Dreamers Point is named not only for the dreamer that has and continues to inspire us, but also for all of us who visit EPCOT every day to celebrate the endless potential and possibility of our world.
RIP Giant EPCOT Dirt Pit
Sometimes it takes over 4 years to fill in a dirt pit. There can be good reasons for that, such as shovel shortage. Many rainy days. Ghost of Card Walker haunting the pit. Many meetings held to determine best course of action to eliminate the pit. Unable to stop Andy Dwyer from camping in the pit. (Legend has it that’s where he stayed while filming for Cosmic Rewind!)
While we’ll never know what, exactly, was causing Walt Disney World delays in filling in the Giant EPCOT Dirt Pit and reopening it as regular land. Nor is it clear how they’ve managed to overcome these obstacles. Hopefully someday someone will make a motivational movie or write a book about the against-all-odds tale of perseverance. For now, Walt Disney World has made the triumphant announcement that its pit problem will soon be resolved. The World Celebration Gardens will open on December 5, 2023.
Here’s the official announcement from Walt Disney Imagineering–their words, not mine:
In celebration of Walt Disney’s birthday on Dec. 5, guests visiting EPCOT will be able to visit Dreamers Point in the newly-opened World Celebration neighborhood and see our company’s original dreamer in a completely new light. Everyone is invited to imagine alongside Walt himself and look out over World Celebration Gardens together.
This new statue, entitled “Walt the Dreamer,” represents Walt later in his life when he was dreaming up the overall Florida Project and the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. He sits with a sense of fulfillment, enjoying the beauty of his realized dream: a park that represents pure optimism and truly celebrates the magic of possibility.
This new statue of Walt is one of many areas to visit as a part of World Celebration Gardens where guests will be able to relax, unwind, and connect – to EPCOT, to nature and to each other. Each of the gardens found in the center of World Celebration, including Dreamers Point, will connect back to the areas surrounding them, drawing on the architectural legacy of EPCOT, modern lighting elements and a variety of natural textures.
Turning to commentary, I’ll start by saying I’m trying to be a more optimistic, upbeat, and grateful person. But Walt Disney World is really testing my resolve with all of this. I’m not going to dwell much on anything in particular because…what’s the point? Really, what could be said that hasn’t already been said before countless times, including in the commentary to past construction updates about CommuniCore Hall and the EPCOT overhaul?
There is one correction that I, personally, think is important: Walt Disney cannot be enjoying his realized dream, because he never dreamed of EPCOT being a theme park. The EPCOT Center that was built was a moonshot, but it was nevertheless a different project altogether.
This isn’t to say it and the Florida Project as a whole weren’t imbued with Walt’s spirit and elements of his experimental city–they absolutely were! To this day, Walt Disney World is one of the top 5 cosmopolitan metropolises in the United States, and the company should be proud of that. Contemporary projects like the Skyliner advance Walt’s vision and deserve to be celebrated.
Filling in the Giant EPCOT Dirt Pit does not. Especially not over the course of 4+ years. That is, arguably, the antithesis of Walt’s vision for an experimental community, and more a lesson in bloated bureaucracy than an efficient futuristic city.
Look, I love EPCOT Center–I think my posting history speaks for itself–but I also think it’s okay to acknowledge that the EPCOT Center that was built in the 1980s was not the EPCOT envisioned by Walt. And the EPCOT of today certainly is not it, either.
As I’ve said countless times, I don’t like Walt Disney being used as a corporate mascot. His quotes shouldn’t be used as a shield or sword to justify whatever business decision or change the company has decided to make. And a statue of him, while a nice tribute, should be the icing on the cake and not the cake itself.
It’s hard to see anything else in the World Celebration Gardens, which I guess is what we’re calling these trees and paths, that qualifies as cake. If there were, Disney probably would’ve shared photos of it instead of multiple images of the sitting Walt statue.
Some diehard Walt Disney World fans who are eternally optimistic might call this overly cynical, and claim we should step foot in the World Celebration Gardens before passing judgment. I generally agree with the ‘wait and see’ attitude, but here, my first question would be: for what?
We already have a really good idea of what’s behind those 4-year-old construction walls. Walt Disney World has released concept art and progress is plainly visible from the monorail. So I’ll ask you this: is there realistically anything hiding behind those walls that would be worthwhile payoff for the front of the park being torn up for 4+ years?
