Last month, the E.T.’s Toy Closet and the attraction entrance reopened, but construction walls blocked the exit and a majority of the pathway in front of the restrooms. On July 26, construction walls came down, revealing newly refreshed pavement and planters at the exit of the E.T. Adventure.
As you approach the area, you’ll notice new construction walls have gone up around the section of pavement in front of SpongeBob StorePants and KidZone Pizza Company.
The construction walls are up around where you would find the Woody Woodpecker statue, so it’ll be interesting to see if he will survive the update. At this time, we can see that he’s still standing, proudly holding a pizza.
The pathway through the Garden of Allah is still open and will allow guests to get to the service dog relief station.
Walls were previously lined up against the planters here, but have been pushed further back. This also allows a path to get to the Animal Actors theater. Between two large portions of construction walls, the pathway is a bit narrower towards the E.T. Adventure and the restrooms, but once you turn the corner, it really opens up. And it looks fantastic.
It feels so open here now. The pavement has been redone in front of the restrooms and the exit of the E.T. Adventure. This area previously had a large planter, seats, and a food cart. The best part of this reveal is the exit of the E.T. Adventure.
Earlier this year, we reported the “deforestation” at the exit of the E.T. Adventure when the trees were removed and the area was paved over. Be sure to check out our post here to see the start of this transformation. Before construction walls went up, we were very disappointed with the removal of the trees at the exit. Now, the trees have returned, along with some beautiful new planters.
The view as you exit is so much better with the “forest” view from these trees. The major difference here seems to be that guests are no longer directed directly into E.T.’s Toy Closet, due to the spacing between all the planters at the exit. We have a feeling this could change if the gift shop sees less traffic.
The restrooms still have the same KidZone look to them. They were open during the construction, but guests needed to take a narrow pathway along the side of the construction wall to get to them. Now they’re much easier to access.
Near the entrance to the E.T. Adventure, construction continues on the new DreamWorks land. We can see a new structure has popped up near the walls in the queue. As you make your way into the attraction, you’ll notice a portion of a small building just over the top of the wall.
There are still walls lining the outdoor portion of the queue, but now that both the entrance and exit of the attraction have reopened, there are no longer walls in the preshow room. The E.T. Adventure seems to be back to its old self again. And we wouldn’t have it any other way. If you’re feeling nostalgic, watch our full POV of the E.T. Adventure below.
Typically, several Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses have entrances in the KidZone area, so it’ll be interesting to see how the construction impacts HHN 32 this year. It is possible that the construction walls will shift again, just enough to allow guests to be able to navigate their way through the area during the event.
Looking at the concept art for the new DreamWorks land, it appears we will see Shrek and Donkey return along with a new theme for Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster. Are you looking forward to seeing more changes in this area for DreamWorks land? Or are you just happy that the E.T. Adventure is safe? Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned for more updates.
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