PHOTOS - Center of Future World now closed and eastern bypass walkway opens

Feb 16, 2020 in "EPCOT"

Future World East bypass walkway
Posted: Sunday February 16, 2020 9:54am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The center of Epcot's Future World is now completely closed off as the final locations in that area close and a new eastern bypass walkway opens to guests.

Guests are being directed to use the newly created walkways on each side of Spaceship earth, with the right hand-side leading to The Seas, The Land and Imagination!, and the left-side walkway between Guest Relations and Gateway Gifts leading to Mission: Space and Mouse Gear.

Along with large signs around Spaceship Earth, Cast members are holding signs and advising people on the best walkway to take.

Heading past Gateway Guests, the new concrete design is in place on the ground - replacing the pink color with a stone concrete.

Guest Relations is as far as you can go before hitting a row of walls.


A sharp left turn takes you towards the Guardians of the Galaxy construction site.


The walkway ultimately puts guests by the new Mouse Gear and into Future World East.

The old breezeway is walled off.

New FastPass+ kiosks have been installed by Test track, and near to Nemo in Future World West.


With the closure of Electric Umbrella, Sunshine Seasons offers burgers, the Epcot Experience now serves chicken nuggets and salads, and the Taste Track kiosk will offer burgers and fries near to Test Track, although this is not yet open but expected soon.

Click the gallery for more pictures of today's Epcot Future World changes.

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    Cmdr_Crimson6 minutes ago

    A " Future World" If you will..😉

    Jayspency2 hours ago

    My idea is if they really want world discovery to be the more futuristic side of the park compared to celebration and nature they could just play the innoventions loop there ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    mikejs783 hours ago

    100% this. I love the new theme but it is *everywhere*. One of the things that makes Disney for me is the different thematic music and the seamless transitions. Epcot needs more variety in this area.

    Epcot82Guy4 hours ago

    It would be really cool if they had a lounge overlooking EPCOT's spine that played old music on loop and showcased the park's history and ideas... If only...

    ToTBellHop4 hours ago

    They should play the Innoventions loop inside Communicore Hall. Might convince me to go in. I like the new loop but it should not play everywhere.

    Disstevefan16 hours ago

    I do not understand why they change the background music, they have their reasons. How cool would it be for Thursday be "Throwback Thursdays" and they play all the old background music on Thursdays this way they can still have their new background music for reasons and we can have the good old background music on Thursdays. Once word gets around EPCOT may even get a little bump in Thursday attendance :)

    Cmdr_Crimson6 hours ago

    mikejs789 hours ago

    I just spent a week at Disney... As someone who was excited for the changes to Epcot: I like what they did with East - Connections is, IMO, a *vast* improvement over Electric Umbrella, and Creations is bright and pleasant in a way MouseGear wasn't. The only thing I'd say is these need their own BGM. They had it before the new score debuted, but now that score (which in general I like) is virtually *everywhere*. Give them their own themes. Tearing down West is still a travesty, although I enjoy JoW more than I thought I would - it does fit the park. Communicore Hall is...meh. I don't see why it was needed, it doesn't feel like a festival center. Still, what the have now is better than the pictures that were there on opening... The stage is just weird. The gardens.... Oh the gardens. I wanted to like this. But it just seems so disjointed and thrown together. I was expecting beautifully manicured flowers, much like the rest of Epcot has right now (April to June) for F&G. But it's just random greenery with no color and does not at all seem well planned or taken care of. The greenery as a whole is a step up from the concrete slab that was the post-94 iteration of the spine, but it loses that bump by the lack of kinetics and especially the removal of the FoN, which is almost as much of a travesty as losing Communicore East. Add the shoddy lightning and it's a definite downgrade from the 94 version, and a significant downgrade from the original. Bring back a fountain and throw in some other kinetics (like the spinning fixtures that were there previously), fix the lighting, give the area it's own BGM, and make the planters a showpiece rather than just random greenery and it could be a very nice area. Oh how I miss that BGM... I think I'll go listen to it now. Seriously, bring back that music, have the new score be the park entrance music, give connections, creations, World Discovery and World Nature their own themes... The BGM needs more variety.

    Chef idea Mickey`=22 hours ago

    How could I forgot this! xD

    James Alucobond1 day ago

    ☝️ This. They were going to cut down the rear structure behind Spaceship Earth significantly, with the new exit spilling out onto a much larger Dreamers Point. Original site plan: Original revamped Spaceship Earth exit: Original statue placement:

    Agent H1 day ago

    Project tomorrow is the name of the interactive area at the exit of spaceship earth.

    Chef idea Mickey`=1 day ago

    Is the Project Tomorrow building the two story building? I had no idea at the some point the building was considered reducing size...!

    HauntedPirate1 day ago

    Good to know that your hindsight on things designed in the 1970's is a solid 20/20.

    DarkMetroid5671 day ago

    Weirdly fantastic discussion for this forum. Imo, a lot of the history and future discussion with EPCOT has to do with Future World being a fundamentally flawed idea for a theme park. Kinda a miracle that we have (or for some of you, had) what we have.