Could another EPCOT project be on the chopping block?

The Mary Poppins attraction that was previously announced for the park has been placed “on hold,” and the Spaceship Earth reimagining has also been postponed. We’ve also seen plans for the festival space in World Celebration change over time. But other new things announced for EPCOT have opened — like Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. So what could (or should) happen with the Play! Pavilion that had been announced for EPCOT? Should it just be cut from EPCOT’s construction plans? We’re breaking down everything you need to know.

What Is the Play! Pavilion?

The Play! Pavilion was announced a number of years ago as part of the EPCOT transformation. It is a new pavilion that is set to take the place of the Wonders of Life pavilion.

It is meant to be a “digital metropolis” — a “city” setting of sorts that is full of interactive games, experiences, entertainment, hands-on activities, and interactions with Disney characters (both virtual and real).

Zach Riddley (from the Disney Imagineering team) previously shared that the pavilion was “beyond anything we’ve ever created,” “built on the power of play,” and “worthy” of their “bold vision” for EPCOT.

Some of the experiences that had been announced for this pavilion included helping Edna Mode (from The Incredibles) on her “quest to rid the world of uninspired style,” and competing in a water balloon fight with Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby.

Check out our full page on the Play! Pavilion here

How Far Has it Come Already?

Some Not-So-Great Signs

The Play! Pavilion was set to open in time for Disney World’s 50th Anniversary (which began back in 2021). The pavilion has not been completed and has not opened to the public. Technically, the 50th Anniversary doesn’t end until March 31st, 2023, so it could theoretically open before the celebration’s end, but that might not be realistic.

We’ve seen construction off and on at this spot, on the outside of the building. But since everything would essentially be housed indoors, we haven’t really been able to see how far construction has come along inside.

Construction hasn’t been all that frequent though. We’ve only seen workers up on the building here and there. It’s nothing compared to the action we’ve seen at spots like Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana or TRON.

Another thing that could be a “bad sign” for this pavilion is that Disney hasn’t really discussed it in recent updates. At the D23 Expo, the Play! Pavilion was not really mentioned at all, despite there being an entire panel dedicated to the future of the Disney parks and other announcements made for EPCOT.

Disney hasn’t discussed this project or really provided an update on it in a LONG time. That doesn’t exactly bode well for the project’s future, considering the updates Disney has given on other ongoing work.

But It’s Not All Bad

But it’s not all bad news. As we mentioned above, though construction hasn’t been as fast and furious at this spot as it is in other places, we have seen some people on the roof of the pavilion as recently as October of 2022.

And while Disney has announced that projects like the Mary Poppins EPCOT attraction are “on hold” or otherwise paused, they have not officially made that statement for the Play! Pavilion. (Key word: officially.)

Plus, on July 14th, 2022, Disney filed a notice of commencement for a “general contractor package” with an address matching the Wonders of Life building. The contractor listed was Balfour Beatty Construction LLC, which has worked on a variety of other projects like Sesame Street Land at SeaWorld Orlando and Loews Sapphire Falls Resort at Universal Orlando.

That notice of commencement doesn’t expire until December 31st, 2024. That gives Disney a LOT more time to really get things together. So maybe they’re just taking their time in finalizing this spot.

The Play! Pavilion has also appeared on some recent park maps for EPCOT.

And the matted print for the Play! Pavilion poster still appears on shopDisney.

But, strangely, the product description for it still says that the pavilion is “scheduled to open in 2021.” 😂  So who knows if that poster will get removed from the online store soon.

Should Disney Just CUT the Play! Pavilion?

The fate of the Play! Pavilion is sort of up in the air at the moment, which leads us to the core of this article — should Disney just cut the pavilion? Should it cancel the pavilion altogether and just move on?

The Pros

There are a number of reasons why Disney might want to cancel the Play! Pavilion and reasons why they’d actually benefit from the cancelation.

First, if they cut the Play! Pavilion, it saves them from having to spend more money on it. Disney would no longer need to contract anyone to work on/build the pavilion, Imagineers would be freed up to work on “more pressing” projects, and Disney would not need to pay for any more materials, etc. associated with the project.

Considering the big losses in streaming that Disney has reported lately and the hiring freeze announced, they may be looking at cost-cutting measures across the board to help their financial situation.

Second, the Play! Pavilion sounds like it was meant to be a very interactive space, which would likely equal some high-touch environments. Given the COVID-19 pandemic and the heavy focus on sanitizing high-touch areas, creating an entire experience that is dependent on spaces multiple guests would have to touch one right after the other might be a bit more concerning or questionable now.

Disney might feel that keeping these spaces sufficiently sanitized (to the level people want and expect now, following their experience with COVID-19) might not be as feasible as it was before. They may be thinking about what would have to happen in this space should another COVID-19-like pandemic occur. Would it just have to close?

