Walt Disney World has filed a construction permit with Orange County for “Project G,” the suspected code name for the planned renovation of Epcot beginning with its entrance plaza.
The permit filed Monday lists the contractor as Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., whose portfolio includes Prime Outlets Orlando and several Disney Springs projects such as the T-Rex restaurant and renovations to its Rainforest Cafe location. Work on “Project G” is described as “enabling works at north pathways. Includes sitework, demo, hardscape, landscaping.”
The full construction permit can be read here.
Disney recently announced major changes to Epcot’s entrance plaza, including the relocation of the Leave a Legacy photos — derisively dubbed “tombstones” — to make way for new green spaces and pathways.
“I’m thrilled to see a new entrance that seems to be a throwback to the original EPCOT Center entrance from 1982,” Bill Zanetti, a founding member of the University of Central Florida’s Entertainment Management Advisory Board, told Orlando Rising. “It will really open up the space.”
In the same Feb. 21 announcement, Disney also said “additional significant redevelopment” for the space between Spaceship Earth and World Showcase would be revealed at a later date.
Similar to how Disney’s Hollywood Studios has arguably been as much of a construction site as a theme park in recent years, Epcot will have numerous overlapping projects ahead of Disney World’s 50th anniversary.
Already underway is the construction of a “Guardians of the Galaxy” roller coaster behind the former Universe of Energy pavilion and a new “Ratatouille” ride imported from Disneyland Paris for the France pavilion. Additional projects that have been announced include the old Wonders of Life building being transformed into a new interactive “play pavilion.”
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