In a Disney blog post this afternoon going over previously announced details about CommuniCore Hall, EPCOT Vice President Kartika Rodriguez declared that the transformation of EPCOT is complete.
It’s a very exciting time to be at EPCOT – after years of creative vision, innovation and dedicated work, I’m thrilled to share that the historic transformation of our park is complete.
The construction walls have come down around World Celebration, and CommuniCore Hall, CommuniCore Plaza, and Mickey & Friends will open to all starting June 10!
These beautiful new spaces speak to the heart of the World Celebration neighborhood, which focuses on experiences that bring communities together. As you come together with your family and friends to explore these new areas, here are a few things that I’m most excited for you all to see.
CommuniCore Hall will be “a place for guests to relax, a dynamic space to anchor our EPCOT Festivals, and everything in between”, according to Rodriguez. When it opens tomorrow, it will contain indoor seating for guests to relax and enjoy food from the Festival Favorites window.
At Festival Favorites, guests will find an ever-changing assortment of some of your – you guessed it – favorite items from the EPCOT Festivals! This summer, it’ll include a few treats inspired by the Disney Animation Studios Film “Encanto,” including a Cheese-stuffed Arepa with cilantro-lime crema and cotija cheese, and the Coconut Tres Leches, which is a vanilla cake soaked with oat, almond, and coconut milk topped with toasted coconut.
At Mickey & Friends, guests will be able to meet with some of their favorite characters. Mickey & Friends opens on June 10th.
On the CommuniCore Plaza Stage, guests can enjoy “¡Celebración Encanto!”, the first show to debut in this new space for a limited time starting June 10. Bring the whole family for a fun sing-along to some of your favorite songs from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Encanto.”
You can catch the story of the Family Madrigal during the day, and at night, a Latin groove band will fill World Celebration with music and fun.
On the other end of the Plaza, you’ll see room for another performance space that will be perfect for open-air entertainment… you’ll have to stay tuned to see how Disney brings that stage to life.
While it is nice to see Disney complete the EPCOT transformation, you don’t have to look far to be reminded of what was cut from the final plans. Spaceship Earth was just weeks away from closing for a lengthy transformation before COVID-19 derailed those plans. In World Discovery, the PLAY! Pavilion project has been abandoned, and construction walls block off the former home of EPCOT Festivals, attractions, and experiences before that.
In World Showcase, upgrades to the China Pavilion’s Reflections of China show have been shelved, and in the United Kingdom, a Mary Poppins attraction never came to light despite getting Dick Van Dyke to announce the project.
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!