While visiting EPCOT recently, we noticed that Walt Disney World was in the process of some significant changes to the broken in-ground lighting in the World Celebration Gardens. World Celebration Gardens is the central part of EPCOT that was under construction for years and years as Disney aimed to transform the space. Over that time, budget cuts saw the removal of the World Celebration Festival Center and the introduction of CommuniCore Hall. One of the advertised highlights of the new gardens area was a network of lighting that would make the area come alive after sunset. Now, it’s broken.
EPCOT World Celebration Gardens Broken Lighting
Before we take a look at the current situation, here’s a look at what the area looked like right after it opened in December 2023. The lighting would not only ebb and flow throughout the night but it was also synchronized to dance along with the Spaceship Earth shows and the perimeter lightning columns. It was a pretty cool effect that made EPCOT much more enjoyable after dark than during the day, and we were ready to call for Disney to make EPCOT the nighttime park at Walt Disney World, extending hours until closer to midnight.
Then, over the next weeks and months, we started to see some of the lighting sections broken or not synchronized with the rest of the area.
By the summer, the area was really struggling, and it was clear that Disney had a significant problem on its hands.
Disney is finally starting to address the issue, but “address the issue” may very well mean removing the in-ground lighting effects completely. Right now, the in-ground lighting effect in the central gardens is completely broken. In fact, there is no chance that it is going to work at all in the immediate future.
As you can see in our photos below, Disney has almost completely replaced the translucent plastic covering of the lights with a completely opaque plastic material. I would say some 80-90% of the translucent covers have been replaced at this point, and none of the in-ground lighting works. We’ll get a better look at the lighting challenges once the sun sets, but in the meantime, let’s take a closer look at the changes.
It’s unclear if the currently installed opaque material is considered a long-term solution or not. The translucent material was often broken and it was considered a tripping hazard as pieces lifted to create bumps and even detached from the ground completely. It’s possible that the new opaque material is a temporary solution to remedy the tripping hazard created by the old material.
We reached out to Walt Disney World for comment about the changes, but they have not responded as of press time. Beyond the material, the integrity of the underlying lighting infrastructure is also in question given the nearly-broken state of the effects this summer.
As the sun started to set, we saw the lighting columns start to turn on, but more than half were experiencing issues. The most common issue was lighting that appeared to be stuck on bright white – even during the Spaceship Earth light shows. Other lighting simply wasn’t turning on.
Once the sun was down, we could see that none of the in-ground lighting around the central planter was working. Instead, any color that appeared on the floor in our photos below was simply reflected from other area lighting that was working.
Here’s a look at the lighting columns with portions of the columns stuck on bright white.
Other lighting in the area was mostly functional, but we did notice a couple of non-functioning light columns closer to Spaceship Earth.
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!
This is such a shame. We went the evening they opened this up and it was so cool. Such a neat series of effects.
As the weeks went on, with each visit we could see more and more deterioration and failures.
I don’t care for the new white strips and hope they are temporary. And the white just seems to pick up scuffs and discoloration so fast. Then again, the original opaque slats were looking pretty nasty too….
What on earth do they do with the money they take in? The parks are being trashed and I bet Bob Iger and the Board just ordered new yachts.
Sadly it appears not even Disney is immune to the poor standards of parts being produced nowadays or potentially even the poor standard of work by construction companies (although you’d have thought the size Disney is they’d do a lot in house).
Supervising external contractors used to be a small part of my job but sadly I’m finding I’m having to become much more knowledgeable in engineering, electronics etc and spend a lot more time overseeing the jobs just to be able to ensure the standard of work being done as everything is being done half-assed nowadays, the amount of snagging and repair call backs I’m making is ridiculous, to be fair some of it is premature failure of equipment and materials but a lot of it is poor workmanship or damage caused by poor installation, wonder if Disney are being affected in the same way and the maintenance teams just can’t keep up
I’ve got a feeling you’re right on the money. To start malfunctioning so quickly and then what’s going on now, it makes sense. Sadly this is happening in nearly everything. Parts are just becoming cheaper and cheaper to “cut costs.”