Journey of Water featuring Moana coming to Epcot

kalel8145

Well-Known Member
Ah yes, the old “theme doesn’t matter in a theme park” argument. The problem isn’t with change. If the public just wanted characters slapped wherever there are lots of cheaper venues and so much effort wouldn’t be put into wrapping the new stuff in the image of EPCOT Center.
Not the argument I'm making, it's the reality. They obviously are trying by wrapping in EPOCT as you say. Its just not good enough for some. I'm not a fan of it either. I miss the "old" EPCOT myself. The biggest insult to me is the fact that the imagination pavilion has continued the way it is. Now that's a frustration I can get behind. My wife and son are tired if hearing the same story of how it was every time we go.
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Here's my thoughts. My favorite park is DHS. I am a huge cinephile, went to film school to study film. I love everything to do with movies. I so wish that the original 1989 version of the park was still here. I never got to experience it and it seem like it was built just for me. A 3 hour walking and tram tour through a real working studio! Attractions tailored around sound design and filming! Tiny details referencing some of the greatest films ever made! The Great Movie Ride in its brand new pristine glory! What I would do to be able to go back and experience that.

Go to Universal Studios Hollywood. They still have a backlot tour and unlike DHS (and Uni Orlando) it has true history there in terms of filmmaking.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
It did not show a closed loop but open pathways from all directions, which would make it a walk-thru to The Seas if people chose to walk it.
People routinely insisted the attraction would take people to both The Seas and The Land. It never did. It has never even really gone to The Seas, always staying within the monorail loop and separated. There were a bunch of other miscellaneous walkways that were to be built as part of the Festival Center that would meander and cross over each other, these were not part of Journey of Water. Journey of Water has always been a small thing replacing a small portion of the CommuniCore, but people told themselves it was this big thing. It’s filler for the building they tore down to make room for a starchitect building.
 

kalel8145

Well-Known Member
Here's my thoughts. My favorite park is DHS. I am a huge cinephile, went to film school to study film. I love everything to do with movies. I so wish that the original 1989 version of the park was still here. I never got to experience it and it seem like it was built just for me. A 3 hour walking and tram tour through a real working studio! Attractions tailored around sound design and filming! Tiny details referencing some of the greatest films ever made! The Great Movie Ride in its brand new pristine glory! What I would do to be able to go back and experience that. But I know that that version of the park could not exist today. First the studio concept failed. Hollywood just was not ready to leave Tinseltown yet. Secondly the whole experience was centered around the tour and how movies are made. Fantastic concept for 1989 when this info was hard to come by the general public, but as home video expanded, allowing for the creation of Special Features providing in-depth looks at the making of movies, and with the rapid spread of the internet which allowed this info to spread quicker than it could be updated it made the park start to feel stagnant and behind the times.

Hmm, a rapid spread of technology causing a theme park to become stale and outdated, sounds very familiar... ;)

I just think that we've moved beyond the original intentions of both DHS and Epcot Center and evolution is needed to stay relevant and fresh.
These attractions were great. Some of my favorites in original MGM. The backlot tour ended up so watered down. It was a good thing when they finally put it out of its misery.
 

Movielover

Well-Known Member
These attractions were great. Some of my favorites in original MGM. The backlot tour ended up so watered down. It was a good thing when they finally put it out of its misery.
I first remember riding it in 96 as a kid. of course since it was my first time it was so awesome! but by then it had already been cut in half. Researching and watching videos of the original was very enlightening.
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
People routinely insisted the attraction would take people to both The Seas and The Land. It never did. It has never even really gone to The Seas, always staying within the monorail loop and separated. There were a bunch of other miscellaneous walkways that were to be built as part of the Festival Center that would meander and cross over each other, these were not part of Journey of Water. Journey of Water has always been a small thing replacing a small portion of the CommuniCore, but people told themselves it was this big thing. It’s filler for the building they tore down to make room for a starchitect building.
Well, I never said it was going to The Land. I don't remember any more than one or two people who, in their mind, expanded JoW to the Land. But if you want to lump in those few who made exaggerated claims with those of us who didn't, fine. You do you.

The criss-crossing paths you acknowledged were clearly carried through throughout JoW in the artist's concept. That would have allowed people starting from near the entrance or the hub to meander through it and wind up at The Sea. No one said it would take you to the front door of the pavilion, but you would wind up a stone's toss away. That is the very definition of "leading to The Seas."

I'm surprised that it has, according to a new artist's concept, become a closed loop, which I don't care for. The open meandering trails would have been much better in my opinion.

But, you are welcome to notch a score against "the defenders" in your journal. Good day.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
The criss-crossing paths you acknowledged were clearly carried through throughout JoW in the artist's concept. That would have allowed people starting from near the entrance or the hub to meander through it and wind up at The Sea.
The cross crossing paths were just paths that filled up most of the space were just walkways. That’s it. They were not part of the attraction.
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
People routinely insisted the attraction would take people to both The Seas and The Land. It never did.

I don't recall anyone ever insisting that it would do that, though some suggested that it should and would be a better location. The concept art has always shown JoW to be located in the area between the hub and the Seas.