I already know the answer. There is not. I hope to be pleasantly surprised with the look and feel of area, but there is zero chance of it being good enough to justify 4+ years of the park being a veritable construction zone that paying guests had to navigate. There’s absolutely no excuse for this taking so long, especially given the end product.
Ground was broken for EPCOT Center on October 1, 1979. When the park opened exactly 3 years later, an article in the Orlando Sentinel stated that “the nation’s top construction experts say the impossible had been done.” It was a herculean effort and impressive accomplishment that is still celebrated to this day. What a difference a few decades makes.
Speaking of things that have zero chance of happening, there’s also the issue of CommuniCore Hall. Walt Disney World previously stated that the EPCOT overhaul and World Celebration would wrap up this December. CommuniCore Hall is part of both. It will not open on December 5, 2023.
Again, if it were, Walt Disney World would’ve said as much instead of just commenting on the statue and gardens. Speculation isn’t really necessary here, as bioreconstruct recently shot aerial photos (above) that show new construction walls going up around CommuniCore Hall, as the gardens around it prepare to open.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to any regular readers, as we’ve repeatedly commented on the slow pace of that project and how photos taken ~6 months apart were virtually indistinguishable from one another. After a lot of visible progress earlier this year, this construction slowed to a crawl back before the new fiscal year started.
Since then, it’s picked up a bit, but not enough to have this be done by December 2023. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see it look dramatically different at the start of the Christmas season (my photos above and below from this month) than it did the last time I saw it in September. The outside is coming along and could conceivably be done by January 2024. It’s really a question of where the interior stands.
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the first festival to use CommuniCore Hall is the 2024 EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival. Maybe it’s done in time for Festival of the Arts, but I think the fact that Walt Disney World has already made a flurry of announcements for that and mentioned the Odyssey instead of CommuniCore Hall suggests it won’t. Hopefully I’m wrong, though.
Ultimately, I’m just ready for this all to be over and, I guess, I’m glad that the walls will be down soon. This EPCOT overhaul began in earnest on September 9, 2019 and it won’t completely finish until 2024. That’s a ridiculous amount of time to have the main corridor of the park out of commission. The pace of the project has been too slow from the outset, but it’s only gotten worse post-reopening.
At least it was going to be ambitious at one point, overhauling a park that had been stagnating for far too long while adding unique architecture and interactive features. All of that was scrapped over 3 years ago, though. At the very least, as soon as Disney knew that was no longer the plan–back in Summer 2020–they should’ve fast-tracked the filling in of the Giant EPCOT Dirt Pit and just walled-off Moana’s Journey of Water and CommuniCore Hall.
It’s incredibly discouraging to go through 3 rounds of redesigns and 4+ years of enduring a maze of walls to end up with this. Not only that, but it seems incredibly short-sighted to build something roughly equivalent to what they tore down (minus the symmetry)–a tremendous amount of time and money have been wasted for a difference amounting to “more trees!” and “one fewer fountain!” Oh, and a statue.
This is going to be around for decades to come, and it looks wholly unambitious and uninspired. It is wildly ironic that this project, of all things, is what they’re trying to spin as the realization of Walt Disney’s dream, a park representing pure optimism and truly celebrating the magic of possibility. Does it really, though? I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed. Walt Disney World is capable of so much more.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Are you excited for the trees, paths, and statue that Walt Disney World will open on December 5, 2023? What do you think of CommuniCore Hall and Plaza? Think it’ll also be done by Late 2023, or agree that it won’t be ready until the first (or second) festival of 2024? Is this an exciting development, or underwhelming as compared to the previous multi-level festival center? Disappointed about anything that has been delayed or cancelled? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Written by Tom Bricker
49 Responses to “RIP Giant EPCOT Dirt Pit”
I loooooooooooooove the “new” EPCOT. Of course, it shouldn’t have taken 4 years. Agree on that!!
Perfect take. No notes
I don’t believe Card Walker haunted the pit just no way also I don’t believe in goghst if I did I’d be super scared to go to epcot
Is it wrong that I’m kind of going to miss mocking the Giant Epcot Dirt Pit [TM]? At least we’ll always have the Chapek umbrella. And while this never should have taken even half this long, the new Walt statue is outstanding. That artist did a fantastic job — a heartfelt rendering akin to the Walt/Mickey moment in “Once Upon a Studio.”
