Journey of Water is a new walkthrough attraction in Epcot’s World Nature. Opening in late 2023, the themed pathway is inspired by the hit Disney animated film Moana. The attraction is educational and entertaining, (I’m withstanding the urge to use ‘edutainment’) teaching guests about some of the different ways we see water in nature. In this post, we’ll give a mostly spoiler-free review of the attraction. I will be including photos which will give you a look inside so if you want zero spoilers then proceed with caution!

Gauging how much an attraction is essential to a theme park is a difficult thing. Thrill rides and E-tickets always bring in the crowds and usually help the park improve capacity. Sometimes they fit well in a park’s philosophy, other times they don’t but it’s hard to argue the impact of them either way.

Headliners are what draw people in but it’s the rest of the attraction roster that brings the park’s philosophy into full view. California Adventure has some excellent E-tickets but the rest of the rides are so disjointed and forgettable that it’s hard to understand what the park is going for. Across the esplanade, Disneyland’s less iconic rides have so much history, story and style that it’s hard not to be enveloped by the park.

On the other coast, Hollywood Studios doesn’t have enough of an undercard. There’s mainly just headlining attractions, to the point that the park feels like whiplash as you go from land to land experiencing the highlights that have next to nothing to do with each other. Even during the peak of construction, Epcot had a deeper roster of attractions but the newer ones seemed to fit less and less with the park’s philosophy. I’m looking at you, Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along!

That recent history made me apprehensive about Journey of Water coming to Epcot. Honestly, the odds were stacked against the attraction being successful between the never ending construction, a slew of other smaller scale projects getting canceled and a mishmash of ideas being put together. Fortunately, none of that mattered and Journey of Water is a perfect fit and fun experience for those that love the classic Epcot and those that don’t.

As I said, we won’t get into spoiler territory here but I’ll give a few details on how Journey of Water works. Really, there isn’t much to spoil outside of a few tricks. The walkthrough is separated into different sections – Rain, Steam, Wetland, Spring, Land, Lake, River, Ocean and Sky. Not exactly like the water cycle but it does encompass a good amount of the ways we see water in nature. In this case, in World Nature! Don’t mind me, just making jokes about theme park land names over here.

In those sections there’s generally a little bit of a written explanation on how each of those types of water come to be and how we interact with it in the real world. That’s followed by an exhibit loosely connected to that explanation. Some of the exhibits are quite small and just for viewing. Steam, for example, is really just a bunch of steam! But Journey of Water really shines in the interactive exhibits along the way. We saw children and adults (I fit into both categories, thank you very much!) both grinning from ear to ear as they experienced all of this. Some of it is simple, some are impressive theme park tricks. Either way, it’s really well executed.

In different parts of the attraction, there’s a wet path and a dry path that guests could choose to go through. I’ll make sure to state that we went during a chillier month of the year but the wet paths really didn’t get you wet. Maybe there’s more turned on during hot times of the year? Even if there is, I recommend the wet path. There’s more to see and enjoy!

As for the Moana tie-ins, there are a few but it’s not overbearing. In fact, I thought it worked pretty well. There’s the large topiary at the end that is gorgeous and a highlight of the attraction. Throughout the written explanations, there are references to, and some illustrations of, Moana but only to aid the understanding. And then there’s some fantastic carvings into Journey of Water’s rockwork. Considering how important the ocean and water is to that movie, I thought the whole integration was really well done.

Another positive this new attraction offers is the beautiful lighting package at night, not to mentioned Spaceship Earth in the background. There are lamps throughout and the water is lit in different ways, drawing people in. The final few sections of Journey of Water are so gorgeous at night to the point that I’d recommend walking through both in daytime and night. I did think the interactivity was better experienced during the day but the whole walkthrough was prettier at night. If you only have time to go once, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with either but I’d probably lean towards an evening visit.

Journey of Water captured my imagination in a way that I picture the original Epcot doing for people who experienced it. I loved the spirit of physically being able to make the water do different things in different sections, that really relayed the connectivity that the informative signs preached. Finding a direct comparison in a current theme park is a little bit tough. Fortress Explorations in Tokyo DisneySea has a similar curiosity but is built on a grander scale. The Boneyard and Maharajah Jungle Trek in Animal Kingdom have some similar ideas but one is a playground and the other doesn’t have any interactivity.

The best comparisons are in Epcot already, with ImageWorks after Figment and Project Tomorrow after Spaceship Earth. They both try to explain some of the big ideas behind each ride. The reality is that those are outdated and not very effective. Journey of Water feels like it’s meant to last as long as the different interactivity is maintained.

Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana is an excellent addition to Epcot. No, it’s not on the scale of Cosmic Rewind or Tron Lightcyle or anything of that magnitude but not everything should be. The attraction fits the park’s thesis of learning and entertaining as well as anything added in the last 10 or 15 years. Journey of Water is a joy to walk through and should remain an integral part of Epcot for a long time to come.

Have you experienced Journey of Water? Let us know your thoughts or any questions you might have in the comments below. Planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Check out our Disney World Trip Planning Guide to help you out. Looking for Disney World discount tickets? You can find them here! 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. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!