For weeks, guests driving to EPCOT faced an unexpected challenge. The Moana parking lot, part of the park’s “Earth” side of parking, was closed for resurfacing and unavailable during one of the busiest times of year. Now, after a full month of construction, the lot is officially back in service as of September 27, 2025, restoring convenience to visitors who depend on those spaces.The closure began in late August, right in the middle of EPCOT’s International Food & Wine Festival, which runs through November 22. This annual event draws enormous crowds, especially on weekends, and parking is always at a premium. Guests who arrived expecting to park close to the entrance or secure a handicap-accessible space were often redirected to other areas, creating delays and longer walks. While it may have seemed like a minor inconvenience from the outside, the Moana lot plays an important role in how efficiently EPCOT operates during peak seasons.Credit: DisneyWhen the work started, much of the frustration came not just from the reduced number of available spots but also from the timing. The Food & Wine Festival is one of EPCOT’s biggest draws, bringing locals, annual passholders, and tourists into the park for food booths, wine tastings, and live entertainment. Losing one of the lots that offers a significant number of handicap spaces placed added pressure on families trying to navigate their way into the park.Now that the project is finished, the improvements are obvious. The pavement has been resurfaced, the paint refreshed, and the signage polished up to match the standards set when EPCOT overhauled its parking system in 2023. That earlier redesign swapped out the old “East” and “West” labels for themed sections named after popular Disney characters. The Earth side features Moana, Heihei, Crush, and Dory, while the Space side includes Wall-E, Eve, Rocket, and Gamora. Each section has large, colorful images to help families remember where they parked, and the My Disney Experience app includes a Car Locator tool for added assistance. With the Moana lot freshly updated, the theming is once again crisp and easy to navigate.Credit: Inside the MagicThe work might seem like a small operational detail, but it directly affects the guest experience. For many families, the first moments of a park day are spent either pulling into a clean, easy-to-find spot or circling endlessly in frustration. By resurfacing the Moana lot, Disney has ensured that the process of arriving at EPCOT feels a little smoother, which can make all the difference when you’re facing a full day of walking, eating, and standing in lines.Transportation is one of the most underappreciated parts of a Walt Disney World trip. Guests spend weeks mapping out which attractions to prioritize, which shows to see, and which dining reservations to snag, but often forget how essential it is to get to the park efficiently. A lot closure like this one forces people to budget more time and can throw off carefully planned schedules. Now that the Moana section has reopened, the balance of traffic flow has returned, and guests with mobility challenges once again have easier access to spaces that better suit their needs.This reopening also comes at a particularly critical time. EPCOT is in the middle of hosting its signature International Food & Wine Festival, which runs through Thanksgiving week. Guests flock to the park not only for rides like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure but also for the chance to sample food and drinks from around the globe. This year, excitement is especially high thanks to the debut of the “Gyozas of the Galaxy” booth, inspired by Marvel’s Guardians characters. Offering three creative dishes and two specialty beverages, the new booth is already drawing big crowds. The fact that parking has been restored just as those crowds peak is no small win for guests.Credit: Krysten Swensen, Inside the MagicThe Moana lot’s reopening is also part of EPCOT’s broader transformation. Over the past several years, the park has been steadily evolving with new attractions, updated festivals, and improved infrastructure. Moana’s Journey of Water, which opened last year, has become a family favorite and is one of the reasons EPCOT feels fresh and relevant in 2025. Even parking updates tie into this sense of renewal. Guests are greeted by bright signage, polished walkways, and themed sections that make a practical necessity feel a little more magical.Closures like this may seem minor compared to the debut of a new ride, but they ripple out in big ways. A longer walk from your car before you even scan into the park can dampen the mood. Families with strollers, elderly guests, or anyone who’s already planning for a long day of walking will notice the difference right away. Conversely, reopening the Moana lot just before some of the festival’s busiest weeks helps ensure that the guest experience starts on a positive note.Looking forward, Disney is expected to continue this pattern of staggered lot maintenance. Florida’s heat, storms, and sheer volume of cars take a toll on pavement, and refurbishments like this are simply part of keeping EPCOT functional. For now, though, there is a sense of relief knowing that one of the most critical sections of parking is available again, especially with record crowds expected to continue into the holiday season.Credit: Inside the MagicThe reopening of the Moana lot may not grab headlines like a new ride or land, but it plays a big role in how smoothly a visit unfolds. After a month of detours, longer walks, and limited spaces, guests once again have access to one of EPCOT’s most important parking sections. Pair that with the excitement of the Food & Wine Festival, and the timing couldn’t be better. Fresh pavement, colorful markings, and restored accessibility mean EPCOT is ready to welcome festival-goers, annual passholders, and first-time visitors alike.For anyone planning a trip this fall, it’s one more reason to breathe easier—literally and figuratively—as you step out of your car, take in the new paint on the ground, and start your day at a park that continues to reinvent itself both inside and out.The post EPCOT Fixes Major Guest Hassle With Long-Awaited Moana Lot Reopening appeared first on Inside the Magic.