Eddie Sotto's take on the current state of the parks

[EPCOT Explorer]

Thanks for the kind words. It's fun to see the interview take on a discussion of it's own. I'm content to sit on the sidelines and just read all the posts. As for posting on another site, I have no idea what you are talking about ;-) If it's www.themedattraction.com I just did four interviews for them, I think the third is up now. Cures insomnia.

I read from time to time people asking why I'm not back at (or why I quit) WDI. First off, they have to want to hire you. Second, we all have our time in the sun. I had my "time" there to do my best, in success and failure, but truly cherished the honor and privilege to try to "open new doors" and extend Walt's legacy with creativity and respect. So now it's the next Gen's well deserved turn, so don't be too hard on them.

So now I'm on my second life and it's kinda fun. Our design studio got involved in a Restaurant in downtown LA and I'm one of the owners. The only "new door" is the one I'm opening to welcome the dinner crowd. The other design work we do is really fresh and if things get tough we can drink the profits! If I'm in the Restaurant come by and say hello.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2009/02/imagineers-second-life_181.html

Inside Disney or not, "Imagineering" is a "state of mind" or lifestyle that anyone can use to help overcome adversity. Living the impossible can be fun!

Welcome!:wave: It's honor to have you!

 

[HMF]

Thanks for the kind words. It's fun to see the interview take on a discussion of it's own. I'm content to sit on the sidelines and just read all the posts. As for posting on another site, I have no idea what you are talking about ;-) If it's www.themedattraction.com I just did four interviews for them, I think the third is up now. Cures insomnia.

I read from time to time people asking why I'm not back at (or why I quit) WDI. First off, they have to want to hire you. Second, we all have our time in the sun. I had my "time" there to do my best, in success and failure, but truly cherished the honor and privilege to try to "open new doors" and extend Walt's legacy with creativity and respect. So now it's the next Gen's well deserved turn, so don't be too hard on them.

So now I'm on my second life and it's kinda fun. Our design studio got involved in a Restaurant in downtown LA and I'm one of the owners. The only "new door" is the one I'm opening to welcome the dinner crowd. The other design work we do is really fresh and if things get tough we can drink the profits! If I'm in the Restaurant come by and say hello.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2009/02/imagineers-second-life_181.html

Inside Disney or not, "Imagineering" is a "state of mind" or lifestyle that anyone can use to help overcome adversity. Living the impossible can be fun!

It is wonderful to have a former Imagineer on the boards so that future Imagineers (like me' Hopefully) can learn from.

 

[Jasonflz]

Thanks for the kind words. It's fun to see the interview take on a discussion of it's own. I'm content to sit on the sidelines and just read all the posts. As for posting on another site, I have no idea what you are talking about ;-) If it's www.themedattraction.com I just did four interviews for them, I think the third is up now. Cures insomnia.

I read from time to time people asking why I'm not back at (or why I quit) WDI. First off, they have to want to hire you. Second, we all have our time in the sun. I had my "time" there to do my best, in success and failure, but truly cherished the honor and privilege to try to "open new doors" and extend Walt's legacy with creativity and respect. So now it's the next Gen's well deserved turn, so don't be too hard on them.

So now I'm on my second life and it's kinda fun. Our design studio got involved in a Restaurant in downtown LA and I'm one of the owners. The only "new door" is the one I'm opening to welcome the dinner crowd. The other design work we do is really fresh and if things get tough we can drink the profits! If I'm in the Restaurant come by and say hello.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2009/02/imagineers-second-life_181.html

Inside Disney or not, "Imagineering" is a "state of mind" or lifestyle that anyone can use to help overcome adversity. Living the impossible can be fun!

Welcome to the boards.:wave:

 

[WDW1974]

Thanks for the kind words. It's fun to see the interview take on a discussion of it's own. I'm content to sit on the sidelines and just read all the posts. As for posting on another site, I have no idea what you are talking about ;-) If it's www.themedattraction.com I just did four interviews for them, I think the third is up now. Cures insomnia.

I read from time to time people asking why I'm not back at (or why I quit) WDI. First off, they have to want to hire you. Second, we all have our time in the sun. I had my "time" there to do my best, in success and failure, but truly cherished the honor and privilege to try to "open new doors" and extend Walt's legacy with creativity and respect. So now it's the next Gen's well deserved turn, so don't be too hard on them.

So now I'm on my second life and it's kinda fun. Our design studio got involved in a Restaurant in downtown LA and I'm one of the owners. The only "new door" is the one I'm opening to welcome the dinner crowd. The other design work we do is really fresh and if things get tough we can drink the profits! If I'm in the Restaurant come by and say hello.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2009/02/imagineers-second-life_181.html

Inside Disney or not, "Imagineering" is a "state of mind" or lifestyle that anyone can use to help overcome adversity. Living the impossible can be fun!

