I just saw the new T-land movie (let's abbreviate it TL from now on). I thought it was fantastic! But that's a discussion for another thread. I wanted to discuss an idea I had earlier concerning refurbishing and re-theming EPCOT's future world as the movie's TL.
I was wondering, earlier, if TL the movie was an effort on Disney's part to try and define what TL in the parks is supposed to represent. TL struggles because what made sense in 1955 as "the future" stopped making as much sense by 1975. Now we have this weird alien/cartoon theme in Orlando that means next to nothing.
TL is that place in Magic Kingdom where they have Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain and a high-capacity eatery. The theming sort of matches the kitsch Buzz space/alien theme, which is sad because Buzz is supposed to be a fake cartoon show to sell fake toys within a children's movie franchise. Okay okay, please don't misread my criticism. Toy Story is great, but TL as a concept has some really important overtones that Walt would be sad to see missing from his parks today. I want to fix this problem with an idea.
-spoiler time-
So in the movie universe a bunch of scientists found a secret organization to study technology to its limits. It's called "Plus Ultra" which basically is latin for disregarding boundaries and, specifically, frontiers. The secrecy of the group is a consequence of the fact that technological frontiers bring huge social changes that can disrupt and hurt society. But their research discovers an alternate earth in another dimension which has no humans on it. It's a place where they can push the boundaries without harming or being harmed by normal society. They decide the time has come to invite the world in and start sharing their progress with people, until some movie drama happens that makes it so they don't.
At the end of the film, TL is open for business again, recruiting people to come join TL and be a part of the "future".
Traditionally this group, which included Walt Disney, has used things like the world's fair, even TL at Disneyland, to recruit and "prepare" mankind for TL.
-end of spoilers-
I envision E.P.C.O.T. rethemed as "Orlando World's Fair". It can still be called EPCOT, maybe "EPCOT World Fair". Either way it's supposed to be a World's Fair that is being held in Orlando according to a wish of Walt Disney to do so on his property, to showcase his idea for an "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" to the world.
So the fair features exhibits from around the world, and also some intermediary theming (where Odyssey is, etc.) that is "World's Fair"-ish.
The front entry is "World's Fair"-ish. A dual gallery modern "Crystal Palace" of permanent world's fair themed exhibits. It is just an entry portal and meant to give the impression you're entering a world's fair. It could be a poor man's innoventions - brief exhibits about whatever is high tech nowadays.
My mother works for the government and she was invited to consider sponsoring an innoventions exhibit, but Diz wanted the agency to pay a lot of money to sponsor it. These billboard type things I'm speaking of can be cheap so that many agencies and companies can sponsor this sort of thing.
Then, you'll have Walt's "EPCOT" exhibit. This is "cover" for a preview to the public of the other-worldly Tomorrowland.
So, to the sides of spaceship earth there will be walkways which go under bridge like terraces to the international exhibits. These will have access to restrooms and some shops, and will have access to the TL areas, but this access will be subtle so that the theme isn't ruined.
So, if you turn wide on each side of spaceship earth you have these passages, but if you turn narrow on either side there are these big "portals" in the shape of those in the movie that you can walk through. Your paths will converge behind spaceship earth and reveal the plaza of Tomorrowland. On either side of this plaza will be raised terraces with sky bridges to the various pavilions (sea, mind, space, energy, transport).
All the future world pavilions will remain, but be re-themed to TL. These are the institutes of special study where scientists are working on the boundaries of each of these fields, sort of giving purpose to each pavilion where it is greatly needed (like at energy and imagination).
The two terraces will have new buildings that tower next to the spaceship earth ball. These will be decorative but also feature new TL rides.
One such ride could be a jetpack roller coaster. Etc.
Spaceship earth would become "the monitor" which is used to show the history of Plus Ultra and Tomorrowland. If you haven't seen the movie, the monitor - well, one thing it does is show images a la one of those IMAX dome things.
I think this would be almost like having a 3/4 new gate. I envision this as a serious expansion of EPCOT. You'd rip out and retool the existing pavilions and add substantial construction. I'd do it by referbishing the East side, then the West, so you either still have half of the old, or half of the new available for park goers to attend during construction.
As for TL in Magic Kingdom...
Well, STAR WARS!!!
Why not at Hollywood? Well, Star Wars has been traditionally franchise who's theme was "Movie magic". Now that Disney will likely make Star Wars an anchor of their empire, they would want to brand Star Wars as a multi-media space fantasy franchise. This would work perfectly if you put the Star Wars presence in MK. It would also balance out MK on a girl stuff/boy stuff, kid stuff/tween stuff level, perfectly.
Now what about Buzz and Laugh floor?
Well, if Hollywood studios is no longer going to be the home of Star Wars (moving Star Tours to MK), then you can easily make Hollywood Studios at least a "half Pixar" park. So move Buzz and Laugh floor there, add Cars, UP!, and so forth, and you can brand it "Pixar Hollywood Studios". This is easy marketing, as tourists will immediately understand what "Pixar" means in terms of a theme park.
This shifting of rides is probably fairly cheap compared to what you'd think. They can use existing show pieces AND existing buildings. As for Star Wars - that's worth the investment.
So as expensive as this all seems, it would solve the "what to do with Hollywood Studios", "how to save EPCOT from slow rot", and "where to put Star Wars" problems in an exciting and sensible way.
