PHOTOS: Epcot Future World Construction Updates – December 2019

This is a Epcot Future World Construction Update for December 2019 which is currently underway in, what will soon become World Celebration.  Today we’re going to see some of the progress around the area, including the many construction walls that are up and a look at what’s being demolished.

UPDATE 12/31/19: This week we are going to take a look at the New Walkway from the Epcot Entrance to The Seas, plus the demolition of Innoventions West and more in Future World. Please scroll down for the latest photos.

If you aren’t familiar with all the construction projects happening around Epcot at the moment, there are a ton of them! We learned many new things at the last D23 Expo where a total overhaul of Epcot’s Future World is underway.

Since then we’ve seen many closures in Future World and the demolition underway of structures that have been here since the beginning. Club Cool, Innoventions, Starbucks, the Character Spot, the Fountain of Nations and more have all closed down and construction is moving along at a fast rate.

We even found out that Future World will not be called Future World anymore, but Epcot will be divided into 4 neighborhoods: World Celebration, World Discovery, World Nature and World Showcase.

In this post we are going to give you continuing updates on all the construction updates in Future World/World Celebration as they happen and explain to you what it all means.

You can also get the latest from around Disney World at more construction projects currently going on in our Walt Disney World Construction Updates page.

Big thanks as usual to @Bioreconstruct who takes by far the best Disney World construction photos, especially the ones from up high, which keep us up-to-date with every project around property. It lets us see these new attractions from start to finish which is amazing!

I’m constantly updating this post so you can scroll down for the latest Future World/World Celebration Construction pictures:

(NEW PHOTOS 12/31/19)

We have some exciting updates for you today as the first of the two new walkways leading from the Epcot Entrance into the West and East parts of Future World are now complete. Starting today, guests were able to use the new walkway on the West Side, which leads out to The Seas.

Before we look at that though, we are going to get an updated look at the Innoventions West demolition.

A few weeks ago, the demolition of the South Side building for Innoventions West really ramped up, and now we are left with a shell of a building.

The whole thing now has basically been stripped apart, leaving only the steel frame in place. The roof, walls, windows, everything is gone.

Here’s a closeup of a stairway in the South Side of Innoventions West:

Most of the surrounding cross-beams have also been removed from the ceiling of the building.

Looking at the roof you can see the sides have been stripped down.

An inside look into the siding of the building now down to the steel.

The different layers on display.

Even from across Future World, you can see through Innoventions to the Imagination pavilion.

This is where Club Cool used to be.

Keep an eye on those stairs. Just a couple days after the above photo was taken, the next one shows the stairs now taken down.

A look through Club Cool and the old hallway behind it.

This is where the breezeway used to be.

This whole side of Innoventions is ready to come down, and at this point, we should start to see the whole rest of the structure come down in the next week or so.

Now let’s move closer to the front of the park and check in on the two pathways moving on either side of Spaceship Earth.

Here is a look at the East Side walkway, which will eventually connect to the Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster side of the park.

You can see the pavement has just been recently done and the construction walls are going up around them.

This side looks like it’s a few days behind the West pathway leading to The Seas, but could be walkable in the next few days.

Now let’s head over to the West walkway to The Seas:

This walkway will allow guests to skip over to the West side of Future World, without having to pass through the middle near Spaceship Earth. This will prove valuable, because very shortly Spaceship Earth is going to be refurbished and that whole middle will be a nightmare to navigate, with most of it blocked off.

Now you can see the new pathway is open and guests are walking back and forth from the entrance to The Seas. It looks pretty wide and it goes about 12-15 people across.

This area above is where the new Moana attraction will be going in the future.

This walkway was open first thing in the morning for 2 hours, then closed and then reopened again later. This will be especially helpful to get the New Year’s crowd out of Epcot later.

This nice thing is these paths will provide alternating routes from the Entrance into Future World and you can go directly to the side you want.

Showing another direct access to the Epcot entrance plaza.

Overall we love the new walkway and think it’s a nice addition and should save a little time walking.

We look forward to seeing the other side opened in the coming days.

Stay tuned for more updates in 2020! In the meantime, keep scrolling down to see some of the previous updates…

(NEW PHOTOS 12/22/19)

Another day, another update on the construction in Epcot’s Future World! There are so many things coming and going, all at the same time here, like the Innoventions demolition, new Starbucks, new restrooms and pathways leading around Spaceship Earth.

Let’s take a look…

So towards the front, more progress has been made on the pathways leading around Innoventions West and over to The Seas area, and the future home of the Moana attraction:

As you can see, new pathways have been freshly paved and will allow easy access to this part of Future World once Spaceship Earth goes down for refurbishment next year.

