Disney World has just unveiled a new part of EPCOT’s new Moana-themed attraction, as well as new elements from the new experience, scheduled to open later this year.
Disney’s Imagineers have been hard at work just inside the gates at Disney World’s second park, where they’re creating a brand-new experience for Guests, using Disney magic to bring to life one of the studio’s most beloved animated films. The attraction, called The Journey of Water, is inspired by the story from Disney’s 2016 animated feature film, Moana, and will be a walk-through experience that takes a look at the water cycle as only Disney Parks can present it.
Though the focus of the attraction is the water cycle, the focal point has long been touted as a glorious 16-foot-tall topiary in the likeness of Te Fiti. In the story of Moana, Te Fiti is a goddess who has the ability to create life–an ability that she used to create the islands included in Polynesia. But her heart was stolen by the demi-god Maui, forcing her to become Te Ka, a demon made of earth and fire, who is the ultimate antagonist in the story.
Earlier this year, Disney let Guests in on the process by which Te Fiti would eventually be brought to life at EPCOT, saying:
“Imagineers began by making clay models, called maquettes, to study the overall proportions of Te Fiti. They referenced “Moana” and used sketches and photographs to study ways the figure could embody the idea of protecting water.”
The long, painstaking process of bringing the 16-foot-tall likeness of Te Fiti to EPCOT has finally paid off, and on Wednesday, Disney allowed Guests behind the construction walls that surround the site, located in EPCOT’s World Nature neighborhood, where The Journey of Water attraction is being built, giving them a new, up-close and personal look at the beauty that’s being infused into the all-new experience based on Disney’s Moana (2016), especially the beauty that’s being infused into the Te Fiti topiary.
Disney Parks further revealed the new logo for EPCOT’s soon-to-be-completed attraction. Scott Gustin with Nexstar Media shared an image of the new logo, which will be featured at EPCOT and presumably on merchandise inspired by the brand-new Moana-themed experience in the World Nature neighborhood just inside the park beyond the Spaceship Earth geodesic structure.
https://twitter.com/ScottGustin/status/1691826195396952310
No official opening date for The Journey of Water has been announced by Disney World so far, but Disney is sticking with its most recent projection of an opening sometime later this year.
