When Disney World first announced that it had plans to build a Moana-themed attraction in EPCOT, a lot of us were wondering exactly what Disney had in mind for the attraction.

Well, imagine everyone’s confusion when we all learned that this new attraction would be a walkthrough thing where you were allowed to play with water (with is keeping with the classic edutainment theme of EPCOT). Well, the attraction officially opened in 2023, and since then, we’ve heard some conspiracy theories (okay, so we might’ve also added our own) about Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana.

It contains the soul of Dwayne Johnson

So Dwayne Johnson, who voiced Maui in Moana and will be reprising his role in the live-action Moana and Moana 2, is a pretty vital part of the Moana story, right? Well, Disney knew that they needed to include him in some way in the EPCOT attraction. So they got Te Ka (Te Fiti’s darker alter ego) to trap his soul in the Heart of Te Fiti.

Okay, this didn’t happen…like at all. But Dwayne Johnson IS all about Moana and mentions it a lot on his social media, so it’s sort of believable, right?

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It affected the color of another attraction

So one thing we noticed around the time Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana opened is that the nearby The Seas with Nemo and Friends pavilion got a change in paint color. The pavilion was painted a sand color, and the theory is that it was because you can see the building from inside the Moana attraction and its previous blue was distracting.

Is this true? Who knows? But The Seas with Nemo and Friends did get a new paint job so that much is true.

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Not enough water pressure

When Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana started being tested and had early previews, there were times when other water features in EPCOT were turned off (we saw it at the Imagination Pavilion, Land Pavilion, and The Seas Pavilion). The theory is that EPCOT didn’t have enough water pressure for those things PLUS the new attraction.

Is this true? Who knows? But it makes sense, although you would think Imagineers would’ve figured that out. However, we’ve still seen times where the jumping fountains have been turned off at the Imagination Pavilion.

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The attraction was just an excuse for a bathroom

So yes, this is unfounded, but we’ll admit we were very surprised to see a bathroom in the middle of the Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana attraction. But this is one of the nicest bathrooms in Disney World. Disney World does love a pretty bathroom, after all (which is why there’s a Rapunzel tower in Magic Kingdom, right?).

It IS odd that Disney chose to put a bathroom in the middle of this walkthrough attraction when rides with super long lines still don’t have bathroom access.

See more photos of the bathroom

It closes during the rain

So there’s a thing where some people believe that the attraction closes when it rains. It IS an outdoor attraction, after all. And we all know all outdoor attractions close when it rains (or at least when there’s a storm). But this isn’t really a ride, so it’s a little different.

A Cast Member told us that Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana when it will close even if it’s not raining hard if there has been lightning reported in the area (which is the rule of thumb for most outdoor attractions). That could explain why someone might think it closes if it rains even a little.

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Te Fiti is meant to do something

When Disney World showed off that massive Te Fiti figure in Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana, a lot of folks thought she would be one of the interactive features. Many people thought that if you waved your arms or made a certain kind of movement, it would cause Te Fiti to move in some way.

However, as we’ve seen, that is not the case. But now we think Disney missed out on a very cool opportunity. Think at how AMAZING that Te Fiti would be if she just had a little bit of movement!

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So as you can see, there has been some speculation about the ride, plus a few things we thought on our own. However, most of these things are probably untrue, but it’s fun to theorize, right?

Stay tuned to DFB for more.

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What conspiracy theory have you heard about Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana? Let us know in the comments!