An "update" wouldn't have cured the general lack of interest/excitement the general guest felt about Horizons. Yes, it had high capacity, but it wasn't a draw. And FP+ didn't "destroy" the hourly capacity of HM and PotC. The hourly capacity is exactly the same now as it was before. The MK has simply been more crowded (especially this summer as it was basically holiday-sized crowds almost every day), which is (by far) the most significant factor in longer wait times. Heck, my first trip to WDW in 1994, before FP even existed, the wait time for Splash Mountain midday was 150 minutes, and Space was 120. I wonder what people blamed for that back then without FP to be a scapegoat.
Standby waits might seem slightly longer because the line moves slower because of FP/FP+, but the fact remains that if 20,000 people can ride HM in a day, then it's 20,000 people whether there's FP+ or no FP at all. The ride still loads the same number of guests per hour regardless.
No, "fans" wouldn't complain about that, but most guests wouldn't ride those attractions, either.
Look, I flippin' adored Horizons and WoM, but they were dead. No amount of "updates" or refurbs that kept the basic attraction in-tact was going to make people suddenly flock to them, nor was it going to make sponsors suddenly interested again. Carousel of Progress is in that same category and it's barely holding on by a thread, mostly because it's a Walt-created attraction from the 60's, while WoM and Horizons were built in the 80s and didn't have the historical status that CoP does.
Spaceship Earth would probably be dead too if not for its location (people are nearly forced to ride it because of it's placement and sheer size; everyone wants to ride inside the "big golf ball").
Once again, you've misread another of my posts, approached the topic with a preconception based on what
others have foamed about online, and decided a response without weighing what I actually said.
EDIT: I don't want to go back and forth arguing about anything, so please read through this and you'll see that we actually do agree more than you might think.
(1) I agreed that Epcot needed more than slow-moving omnimovers, and the park's mid-90s crisis occurred because everything appeared too similar. For the average guest, the abundance of educational AA attractions was boring. I think you misread my earlier statement too: fans were just as board as everyone else.
(2) Horizons was outdated technologically and tonally. The song, dialogue, and modern film sequences did not age well.
(3) After replacing WOM with Test Track and Imagination with a ridiculously inferior version, Horizons could have been updated rather than outright replaced. POTC and HM have proven AA attractions work when they take guests on unique experiences. Most of EPCOT Center's original ride roster wasn't unique enough, but Horizons had special segments that could have given it an edge if properly updated. Consider the IMAX screens and choose-your-own ending.
Incidentally, if I could have anything back, I would want the original Imagination, not Horizons.
(4) FP+ has altered the hourly capacity at POTC and HM because it causes queue backups that didn't exist when the attraction itself kept the line moving. For operational reasons that are difficult to quantify with theoretical numbers, FP tends to negatively affect high-capacity attractions.
The reason is
partly that such rides weren't crowded all day long, and they only commanded maximum wait times for a certain period. Theoretically, FP+ wouldn't affect that flow pattern if nobody were there anyway; but by spreading guests out with bogus FastPasses for rides that don't need them (e.g. POTC), Disney has artificially creating a flow — and therefore a queue time — that wouldn't have otherwise existed. I'll go into more detail in point #5.
This isn't simply my opinion. At Disneyland in the early 2000s, Disney conceded that FP didn't work on omnimovers, and removed it from all such rides except Haunted Mansion Holiday. In Florida, HM had FP back in the 90s, but Disney pulled it out because it undermined the attraction's hourly output. I don't know the full reason FP affects high-capacity attractions differently than others, but it does, and Disney knows this.
(5) FP+ was added to many attractions in the MK to play a shell game that kept guests scattered throughout the park. At the time NextGen was approved, some execs were hoping they could avoid building new rides in the MK if FP+ simply spread people around the park. Luckily, wiser heads and better management prevailed, and Disney soon realized New FL was necessary.
I helped roll out several new programs at WDW, including NextGen. Ops did not want FP+ attached to POTC, HM, SSE, IASW, or other high-capacity attractions.
(6) For other rides that aren't crowd eaters, I like FastPass because it means I don't have to stand in long lines, and I've learned how to use FP+ to my advantage. I remember those insane wait times from the busy periods in the 90s. I have no desire to return to those days, especially now that WDW is moderately crowded nearly year-round.
(7) Spaceship Earth is the most visited attraction on property. Location, location, location. Luckily, it's a decent ride that gets high reviews—all script and descent quibbles aside.
(7) I didn't mention COP because I think it's outdated and boring, and needs to be improved ASAP. The AAs don't work, the audio is unintelligible, and the script's jokes fall flat. I sometimes ride it for a nap.
And that takes us full circle.