Wow! That was fast. Sometimes I feel like I'm being watched ...at least I know I'm being read.

First, thanks for chiming in and I truly hope you decide to pop in every now and again. It's one thing for those of us with some knowledge of WDI and themed entertainment to post, but it's another entirely for someone who has lived and breathed it. Someone who was 'Part of the Magic of The Walt Disney Company' (sorry, hate smileys, but had to use one)

I had read the blog report about Rivera and I wish you all the luck in the world with it. As someone who is in the midst of a career change (well, of sorts anyway), I can imagine how exciting a new venture like this is for ya. I admit when I first heard of it I wasn't shocked considering your work on Encounter (is the scaffolding down on that yet?!) Living in Florida full-time again (was bi-coastal for years until 2007), I don't spend nearly as much time in LA as I'd like ... haven't been in your new 'hood since I was at the Nokia in mid-September. Just amazed at how a scary place just five years ago has started a rebirth. So, I guess I have another reason for heading there now in addition to the newly opened ESPN Zone.

Thanks again for visiting Eddie and don't be a stranger. There are some very interesting folks here and some kids who really want to expand their horizons. ... And looking forward to some fine food and drink when I get back out to my 'second home' this summer!

 

[The Conundrum]

Thanks for the kind words. It's fun to see the interview take on a discussion of it's own. I'm content to sit on the sidelines and just read all the posts. As for posting on another site, I have no idea what you are talking about ;-) If it's www.themedattraction.com I just did four interviews for them, I think the third is up now. Cures insomnia.

I read from time to time people asking why I'm not back at (or why I quit) WDI. First off, they have to want to hire you. Second, we all have our time in the sun. I had my "time" there to do my best, in success and failure, but truly cherished the honor and privilege to try to "open new doors" and extend Walt's legacy with creativity and respect. So now it's the next Gen's well deserved turn, so don't be too hard on them.

So now I'm on my second life and it's kinda fun. Our design studio got involved in a Restaurant in downtown LA and I'm one of the owners. The only "new door" is the one I'm opening to welcome the dinner crowd. The other design work we do is really fresh and if things get tough we can drink the profits! If I'm in the Restaurant come by and say hello.

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2009/02/imagineers-second-life_181.html

Inside Disney or not, "Imagineering" is a "state of mind" or lifestyle that anyone can use to help overcome adversity. Living the impossible can be fun!

Sir let me just say that your work at Disney Imagineering was LEGENDARY and it is an honor that you took the time out of your schedule to post here!

You, Tony Baxter, Bruce Gordon, and honary imagineer George Lucas went the extra mile when designing the Disney parks and attractions that my generation grew up with. The current WDI can certainy learn alot from folks like you.

 

[JLeinenveber]

Hey everyone! I'm the privileged one lucky enough to create this interview with Mr. Sotto, and I'm glad that it has spawned some interesting debate and draw as many hits as it has so far. As you all have undoubtedly seen, Eddie is an amazingly kind and talented guy, and a legendary Imagineer to boot!

Hopefully Mr. Sotto's inspiring words will, if only entertain our various disney park musings, remind aspiring Imagineers and all Disney park fans that these sorts of refreshing and progressive ideas and ways of thinking can potentially "open new doors" as Eddie mentioned, for all of the future generations of Imagineers to come.

It's also great to see that a decade after Mr. Sotto's departure from WDI, he has never really left, as it will forever be a part of his lifestyle and state of mind.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read over the interview, and I'm glad so many have enjoyed it. Perhaps if it becomes popular enough (spread the word!) this can be an ongoing thing!

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Thanks

I truly appreciate all the kind words and your warm welcome. I'll try and take a look at what you're up to from time to time and throw in my two cents.

To follow on from the interview for a sec, I was thinking about how unrealistic it is to keep a place like EPCOT fresh technologically and maybe there is a new way to think about what EPCOT is and repackage it to help it succeed on another scale. For example, if you built a high tech, green Convention Center that attaches behind Future World where you could host all manner of Eco and Tech conventions, that would give the whole place instant credibility. Keep the best of the booths to use in the park. Launch breakthrough products from EPCOT. Imagine if they had premiered the Volt or Tesla Cars or iPhone from EPCOT. Build the "Progress City" Resort via DVC behind FutureWorld but make it part of the show. (Imagine that as the finale to a smokin' 2020 "New Horizons" attraction! Your Peoplemover exits the show building after seeing all this retro stuff and just when you think it is over..... holy Picturephone! it's REAL, you pop out and see Progress City on the Horizon... you actually tour it then you unload in the center mall to hang out and have fun!. EPCOT and FW no longer carry the weight of expectation of having to deliver on everything, they just set the stage for the world to show what it's doing. Kind of a hub of sorts to the "evidence". Communicore serves that function today of showcasing but its hard to update (the SEGWAY thing was great). That continual freshness and reinvestment issue won't go away. My hope would be that you'd do something so spectacular, so entertaining, and so huge like the beta test "Progress City" Resort, that it becomes the model for the rest of the world. Companies would feel that if they weren't there, then their product was not hot or important enough. There are a million reasons why this stuff won't work, or is too expensive or impractical, and don't think I'm the first to suggest this, as WDI has likely done one better and may even doing this now, that's the fun part, we can only hope.

