News Big changes coming to EPCOT's Future World?

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
Yes and a labor shortage and a completely crap supply chain...I understand people are desirous of instant gratification but cmon man...they will get it done when they get it done. If its not good enough for you...dont go!
Well, it ran up against the pandemic because WDW let EPCOT stagnate for two decades. And closing the entire plaza rather then working on it in chunks, as the folks here are suggesting, was a choice made before the pandemic.

It’s funny how everybody else, including WDW guests, are expected to deal with the fallout from the pandemic - little entertainment, spotty housekeeping, no parking trams, etc. - but it’s absurd to think the humongous multinational corporation might have to adapt by reducing prices or paying more then they want in salaries and materials. Once again, some folks seem to think the guest should serve WDW, not vice versa.

If Disney wants to keep charging full price, it needs to build aggressively or scrap the plan and reopen with temporary infrastructure. Period.

Oh, and it takes a lot of guts to accuse paying guests at a neglected and broken park of demanding “instant gratification.”
 

Nthderivative

Active Member
No



Probably an unscrupulous source because the model is NOT back

I posted a picture of it on the google maps entry for the experience page back in August - isn't that it to the right?

1634999967304.png
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
This is the model outside the 360 degree room that was removed when it was announced it was cancelled (maybe...)
1635045415303.png


The models in the 360 degree room on the round table were made before the full slate of updates were announced. Some updates never got announced, but, still are on the model (meaning they were cut at the last minute). And then some got cut after all the announcements due to the pandemic.


Announced, then announced it was delayed (maybe forever):
  • SSE retheme
  • Mary Poppins attraction / Cherry Tree Lane
  • Festival Center footstool building

Announced, then no word
  • Wondrous China 360
  • Wishing Tree

Accomplished
  • EPCOT entrance fountain and refresh
  • Space 220
  • Ratatouille with courtyard

In progress
  • GotG Cosmic Rewind
  • Journey of Water

Appearing on the model, but never announced:
  • Mexico Gran Fiesta rethemed to Coco
  • Something with Imagination Pavilion
  • Something with The Seas
  • Something with Test Track
 

peng

Active Member
Wonder why Seas and Test Track are there, I know a Coco refurb was in the cards for years and I was surprised it wasn't announced at D23 (I know this will get me dragged through the coals here, but the Three Cabs ride is terrible and I would welcome a Coco refurb). The Imagination Pavilion needs an update (I don't care if Figment gets the boot at this point, the ride felt like it was begging for death when I rode it last September). While they have been teasing something (Figment and JII was one of the few parks related things to get a spotlight segment in the 50th anniversary special, dreamship has popped up in some 50th merch, etc.) I wouldn't be surprised if the most the Imagination Pavillion sees is a different sweater on figment for Christmas for the next decade (and if something new does come up, it's probably going to be in 2025 at the earliest).

As for the ones that remain, I think Wondrous China could happen and the Wishing Tree thing seems cheap enough to build, maybe the SSE refurb could happen.
 

OvertheHorizon

Well-Known Member
<Sigh> I spent three days at Walt Disney World last week, including one at Epcot. I have loved WDW since my first visit in 1975 (full disclosure: I'm an old guy). I was particularly excited when Epcot Center opened. It has always been my favorite park, and I'm saddened to see how its original focus of edutainment has been compromised over the years. Change and evolution are necessary. The Epcot I cherished in March of 1983 wouldn't hold the same allure if opened in that form today. But management's current direction with the park lacks focus (IMHO). On one hand, they continue to inject IP hoping to draw more families to visit Epcot, but they've also encouraged year-round "festivals" as an excuse for people to spend their hard earned money on beer, wine, and over-priced snacks. (An aside: Who would visit a bar that has a $140 cover charge before you can even purchase your first drink?) In the early years of the park, I don't recall seeing rowdy behavior as I've witnessed in recent years.

I don't reject the addition of IP, but use it to illuminate the original themes of pavilions (e.g. Don't tell Nemo's story at the Living Seas. Let Nemo and friends tell the compelling story of the seas and its impact on our fragile ecology.)

I was ready for a new nighttime experience after watching Illuminations for twenty years. I felt that Harmonious could have been so much more thrilling, AND I don't think destroying the view across World Showcase lagoon with four giant tacos and the Stargate from SG1 was worth it.

I loved Beacons of Magic on Spaceship Earth. That felt like the kind of "plus" Epcot needed after 39 years of operation.
 
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THEMEPARKPIONEER

Well-Known Member
Well, it ran up against the pandemic because WDW let EPCOT stagnate for two decades. And closing the entire plaza rather then working on it in chunks, as the folks here are suggesting, was a choice made before the pandemic.

It’s funny how everybody else, including WDW guests, are expected to deal with the fallout from the pandemic - little entertainment, spotty housekeeping, no parking trams, etc. - but it’s absurd to think the humongous multinational corporation might have to adapt by reducing prices or paying more then they want in salaries and materials. Once again, some folks seem to think the guest should serve WDW, not vice versa.

If Disney wants to keep charging full price, it needs to build aggressively or scrap the plan and reopen with temporary infrastructure. Period.

Oh, and it takes a lot of guts to accuse paying guests at a neglected and broken park of demanding “instant gratification.”
Before the pandemic I was standing in Epcot telling my parents that if anything goes wrong financially they just demolished the entire plaza and they will be left with nothing but grass, shrubs and a gutted building.
 

MaximumEd

Well-Known Member
Before the pandemic I was standing in Epcot telling my parents that if anything goes wrong financially they just demolished the entire plaza and they will be left with nothing but grass, shrubs and a gutted building.
You get 10 prophet stars, because that’s almost exactly what happened. They just demolished the building instead of gutting it.
 

celluloid

Well-Known Member
I don't reject the addition of IP, but use it to illuminate the original themes of pavilions (e.g. Don't tell Nemo's story at the Living Seas. Let Nemo and friends tell the compelling story of the seas and its impact on our fragile ecology.)
That is a huge difference and I was giving that a lot of thought again recently. Those characters can soften the heart, but they wasted it on a retelling book report. If that ride did not exit into an animal exhibit of many aquariums it would be a complete dud and pointless. It is only good now because of the default of everything else near it being so bad.

Living With The Land is not winning anyone huge hits. But as a Pavilion, The Land is the strongest in mission of EPCOT while still entertaining and offering a variety of things with that statement(Soarin' is a bit loose) in one building.

Imagination is so far gone as a Pavilion it is a glaring synonymous showcase of where the company is at with its theme parks.
 

yensid1967

Well-Known Member
Was The NEW Fountain of Nations included in the new design? I thought I saw it on renderings but alittle more toward World Showcase Plaza? I wonder if they will include a ceremony, like the first one, where all the countries dump their water into the fountain!(I truly hope they are real and get water from each country?)

EDIT ABOUT FOUNTAIN: The water WAS from each country! I hope they do this again...even for symbolism...we are a world of many , but a one kind of human!(Disney- you can use that! :))
 

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