BAY LAKE, Fla. — The new statue of Walt Disney was unveiled at EPCOT on Monday during a dedication ceremony that included park leaders and legacy cast members.
What You Need To Know
- Disney World held a dedication ceremony Monday, unveiling the new Walt Disney statue and the World Celebration Gardens
- The new area, which is part of EPCOT's massive transformation, will officially open to visitors Tuesday
- The gardens include new seating and shaded areas; it will also feature festival elements throughout the year
The bronze figure, named “Walt the Dreamer,” is part of a new area of the park called Dreamers Point, which is behind Spaceship Earth. The statue represents the Disney founder later in life as he dreamed up plans for EPCOT.
Seated on a bench, the Walt Disney statue overlooks the other new area of the park, World Celebration Gardens—which includes greenery, new seating and shade.
“The debut of this new space and beautiful statue of Walt contemplating one of his biggest dreams means so much to the transformation and all that EPCOT represents,” said Kartika Rodriguez, vice president of EPCOT, during the ceremony.
The area will officially open to visitors on Tuesday with a new background music scored by composer Pinar Toprak, who created the new EPCOT anthem.
Dreamers Point and World Celebration Gardens are the latest part of the park’s transformation to be completed.
For this new outdoor space, Imagineers went back to the beginning, using elements inspired by EPCOT’s original design.
At the center is the area is a large planter surrounded by pavement that is inspired by EPCOT’s “flower” logo, which features Earth in the center surrounded by five linked rings.
“So when you’re coming to this space, what we’re trying to say visually is that this is the heart of EPCOT,” said Daniel Bertin, a project coordinator at Walt Disney Imagineering. “And the heart of EPCOT is about bringing people together and that’s what World Celebration is all about.”
The area will also become more alive during the park’s different festivals.
“Being able to bring the whole festival atmosphere into this part of the park is really critical because we know our guests have always loved all the festival activity that happens in World Showcase,” Bertin said. “And now we’re going to be able to bring that forward into this part of the park as well and give them even more opportunities to relax, enjoy, and do the kiosk—everything they loved about the festival atmosphere but do it up here.”
Dreamers Point and World Celebration follows other new additions at EPCOT, including Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
The park’s new nighttime show “Luminous the Symphony of Us,” which features a score from Toprak, debuts along with the new World Celebration area on Tuesday—which is also Walt Disney’s birthday.
