EPCOT Split into 4 Neighborhoods & Future World Gone

In a historic moment, EPCOT has now changed the park layout, getting rid of Future World and creating 4 distinct “Neighborhoods” to further organize the park.

We’ve been patiently waiting for this to finalize since the announcement at the D23 Expo when Chairman of Disney Parks, Experience and Product Bob Chapek announced these 4 new neighborhoods for EPCOT.

The name change officially happened on October 1, 2021, right in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary celebration.

World Showcase is staying in EPCOT the way that it is currently organized and will continue to celebrate the different cultures, cuisines, architecture, and traditions of those individual countries.

However, all of the area that Future World previously occupied is getting completed revamped, and in its place are 3 new neighborhoods or areas.

Each of the 4 areas will celebrate one of the unique aspects that makes EPCOT unique and special and works off the current pavilions located there. The three new neighborhoods are: World Celebration, World Discovery, and World Nature.

A look on the Walt Disney World website shows the list of EPCOT attractions now with their new locations in the description:

Let’s take a look at these new areas and how they fit into the overall vision of EPCOT.

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World Celebration

World Celebration is the area that includes Spaceship Earth and the area behind including the old Innoventions buildings and working towards World Showcase. This area is getting the biggest changes in Epcot and is going to look completely different than it does now.

First of all, we already knew about the Fountains of Nations, Starbucks, Club Cool, and Innoventions West getting demolished, and with those changes, it will give World Celebration a totally new look and feel.

Some of those oldies are back in World Celebration with the new Club Cool and Creations Shop already open to guests. Club cool remains a favorite among guests as you can try different sodas from around the world, free of charge!

Instead of the cold concrete that covers the area today, World Celebration will turn into a garden-like park, filled with plants, flowers, trees, fountains, and more.

Spaceship Earth the attraction was supposed to get a renovation that would completely change the look and feel of the ride. That however has been put on hold for the moment until we hear more from Disney.

The exterior of Spaceship Earth however has gotten a big upgrade with a brand new lighting package installed on the outside of the park’s icon and it looks fabulous! Each of the geodesic sphere’s reflective panels has lights attached to them that sparkle and change colors to the music.

I highly recommend spending some time near Spaceship Earth when the sun goes down so you can catch the new “Beacons of Magic” show.

The New festival pavilion scheduled to be built in the back of World Celebration heading towards World Showcase looks like it has been canceled at this point. It’s too bad because it was supposed to rise into the skyline and serve as a home base for the Epcot festivals throughout the year.

This structure would have had three levels, hold new experiences and have a beautiful top level which will provide incredible views of the new “Disney Harmonious” nighttime spectacular.

As of now, the Walt Disney statue is still being installed behind Spaceship Earth in a new area called “Dreamer’s Point.”

World Discovery

World Discovery is the area that is currently known as “Future World East” and is all about science and exploration. It includes the pavilions: Mission: SPACE, Test Track, and two pavilions currently being revamped: Play pavilion and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is a groundbreaking storytelling rollercoaster that rotates 360 to allow guests to focus on the action from every angle. It’s one of the longest indoor rollercoasters in the world and guests will learn more about the treasures of Xandar from the Galaxarium.

We don’t know much about the Play Pavilion! at this point except it will be an interactive area designed to appeal to younger guests, and it will incorporate some of your favorite Disney and Pixar IP. We should be finding out more about it soon since it’s been a couple of years since the last info drop.

The Mission: SPACE pavilion also recently got that space restaurant we’ve been so curious to learn about and it’s called Space 220. It transports you to the Centauri Space Station, 220 miles above the Earth where you can enjoy your meal while looking down on the little blue planet from the giant space windows.

This is now one of the absolute best restaurants in EPCOT and something every guest should put on their wish list when they visit!

World Nature

World Nature is what’s currently known as Future World West and encompasses The Seas, Living with the Land, and the Imagination pavilion. This area is all about the beauty and balance of the natural world.

This area will be home to the new Journey of Water, the Moana-inspired attraction which unites families on a lush exploration trail to play with living magical water. In the spirit of EPCOT, it also teaches young and old alike the importance of our natural water.

This area is also where you’ll find the recently added film coming in The Land pavilion, “Awesome Planet,” which is has been playing since January 2020.

World Nature is home to other favorite attractions such as Soarin’ Around the World, Living with the Land, Journey Into Imagination with Figment, and The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

We still didn’t learn anything about Disney’s plans for the Imagination! pavilion, so we’ll have to keep our eyes open to see if Journey Into Imagination gets a refurbishment after all these years!

World Showcase

The 4th and final neighborhood in EPCOT is World Showcase. This is the only one that hasn’t completely changed, even though there are also some new things being added to it you’ll want to check out on your next trip.

The biggest addition is the newly expanded France pavilion highlighted by Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. This attraction is wonderful for kids and is another step in Disney’s effort to integrate more IP into EPCOT.

Also in the France pavilion is a new restaurant La Crêperie de Paris which serves as its specialty, crepes! There is both a quick service and table service option to choose from with slightly different menus, both created by celebrity chef Jérôme Bocuse.

And at the end of the night, you’ll want to gather around World Showcase Lagoon to watch the new fireworks show Disney Harmonious. It’s for sure one of the biggest nighttime spectaculars Disney has ever put together and the special effects are too many to count.

While we don’t think it’s as good as its predecessor Illuminations, it’s a fireworks show, so it’s worth seeing.

That’s a brief summary of what we know about the 4 new neighborhoods now in EPCOT and how the park’s landscape is changing forever from now on. Stay tuned as we continue to break down everything we know that is part of the EPCOT transformation.

This was only one of the exciting announcements made at the last D23 Expo. To hear what else was announced, please visit our D23 Expo News and Announcements page for all the other new attractions coming to Disney World in the next few years!

Your Thoughts

I want to know what you think about Future World going away and being replaced by neighborhoods…

• Are you happy about this decision?
• What do you think of the new Epcot layout?

Let us know in the comments section below!

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