 

[KeeKee]

The reason that Epcot sort of disappoints at this stage of its life is that there are so many of the original designers that aren't there any more to protect their visions. Things have been "re-imagined" in ways that they were never designed for. There are so many beautiful spaces that sit empty or under utilized. Contrary to the original concept, character merch is everywhere.

I'll never forget the vibe Epcot Center had when it first opened. It was electric! It felt alive and vibrant, and, of course, it was brand new. Over the years as people have left the company or moved around there's been no consistency, no chain-of-command to protect the original mission. It has, to some degree, lost a bit of its relevancy. It's no longer an industry leader, but has become just another theme park full of stuff you can see in other areas of the property. It is still a wonderful place and a marvel, but it's lost a bit of luster that could be quickly regained if someone would take the reins again and steer it back on course.

Having worked there at the time of Epcot Center's opening, and my DH actually worked on site with WED, I have a bit of an emotional investment in Epcot Center and hate to see what's become of it. I still love it; we both do, and love spending time there, but just have to write off what it once was and enjoy it as it now exists.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I truly appreciate all the kind words and your warm welcome. I'll try and take a look at what you're up to from time to time and throw in my two cents.

To follow on from the interview for a sec, I was thinking about how unrealistic it is to keep a place like EPCOT fresh technologically and maybe there is a new way to think about what EPCOT is and repackage it to help it succeed on another scale. For example, if you built a high tech, green Convention Center that attaches behind Future World where you could host all manner of Eco and Tech conventions, that would give the whole place instant credibility. Keep the best of the booths to use in the park. Launch breakthrough products from EPCOT. Imagine if they had premiered the Volt or Tesla Cars or iPhone from EPCOT. Build the "Progress City" Resort via DVC behind FutureWorld but make it part of the show. (Imagine that as the finale to a smokin' 2020 "New Horizons" attraction! Your Peoplemover exits the show building after seeing all this retro stuff and just when you think it is over..... holy Picturephone! it's REAL, you pop out and see Progress City on the Horizon... you actually tour it then you unload in the center mall to hang out and have fun!. EPCOT and FW no longer carry the weight of expectation of having to deliver on everything, they just set the stage for the world to show what it's doing. Kind of a hub of sorts to the "evidence". Communicore serves that function today of showcasing but its hard to update (the SEGWAY thing was great). That continual freshness and reinvestment issue won't go away. My hope would be that you'd do something so spectacular, so entertaining, and so huge like the beta test "Progress City" Resort, that it becomes the model for the rest of the world. Companies would feel that if they weren't there, then their product was not hot or important enough. There are a million reasons why this stuff won't work, or is too expensive or impractical, and don't think I'm the first to suggest this, as WDI has likely done one better and may even doing this now, that's the fun part, we can only hope.

Can you go back to WDI and put this idea in for Innoventions?:lol::lookaroun

That's an amazing thought...It keeps EPCOT in the scope and above all, relevant.

 

[WDW1974]

I truly appreciate all the kind words and your warm welcome. I'll try and take a look at what you're up to from time to time and throw in my two cents.

Great to hear!

And I'll make sure to send some business to Rivera. I have lots of friends in LA who love to eat ... and drink!

To follow on from the interview for a sec, I was thinking about how unrealistic it is to keep a place like EPCOT fresh technologically and maybe there is a new way to think about what EPCOT is and repackage it to help it succeed on another scale. For example, if you built a high tech, green Convention Center that attaches behind Future World where you could host all manner of Eco and Tech conventions, that would give the whole place instant credibility. Keep the best of the booths to use in the park. Launch breakthrough products from EPCOT. Imagine if they had premiered the Volt or Tesla Cars or iPhone from EPCOT. Build the "Progress City" Resort via DVC behind FutureWorld but make it part of the show. (Imagine that as the finale to a smokin' 2020 "New Horizons" attraction! Your Peoplemover exits the show building after seeing all this retro stuff and just when you think it is over..... holy Picturephone! it's REAL, you pop out and see Progress City on the Horizon... you actually tour it then you unload in the center mall to hang out and have fun!. EPCOT and FW no longer carry the weight of expectation of having to deliver on everything, they just set the stage for the world to show what it's doing. Kind of a hub of sorts to the "evidence". Communicore serves that function today of showcasing but its hard to update (the SEGWAY thing was great). That continual freshness and reinvestment issue won't go away. My hope would be that you'd do something so spectacular, so entertaining, and so huge like the beta test "Progress City" Resort, that it becomes the model for the rest of the world. Companies would feel that if they weren't there, then their product was not hot or important enough. There are a million reasons why this stuff won't work, or is too expensive or impractical, and don't think I'm the first to suggest this, as WDI has likely done one better and may even doing this now, that's the fun part, we can only hope.

