to Epcot Transformation

    New Walt Disney Statue Being Added to Epcot Transformation

    As we previously reported, a multi-year transformation of EPCOT is underway that will reimagine the park while keeping true to the original vision and Disney has confirmed that the park is getting it’s own Walt Disney statue.

    The new Walt statue will be part of the new World Celebration neighborhood at EPCOT called Dreamer’s Point.

    Disney Imagineer Zach Riddley shared this update about EPCOT on his Instagram as you can see below:

    “Walt said, ‘EPCOT will always be in a state of becoming…’ and it’s that spirit of potential and possibility that inspires all we are bringing to life in the transformation of EPCOT, said Riddley.

    There is indeed a massive transformation taking place at Epcot for the park’s 50th anniversary however, which includes a newly redesigned park entrance, a new Guardians of the Galaxy Roller Coaster, a Space-Themed Restaurant, the new Play Pavilion and much more.

  • VIDEO: Disney Parks Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Look at New Ratatouille Ride

    VIDEO: Disney Parks Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Look at New Ratatouille Ride

    During he fifth anniversary edition of “The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration,” Disney Parks revealed a behind-the-scenes look at the Ratatouille Adventure ride coming to EPCOT.

    The attraction will expand the pavilion and shrink guests to Remy’s size and scurry to safety in a dazzling chase across a kitchen with the sights, sounds and smells of Gusteau’s legendary Parisian restaurant.

    Take a look at the behind the scenes video Disney Parks posted to Twitter below:

    The loading area is made to look like to rooftops of Paris, with oversized chimneys and rain gutters. This is the area where riders will board trackless ride vehicles, which are made to look like rats.

    Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure opens in 2021. In addition to the Ratatouille ride, the expansion of the France Pavilion will include new shopping, dining, and more.

  • New Look at the Guardians of the Galaxy Coaster Ride Vehicles

    New Look at the Guardians of the Galaxy Coaster Ride Vehicles

    Disney has released an exclusive sneak peek of two of their ride engineers as they prep some of the ride vehicles for the new Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster coming to EPCOT at Disney World.

    Epcot’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is a family-friendly “storytelling coaster” that will feature a groundbreaking ride system with vehicles that rotate 360 degrees and can even do a reverse launch.  

    The attraction boasts a brand new ride system, and now we have a new look at the ride vehicles themselves, which have been designed with the same color scheme as the Milano, Peter Quill’s ship from the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Check them out below:

    If you look closely at the colorful paint design on the ride vehicles (called coaches in roller coaster engineering parlance), each one is unique with different wear patterns and impact marks. Imagineers were inspired by markings that appear on NASA Space Shuttles and other spacecraft upon reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.

    Keep check back on Disney Dorks as we share more on this truly out-of-this-world, awesome attraction as they make progress on construction and put these coaches on the track!

  • BREAKING: Man Charged with Hitting Security Guard at Disney World

    BREAKING: Man Charged with Hitting Security Guard at Disney World

    An Orlando man is accused of hitting a security guard at Epcot over a dispute about the park’s face mask policy, according to court documents.

    35 year-old Enrico Toro, arrived at the park around 4:40 p.m. with his wife and their children, according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Office report. The security guard told deputies the family had “improper masks.”

    According to the report, Toro and his family went back to their car when the family was told by a security guard they would need proper masks to enter the parks.  They returned minutes later to the Epcot security checkpoint but the security guard noticed that one child still did not have a proper mask.

    According to witnesses who spoke with deputies, Toro became “irate” and began using profanity.

    Toro said, “Call the police. They will have to shoot me to leave,” according to the report.

    Toro struck the guard across his head when the security guard reached for his phone to call a supervisor the report said.

    Toro’s wife got in between the two men and pushed her husband away from the guard, according to the report. Toro continued to use profanity, telling the security guard he “knew where he lived and was going to kill him,” the report said.

    Eventually Toro’s wife got her husband to walk toward the parking lot. The security guard then notified his supervisor and deputies were called to the scene.

    When deputies located Toro, he said he and the security guard got into an argument but “nothing else occurred,” according to the report. Toro was arrested and charged with battery.

  • Security Finds Two Guns and Marijuana in Womans Diaper Bag at Disney World

    Security Finds Two Guns and Marijuana in Womans Diaper Bag at Disney World

    A woman was arrested at Walt Disney World after security for the Florida resort found two guns and some marijuana in her child’s diaper bag, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

    Yunique Smith was arrested July 18 on misdemeanor counts of carrying a concealed weapon and marijuana possession, according to the report.

    Officials say Smith was going through Epcot security with an adult man, their 7-month-old daughter and her 7-year-old son when the guard spotted a 9mm handgun and a plastic bag containing marijuana.

    A search of the diaper bag revealed a .45 caliber handgun on the bottom after Orange County deputies responded.

  • Disney World Postponing Mary Poppins Ride & ‘Spaceship Earth’ Update at Epcot Due to Coronavirus

    Disney World Postponing Mary Poppins Ride & ‘Spaceship Earth’ Update at Epcot Due to Coronavirus

    Although Disney World has reopened, Disney has confirmed that they will still be pausing work on the Mary Poppins-inspired attraction planned for Epcot’s World Showcase and the reimagining of Spaceship Earth.

    With guests once again visiting the parks it was noticed that mentions of the Mary Poppins ride and “Spaceship Earth” refurbishment had been removed from the ‘Epcot Experience preview center’ where guests can watch a video about the changes coming to the park.

    “As with most businesses during this period, we are further evaluating long-term project plans. The decision was made to postpone development of the “Mary Poppins”-inspired attraction and Spaceship Earth at this time,” Disney said in a statement.

    The new changes coming to Epcot were first announced in August 2019 at the D23 Expo, the company’s annual conference. “Every inch of every park should be magical, and that’s why I’m so excited about this transformation,” Bob Chapek, Chair of Parks, Experiences and Products, said at the time.

    During the event, Dick Van Dyke, who played chimney sweep Bert in the 1964 version of Mary Poppins, helped Chapek announce that the company’s first-ever attraction themed to the classic film would be built on Cherry Tree Lane, inside Epcot’s U.K. pavilion.

    Though the company had not yet announced an opening date for the two attractions, guests who attended Epcot’s reopening on Wednesday told the publication that the ride was still open in its previous form. 

    Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom  parks both reopened on July 11 after being closed since March due to the coronavirus pandemic, while Epcot and Hollywood Studios reopened on July 15.