News Character Spot, Innoventions and more to close in September

[HauntedPirate]

I'm gonna laugh when D23 rolls around and the beer garden turns out to be fake

Wine bar, confirmed!

Honestly, it really doesn’t matter to me what they replace it with. They are ripping out one of the last vestiges of the park’s soul. May as well bury what’s left of the body now, instead of letting it continue to rot like they have for well over 10 years and counting.

 

[eddie104]

It’s not so much about nostalgia as it is about wanting quality over extreme mediocrity.

Fair enough but the rude remarks are unnecessary and not a way to get a point across.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

EPCOT Center was clearllllly the last great park built stateside. Attendance records alone decide that.

MGM, AK and DCA had no place to fall other than up from their opening day 1/2 park designs. I'm sorry.

Epcot has gone the opposite route by the direction of TDO.

I'll agree with that.

My point was simply that no one's "living in the past" with how the parks are doing the way the previous poster suggested - people largely wouldn't complain about the state of Epcot if in 2019 it was a more exciting park than it was in 1982. The park had such a spectacular base to build on, it should ONLY have gotten better. Instead it's taken a great number of steps back.

Magic Kingdom has taken a few steps backward, and some sideways, but it's taken enough steps forward to create some balance and has managed to not let the other steps cost its complete soul. I think it's fair to say MK's identity has evolved, unlike Epcot's which has basically been obliterated. MGM/DHS' identity underwent elective surgery whose side effects have yet to be fully uncovered. AK is the one park whose star has only risen - and yes, they did nearly have nowhere to go but up, but they did so while improving what made the place special rather than chucking it.

 

[Surfin' Tuna]

I went to Epcot to watch my last Illuminations with the holiday tag tonight. I actually cried realizing this is really the end of the greatest theme park there ever was. There are other parks to love, to enjoy, to have fun, but there was only one Epcot Center. It was full of an optimism that we all needed in 1982. When I've introduced people to our Epcot that we all love so much (if they are receptive) most of them get it. I have no doubt they can build something "more Disney," where they can make more money. They are however missing a chance to save an idea and rebuild something truly unique.

 

[promod1955]

Imagine when they release the true details and concept art of this area at D23 and everyone starts booing. I'll die.

 

[HoldenC]

The beer will be served by dancing penguins?

Can you confirm this @MisterPenguin?

 

[starri42]

Here's the thing though (and for the record, I'm not arguing that this is good or bad):

As much as we may not relate to it personally (and I do include myself in this, to an extent), it's pretty clear that they're moving in the direction they're moving because the bulk of park goers want it. I miss Maelstrom too, but three years in, Frozen Ever After can still get 2+ hour waits, and the lines at the Anna and Else meet 'n greet are frequently long as well. They ultimately want things that draw people into the park to pay for admission, merch, and food. IP-based rides are clearly good business. That doesn't mean it's aesthetically good, but it's an understandable decision from a business standpoint.

Personally, if they're going to use IP, I'd just prefer the rides they use it on be GOOD. I found Frozen Ever After to be technically impressive, but not exactly innovative, if for no other reason than they just re-skinned Maelstrom. I am not the target market for Frozen, so I can't judge the rest.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Can you confirm this @MisterPenguin?

Only if Mary Poppins is a guest.

 

[marni1971]

I'm gonna laugh when D23 rolls around and the beer garden turns out to be fake

Along with the rooftop bar?

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

Along with the rooftop bar?

I would hope so. The idea of a rooftop overlook of Future World sounds appealing to me though

 

[MisterPenguin]

Along with the rooftop bar?

It's the best way to look down on beer drinkers.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Yes. And most of their announced decisions regarding Epcot post-40th anniversary leave something to be desired.

Of all the park’s problems, the enormous fountain in the middle isn’t one. It needs to be modernized, but not removed. Like most of what’s in the park. I was always able to took past cosmetic faux pas like Project Kaleidoscope because the bones of a great park (the park’s architecture) were still there. When they start demolishing, mistakes become irreversible.

It sounds like they might agree with you, but the "modernization" involves removal.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Pop quiz everyone.

Generally speaking and putting a year on things...

What year did Epcot begin it's rapid dissent into an identity crisis?

Stupid Judy we'll start with you.

