EPCOT is at the dawn of a NEW ERA, and WE WERE THERE.
EPCOT
For the last several years, EPCOT has been in the midst of a massive transformation. New attractions including Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Moana Journey of Water have, for better or worse, changed the face of the park forever. Now, one of the final pieces of this reimagining is complete!
After spending years as a maze of construction walls, the former center of Future World has reopened as World Celebration — headlined by the massive CommuniCore Plaza and CommuniCore Hall. CommuniCore Hall officially opens on June 10th, and we are getting a look right now during a media preview!
It’s finally opening!
It feels surreal to finally experience the culmination of EPCOT’s transformation but we’ve made it! As we walked up to the side entrance of the building, you could really see how strategically Disney World’s Imagineer team chose the outside’s construction. When we finally stepped into the right position, we could see the true intent behind its clever design! Do you spot all the bright colors in the geometric design, too?
Look for the rainbow of colors under the tiles
Shortly after admiring the incredible details (and having the opportunity to look at them up close), we were invited inside for the very first time! Once inside, we were welcomed into a massive meeting space that fit almost exactly as Disney had described it would. There was plenty of space for people to gather.
Stepping inside for the first time!
To have a better understanding of the whole space and how large it is inside, here’s a quick look around!
We’re IN! Where should we head first?? There are so many NEW things to explore!#ThisIsMagic#WaltDisneyWorld#mediaevent pic.twitter.com/dhrwTzQcFk
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) June 9, 2024
World Discovery
…World Nature…
World Nature
…World Celebration…
World Celebration
…and World Showcase!
World Showcase
There’s also a fun retro-looking EPCOT photo op to enjoy and snap a few photos with your friends in front of!
EPCOT photo op
If you’re wondering about any entertainment to be found here, there was a band when we stepped inside.
A live band inside
How do you think they sound? We’re ready to rock now!
World Celebration has a live band playing! #ThisIsMagic#WaltDisneyWorld#mediaevent pic.twitter.com/52xoTdH6bH
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) June 9, 2024
As we stepped outside into the the plaza, we were greeted by even MORE live entertainment with a Latin band named La Calle serenading our evening. Disney said its new Encanto show will be performed on this stage during the day, and Latin bands will be playing here in the evenings.
Latin band in the plaza
The stage is set up beautifully with tons of bright colors, representative of Latin culture, and the band was a fantastic addition to keep us moving to the beat!
La Calle is ROCKIN’ the stage at CommuniCore Plaza!#ThisIsMagic#WaltDisneyWorld#mediaevent pic.twitter.com/wgHL2GjDNn
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) June 9, 2024
Grassy areas
… as well as some space BEHIND the stage area, so, really, there are plenty of places to enjoy this area’s happenings!
So much space here!
If you thought the fun was stopping there, you’re in for a treat! We also got to head inside the Mickey & Friends area within the CommuniCore Hall to get to meet a few of our favorite Disney friends! Check out how fun this lighting headed to their meet and greet is!
Fun lights
This area of the building is solely used for meet and greet space to meet with Mickey Mouse and a few of his pals! Hi, Mickey!
When you’re waiting in line outside, this is a prime opportunity to check out the colorful mural on the side of the building. We’ve spotted this before, but never as close as we are now! If you look closely, you can find Mickey and Minnie waiving from the design…
Minnie in the mural
…as well as a few nods to now-retired attractions that used to be found in EPCOT like Horzions…
Nod to older attractions
…and maybe spot a few current ones like Mission Space!
Spotted!
We had plenty of room to meet with Mickey…
Here’s a look inside the Mickey & Friends Meet and Greet! 📸#ThisIsMagic#WaltDisneyWorld#mediaevent pic.twitter.com/qmcOxj563l
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) June 9, 2024
Cassie and Mickey
To our surprise, he also invited along Minnie…
Minnie
…and Goofy to come out and say “hello” as well!
Hiya, Goofy!
Then it was time to head back outside for a special treat! We’ve been talking about EPCOT’s newest show ever since it was announced, and we were so excited to get a sneak peek at ¡Celebración Encanto! at the CommuniCore Plaza’s outdoor stage!
¡Celebración Encanto!
This show is truly something else! Your hosts for the show will greet you from the stage and will coach you through some of the most popular songs from Disney’s hit animated film, Encanto, while you belt out the lyrics (by heart or from what’s written on the screen).
¡Celebración Encanto! has a few interactive moments with the crowd like THIS one during “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”! #ThisIsMagic#WaltDisneyWorld#mediaevent pic.twitter.com/SpMZAFtTNB
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) June 9, 2024
Super interactive show
The dancers and hosts invited several kids to come up and participate on the stage to some of the songs where they were invited to hold props that help tell the story within the song like during “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”
Props!
Toward the end of the show we also were surprised again (man, those just keep coming tonight) by Mirabel AND Bruno. We know we’re not supposed to talk about him, but seriously, that guy’s got some moves! The Madrigal siblings started a CONGA LINE (YESSSS) within the crowd…
Cassie says we can talk about Bruno, just not this conga line
… and (at least for Cassie), Bruno’s nervous energy was palpable. Oh well, this seems like the most fun he’s had in a while so, we’ll let it slide, ha!
Um, Bruno… where are we going?
At the end of the show, we did have to say goodbye to the notable characters, dancers, and show hosts but we found it to be super heartwarming, lively, interactive, and fun. The kids attending seemed to really enjoy it! In between songs, the hosts will play games with trivia questions and teach simple Spanish words (which we thought was a cool feature)!
Trivia on screen
We also checked out that Festival Favorites food booth — what’s going on with it?
Festival Favorites
When we asked about it, we were told it should open with festivals — but that we might see it open for some tests on non-festival days, too.
Coming soon?
You know we’ll be keeping an eye out for menus soon with this new food spot!
We also spotted EPCOT’s newest bathrooms within the CommuniCore Hall building. We love how hidden they look against the rest of the vibrant design in a deeper navy and light blue contrast…
Bathrooms
…AND we especially loved that there’s also a water fountain and bottle refill station out front of it!
Water fountain and refill station
Once inside, we took a quick peek into the color scheme here, and we should have known that it would be vibrant! Orange is the running color throughout, and we think they totally rocked it!
Orange is the vibe here
After we had time to tour the plaza and the outside of the building, it was time to wind down our evening and take in the changing lights around the CommuniCore Hall’s exterior!
She’s so pretty at night!
We think this new space is going to fit in just fine within the World Celebration Gardens and we’re eager to officially welcome in EPCOT’s final BIG piece of its years-long transformation!
Stay tuned to DFB for more Disney World updates.
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Have you had a chance to check out the new CommuniCore area? Let us know in the comments below.
Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney World to attend their media preview of EPCOT’s CommuniCore Hall and Plaza. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ
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Its beautiful! Thank you for sharing as always. I cannot wait to experience this myself
wow wow wow! can’t wait to see if this fall!