Epcot Needs HELP

[World_Showcase_Lover007]

Why would you want seating for surround films? How would you turn around and watch what's behind you if you were seated?

That said, I really like the format of the France film. It's got that surround feel, but you can enjoy it from a seat!

I realize the 360 degree aspect of the films and see how it would be a problem to incorporate seating retroactively, but I want to be able to sit down when I am experiencing an attraction/film. It simply does not make sense to have standing-only theaters in a huge park like EPCOT, where walking long distances is required.

 

[JohnD]

MK had New Fantasyland in 2013. Downtown Disney is all but converted to Disney Springs. AK has Rivers of Light / Nightime Safari's this Spring and Avatarland in 2017. HS has SW Land and Toy Story Land already announced opening ???. Yes, Epcot does have Frozen and the new Soarin' opening later this year but it's not enough. Epcot needs an announcement for an overhaul THIS YEAR, mostly for FW. Patience is wearing thin.

 

[JohnD]

Said no one ever.

Well, actually just one.

 

[Virtual Toad]

EPCOT lost its way (and its soul) when Horizons and the original Journey Into Imagination were closed. An exec at the time proudly pronounced that Future World would no longer strive to be about the future. Changes since then have done nothing to reclaim the magic or the theme (what happened to the news that Tom Fitzgerald was swooping in to return the park to its original glory?!?)

With Norway dead, Innoventions on life support, and now several "NO CLIMBING" signs on the exterior of the Mexican pyramid (anyone have pics of this, it looks totally Six Flags!), along with rising prices, AP blackout dates, and "random" metal detector searches, there's more EPCOT magic in my backyard than in Epcot itself. The cost and hassle aren't worth what's inside anymore. And that's a real shame.

Don't shoot me for saying this, but I really think Iger & Co. are running Future World into the ground until they can find a loophole in the Marvel contract-- so they can rebrand FW as Marvel Land. And sadly it would make the company billions. :-(

 

[danyoung56]

 

[brb1006]

Future World looks so sad at this point.

 

[brb1006]

The real question they need to figure out is....How do you make a park that celebrated the the 21st Century after it's been official after 16 years......I do hope we get Answers come Oct 1st 2017...Epcot's 35th Anniversary.

I hope in a future D23 announcement close to WDW's 50th Anniversary. They might bring up some new plans for Epcot and Future World. But that's wishful thinking though.

 

[Fox&Hound]

Is there any inside info that would suggest Disney has any kind of master plan for Epoct or will it be small additions and rides that continue to dilute Epcots overall theme? Didn't they say that they were bringing in people for a new direction for Epcot a while back?

 

[Brad Bishop]

I saw something a year or so back, and it was older than that at the time, of an Epcot re-do which made Future World more of an elaborate green space park. Lot's of foliage everywhere. I don't know how real it was but it looks really nice.

I may be a bit cynical but I think it's more likely we'll get some kind of 'Frozen Summer Festival' before any real remake happens. It's easier to have festivals than it is to actually fix things.

 

[graphite1326]

I am in the minority here. I like EPCOT now. Horizons; spent little time there. It was ok but once you saw the shows eh. I don't miss it. Besides we have MS now. Figment was bad then and not much better now. We skipped it then and skip it now. Need a big change there, maybe get rid of figment all together. Kids have no idea who it is anyway. We did go to HISTA and liked it. We went to see MJ film and once was enough. Innovations was someplace we went on a 2nd visit and ran out of other things to do. Love Soarin. Test track needed a change I think they did well. Do they need to add a country, yes. Update Ellen yes even though I still go and enjoy it.

The only things I am upset about is Off Kilter and the King Arthur show are now gone.

 

[graphite1326]

Agreed; seems like Epcot will be, in Disney's mind, the first and last to get attention. 2016 will bring a new Soarin movie, looks like a new Circle of Life replacement or perhaps just a digital upgrade, plus the Frozen overlay. After that, I can't see much happening for a good five years while they focus resources on DAK and DHS. But that energy attraction is really, really showing its age. If I had funds to spend, that's where they would go.

