Giant Crane Hoists New Structures at ‘Journey of Water’
With a deadline looming next year, construction work at “Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana” continues to progress swiftly at EPCOT. We popped by today to catch a glimpse of the enormous crane helping to lift larger structural elements into place.
With new nature-centric pieces installed throughout the space recently, the majority of today’s heavier lifting involved metal framing for a towering formation.
With the announcement at the D23 Fan Expo of the 16-foot Te Fiti structure that will stand as a focal point in the new attraction, the work today showed off the enormity of that design feature.
Since our last update, a plethora of new arched, white structures also started to line what we imagine will be a playful walkway section of “Journey of Water – Inspired by Moana” when it opens in World Nature.
Scaffolding also surrouned large rock structures during our peak today at the construction work. When completed, the immersive experience will transport guests into the natural elements celebrated in the 2016 feature film, “Moana.”
A scaled model shared at the D23 Expo highlighted a wealth of interactive water features, shaded spaces, and towering trees.
With a completion date of Late 2023, the space still has quite a long way to go, so we expect the crane to stick around for quite a while. Stil, it will provide a much-anticipated center point for World Nature, one of the neighborhoods at EPCOT.
Beyond “Moana” in World Nature
World Nature also includes popular pavillions like The Seas home to “The Seas with Nemo & Friends” and “Turtle Talk” attractions as well as The Land, which offers delicious dining options and the ever-popular “Soarin'” attraction.
Moana even pops up there at Sunshine Seasons, a popular quick-service stop just outside of the “Living with the Land” boat ride, a journey through biomes and EPCOT’s working greenhouses.