News Character Spot, Innoventions and more to close in September

[The Empress Lilly]

I don't get all the people obsessed with alcohol, if drinking is your priority save money and just go to a bar instead of Disney.

Indeed. We need to keep calling Iger Disney out for transforming America's largest family entertainment venue into America's largest outdoor bar. It's disgusting.

And indeed it's the very subject of this thread: the closures are to make way for a beer garden, smack dab in the middle of the park. To increase the confrontation with alcohol, to induce guests to consume more of it. To turn FW into what WS has already become too, a place full of drunks, never more than sixty feet removed from an alcohol vending point.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Just ran into this on Twitter:

Finally...The Splashtacular stage is being removed..

 

[trainplane3]

It reminds me of when New Fantasyland concept got changed from the Princess M&G buildings to 7DMT..

It reminds me of not giving a crap about NFL to kind of looking forward to it. Still haven't been on 7DMT though.

 

[networkpro]

To be replaced by a beer garden.

Anything that removes the stage that Painful! haunts during the Festival of the Holidays has my vote.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

It reminds me of not giving a crap about NFL to kind of looking forward to it. Still haven't been on 7DMT though.

Meh, your not missing much...

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

My question is will the fountain survive? And if so they better not switch t over to generic house music or generic Disney music. I love it the way it is but needs some TLC. As for the buildings they are beautiful, served their purpose well but there’s no saving them unless they bring back the original communocore landscape

 

[HauntedPirate]

There's a lot of whimsy in the new store. You just need to look for it.

You didn't have to before.

I personally can't stand the "new look" of WoD. Cold, bland, industrial, and NOTHING that draws my eye into the store. At least there was some level of logic in the old layout, now it's just a huge room full of stuff.

 

[MrPromey]

It is possible to like both *gasp*

True but it isn't like there's a shortage of places to get your booze on in Epcot, already.

In my admittedly subjective opinion, we've already got plenty of spots for that (and even more "temporary" spots during the year-round festivals). Pesonally, I'd rather not sacrafice another family-friendly feature for another alcohol line.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

My question is will the fountain survive? And if so they better not switch t over to generic house music or generic Disney music. I love it the way it is but needs some TLC. As for the buildings they are beautiful, served their purpose well but there’s no saving them unless they bring back the original communocore landscape

From the way it's explained on Twitter...It's history...

 

[Andrew C]

Did Colortopia for the first time last month. I thought it was neat and the kid loved it. Probably the last thing from Innoventions that was worth seeing...

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Did Colortopia for the first time last month. I thought it was neat and the kid loved it. Probably the last thing from Innoventions that was worth seeing...

Yay, finally a fellow Colortopia fan!

That thing is neat. Switch on Sum of all Thrills right next door and that part of CommuniCore is just about as good as anything that's been there before.

 

[aladdin2007]

and now heritage manor instead of being themed to the building and carrying USA themed items is just going to be home to a standard art of disney shop? they really are turning this park into disney springs.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Losing the fountain hurts. A lot. A core piece of the overall Epcot experience but since a beer garden makes more money...

 

[ThatMouse]

Communicore was my favorite place in the world when I was a kid. It's a shame they couldn't figure out what to do with it for the last 25 years. While others enjoyed the meet & greets, I enjoyed the carpeted walls, the smell of nostalgia, and a weird toilet urinal set in back of two other urinals. Edit: attached. I'll miss you strangely placed toilets.

 

[gmajew]

So does this mean construction will actually start or are we looking at a Stitch deal?

 

[promod1955]

As I read all this news the nostalgia is starting to set in of many years of memories.

We are going to lose the -17 degree hurricane winds of A/C in the breeze way of Innoventions West where the sliding glass doors are. No trip to Disney was complete without experiencing this. The walk to the land Pavilion will never be the same.

 

[Spash007]

I honestly don't know what makes me the most upset. I do see that the Innoventions building feels bulky to get around, so I can see an argument for that. But to lose the Fountain of Nations seems absurd. Get rid of the stage, but the fountain itself doesn't take up that much area, while also adding symmetry to the area.

Then I think of turning Heritage Manor gifts into the Art of Disney, and I hate losing the Americana merch from there. It was one of the few merch shops that seemed to be authentic and not have the same run of the mill stuff. I'm honestly surprised they didn't turn the Odyssey into an Art area, or create a new building that is more noticeable in FW, given the high $$ tag of a lot of the merch and the Festival of the Arts.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

OMG! Will Electric Umbrella be closing for good? Or is this a refurb?

One could hope...the nasty cafeterias are falling like dominoes

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Poor Lillian Disney.

In a world named after him, the wife that Walt loved so much has lost her boat - the Empress Lilly - and now her fountain too, the centerpiece of the park build in tribute to her husband's last dream.

But bring on the beer, eh? Makes more money.

 

[Bender123]

Communicore was my favorite place in the world when I was a kid. It's a shame they couldn't figure out what to do with it for the last 25 years. While others enjoyed the meet & greets, I enjoyed the carpeted walls, the smell of nostalgia, and a weird toilet urinal set in back of two other urinals. Edit: attached. I'll miss you strangely placed toilets.

I got a photopass picture in that bathroom, once...ran into a photographer and got the weirdest Disney Pic ever...