The only tricky thing is the EPCOT re-theme, in terms of cost. Still, I've offered one idea of how this could look.
TL at EPCOT.
I was wondering, earlier, if TL the movie was an effort on Disney's part to try and define what TL in the parks is supposed to represent. TL struggles because what made sense in 1955 as "the future" stopped making as much sense by 1975. Now we have this weird alien/cartoon theme in Orlando that means next to nothing.
TL is that place in Magic Kingdom where they have Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain and a high-capacity eatery. The theming sort of matches the kitsch Buzz space/alien theme, which is sad because Buzz is supposed to be a fake cartoon show to sell fake toys within a children's movie franchise. Okay okay, please don't misread my criticism. Toy Story is great, but TL as a concept has some really important overtones that Walt would be sad to see missing from his parks today. I want to fix this problem with an idea.
-spoiler time-
So in the movie universe a bunch of scientists found a secret organization to study technology to its limits. It's called "Plus Ultra" which basically is latin for disregarding boundaries and, specifically, frontiers. The secrecy of the group is a consequence of the fact that technological frontiers bring huge social changes that can disrupt and hurt society. But their research discovers an alternate earth in another dimension which has no humans on it. It's a place where they can push the boundaries without harming or being harmed by normal society. They decide the time has come to invite the world in and start sharing their progress with people, until some movie drama happens that makes it so they don't.
At the end of the film, TL is open for business again, recruiting people to come join TL and be a part of the "future".
Traditionally this group, which included Walt Disney, has used things like the world's fair, even TL at Disneyland, to recruit and "prepare" mankind for TL.
-end of spoilers-
I envision E.P.C.O.T. rethemed as "Orlando World's Fair". It can still be called EPCOT, maybe "EPCOT World Fair". Either way it's supposed to be a World's Fair that is being held in Orlando according to a wish of Walt Disney to do so on his property, to showcase his idea for an "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow" to the world.
So the fair features exhibits from around the world, and also some intermediary theming (where Odyssey is, etc.) that is "World's Fair"-ish.
The front entry is "World's Fair"-ish. A dual gallery modern "Crystal Palace" of permanent world's fair themed exhibits. It is just an entry portal and meant to give the impression you're entering a world's fair. It could be a poor man's innoventions - brief exhibits about whatever is high tech nowadays.
My mother works for the government and she was invited to consider sponsoring an innoventions exhibit, but Diz wanted the agency to pay a lot of money to sponsor it. These billboard type things I'm speaking of can be cheap so that many agencies and companies can sponsor this sort of thing.
Then, you'll have Walt's "EPCOT" exhibit. This is "cover" for a preview to the public of the other-worldly Tomorrowland.
So, to the sides of spaceship earth there will be walkways which go under bridge like terraces to the international exhibits. These will have access to restrooms and some shops, and will have access to the TL areas, but this access will be subtle so that the theme isn't ruined.
So, if you turn wide on each side of spaceship earth you have these passages, but if you turn narrow on either side there are these big "portals" in the shape of those in the movie that you can walk through. Your paths will converge behind spaceship earth and reveal the plaza of Tomorrowland. On either side of this plaza will be raised terraces with sky bridges to the various pavilions (sea, mind, space, energy, transport).
All the future world pavilions will remain, but be re-themed to TL. These are the institutes of special study where scientists are working on the boundaries of each of these fields, sort of giving purpose to each pavilion where it is greatly needed (like at energy and imagination).
The two terraces will have new buildings that tower next to the spaceship earth ball. These will be decorative but also feature new TL rides.
One such ride could be a jetpack roller coaster. Etc.
Spaceship earth would become "the monitor" which is used to show the history of Plus Ultra and Tomorrowland. If you haven't seen the movie, the monitor - well, one thing it does is show images a la one of those IMAX dome things.
I think this would be almost like having a 3/4 new gate. I envision this as a serious expansion of EPCOT. You'd rip out and retool the existing pavilions and add substantial construction. I'd do it by referbishing the East side, then the West, so you either still have half of the old, or half of the new available for park goers to attend during construction.
As for TL in Magic Kingdom...
Well, STAR WARS!!!
Why not at Hollywood? Well, Star Wars has been traditionally franchise who's theme was "Movie magic". Now that Disney will likely make Star Wars an anchor of their empire, they would want to brand Star Wars as a multi-media space fantasy franchise. This would work perfectly if you put the Star Wars presence in MK. It would also balance out MK on a girl stuff/boy stuff, kid stuff/tween stuff level, perfectly.
Now what about Buzz and Laugh floor?
Well, if Hollywood studios is no longer going to be the home of Star Wars (moving Star Tours to MK), then you can easily make Hollywood Studios at least a "half Pixar" park. So move Buzz and Laugh floor there, add Cars, UP!, and so forth, and you can brand it "Pixar Hollywood Studios". This is easy marketing, as tourists will immediately understand what "Pixar" means in terms of a theme park.
This shifting of rides is probably fairly cheap compared to what you'd think. They can use existing show pieces AND existing buildings. As for Star Wars - that's worth the investment.
So as expensive as this all seems, it would solve the "what to do with Hollywood Studios", "how to save EPCOT from slow rot", and "where to put Star Wars" problems in an exciting and sensible way.
The only tricky thing is the EPCOT re-theme, in terms of cost. Still, I've offered one idea of how this could look.
TL at EPCOT.