With the beginning of the demolition of Leave a Legacy monoliths, Rose Walk under heavy refurbishment ahead of Food and Wine, and the general re-imagining of Epcot, International Gateway has been under construction for the longest at this point. The grand opening of the Disney Skyliner gondola system on September 29th hints that the area should be wrapping up its construction by then. However, most of the side entrance to Epcot is still behind walls and planters. Let’s take a look.
As you walk in from the Yacht and Beach Club area, there’s a long row of planters on one side of the pathway, and the temporary security checkpoint on the other. The temporary ticket booths are also still off in the distance.
For a short time, Epcot’s Skyliner station had walls and planters down, offering a glimpse into the area. Since then, tall walls have gone back up around the area, which doesn’t exactly provide a very warm welcome experience for guests.
Beyond the Skyliner, there are just more walls and planters. It’s so difficult to navigate, that there are even directional signs pointing to the entrance of the park.
The planters to the left cover the Skyliner construction area, while the planters along the right side are to cover where the old ticket booths and entrance once were.
The planters extend to the narrow corridor which leads to the temporary entrance into the park. Along this stretch, the planters turn to walls.
Looking across from the France pavilion, you can see exactly what’s going on behind the maze of planters and walls. There still appears to be a large pile of dirt, as well as heavy construction equipment. It does appear they dug up the old cement in the area, however, it doesn’t look like they’ve re-poured any new concrete yet.
A peek over the planters shows the dirt areas which have yet to see any cement poured.
It’s unclear why this project is taking so long, however, the entryway has been this way for months now. With the Food and Wine Festival coming up, the extreme construction around the park is sure to cause confusion, if not chaos with the big crowds to come.
As always, stay tuned to WDWNT.com for all the latest on this project and other Project Gamma projects to come!
So…you know it rains alot in CFL? Right? And you can’t pour concrete unless it’s going to be dry for x number of hours so it can set. Not saying that’s the only reason, buy I am sure it’s contributing to the delays.
Why are you expecting chaos. Surez it is an eyesore, but the planters are corridor to the entrance. Looks easy to navigate through…or am I missing something?