I'd say the Nemo overlay is the first super intrusive item that broke the theme. We can argue the merits of replacing classics but I think the intent was still to connect everything to EPCOT Center. Some people will definitely argue that enough happened in '99 to say that's when it lost it's identity. I don't believe that's the case, but the park was definitely weakened in '99

Some important dates:

• 1/9/99: Horizons closes
• 3/17/99: Test Track officially opens
• 10/1/99: Imagination 2.0
• 6/1/02: Imagination 3.0
• 8/15/03: Mission: SPACE opens
• 11/04: Turtle Talk with Crush opens (I have less of an issue with this as a secondary attraction with a pseudo educational component)
• 10/06: The Seas with Nemo and Friends opens

 

[RSoxNo1]

I'm gonna laugh when D23 rolls around and the beer garden turns out to be fake

Just to be clear, I only have Corless reporting this.

 

[Kitchandro]

This whole sub-section of the forum just makes me upset. Iger is the worst thing to ever happen to Disney. Epcot was, and still is to an extent, so beautiful. It's going to be a soulless, cheap-feeling kiddy park no better than Legoland once he's done with it.

He does not understand what a theme park is in the slightest. It's just money to him.

Grave. Walt. Turning over. You know the rest.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Just to be clear, I only have Corless reporting this.

Our people have indicated it's mostly correct and didn't offer any corrections except quibble over the size of the various elements.

Only our resident dustomaniac has claimed the beer garden is removed without any attribution to that claim even when asked for it, as is par for the course.

 

[mikejs78]

Our people have indicated it's mostly correct and didn't offer any corrections except quibble over the size of the various elements.

Only our resident dustomaniac has claimed the beer garden is removed without any attribution to that claim even when asked for it, as par for the course.

Maybe something here?

Heard something interesting about the proposed beer garden. I still have a few more people to check with, but there may be good news.

Hoping whatever is good news here turns out to be true...

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

For the first 15 years of its existence, EPCOT was my favorite Disney park. Not so much now as before. The brights spots seemed fewer than ever. I'm hoping for some new life in it- if the use of IP doesn't destroy its soul. Here's hoping.

 

[doctornick]

I'd say the Nemo overlay is the first super intrusive item that broke the theme. We can argue the merits of replacing classics but I think the intent was still to connect everything to EPCOT Center. Some people will definitely argue that enough happened in '99 to say that's when it lost it's identity. I don't believe that's the case, but the park was definitely weakened in '99

Some important dates:

• 1/9/99: Horizons closes
• 3/17/99: Test Track officially opens
• 10/1/99: Imagination 2.0
• 6/1/02: Imagination 3.0
• 8/15/03: Mission: SPACE opens
• 11/04: Turtle Talk with Crush opens (I have less of an issue with this as a secondary attraction with a pseudo educational component)
• 10/06: The Seas with Nemo and Friends opens

When were the Three Cabelleros added to the Mexico ride?

I tend to agree with you though. People may prefer the original pavilions to the replacements, but things like Test Track, M:S, and Soarin' seemed like they were different ways to try to tie into the core Epcot ideals (I'd also add Sum of All Thrills as a small, but underrated gem attached to the original premise of the park). And while they may have been "inferior" to their predecessors, I think they largely did bring some much needed diversity to the FW experience while still trying to be aspirational.

The Imagination redos I can't explain though.

Nemo as the jump the shark moment is a good argument.

 

[mikejs78]

Our people have indicated it's mostly correct and didn't offer any corrections except quibble over the size of the various elements.

Only our resident dustomaniac has claimed the beer garden is removed without any attribution to that claim even when asked for it, as par for the course.

When were the Three Cabelleros added to the Mexico ride?

I tend to agree with you though. People may prefer the original pavilions to the replacements, but things like Test Track, M:S, and Soarin' seemed like they were different ways to try to tie into the core Epcot ideals (I'd also add Sum of All Thrills as a small, but underrated gem attached to the original premise of the park). And while they may have been "inferior" to their predecessors, I think they largely did bring some much needed diversity to the FW experience while still trying to be aspirational.

The Imagination redos I can't explain though.

Nemo as the jump the shark moment is a good argument.

I'd argue it started with Honey I Shrunk the Audience in 1994 followed by Ellen's Energy Adventure in 1996 - which were the first "IP" intrusions into the park, even if on theme.