For the past few days (or longer) Walt Disney Imagineering has hosted previews of the Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana at EPCOT. The walkthrough nature experience is set to open this Fall at EPCOT, but before it can open, Cast Member previews will be held starting this week. In this article, we’ll discuss preview timelines and everything we know so far about the “attraction”.
What Is Journey of Water at EPCOT?
Here’s how Disney describes the experience:
Stroll along a self-guided outdoor trail where you can play and interact with water as it travels from the sky to the oceans and back again. Along the way, learn about the importance of water and discover its playful personality—just as Moana did on her heroic voyage.
Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana is located in World Nature, which is a “neighborhood” within EPCOT that is dedicated to understanding and preserving the beauty and balance of the natural world. Other attractions and experiences located within World Nature include The Land Pavilion (Soarin’ Around the World, Living with the Land, Awesome Planet) and The Seas Pavilion (The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush, Bruce’s Shark World, SeaBase, aquatic animals).
Geographically, the entire Journey of Water experience sits within the monorail loop, putting it closer to Spaceship Earth and World Celebration than the other pavilions within World Nature. That said, the entrance to Journey of Water will face The Seas Pavilion, making it “feel” like a part of World Nature. In the concept art below, you can see the lush Journey of Water footprint, with the entrance in the lower left of the artwork near The Seas Pavilion (blue building, lower left corner).
Inside the Journey of Water, guests will find a lush garden with jumping water and even some water effects that would be borderline thrilling. Sensors throughout the self-guided walking tour will allow guests to interact with water, creating everything from small effects to a crashing wave near the end of the experience. Early indications were that Disney World would create MagicBand+ exclusive interactivity, but Disney has not mentioned its $50+ wearable device in any of the descriptions of the attraction so far.
The experience will include an “Edutainment” element as guests learn about, wait for it… the journey of water. Back in early April, we spotted educational signs that guests will find throughout the experience.
As seen in the graphic above, guests will enter the experience at “rain” and experience the different stages that water passes through as they walk through Journey of Water. Recently, Disney World activated sound effects near the entrance to the experience that included the sound of thunder, indicating that we start our journey with rain.
With an IP mandate, Imagineers will sprinkle touches of Moana throughout the experience. Here’s what Walt Disney Imagineering said about the details:
Throughout Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, guests will have the opportunity to discover characters from the Walt Disney Animation Studios film “Moana” carved into the rocks and waterways of their surroundings. Our Imagineers worked closely with the studio to develop the artistic style of these characters who will naturally take form within the water-filled landscape. We are excited to see guests make their way through this self-guided trail next year and discover how Moana and her friends truly inspired the surroundings of this experience!
A little more than halfway through the garden, guests will find a 16-foot-tall figure of Te Fiti. In the Moana film, Te Fiti is a goddess with the power to create life. When her heart is stolen by Maui, Te Fiti turns into the dark figure of Te Ka and death begins to consume the islands of Polynesia. Moana’s journey and purpose through the film is to return the Heart of Te Fiti and bring balance to the islands. In the Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana attraction, Te Fiti represents the life-giving force of water and will be seen protecting it as it continues through the water cycle.
Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana Opening Timeframe
Officially, Journey of Water will open this Fall at EPCOT. That means that Disney World will, confusingly, miss the Summer season with “Feels Like” temperatures consistently over 100 degrees. That said, with Cast Member previews starting soon, it’s possible that we could see some Annual Passholder previews or soft openings before the oppressive heat relents.
Cast Member previews are scheduled to begin July 25th and run through August 19th. The 3+ weeks of previews will allow Disney the opportunity to fine-tune the walkthrough experience, but the question is: how much work does the attraction still require?
Journey of Water is a self-guided walking tour through a garden. Honestly, 3+ weeks of previews seem to be unnecessary. If we were to guess, and right now we’re guessing, we can’t imagine that there would be a lengthy Annual Passholder preview before opening to the public sometime in late August or early September. As a matter of fact, EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival dates might provide a hint as to when Journey of Water and the entire World Celebration construction area will open to guests.
If World Celebration doesn’t open in September as posited above, circle October 1st as a likely opening date (EPCOT’s Anniversary).
Chances are that we’ll learn more about Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana this week, either from Cast Member previews or from an official press release from Disney World.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!