Epcot Photo-Update: Living With the Land Refurbishment


Out of all four of Walt Disney World's theme parks, Epcot is the one with the least amount of construction going on. That said, things have definitely changed in the last few weeks, as multiple parts of Future World and World Showcase are now behind walls for refurbishment or to make way for temporary offerings that will open as part of this year's International Food & Wine Festival. This afternoon, we will focus only on Future World. Let's start our tour of the area:


First of all, walls are up next to the ramp leading to the monorail station:





Inside the park:



Innoventions West is still mostly closed to Guests. A peek behind the walls reveals that very little (if anything at all) has been done since the former exhibits closed earlier this year. It's such a shame:





Innoventions East has less walls:



The former Home of the Future:





Work on the new Colortopia exhibit continues:







Walls are also up around the splash pad between Mission:SPACE and Test Track:





All the attractions have a very short wait time during this time of the year:



Heading to the other side of Future World:



The park's rose garden is closed due to the installation of a Food & Wine booth:





A peek... through the walls:



A nearby section of the park is closed for the same reason:







Some of the Captain EO references were removed when the movie previews came to Epcot, and were never brought back. The attraction is now known as the Magic Eye Theater according to these signs:



Captain EO is rumored to be closing before the end of the year. We will see what actually happens:



At The Land, new stroller parking signs have finally been installed right outside the entrance to the pavilion. We hope this small change will make the job of the pavilion's Cast Members a bit easier:





Living with the Land is currently closed for refurbishment. It will reopen on September 18, 2015:



Walls are up around the loading and unloading areas:





Soarin' is still open. The ride will close for about six months at the beginning of January 2016:



And that is all for now. Before concluding, remember to like us on our official Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for live updates from the parks. If you would like to make a donation to OTPN, feel free to use the "DONATE" button found on the sidebar. Thank you for your support, and see you again soon.

PHOTOS BY: Alex, Official Orlando Theme Park News Team Member and Photographer.

14 comments:

  1. It must be getting a lot of work done to the ride and queue lines for it to be closed for 6 months. Hopefully it will all reopen with all 3 building in use. Would also love to see the hot air balloons in the land move up and down again.

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  2. I can't believe they are closing Soarin for 6 months! That seems like a rather large amount of time to replace projectors and put in the new film. The queue must be getting a major upgrade to fit the third building. Still, it goes to show how little Epcot has to offer. The park will only have one big ride open and the rest are all nothing special.

    People bash Hollywood Studios for not having enough stuff to do but I have always felt like Epcot is in need of the most help. Star Tours, Toy Story, Tower and Rockin are four big attractions that are very popular. Epcot has Test Track and Soarin. Innoventions needs to be totally gutted and replaced with a ride. Its a MASSIVE empty building going to waste.

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  3. Rides are easy. Epcot needs to be more than rides. Problem is we've zipped past the innovations, future worlds, of Epcot as portrayed a decade or more ago. The new frontiers are not video phones (we made a call from the ATT booth once, wow!), no the new frontiers of innovation are very high tech and heavily guarded and patented trade secrets.

    SpaceX might do well to do a partnership and start really sharing its vision for Mars colonization. That would be a great fit. But bio tech, nano tech, the people working on honest to gosh star -trek like tricorders, they're not going to share much.

    There are companies out there that would fit into Epcot, but Disney has to be willing to forego dumbing down, i.e. cutesie pie, sorts of treatments and its seemingly ever present demand that everything be reduced to some sort of merchandise opportunity with a Mickey logo on it.

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  4. Disney has said that Soarin' will remain open while they construct the new theater. It will not close in January 2016 as you reported.

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  5. @Last Anonymous: I am not trying to correct you, but all Soarin' Cast Members are being cross-trained in other locations as we speak. The attraction will close for 4-6 months starting in January (that is the current plan, which may change at any point in time).

    Also, Disney has stated the truth. The third theater is being built right now, and the attraction is still open. The closure will allow for a new queue, new restrooms, the digital upgrade of the projector, a miscellaneous refurbishment of the ride system, AND the connection of the third theater to the main queue. They have plenty to do.

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  6. The programming of the vehicles to move to the movie will take ages to sort and with the special effects added afterwards.

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  7. 6 months is still way too long. Hopefully its closer to 4 months. They need to have it ready by June or Test Track wait times will be insane. Universal built an entire building/ride in 12 months.

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  8. China built a 30 story tall skyscraper in 2 weeks.

    Worried about wait times next June?? Self inflicted suffering all the way 'round.

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  9. By June hopefully the queues will be a bit lower for test track as most guests will be queuing for this and the new frozen ride.

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  10. I thought Frozen wasn't opening until next fall/winter?

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  11. 1st May 2016 is the date listed for Frozen to open to guests. Maybe soft opening happening in April.

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  12. "Universal built an entire building/ride in 12 months."

    No, they didn't.

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  13. Transformers took around 6 months to build

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  14. why wouldn't they wait to close Soarin' until the Frozen ride is open? This park is short on rides as it stands, seems like it would make more sense to wait until the crowds have somewhere else to go...

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