Welcome back to our Series of Unpopular Opinions, where we throw something out there that Disney fans may completely disagree with and then hand the conversation over to you. This time, I’ve got one that has been nagging at me ever since I spent some time exploring Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana at EPCOT.
I like this attraction. Let me get that out of the way first.
Journey of Water is beautiful. The landscaping is gorgeous, the interactive water features are fun, and I love the enormous Te Fiti. There’s something relaxing about wandering through the area, especially if you take your time instead of treating it as another attraction you need to check off your list. Kids can play with the water, adults can appreciate some of the details, and there’s an educational component woven through the experience.
But the whole time I was there, one thought kept popping into my head:
Why isn’t this at Disney’s Animal Kingdom?
Journey of Water officially opened at EPCOT in October 2023 as part of the park’s massive transformation. Disney placed it in World Nature, one of the three neighborhoods that replaced what we knew for decades as Future World. The attraction follows water as it travels from the sky to the ocean and back again, allowing guests to interact with it while learning about the water cycle.
On paper, I understand the EPCOT connection.
World Nature is also home to The Land and The Seas with Nemo & Friends. An attraction about water, conservation, and our relationship with the natural world certainly isn’t out of left field. In fact, Disney specifically describes Moana as a steward of water conservation and Te Fiti as a symbol of protecting and nurturing water.
That’s very EPCOT. And yet…
When I actually stroll through Journey of Water, I don’t feel like I’m in EPCOT. Maybe that’s where my hang-up is.
The lush tropical landscaping, rockwork, waterfalls, winding pathways, and enormous Te Fiti figure all feel like they would be completely at home in Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Even the attraction’s underlying message about respecting and protecting the natural world seems perfectly suited to a park built around conservation and our relationship with nature.
Imagine Journey of Water tucked somewhere into Animal Kingdom, surrounded by the park’s already incredible landscaping. To me, it wouldn’t require much convincing at all. It feels like it belongs there.
There’s also the Moana connection itself. While I don’t think every Disney attraction needs to be placed according to its movie’s setting, Moana is so deeply tied to nature, the ocean, exploration, and the relationship between people and the environment that Animal Kingdom seems like an incredibly natural home for it.
I realize there’s one big problem with my argument: Where would Disney have put it?
That’s the part I haven’t figured out.
Journey of Water occupies a substantial piece of real estate, and dropping an attraction of that size into Animal Kingdom isn’t as simple as saying, “Stick it over there!” I’m also not suggesting Disney should pick the whole thing up and move it now. Obviously, that’s not happening. I’m talking about the original decision.
If Imagineering had started with Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana and asked, Which Walt Disney World theme park is the best thematic home for this experience? would EPCOT really have been the answer?
For me, I think it would have been Animal Kingdom. But that’s why we’re calling this an unpopular opinion.
Maybe you see Journey of Water as exactly what the reimagined EPCOT needed. Maybe its educational component reminds you of the EPCOT many Disney fans grew up with, when attractions entertained them while quietly teaching them something along the way. And with The Land and The Seas right there, you could make a strong argument that World Nature is precisely where it belongs.
So now I’m curious.
If you could go back to the planning stages, would you still put Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana in EPCOT? Or would you have found a home for it at Disney’s Animal Kingdom?
And if Animal Kingdom isn’t your answer, where would you put it?
Sound off below. I’m especially curious to see whether I’m actually holding an unpopular opinion with this one, or whether more of you have been walking through Journey of Water thinking the exact same thing.
