Should You Skip EPCOT?

Some Walt Disney World vacation planners question whether they should skip EPCOT due to ongoing construction and upcoming ride reimaginings. This post covers what’s happening, when projects will be completed, and how they’ll impact your experience on upcoming visits.

When it comes to radical Disney park overhauls, there are two existing ‘templates’ based upon recent projects: Disney California Adventure and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Most Walt Disney World fans will likely be familiar with the latter, which sacrificed a lot to get where we are today.

Both of these other park reimaginings significantly impacted guests, albeit in markedly different ways. Epcot’s overhaul will likewise no doubt weigh on the park experience for the next couple of years. The question thus becomes, should you skip Epcot?

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, several attractions closed in order for construction to occur, including flagship and opening day experiences that defined the park, along with other less-popular offerings. There were fewer attractions to experience, but the construction at DHS didn’t significantly impact the atmosphere. Most construction occurred within buildings or out of the way, with walls up at dead-ends but not in main thoroughfares or places creating visual blight.

By contrast, the reinvention of Disney California Adventure was primarily burdensome in how it impacted crowd-flow and in the sea of construction walls throughout the park. The worst of this occurred when the park entrance actually re-routed guests backstage behind Soarin’ while Buena Vista Street was being built. Despite this, there were few “important” attractions taken out of commission for the overhaul. Basically, the divergent approaches are “atmosphere v. attractions.”

Epcot is somewhat of a mix of these two, skewing much more towards the DCA end of the spectrum. The central spine or core of Epcot is currently behind a maze of construction walls, which means the large area between Spaceship Earth and World Showcase is currently inaccessible. Very little current information is known about the scale and scope of whatever is going to happen to what we “lovingly” are referring to as the Giant Epcot Dirt Pit.™️

That’s no exaggeration–take a look for yourself:

Substantively, this area of World Celebration behind Spaceship Earth contains Dreamers Point, a wishing tree in an enchanted forest, natural environments, global design elements, interactive features, and gardens.

Also coming to this area is Communicore Plaza & Hall, which is essentially just Innoventions rebuilt. This will be an area to watch music and other entertainment, with areas to sit, eat, relax, and more. In other words, it’s most landscaping and true park elements–not a single ride will be built here.

CommuniCore Hall and Plaza won’t open until sometime in 2024.

This area also includes Moana’s Journey of Water, an interactive area with fountains and water features. That should be a fun walk-through that’s enjoyable for families with small children, but it’ll be better characterized as a diversion than an actual attraction.

Moana’s Journey of Water is now open.

The good news is that progress is being made at the front of Epcot, and guests are already seeing the fruits of this overhaul. The reimagined park entrance project is finished and looks fantastic. Redesigned landscaping, flags, topiaries, and an iconic prismatic pylon fountain in front of Spaceship Earth have all been installed.

These are further enhanced at night by an upgraded lighting package, including the Beacons of Magic. This is an all-new lighting effect on the outside of the geodesic sphere that debuted for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. It seems like a minor thing, but it’s absolutely mesmerizing.

Along the perimeter of the aforementioned Giant Epcot Dirt Pit, a few locations have already opened: Creations Shop and Club Cool. These were built in the former Innoventions building, where MouseGear was previously located.

On the other side of the building, Connections Cafe & Eatery is now open in the space that used to house Electric Umbrella. This counter service restaurant is nothing special, but it’s better than what it replaced, and its opening also means there’s a clear path from the front entrance to World Showcase.

In front of Mission: Space and behind those locations, Space 220 Restaurant is now open. This highly themed dining experience takes place in a space station offering views of Earth from 220 miles up.

For more info, take a look at our Photos & Video Inside Space 220 Restaurant as well as our Space 220 Lunch Review that looks at whether the food is worth the $55 price tag. Suffice to say, there’s a good reason this is the most popular (and hardest to book) Advance Dining Reservation at Walt Disney World.

In this same neighborhood (World Discovery), the biggest addition to Epcot is Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, which is a hybrid roller coaster. This is the biggest-budget project at Walt Disney World since Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, and it is now open.

The debut of Cosmic Rewind effectively answers the titular question for everyone. If you were still on the fence after Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Harmonious, this should settle things for you. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is an absolute must-do roller coaster. It’s a great addition and likely will become the top-rated ride at Epcot. For more read our Spoiler-Free Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Ride Review.

Also in World Discovery, the Play Pavilion will replace Wonders of Life. Maybe.

This was also intended to open “in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.” An official date has not been announced for this, and Walt Disney World has been totally silent about this addition for the last 3 years.

At this point, the Play Pavilion project might’ve been abandoned. If not, it won’t open until 2025 at the earliest.

In World Showcase, the newest attraction to open at Epcot is Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. This family-friendly trackless dark ride is part of an expansion of the France pavilion. That also includes retail and restaurant additions, most notably La Crêperie de Paris.

There is no other notable construction occurring in World Showcase. It’s possible that there will be minor refurbishment projects and aesthetic refreshes from time to time, but there aren’t any substantive additions or closures planned.

We’ve been addressing this question of whether readers should skip Epcot for the last couple of years, and for a while “it depends” was our answer. We leaned strongly towards “yes” through last summer, and “no” stopped being an answer–at all–with the start of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.

Now, with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Luminous: Symphony of Us, Space 220, Club Cool, and the overhauled entrance all open, there is absolutely no reason to skip Epcot. Yes, the sea of construction walls is undeniably frustrating and an eyesore. However, skipping Epcot means missing out on Walt Disney World’s newest rides, biggest budget nighttime spectacular, and one of the most ambitious themed restaurants ever. It’s a no-brainer.

To be sure, Epcot still needs a lot of help and could use even more reimagined attractions and improvements as part of its overhaul, but it’s already dramatically improved as of 2024.

Ultimately, the answer to the question, “should you skip Epcot?” is ABSOLUTELY NOT. What’s closed versus what’s open and will be debuting in the very near future skews heavily in favor of the new stuff. Epcot has had some major additions in the last two years, with even more on the horizon in 2024. What we are “losing” to gain all of these new attractions and a visually transformed Epcot is (arguably) not much.

Accordingly, we do not recommend anyone skip Epcot in 2024. The park is going through tremendous growing pains, but it looks worse than it actually is. When it comes to attractions, Epcot will have more to do in 2024 than it did in the last few years. Plus, Epcot has better atmosphere and food options than any other park at Walt Disney World, which is especially true and important as the phased reopening continues.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

Your Thoughts

Will you be following our advice and visiting Epcot in the next couple of years? Do you disagree and think the volume of construction is simply too much to justify paying full price for Epcot admission? Excited about the park’s future? Any other feedback on upcoming changes and how they’ll impact the experience? 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!

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