If you've visited EPCOT recently and noticed some fresh greenery, you're not imagining things. Walt Disney World Resort has been quietly planting new palm trees across the park this summer, with the latest additions landing in World Celebration and World Nature — two neighborhoods that replaced the former Future World area back in October 2021.
In World Celebration, a trio of palms went into a flowerbed situated between the Imagination! Pavilion and CommuniCore Hall earlier this month. That spot has historically been used for temporary festival installations — most recently a Rain or Shine Fruit Stand garden during the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival — rather than permanent plantings. Over in World Nature, a single new palm appeared near Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, standing in for a smaller tree that didn't survive a cold snap earlier in the year.
This is actually the second wave of palm tree plantings at EPCOT in recent months. Back in July, the resort added the same species near the park's main entrance, also replacing trees lost to freezing temperatures. The back-to-back landscaping efforts suggest Disney is working methodically to restore tree coverage lost during the unusually cold stretch of weather.
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The updates are modest, but they land in neighborhoods that have drawn ongoing criticism from longtime fans who feel that World Celebration and World Nature — along with CommuniCore Plaza and the World Celebration Gardens — already show signs of wear for areas that are only a few years old. Fresh landscaping won't quiet every complaint, but it's a tangible sign that the resort is tending to these spaces. Disney Fanatic first reported the World Celebration and World Nature plantings on August 12, 2026.
