The Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana walkthrough attraction at EPCOT will open on October 16, the company announced at Destination D23 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort on Saturday.

Journey of Water Opening Date

October 16 serves as a long-awaited tangible date for the opening of Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana; it had previously just been given a vague “late 2023” opening window. The walkthrough experience was initially announced in 2019 as part of a larger EPCOT reimagining and includes characters, imagery, and themes from the 2016 film “Moana.” Cast member previews of the attraction have been going on for weeks, with Annual Passholder previews commencing at the end of September and continuing through early October.

Disney also announced at Destination D23 that a Moana meet and greet will be coming to EPCOT to coincide with the opening of Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana. Guests will be able to meet the heroine near the attraction on October 16, 2023, the same day that the walkthrough opens.

The attraction guides guests through the cycle of water and “encourages us to protect the world’s water cycle.” It combines interactive water experiences with information about the Earth’s water supply, ringing true to EPCOT’s original goal of offering attractions that both entertain and inform.

Two different paths — a Wet Path and a Dry Path — are offered. The walkthrough is intricately detailed and contains characters from “Moana” in both obvious and subtle ways; a large green depiction of Te Fiti, a goddess from the film, appears in the attraction, but characters from and references to the film are present throughout the walkthrough in ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ fashion.

The water features throughout the attraction also range from subtle to grand; there’s a small interaction that allows guests to run their fingers through strings of water to create music, this compared to larger interactions that allow guests to feel as though they are controlling the movement of water with their own hands.

You can read our full written review of Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana here. For expanded thoughts, you can watch our video review.

Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana

Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana is one the last major additions to debut as part of a years-long EPCOT refresh that also saw the openings of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in the France Pavilion and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind inside of World Discovery. World Celebration, an EPCOT neighborhood that contains the new Dreamers Point and Walt the Dreamer statue, will formally open this December.

There are rules that one must adhere to in order to engage in the interactive water features in Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana. You can check out the full list of them here.

Are you excited that Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana finally has an opening date? Will you be at EPCOT on its opening day? Let us know in the comments.

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