NEWS: Popular EPCOT Tours to Return in October
While some backstage tours at Walt Disney World have resumed this year, many have yet to return. Thankfully, Disney has announced the return of some fan-favorite tours at EPCOT. Catch all the details below.
Here are all the details from Disney Cast Member Aaron Wockenfuss:
From immersive attractions, flavorful festivals, and interactive pavilions that spark your curiosity and enable you to experience cultures and cuisine from around the world, EPCOT truly offers something for everyone. And with the park transforming before our eyes – and preparing to celebrate its 40th anniversary on Oct. 1 – it’s an exciting time to experience EPCOT!
And now, there are three more reasons to visit! I’m thrilled to share additional fan-favorite tours from our Enchanting Extras Collection are returning to EPCOT beginning Oct. 2, adding to and completing the previously announced lineup of highly popular tours returning to Walt Disney World Resort.
These personalized experiences offer an exciting look at the magic of possibilities and provide you with the unique ability to experience EPCOT by land and by sea!
Experience The Land:
If you like the Living with the Land attraction at EPCOT or have an interest in gardening and natural sciences, then you’ll love Behind the Seeds!
This one-hour walking tour gives you an up-close and personal view of amazing plants, insects and fish throughout four state-of-the-art greenhouses.
Take in the sights and smells of unusual crops from around the world as you explore the future of agriculture. Your knowledgeable guide will help you discover some of the latest plant-growing techniques in use at The Land, including hydroponics, and provide ideas you can try at home in your own garden!
Experience The Seas:
The Seas with Nemo & Friends is home to more than 2,000 sea creatures representing over 90 aquatic species including sea turtles, angelfish, dolphins, eagle rays and sharks.
With the return of EPCOT Seas Adventures – DiveQuest, guests once again can dive right into this 5.7-million-gallon saltwater environment and immerse themselves into the sea life surrounding the coral reef. This experience offers SCUBA-certified guests guaranteed calm seas, unlimited visibility, no current and incredible marine life.
If you aren’t SCUBA-certified or prefer to stay on your “sea legs,” don’t worry; there is a tour for you, too! With the return of EPCOT Seas Adventures – Dolphins in Depth, guests can meet the bottlenose dolphins at The Seas to learn about their complex undersea behavior and talk with the experts who work with them every day.
These guest-favorite tours return beginning Oct. 2 and are on sale beginning Aug. 22 on DisneyWorld.com or the My Disney Experience app. Due to the popularity of these tours, advance bookings are highly recommended. Please note the Behind the Seeds experience requires a valid theme park admission and reservation. For a complete list of the Enchanting Extras Collection across Walt Disney World Resort, click here.
RELATED ARTICLE: EPCOT: What’s New & Coming – The Historic Transformation Continues at Disney World
by Chad and Cindy Nykamp
Walt Disney once said EPCOT “would always be in a state of becoming” as a place that changes with the times. The Walt Disney World Resort theme park is delivering on that promise in a whole new way as it continues the biggest transformation in its history, bringing the next generation of immersive storytelling to life. Since 2019, Disney has been hard at work working on bringing this new EPCOT to life with many projects now completed and many more yet to come. Learn more about what’s new and what’s still to come below.
1 – Goodbye Future World
As of October 1, 2021, Future World is no longer a part of EPCOT. Instead, the park is unified with four neighborhoods that each speak to important aspects of the world and its people: World Showcase, World Celebration, World Nature, and World Discovery. These neighborhoods are filled with new experiences rooted in authenticity and innovation that take guests to new destinations, where the real is made fantastic in a celebration of curiosity, discovery and the magic of possibility.
2 – World Celebration
World Celebration offers new experiences that connect guests to one another and the world around them.
Redesigned Entrance Plaza
The EPCOT entrance plaza welcomes guests with open pathways and sweeping green spaces that beautify the entryway. Bridging the past, present, and future of EPCOT is a new fountain at the base of Spaceship Earth with three majestic pylons. The entrance plaza also features new lighting and music, as well as flags flanking the fountain featuring six original EPCOT icons.
As part of the 50th-anniversary celebration, Spaceship Earth now transforms at night into a Beacon of Magic with new lights shining across the geodesic sphere’s reflective panels. These lights connect to one another in a symbol of optimism resembling stars in a nighttime sky.
Connections Cafe & Eatery
The new Connections Café and Eatery is home to a quick-service dining location as well as Starbucks coffee. With show kitchens and a variety of seating options, this new dining option encourages guests to connect with one another over food and drinks. Adding to the park’s rich legacy of original art displays, Connections Eatery features a hand-painted mural stretching more than 160 feet along the back wall, celebrating how food is cultivated around the world.