Some people might call such an idea 'visionary' ... and I don't think the WDC of today would ever go in such a bold direction, sadly.

But I admit I am very disappointed they didn't attempt some future-thinking ideas and technologies in the new BLT DVC. They had a perfect opportunity to at least showcase a few things in that building to set it apart, but they just went for a largely cheap condo tower that vaguely looks like the Contemporary Tower. It just seems like so much could have been done ... really cool things to set it apart as it towers over Tomorrowland. And because of the footprint of the building one would think they could have kept costs within reason ... but they couldn't even include a check in desk or restaurant, so I tend to think showcasing anything cutting edge never got beyond the most blue sky proposals.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Great to hear!

And I'll make sure to send some business to Rivera. I have lots of friends in LA who love to eat ... and drink!



Some people might call such an idea 'visionary' ... and I don't think the WDC of today would ever go in such a bold direction, sadly.

But I admit I am very disappointed they didn't attempt some future-thinking ideas and technologies in the new BLT DVC. They had a perfect opportunity to at least showcase a few things in that building to set it apart, but they just went for a largely cheap condo tower that vaguely looks like the Contemporary Tower. It just seems like so much could have been done ... really cool things to set it apart as it towers over Tomorrowland. And because of the footprint of the building one would think they could have kept costs within reason ... but they couldn't even include a check in desk or restaurant, so I tend to think showcasing anything cutting edge never got beyond the most blue sky proposals.

It's kinda like them building the E.P.C.O.T. Hotel...They easily could have done THAT...

 

[jt04]

It's kinda like them building the E.P.C.O.T. Hotel...They easily could have done THAT...

...ans still can.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

...ans still can.

I think I would have a fit if I saw that incarnation of the E.P.C.O.T. plan built in the flesh.:lol::lookaroun

 

[Uncle Lupe]

Let's just be thankful that Stitch has not invaded.

 

[Eddie Sotto]

Some people might call such an idea 'visionary' ... and I don't think the WDC of today would ever go in such a bold direction, sadly.

As you have so deftly noticed, my so called visions are to be taken with the same grains of salt as "concept cars" or those late night TV psychic hotlines that are "intended for entertainment purposes only".

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

As you have so deftly noticed, my so called visions are to be taken with the same grains of salt as "concept cars" or those late night TV psychic hotlines that are "intended for entertainment purposes only".

So, if you don't mind me asking, is that why you left WDI?

Your idea(s) was welcomed by the fans, but not by management?

 

[JimboJones123]

When is the good Imagination coming back?

 

[mcjaco]

Your idea(s) was welcomed by the fans, but not by management?

I'd say every idea should come from something as large scale and visionary as what Mr. Sotto posted. Then it can get scaled back to be economically and technologically feasible. Not the other way around.

 

[WDWFREAK53]

IMO the Future World Pavilions need to be just that. A PAVILION!

The Land and the Living Seas are the best IMO.

Each Pavilion should have AT LEAST the following.
E or D-ticket attraction
A Fun show teaching and opening your eyes to the theme of the pavilion
A Restaurant/eatery themed to the pavilion
A Shop that specializes in specific merchandise base on that pavilion (not just "Mickey Mouse in a space suit).

(Spaceship Earth is the only pavilion that I will give a break to this rule...and only because of the structure and it's the icon of the park).

World Showcase needs to have a "ride" in, at least, every other country. I love his idea of Italy showcasing the Italian sportscars.

 

[wdwmagic]

Thanks for the kind words. It's fun to see the interview take on a discussion of it's own. I'm content to sit on the sidelines and just read all the posts. As for posting on another site, I have no idea what you are talking about ;-) If it's www.themedattraction.com I just did four interviews for them, I think the third is up now. Cures insomnia.

Welcome to WDWMAGIC! Thanks for taking the time to add to the discussion.

On a slightly different subject, just wanted to thank you for the incredible job you did on DLP Main Street USA. It's truly top notch.