Epcot currently has a massive expansion coming in the next few years on a level we have never really seen in an existing park at Walt Disney World, although some of that is now in doubt.
But even after this expansion, there is still room for a few new attractions, and even potentially entire new pavilions someday in both Future World (or whatever it ends up being called) and the World Showcase.
Let us take you through all the expansion pads still in Epcot, and what they could potentially be used for.
Between The Seas and The Land
This is the last pavilion in the current Future World capable of holding an entirely new pavilion. It could also potentially be used for an expansion of The Land or The Seas with Nemo and Friends like how Soarin was added on to The Land. I would not expect anything to go here any time soon. It's just too big and without any immediate plans for it, it will likely be over a decade until something comes here.
Center of Future World
This was announced to be the home of the new Festival Center and Moana Journey of Water, but the future of both of these attractions is in doubt. This could lead to a massive expansion pad in the middle of Future World. If this happens it won't be empty for long. Even if they just reuse what is still there, they can't leave it empty for long.
UK Expansion Pad
The UK Pavilion has an expansion pad that could be used for one or several new attractions. While Mary Poppins may us some of this, it appears at least some of the pad will still exist afterward. That is if Mary Poppins is even built. If Mary Poppins gets built we could see the rest of the pad taken up by permanent shops and the queue. If not, it will likely stay empty indefinitely.
Extra Countries
For this, we are talking about the pink, blue, green, and yellow expansion pads.
Green was recently rumored to be under consideration for the Brazil pavilion, but with its lack of an announcement at D23, it is safe to assume this project is dead.
Yellow is currently being used for staging for Harmonious, so it will be available again once it opens.
All of these are equally likely to be used whenever Disney should choose to add a country. Given that it has been 20 years since the last one, I am not placing any bets on when this will be.
Half Country Expansion Pads
There are a lot of half expansion pads in the World Showcase, not big enough for a full country but big enough for an attraction or shop. They are all labeled in blue.
The one above is behind the Royal Sommerhus Anna and Elsa meet and greet. This was a full expansion pad until the meet and greet was added. It could easily be one again if the meet and greet were relocated elsewhere on property. If not this won't ever be used, as both Mexico and Norway already have attractions.
We are going to discuss all of these expansion pads from left to right.
As Ratatouille has been added, this is no longer a full expansion pad. It could easily become home to a small expansion of France or Morocco in the form of a shop or small attraction, but not much else. I would expect this to only be in use as a festival location.
The two pads bordering the American Adventure are never going to be used. They are too narrow and would impact the forced perspective of the American Adventure should anything be built there.
The final one is the planned location for the never-built Rhine River Cruise attraction. The building for this attraction was never built, leaving a hole that may never be filled. A show building could be put up here relatively easily, but without any hot Disney IPs taking place in Germany I doubt it. If Disney makes an incredibly popular animated adaptation of Hansel and Grettle or something then we can talk.
Speculation
Those are all of the current expansion pads, but Epcot has been willing to expand beyond current borders in the past, with Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind taking up a newly reclaimed piece of land. This could always happen again, but we would have some advanced notice through permits.
So I want to know what you think. Which of these do you think will be used first? Let us know in the comments below and check out our exploration of the expansion pads of the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland, and come back next week when we explore the expansion pads of Disney's Hollywood Studios.
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