Walt Disney World's Epcot park will get a number of updates,
Disney said Sunday at the D23 Expo.
The World Showcase section of the park will remain, but what
is today Future World will be split into three distinct "neighborhoods"
-- World Discovery, World Celebration and World Nature.
World Nature will
include The Land and The Seas with Nemo & Friends pavilions and the just-announced
Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, which Disney describes as a "lush
exploration trail that will invite you to meet and play with magical, living
water."
A Mary Poppins attraction will be added to the United
Kingdom pavilion in World Showcase. Guests will enter it by walking down Cherry
Tree Lane and enter the home of the Banks family.
A new Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along will come to the
France pavilion in World Showcase, and Canada and China will both get updated
films in their pavilions.
After the limited-run nighttime show Epcot Forever ends in
2020, it will be replaced with HarmonioUS, which Disney said will be the
largest nighttime show it has ever created. It will feature set pieces and LED
panels.
In the United Kingdom pavilion, guests will experience an attraction inspired by Mary Poppins.
The attraction housed by the park's iconic globe, Spaceship
Earth, is also being updated with a new narration, a new score and a
refurbishment that focuses the attraction on "the power of storytelling."
Epcot will also get a new pavilion that will be the home base
for festivals held throughout the year.
Also at D23, Disney announced a new planning app, Disney
Genie, that will help guests plan trips. It will automate itineraries and be
capable of making dining and FastPass reservations.