Today at Destination D23, Josh D’Amaro announced a number of opening dates and projects that are coming to Epcot in the near (and distant) future. In this post, we’ll cover all of the announcements related to the park and add in a little bit of our own commentary.

Via the Disney Parks Blog:

A new nighttime spectacular called “Luminous The Symphony of Us” will debut at EPCOT on Dec. 5, 2023! 

“Luminous The Symphony of Us” will feature fireworks, fountains, lasers, lighting effects and music and continue Disney’s long tradition of amazing nighttime entertainment at the park.

Fan-favorite Figment will begin greeting guests at EPCOT on Sept. 10!

Beginning tomorrow, the iconic purple dragon will be at the Imagination Pavilion at EPCOT sparking your creativity and helping your imagination soar. 

The World Celebration neighborhood at EPCOT will begin welcoming guests this December! 

World Celebration will unite the front of the park, tying together the other two new EPCOT neighborhoods, World Discovery and World Nature.  The completion of the last of the park’s three neighborhoods is the latest major milestone in EPCOT’s multi-year transformation.

Also, the popular Test Track attraction at EPCOT is being reimagined!

Imagineers along with teams from corporate alliance partner Chevrolet are reaching back into history for inspiration – from the original World of Motion – and bringing that spirit of optimism to the next iteration of Test Track!  More to come in the future.

And Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana will open on Oct. 16, 2023! 

Journey of Water is a new walk-through experience located within World Nature – the EPCOT neighborhood dedicated to understanding and preserving the beauty and balance of the natural world.  

Also on Oct. 16 – Moana will arrive in World Nature and make her first appearance in her own dedicated space near Journey of Water. 

Commentary

I don’t have a ton to add when it comes to opening dates. I’ll devote a paragraph to each thing and most of this will be judging names or concept art so you should not take this seriously. Caveat is now out of the way!

I’m very excited for a new nighttime show at Epcot and find the new name absolutely hilarious. I’m just imagining the creatives for the show in a room (although creatives might not have had a chance to name this show) and the following conversation taking place. (All names are made up for the sake of this story.)

Jim: “How do we make the people who loved Illuminations happy?”
Susan: “Oh man, I have no idea. How do we make the people who loved Harmonious interested in the show?”
Jim: “Hmm… that’s a toughie.”
Roger: “Wait, I’ve got it! Combine the names… Harminations!”
Susan: “That’s great, Rog, but maybe we should go with Luminous instead.”
Jim: “Add in a cheesy subtitle and I’ll call it in.”

Moving on, it’s great to have dates for Figment and Journey of Water out. It’s even better that Figment is meeting guests almost immediately. Everybody make this the most popular meet & greet ever so that we can have a reimagining of the Imagination Pavilion! As for Journey of Water, it has been a long road to opening but I’m glad it’s finally here. We’ll lump World Celebration into that thought too. Seeing the park without construction walls will be a treat.

The Test Track news is the biggest surprise here. I’m excited about the idea of redoing the attraction, or at least a big makeover, as I never loved Test Track 2.0. Incorporating World of Motion is an easy nod to Epcot purists and the concept art is really intriguing. This will be a ways down the road (no pun intended) but I’m hopeful that it will be a plus for the attraction!

What do you think of the Epcot news? Let us know, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below! If you are planning a trip to Disney World, then check out our guide. Looking for Walt Disney World tickets? Check out this site. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. You can do all of that on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!