While visiting EPCOT today, we noticed some new work taking place in World Celebration Gardens for the temperamental in-ground lighting. In fact, at this point, we’d bet that Disney is actively working on bringing the in-ground lighting effect back, and perhaps sooner rather than later. Here’s a look at the latest work.
Is Disney Fixing the In-Ground Lighting at EPCOT?
The last time we checked in on the in-ground lighting, things were looking a bit grim. A lot of the translucent covers had been replaced by an opaque plastic, making it impossible for the lighting to shine through. However, during our visit to EPCOT today, we noticed that instead of 80-90% of the lighting covers being opaque, some 80-90% of the covers had returned to a translucent material. Bringin the translucent material back was a requirement if we were ever going to see the lighting underneath.
We’ll start with a few wide shots, which just establish the current overall look of the area. We’ll take a closer look at the newly returned translucent covers soon.
Taking a closer look, we can see that there are two types of material installed right now. The opaque plastic was, presumably, temporary has Disney worked on installing the newly returned translucent material.
Here’s a better look. The striking white material is the opaque plastic and the grayish cover is the translucent cover that allows guests to see the in-ground lighting after sunset.
Here’s another look, showing an increased presence of the translucent lighting covers.
Here’s an even closer look. In order for this news to be positive, there have to be changes to the in-ground lighting as well to fix and fortify them. That said, we can’t see a reason for Disney to bring back the translucent covers unless they were planning on fixing the lighting. I guess the only reason not to keep the opaque plastic would be if it wasn’t rated to be good enough for longterm foot traffic.
I’m going to choose to believe that this is good news and that we’ll see the return of EPCOT’s in-ground lighting in the not-too-distant future.
Here’s a look back at what the area looked like at night when it first opened and most of the lighting was operational.
Perhaps another indication that Disney intends on fixing the in-ground lighting is the fact that they CGI’d it into the new Soarin’ Around the World finale, which was filmed after a considerable segment of lighting was already broken.
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!