Is it even worth it to build a space like this? Will guests no longer feel comfortable having to participate in such high-touch experiences, now that they’ve gone through COVID-19? Those considerations could have Disney reevaluating this space as a whole.

Third, if Disney shuts down the idea of the Play! Pavilion, they may be able to use this space for something else. It’s possible that within the last few years/months, different ideas for this space have been proposed that Disney feels are “better.” If the Play! Pavilion project is cut, that gives Disney the opportunity to switch to another idea they may prefer (or another idea that might be cheaper to create).

Finally, Disney may be reevaluating the Play! Pavilion considering its “Tomorrowland Problem.” What’s the “Tomorrowland Problem,” you ask? Well, it’s the issue that Tomorrowland (within the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland) suffers. Tomorrowland was meant to represent tomorrow — the world of the future. The problem with a theme park is that technology might be “futuristic” when you start planning for a new ride/experience, but (oftentimes) by the time it reaches the park, it’s outdated.

Even if rides/experiences are built quickly, changes in technology can happen faster than the time it takes to build/update an area. That’s a big reason why Tomorrowland in Disneyland was rebuilt with a slightly different feel/theme some years after its initial opening — focusing less on the actual future and more on the idea of a space port and “The Future That Never Was and Always Will Be.” Still, the design continues to date itself in many ways.

Disney may be fearful that the Play! Pavilion will suffer a similar fate, as it appears to be based heavily on interactive and immersive technology — technology that may change just minutes, days, weeks, or months after it appears in the park. By the time the interactive Edna Mode game becomes available, how many people will be able to do something very similar or something BETTER on their own iPads or Nintendo Switch devices at home? Would the pavilion constantly suffer from being out of date?

Choosing not to open the pavilion at all would alleviate that concern.

The Cons

But it’s not all good news if Disney decides to cut this pavilion.

First, a lot of work has undoubtedly already gone into the pavilion in terms of designing it, some construction work at least from the outside, and likely other things. Disney has already invested money in the project — are they willing to throw that away?

Second, the pavilion has already been announced to fans. Now, from a purely technical perspective, that doesn’t really mean anything. Disney has announced several projects that never got to see the light of day. So it’s not as though this will prevent Disney from cutting it. But if Disney does cut this project, it would join the list of broken promises made by the Company.

That’s not exactly great for Disney’s track record, and it can leave a bad taste in fans’ mouths if the Company is seen as repeatedly announcing things only to later cancel them. It can cause fans to lose their sense of trust in the Company’s announcements and taint future announcements with a heavier sense of skepticism as to whether anything will actually get done.

Third, the Play! Pavilion is meant to be an indoor experienced, housed within the old Wonders of Life Pavilion. That alone — having a place that can hold many guests indoors for an extended period of time — is a great benefit in Florida, where intense rain or heat can often impact plans.

A sizeable indoor pavilion could provide a much-needed air conditioning-filled refuge for fans.

Fourth, the old Wonders of Life building is BIG. This is not just a tiny space that is going unused. It is a MASSIVE building that used to house multiple attractions. And it’s just sitting there…empty. It used to be used for some Festival-related merchandise and activities, but that will likely all be housed in the upcoming CommuniCore Hall.

If Disney cancels the Play! Pavilion, that building will just continue to go unused. That’s valuable real estate not being utilized to its maximum potential. Not to mention, Disney will presumably continue to maintain the building at least to some minimum standards (a.k.a. they won’t just let it totally deteriorate). That likely involves pumping some AC in the building and doing some other “bare minimum” work there. So they’d have to spend at least a little bit of money on a building that is going unused.

Going off of the space being large, having it sit empty likely doesn’t help with EPCOT’s capacity. If the Play! Pavilion is built (or at least the building is used in some way), that could help with capacity — providing another area for guests to visit. And Disney might even be able to increase the capacity of the park.

Finally, the Play! Pavilion was meant to have a number of digital experiences. If created in a flexible way, those spaces could potentially be updated to feature new characters and new experiences as Disney releases new movies. That could provide more flexibility and more opportunities in the future.

So, there are a number of ways to look at this — and there are reasons that could compel Disney to go either way. What do you think? Should Disney just scrap the Play! Pavilion? Should they transform it into something new? Let us know in the comments!

For more news about EPCOT, check out the links below:

• A Figment meet-and-greet is coming to EPCOT
• Learn about the NEW Festival areas coming to EPCOT — CommuniCore Hall and CommuniCore Plaza
• A new nighttime show is coming to EPCOT

And stay tuned for all the latest updates!

Tell us your thoughts on the Play! Pavilion in the comments below.