Creations Shop
Creations Shop invites guests to explore and celebrate Disney creativity, inspired by Mickey Mouse. The merchandise location features a bold, sleek design for an open, bright, welcoming environment with large glass walls allowing sunlight to pour in. Artistic homages to Mickey are throughout the shop, including large, dynamic murals that tap into the park’s original artistic spirit.
Click here to learn about the new flagship shopping location at EPCOT – Creations Shop.
Club Cool
Adjacent to Creations Shop is a revitalized Club Cool Hosted by Coca-Cola. Celebrating Coca-Cola in a fresh new way, Club Cool invites guests to explore tasty drinks from around the world, bringing the global experience of Coca-Cola to life through new magic and classic flavor.
Click here for details on the all-new Club Cool at EPCOT.
Dreamer’s Point
As guests pass Spaceship Earth, in the future they will discover a breathtaking new view of World Showcase from Dreamers Point. World Celebration will also feature a new statue honoring the legacy of the original dreamer, Walt Disney, plus beautiful natural environments and global design elements filled with Disney magic.
Surrounding this enchanted garden will be new merchandise and dining locations, along with a newly reimagined festival area that will be home to ever-changing events in a unique new environment.
3 – World Discovery
In World Discovery, stories about science, technology, and intergalactic adventure come to life.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Now open, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is the first “other- world” showcase pavilion at EPCOT. The family-thrill coaster adventure starts in the Galaxarium, a planetarium-like exhibition that explores the similarities and mysteries of the formation of Earth’s galaxy and Xandar. Guests learn more about the technologies Xandar has to share – until Eson the Celestial arrives and guests must help the Guardians of the Galaxy save the universe on an intergalactic chase through time and space. The attraction is one of the longest fully enclosed coasters in the world, and each vehicle rotates 360 degrees to focus guests on the action, including the first reverse launch on a Disney coaster.
Space 220
In an expansion of the Mission: SPACE pavilion, the new Space 220 Restaurant is a culinary experience offering the celestial panorama of a space station, including virtual daytime and nighttime views of Earth from 220 miles above the planet’s surface. Guests board a space elevator for a simulated journey to the Centauri Space Station, where they experience the “height of dining.” Once they arrive, guests enjoy meals and drinks while taking in views that are truly out of this world. Space 220 is operated by the Patina Restaurant Group.
4 – World Showcase
World Showcase continues to be a celebration of culture, cuisine, architecture, and traditions – infused with new magic.
Expanded France Pavilion
An expanded France pavilion is now open and features the new Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure attraction, where guests feel as if they shrink to the size of Chef Remy and race through Gusteau’s restaurant. Joining this family-friendly experience in the France pavilion is a delicious new restaurant, La Crêperie de Paris, offering both table- and quick-service options and a menu from celebrity chef Jérôme Bocuse.
Click here for our review and what you need to know about Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.
Also in the France pavilion, the classic “Impressions de France” film is joined by “Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along,” directed by Don Hahn, producer of both the animated and live-action versions of this tale as old as time.
Harmonious
“Harmonious” is one of the largest nighttime spectaculars ever created for a Disney theme park. The new show on World Showcase Lagoon celebrates the way Disney music inspires people the world over, carrying them away on a stream of familiar songs reinterpreted by a culturally diverse group of 240 artists from around the globe. “Harmonious” features massive floating set pieces, custom-built LED panels, choreographed moving fountains, lights, pyrotechnics, lasers, and more.
Regal Eagle Smokehouse
Regal Eagle Smokehouse: Craft Drafts & Barbecue is a fast-casual restaurant at The American Adventure pavilion, serving classic American backyard barbecue and home-style craft brews. The restaurant takes its name from Sam Eagle; the beloved Muppet hosts a centennial cook-off – a salute to all cook-offs … but mostly barbecue. Read our Regal Eagle review by clicking here.
5 – World Nature
World Nature is dedicated to understanding and preserving the beauty, awe, and balance of the natural world. It includes The Land and The Seas with Nemo & Friends pavilions, as well as the forthcoming Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana.
The Land pavilion film “Awesome Planet” showcases the beauty, diversity, and dynamic story of Earth. The 10-minute show features in-theater effects and an original musical score from Academy Award®-winning composer Steven Price.
Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana will be the first Disney Parks experience evoking the hit Walt Disney Animation Studios film. This lush exploration trail will invite guests to meet and play with magical, living water. Just like Moana’s friend the ocean, water will have a personality of its own, helping guests learn how to protect the natural water cycle in a fun and engaging way.
Editor’s Note: Disney has stated that more information on other previously announced experiences coming to EPCOT will be provided at a later date. We will continue to update this article as new information is released.
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