What changed was that the initial art suggested the the are was accessible from both the hub and Seas sides so people (such as myself) assumed that it would be a potential pathway between the two areas. The new updated and more detailed artwork instead suggests a closed loop that starts and stops in front of the Seas.
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
just between you and me, the horse is dead. You can stop whipping now
This is an odd way to say, “ You were right and we were wrong and the widespread assumptions made by optimists when defending (not always politely) this addition turned out to be baseless.”

This is a bit of a pattern here. Pretty much every criticism leveled consistently at GotG over the last five years has proven correct and every defense, no matter how widely accepted, has proven unfounded. Yet that is all meant to be forgotten because coaster+pop songs= fun, and that’s all we should expect from modern Disney. It’s strategic amnesia. Certain posters steadfastly refuse to remember Disney’s track record over the last twenty years and act like anyone who learns from experience is just being unfair. The past must be immediately forgotten if it’s inconvenient.
 

LittleBuford

Well-Known Member
This is an odd way to say, “ You were right and we were wrong and the widespread assumptions made by optimists when defending (not always politely) this addition turned out to be baseless.”

This is a bit of a pattern here. Pretty much every criticism leveled consistently at GotG over the last five years has proven correct and every defense, no matter how widely accepted, has proven unfounded. Yet that is all meant to be forgotten because coaster+pop songs= fun, and that’s all we should expect from modern Disney. It’s strategic amnesia. Certain posters steadfastly refuse to remember Disney’s track record over the last twenty years and act like anyone who learns from experience is just being unfair. The past must be immediately forgotten if it’s inconvenient.
I realise it’s subjective, but I would say a lot of what Disney has done in the past twenty years has been top-notch. As for the attraction under discussion here, I’m reserving judgement until it’s finished.
 

James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
This is an odd way to say, “ You were right and we were wrong and the widespread assumptions made by optimists when defending (not always politely) this addition turned out to be baseless.”
I don't remember scads of optimists saying this would be the best thing ever or even that it would be better than repurposing the building aside from maybe one or two people, but it's ridiculous to conflate all people who weren't totally trashing the attraction or had even a passing interest in it with the literal handful on the extreme opposite end.

Additionally, the assumptions made by folks about how this path would work were not "baseless" as you claim. There was artwork depicting a connection between the hub, the attraction, and the area by the Coral Reef Restaurant. Plans obviously changed, but there was no reason to believe that they wouldn't follow through with the artwork in some form at the time. I'm also not sure why you're trying to establish who was right and who was wrong when, to my knowledge, no one accurately described any of the revised plans prior to the release of the new artwork. Being consistently vaguely negative about a thing doesn't mean you're "right" when they radically alter plans.
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
I don't remember scads of optimists saying this would be the best thing ever or even that it would be better than repurposing the building aside from maybe one or two people, but it's ridiculous to conflate all people who weren't totally trashing the attraction or had even a passing interest in it with the literal handful on the extreme opposite end.

Additionally, the assumptions made by folks about how this path would work were not "baseless" as you claim. There was artwork depicting a connection between the hub, the attraction, and the area by the Coral Reef Restaurant. Plans obviously changed, but there was no reason to believe that they wouldn't follow through with the artwork in some form at the time. I'm also not sure why you're trying to establish who was right and who was wrong when, to my knowledge, no one accurately described any of the revised plans prior to the release of the new artwork. Being consistently vaguely negative about a thing doesn't mean you're "right" when they radically alter plans.
If you'll look back, my post was in response to someone attacking another poster for being correct.

It was frequently stated that this attraction fit because it was extending the themes of Nemo to the hub - it was positioned as a sort of entrance way to the pavilion. That's certainly the assumption I made. I was wrong. It's worse.

And at this point, I think we can safely discard concept art as having any relation to the finished attraction. After all, the one exciting piece of art for GotG they showed off for years and years has no connection to anything in the completed attraction.
 

James Alucobond

Well-Known Member
If you'll look back, my post was in response to someone attacking another poster for being correct.
I'm not sure anyone was attacking anyone else, just saying that the point had been beaten to death on all sides. Moreover, I'm not sure I agree with the statement made anyway. There certainly were bypasses in the original art that were not part of the attraction, but it definitely looked like there was a main path that cut through the middle, joining the hub to the two key water feature areas of JoW and, finally, the area in front of The Seas.
It was frequently stated that this attraction fit because it was extending the themes of Nemo to the hub - it was positioned as a sort of entrance way to the pavilion. That's certainly the assumption I made. I was wrong. It's worse.
I actually think it might be better? It looks more like a nature trail and less like dueling leaping fountains on either side of a bit of rockwork. Additionally, being cut off from the heart of the park means that there's better clustering for the World Nature neighborhood and less confusion about whether or not it belongs with Celebration even if the map will still be messy. The only thing I like less about this version is the more Polynesian look, but that may have always been the plan and just kind of glossed over in the more zoomed out concept.
And at this point, I think we can safely discard concept art as having any relation to the finished attraction. After all, the one exciting piece of art for GotG they showed off for years and years has no connection to anything in the completed attraction.
People are obviously going to discuss the concept art. Sure, it's not always accurate when it's published well in advance, and they exaggerate lighting and screen effects, but most of the Guardians concept art did bear a strong resemblance to the final product. It just seems silly to expect people to discount artifacts provided by Disney; we can be skeptical about them, but people making assumptions based on them is, like, the exact opposite of "baseless", as you previously described folks' claims.
 

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