Let’s jump to the other side of Future World, heading toward World Showcase where they’ve opened the new restrooms:

And if you are looking for your caffeine fix while in Epcot, you’re in luck as the new temporary Starbucks is almost finished being built.

It has been delayed slightly, but it won’t be too much longer now as the structure is mostly in place.

Now let’s head into the center of Future World where the big demolition of Innoventions West is in full-swing:

These are the only remaining windows on the south side of the Innoventions West building:

This is the backside of the part where Club Cool was located, and the breezeway:

Now that the side of the building is gone, you can really see the steel supports are the only thing left.

Now getting up close you can see the details inside the wall:

At this point, it’s really only the steel frame of the building and that’s it.

Looking closely you can see through to the other side where the Wonders of Life and Guardians of the Galaxy buildings are:

A close-up shot of the remaining glass windows and a stairwell that was on the inside of the building:

Here’s a side view of the stairs:

Looking into the south end.

After only a couple of days, the side has been stripped-down even more:

Now the whole front of the stairwell has been revealed:

Someone forgot to turn off the lights in the south end of Innoventions West:

At least you can see the monorail passing by unobstructed!

And you get a nice reflection in the last remaining windows:

Looking up at the ceiling, you can see many of the cross beams have been removed:

Spaceship Earth can almost entirely be seen through the remaining steel:

And at night:

Stay tuned, as I’m sure the next time we look at the demolition of Innoventions, there won’t be anything left. In the meantime, keep scrolling down to see some of the previous updates…

(NEW PHOTOS 12/14/19)

We have some BIG updates this week as Innoventions West is almost completely torn down. We’re going to show you what’s left and some of the new walkways in Future World. Let’s dive in…

First, let’s take a look at the new walkway on the East Side of Spaceship Earth:

Some of the concrete paths have already been poured! This will serve as a walkway from the entrance to the Guardians of the Galaxy Coaster, bypassing the middle of Future World:

The same thing is being done on the West Side, and some of the concrete has been poured for the walkway which will lead guests over to The Seas pavilion:

Now we can see what the new walkway from Mouse Gear going to Test Track looks like:

This runs past the bathrooms located there:

Here you can see just how fast things move sometimes in construction. Last we looked the Innoventions West demolition was underway, but now the whole South part of the building has been destroyed:

Here is the view from the Monorail:

The exterior and interior of Innoventions have been removed, and only the steel skeleton is remaining:

From the monorail, you get a great view and you can see the former location of Starbucks and Club Cool:

This was the entrance to Club Cool:

You can see right through the building and nothing is left but the steel, no floor, no roof, no walls:

Here is another angle of Innoventions near the walkway heading to The Land:

If we zoom, we can see more details in the steel, and if you look close you can see the Imagination pavilion through the other side:

Insulation showing inside the wall:

Those steel beams sure look rusty and dirty:

Pulling around Innoventions from the South Side:

More details in the steel:

Now you can see Imagination really well!

Part of where the current demolition is happening is where the breezeway used to be:

This was always a welcome spot in the Florida heat:

More from the demolition of Innoventions West from another angle:

Notice the roof is completely gone:

Soon this area is going to be leveled to the ground and Disney will be able to start planning for the future:

Most likely they will start to lay the groundwork by pouring the concrete walkways like they are doing at the entrance, and then they can also start building the new lookout called Dreamer’s Point.

Of course, Disney is concentrating on this part of Innoventions West first. They will then move on to the North Side later.

Innoventions looks even sadder at night:

It’s sad to see, but it needs to come down so we can move ahead!

Stay tuned for the next updates shortly where there will probably be nothing left of this side of Innoventions West. In the meantime, keep scrolling down to see some of the previous updates…

(NEW PHOTOS 12/11/19)

This week we have a huge update to the construction going on in Future World and the Demolition of Starbucks and Innoventions is in full swing. Let’s take a look…

We start out on the East side of Spaceship Earth where a path is being built…

More land has been cleared and flattened on this side and you can see the concrete is getting ready to be poured for the walkway on the left.

This walkway will most likely be a way for guests to make it around Future World once the construction hits Spaceship Earth and the surrounding areas.

This photo looks identical to the one above it, however, you can see a pathway has now been poured in the back middle, just days after the previous photo.

This is the typical scene in Epcot’s Future World nowadays and guests to the park will have to get used to it for the next few years I’m afraid.

Since our last update, Starbucks has been completely demolished. Notice the brown circle in the dirt next to the Innoventions West building.

You can also see the roofing missing from the Innoventions building as demolition is currently underway.

