On a recent visit to Walt Disney World, one of the new attractions I was most excited to visit for the first time was Journey of Water Inspired by Moana, which recently opened for guests at EPCOT.
My husband and I love walking (or, in my case, rolling) through attractions at Disney Parks and we were very impressed with the beauty and variety of these kinds of attractions at Disneyland Paris, as they were both wheelchair accessible and fun. When we learned this water-themed attraction was in the works, we thought it would be a great addition to add a pedestrian attraction to a beautiful theme park, plus harken back to EPCOT’s educational roots.
The theme focuses on the natural cycle of water and uses art and landscaping inspired by the film Moana to tell this story, along with water features and interactive activities.
Image Description: Behind author seated in wheelchair is a pool of water surrounded by rocks, greenery, and large green statue of the goddess Te Fiti featured in Moana.
Walk or Roll Through Attraction
As a wheelchair user, I love an attraction that I can roll onto or through and be able to stay comfortable in my chair. My husband and I really enjoy gardens, parks, and taking exploratory strolls together when we travel, so a walk or roll through an attraction at a Disney theme park is a fun option for us to enjoy time together and discover a story or learn something new.
As I explained before, we really enjoyed the many pedestrian attractions in Disneyland Paris and thought more could be added to the Walt Disney World parks for both fun activity options and beautiful places to spend time or just take a break from the hustle and bustle of busy or crowded park areas. There are numerous walk-through attractions there, such as Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, the Dragon’s Lair, the Mysterious Nautilus, the Liberty Arcade, and Pirates’ Beach.
Image Description: Author seated in wheelchair wearing striped Mickey shirt, red shorts, dark glasses, and wide-brimmed hat. Behind her is lush greenery, rocks, a waterfall, and one of the attraction’s explanatory signs.
Disney World’s Animal Kingdom has two walk-throughs (in Africa and Asia) where you can also visit animals from these areas of the world. Hollywood Studios has Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which is a walkable area, though not necessarily a devoted path, and EPCOT has the various countries with paths off the main course. But the sensibility is different than a quiet place to enjoy some cultivated beauty at your own pace and time.
Interactive Elements
The attraction is divided into segments to tell the story of the water cycle, including rain, lake, river, ocean, and sky. Each area has its own styling to put you in these places and give you a sense of water in action.
In addition to the beautiful plants, rocks, and other design elements, there are interactive areas where people can place their hands, move, jump, or step to experience water, sounds, and other surprises. These were really fun and creative. I enjoyed watching others (including my husband) play with these, but I’ll admit some disappointment that, in my wheelchair, I could only try a few of them myself and didn’t see any alternate accessible versions offered.
Image Description: Author’s husband wearing a green figment shirt bends down to interact with a water feature.
Either easier-to-reach options, accessible wall buttons, or even something in the app to activate these features would have enhanced accessible inclusion for those of us with disabilities. In-app audio guides would be great for folks with visual impairments, and visual aids for people who are deaf or hearing impaired. Nothing like this was indicated or apparent during our visit. For me, this was a huge missed opportunity for the Imagineers in opening a brand-new attraction.
Entertainment
Along the attraction path, there are a lot of surprises that I don’t want to give away, but I will advise that you may get a little wet! There are dryer paths available, but water is flowing throughout the experience. I managed to stay fairly dry, but could see where a good soaking was a possible outcome. (If you are visiting on a hot day, this could be a great and fun way to cool off!)
It was a very entertaining roll with interesting (and brief) explanatory panels, fun music, and beautiful scenes of water, flowers, greenery, characters from Moana, and more. We took our time and snapped a lot of photos and experimented with the interactive elements. It was a nice half hour. As the attraction wasn’t crowded, we could pace ourselves and take breaks, and it had shady areas out of the sun.
Image Description: EPCOT ball seen over a rock wall and greenery from the attraction.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed this new attraction and learning more about the water cycle on Earth. It was beautifully done, easy for rolling through with a wheelchair, and enjoyable to slow down for a while. However, I do think the Imagineers missed out on an opportunity to work with disabled guests on incorporating accessibility features to increase inclusion and fun for all.