I’ve gone to WDW for decades since I was a kid and have OLD great memories. Disney use to be “capable of so much more” but no longer. Look at Jollywood Nights. Opening night was a disaster. People paid $180 to just stand on long lines all night. Most of the park had nothing going on which caused over crowding in the areas used. It was just thrown together.. They have turned into money grabbers …Genie+, Individual LL, rising prices on everything etc. That’s their focus now NOT Walt’s vision. So sad…..
100% agree. I’ve been visiting since I was a child in the late 70’s and it is definitely a different place. My last visit I was so discouraged by hearing cast members have personal conversations amongst themselves in front of guests, multiple times. That NEVER used to happen. While some cast members were chatting with each other, I heard a guest walk up and say “sorry to interrupt” before asking a question. I expect that from employees at a Costco warehouse, never at Disney. Sadly, I think the standards are so much lower now.
Great article on the most sad renovation of Epcot I have ever seen. I live in NYC and they put up a 100 story building in 18 months. However. it has taken Disney over 4 years to put extra trees and redo the entrance, it doesn’t make sense. This reminds me of a government project that goes on for years with no results. Disney needs to outsource their construction to a major builder that will get it done quickly. The whole magic of leaving the Epcot at night has been destroyed for over 4 years, I hope this mess gets done soon.
An honest and fair rant, righteously delivered. Thank you.
I could not agree with all of this more! I was pleasantly surprised at the reality based negative views, and thoroughly amused by the calling-out done. I commented the same about Walt looking over his vision, as I was reading this blog out loud to my daughter. At one point in your call-outs, my daughter actually said “ooh, burrrn!” . Good to know it’s not just us disappointed by this. I’d add that I hate these long “neighborhood “ names.
Tom, your words: “This is going to be around for decades to come, and it looks wholly unambitious and uninspired”, sums up this Epcot Dirt Pit succinctly. Those words also describe the resorts built during the past 15 years from Bay Lake Tower to the new Polynesian tower, unambitious and uninspired, but that’s another topic. Other than the Epcot Dirt Pit being seemingly nothing more than a botanical garden, statue, new paths and trees, I am more disappointed that Spaceship Earth and Journey Into Imagination with Figment did not get a much needed retheme and renovation. How they can deploy resources to tear down Splash Mountain instead of fixing these two attractions is aggravating to me. I know that I am just dreaming here, but I think they should have shut down Future World completely, left World Showcase open for shopping and dining, and did the overhaul in the front aggressively and quickly.
It also sounds like the entirety of everything they are doing in the parks-
All of the IP driven content is boring and uninspiring.
“Walt Disney World is capable of so much more.”
Until recently I would agree with you.
It appears that there just aren’t any Admiral Joe Fowler types working at Disney any more, and the list of excuses for these drawn out construction projects must be ridiculously long. But as long as we’re stuck with a four year project that yields little more than trees and gardens, it would be nice if Disney’s horticulture department would step up and give us the creative and inspiring plantings that Future World had in the 80s and 90s. Anyone who visited then may recall flowering plant designs that stopped you in your tracks and exotic species that required identification signs. Now, (apart from the Festival) it’s mainly wide swaths of Home Depot variety shrubs with hardly a bloom in sight.
We all know the real reason and it’s money money money. When Covid hit the entire Disney company in the pocket books they stalled(Tron, Walt’s train, ALL of Epcot, Dinoland!) then they had an idea. Reduce reduce reduce! So Treecot, Future Garden, World Park were born. But at least we got a nice Moana walkthrough that sorta competes with the same thing our local Botanical garden has.
I’m curious to see what the nighttime exit feel will be in the new central spine. First impressions and last impressions are things you tend to remember. I have vivid memories of walking out of EPCOT after a full day and watching the nighttime spectacular, and somehow walking past the Fountain of Nations, with its lights and music, and on the fibre optic sidewalks was just the perfect cherry on top ending to an EPCOT day. I am hoping that the new spine will also provide a fitting exit vibe to cap off the day, but I am a bit skeptical. That said, I will be thrilled to no longer navigate around walls. Do you think this will be long term, or is it possible the gardens are a fill-in for the short to medium term?
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Not only because EPCOT has always been my favorite park, but the memories I have a a child to this day of leaving EPCOT are somehow very special. The lights, the sounds, the aura of it all, I will never forget it. I hope it somehow resembles the awesomeness that they decided to tear out.
Thanks for saying what I was thinking, but couldn’t put into words as well as you did!