Here’s a look from on the ground and in front of the same building:

Previously you would have a view of Starbucks here. You can see where the whole front of the Innoventions building is basically torn apart, and the top is getting there:

The sunlight is coming in through the roof where it has already been torn off:

If you look closely you can see the Imagination! pavilion in the background through Innoventions:

Again, this is where Starbucks once stood in Future World. Also to the right of the arrow is where the Fountains of Nations used to be. Now that is completely filled in:

We’ll make it around to the back of the building, but first let’s look at other sections of Future World. Here is the current work being done outside the upcoming Play Pavilion:

For Future World to make its transition into World Celebration, a lot more construction needs to happen throughout Future World. Even on this side of Future World East preparations are being made:

Heavy machinery is needed to take away all the debris from the destroyed buildings:

Even the section of Future World where many Food and Wine marketplaces are usually located is walled off. That area is being totally redone too:

Dreamer’s Point should reach all the way over here.

Now let’s head out to the backside of Innoventions West…

Innoventions West is the entire building in the left-center of the next photo:

Yeah, it’s absolutely massive, and the whole thing is disappearing!

These photos were taken about a week ago, when the back of Innoventions was still somewhat intact. Below you can see the area that is turning into the Moana Journey of Water attraction:

Just watch the walls, because later you will see the difference.

Just like on the East side of Spaceship Earth, the West side is getting a large pathway installed. This will take you to The Seas and The Land pavilions, and take you out of the center of Future World which will eventually be closed off:

It’s till unclear just exactly how much space the Moana attraction will take up, but once the Innoventions building is completely down we’ll have a much better idea.

Now in a more recent photo you can see the back of Innoventions is already starting to get torn apart:

Parts of the upper siding have come down:

A closer look at the tear-out:

The speed at which this demolition is moving we should see Innoventions reduced to rubble very shortly.

Stay tuned for the next updates shortly. In the meantime, keep scrolling down to see some of the previous updates…

(NEW PHOTOS 11/25/19)

We start out this latest update looking at what look to be two new pathways leading into Future World, one from either side of Spaceship Earth. They will give access to the two sides of Future World while the center (World Celebration) really gets to be under heavy construction.

They will also give easy access to World Nature and World Discovery without having to go into the middle of World Celebration. Let’s check them out…

Here is the area to the east of Spaceship Earth currently under construction:

There used to be a hill there, but now the underground infrastructure has been exposed. While Disney hasn’t said what this path will be used for, it’s likely that it will serve as a bypass while the majority of Future World is under construction.

It could possibly lead directly over to the Guardians of the Galaxy Roller Coaster once that’s finished being built.

Over on the opposite side of Spaceship Earth (the West Side), there is another path being built:

In the same way, this path will most likely lead guests around to The Seas and the future location of the Moana Journey of Water attraction.

Also currently happening on the west side of Spaceship Earth is the demolition of Innoventions West:

There is some fencing going up around the construction there:

The Innoventions building is being prepared for the demolition as the speakers are being removed from the sides of the building:

Portable lighting has also been installed on the roof:

Look for the demolition of the actual Innoventions West building to get underway shortly…

Moving out into the middle of Future World, we can see the old home of the Fountain of Nations:

That scrap metal is now all the remains of the once iconic Epcot fountain.

Remember that huge hole in the ground where the fountain was?

That’s long gone and the hole has been completely filled in, leveling off the ground:

The wires in Future World near Innoventions West that held the canopies, have been marked with orange. You can say goodbye to them real soon…

Over by the old Wonders of Life building we see part of the exterior of what will be the Play Pavilion:

Work is being done here, and notice the area with the red tape around it on the building. That is most likely going to be windows.

Lastly we jump over to the old old of the Fountain View Starbucks location where demolition there is in full swing. Notice the restaurant sign by the yellow arrow:

Now in the next picture, it’s been taken down:

That’s all for now, but stay tuned as there will be many more construction updates in Future World as the weeks go by.

Scroll down to see some of the previous updates…

(NEW PHOTOS 11/4/19)

Well it didn’t take long, but the Fountain of Nations in Epcot is now completely demolished. The work started a couple of weeks ago to tear it down, and it’s now gone from Future World in Epcot.

You can see from the above aerial shot the brown circle in the middle of Future World heading towards World Showcase. That’s where the Fountain of Nations was.

Getting a bit closer to the ground we can see in behind the construction walls there is nothing left but dirt:

In fact there is a huge hole in the ground where the Fountain of Nations once stood:

Getting a closer look from the air, it looks like that hole is slowly being filled in with heavy machinery close by.

You can get a good sense for the construction work being done in Future World (soon to be World Celebration), with construction walls covering up what used to be Starbucks, Club Cool and the Fountain of Nations.

Expect to see this area like this for a while with that whole side of Innoventions going down soon. Stay tuned as we’ll update you when t he next steps happen.