One thing scares me about the new Soarin. I love the music and listen to it all the time. I hope they don't change it.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

I'm optimistic that updates to Innoventions Plaza could happen in the meanwhile before any major-budget updates to the rest of the park. I'm thinking this because the problems there are simultaneously glaring and easy/inexpensive to fix, and because the fact that they put in a new paint scheme (however controversia) might indicate that they're looking at the area.

Werner Weis of Yesterland just posted a great 2-part article on his "Epcot wish list," the first part of which discusses very simple updates to Innoventions Plaza that could make a big difference, most notably (to me) being aesthetic improvements to the signage and removal of the poles/tarps and pin station.

 

[Brad Bishop]

I bet I'm in the minority on this one:

One thing that always bugged me about Innoventions/Communicore:

It always felt like an odd, unnecessary 1970s vision of the future space port road block. I never thought that those buildings were particularly good looking and they kind of lack an entrance. There are the ports you can go through on either side to get to the East or West side of things in Future World but the doors to the buildings themselves, to get to the attractions, always felt like a kind of "employees entrance" (more office building).

Inside, I was never too excited about the offerings of Communicore or Innoventions. It always seemed to be demonstrations built for elementary schools. I agree with others that a manufacturers showing off their latest and greatest would be cool. The laser-headlights from BMW and, I think Audi, would be great. Stuff that makes you go "wow" but also seems plausible for the future.

 

[danyoung56]

One thing scares me about the new Soarin. I love the music and listen to it all the time. I hope they don't change it.

They will definitely change it. The current music fits perfectly with the visuals, and there's no way that Disney would try to force the new film into a pre-existing mold. I love the current music track too, but I'm hoping they do a great job with the new score.

 

[jmancan]

This is baloney.

Epcot is much better now than it was in the 80's and 90's.

I think we ought to listen to this guy.

 

[michmousefan]

One thing scares me about the new Soarin. I love the music and listen to it all the time. I hope they don't change it.

I love that music as well...

They will definitely change it. The current music fits perfectly with the visuals, and there's no way that Disney would try to force the new film into a pre-existing mold. I love the current music track too, but I'm hoping they do a great job with the new score.

Of course, the current soundtrack has a few "california-themed" segments, like a western variant, and no, they certainly don't want to (not should they) shoehorn new footage into those particular slots, but I would like to think that perhaps they can incorporate the existing theme for maybe the beginning and end of the ride.

But who knows? Perhaps they will wow us all over again with a completely new score. The only regret here is that Jerry Goldsmith isn't around any longer to adapt his theme or write the new stuff.

 

[The Battletoad]

What ever happened to the place in Epcot where they had a whole bunch of temporary countries for the Millennium Celebration? Is it still being used in some form?

 

[danyoung56]

It's still there. They use it for special events and dinners, but normally it's not open to the public.

 

[Heffalump333]

I say spend a few million dollars on imagination.

 

[Heffalump333]

Epcot, notably Future World, is in a sad state. Energy is 20 years old and dated. Wonders of Life is an event pavilion. Innoventions is basically shuttered, huge wasted space. Even though I'm glad about the 2nd floor of Imagination sort of "reopening", it's still not really an attraction, just going to be another lounge.

I think keeping up with the future is difficult and expensive with attractions, so I get why things have stagnated. The problem is that so much of it needs to be updated now that it's going to be an uphill battle.

Also, kind of a side note, but on my trip in October, Future World kept closing at 7pm most nights, which is relatively ridiculous when it's the front half of the park. I also noticed the lighting was pretty poor, almost like walking through the dark to get to World Showcase and back. I can see closing a few attractions early, but the entire front half of the park is a little ridiculous. This is a budget cut that needs to be rolled back. Not sure if it was just specific to the time I was there or not.

Yeah that is the problem with Future World and Tomrrowland technology is always evolving.