(NEW PHOTOS 10/27/19)

If you are squeamish, now is the time to look away. We told you a week or so ago that the Fountain of Nations demolition was underway, now it’s almost finished as the former Epcot landmark has been reduced to rubble.

Ok, don’t say I didn’t warn you….

Looking at this aerial shot, we can see the Fountain of Nations has been completely destroyed on top, and half of the base structure is basically a pile of broken concrete and metal:

If you zoom in close, it looks like there is a sink hole underneath it, though it may have been designed that way.

Bulldozers have been working hard tearing this thing up over the last 10 days, and we’ve almost reached the end.

Looking closely you can see underneath the fountain structure which was basically hollow, with a large open space pump room there and a layer of concrete and metal on the sides and on top:

This view from straight on gives us another angle:

I have to admit it’s going to be very strange not having that fountain in the middle of Future World or World Celebration. I have so many pictures of it with Spaceship Earth in the background and now it’s not there.

Right nearby next to Mouse Gear, there is another section of wall blocked off where another bulldozer is already tearing up some of the ground there:

This too is going to be part of World Celebration and a new structure is going here too.

That it for our latest Epcot Future World construction update. Keep checking back regularly as we’ll continue to update you on the latest work! Scroll down to read the past updates and see more pictures…

(NEW PHOTOS: 10/18/19)

If you haven’t been in Epcot for a while, you’ll immediately be taken back by the construction walls that greet you just beyond Spaceship Earth into Future World (this assumes you didn’t faint over the other giant walls you see right at the park’s entrance).

The walls have been up for over a month now, but they now have a bright new paint job with Epcot’s new logos and colors on them which we see in these two photos from a couple of weeks ago.

Right now these walls take up the entire center of Epcot’s Future World, where the Fountain of Nations, Starbucks, Club Cool and Innoventions West resided. This whole area will be part of the World Celebration we mentioned earlier.

Today we can see from these new photos what’s going on behind those walls.

It looks like bulldozers are hard at work with the Fountain of Nations demolition and have also torn down the stage that was located in front of it (going towards World Showcase).

Looking closely at the fountain you can see the brown water staining of the metal and concrete over the years. Pretty cool stuff!

It’s sad of course to see something go like the Fountain of Nations after so many years of having it in our lives, but it is exciting to see what’s coming next for Epcot.

Here is some concept art showing what World Celebration will look like once completed:

This area will be called “Dreamers Point” and will be filled with lush gardens, flowers, trees, and of course more fountains, a far cry from what it is today.

Perhaps the most interesting part will be the festival pavilion located in the back where guests will be able to climb to what will offer the best views in Epcot when finished:

In fact there is a new model over in the new Epcot Experience exhibit in the Odyssey building where you can find out everything you want to know about the Epcot project, look at the model of the new pavilions and even watch a 360-degree movie showing what it will look like.

That’s all for now from the World Celebration construction, but keep checking back here at Ziggy Knows Disney throughout the coming weeks as we’ll be posting the latest developments with this project!

We don’t have an exact date yet when all the parts of World Celebration will be open. Our best guess at this time is it should be ready by sometime around 2022, just after the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we know more…

In the meantime check out some of the many projects coming to Epcot in the next few years:

• The Epcot Entrance Overhaul
• Epcot Dissolving Future World, Creating 4 Neighborhoods
• Spaceship Earth Renovation
• a Guardians of the Galaxy Roller Coaster replacing the Universe of Energy
• the France Pavilion expansion and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure construction
• a Moana Attraction
• a Mary Poppins Attraction
• the 2 new Epcot Nighttime Spectaculars
• the rest of Project Gamma including a new Festival Center Center
• the Play Pavilion going into the old Wonders of Life pavilion.

Keep up with all the latest Walt Disney World Construction Updates in our post with links to all the projects and attractions currently being built!

Your Thoughts:

I want to know what you think about the demolition of the Fountain of Nations and the World Celebration construction…

• Are you sad or happy about the changes?
• Which part are you most excited for?

Let us know in the comments section below!

If you enjoyed this article, as always I appreciate it if you’d share it with others via social media.  I work hard at making this website into a useful resource for you and your family to plan your visit to the Disney Parks and I hope it can help you! Thanks 🙂

Meet the Author of Ziggy Knows Disney!

Ziggy

https://ziggyknowsdisney.com

My name is Ziggy and I love Disney, everything Disney! I grew up on Disney and it has and continues to be a huge part of my life. I started young when my parents took me to Disney World when I was 18 months old. Little did they know that would be the first of an uncountable number of trips we would take. I have so many amazing memories going to Disney with my family and friends and it has been interwoven into my DNA.

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