The festivals were brought up because they are what props Epcot up now. People were pointing to effectively saying 'Epcot is still doing just fine.. so it must be you' because they can point to attendance numbers, etc. The point being pumping the park with temporary draws that simply co-habitate the park does not mean the park's core is good or healthy. It means many people came to Epcot to experience something else..
Or to put it another way - would the festival draw or product change radically if it were somewhere else? Say, Disney springs? Would people not go because it wasn't Epcot? Would Epcot still draw the same numbers if the festivals weren't there?
All these points highlight that the numbers alone do not prove the Epcot concept, or Epcot as a THEME PARK is just as healthy as ever (or even better than in the past).
The festivals remain temporary co-resident events that Disney has successfully marketed to guests as reasons to come to Epcot to see... not that they improve Epcot as a theme park. In fact, most would probably argue its there to make them more interested in visiting Epcot.. which means they are there for the festival, not Epcot.
I agree with all of this, and have already said in the post you're replying to that "the festivals are a serious issue [...] because TDO has leaned on them to push attendance numbers, which in turn has allowed them to neglect Future World." You don't need to prove this to me, I'm with you! My counter-point is that TDO is already in the process of addressing these problems...The complaint is that Disney is focusing on festivals to the detriment of the park itself, but TDO has now announced multiple new attractions and a much-needed thematic overhaul to Future World. Whether or not those changes will be well-received on this forum remains to be seen, but the point stands that TDO is putting in the necessary work, while continuing to run the seasonal festivals. If, 5-10 years from now, Future World has a clean, contemporary look, beautiful landscaping and a new slate of attractions, will it
really matter that guests are coming for Food & Wine? Even if they do, the updates to FW will (hopefully) speak for themselves, and provide fresh incentive for guests to come back. Not to mention I'm
sure such a massive overhaul will be heavily marketed by Disney, especially to locals.
You can't really have a discussion about how TDO has relied on the festivals to ignore the rest of the park w/o addressing the elephant in the room...which is that they
are officially focusing on the rest of the park.
Why bother with a norweigan bakery and setting if you can just setup a shed and sell the same goods? How long before you start giving up placemaking just to fit another kiosk? Eventually wouldn't you find single serving and walking around with your food a detrement if that's what became the dominate thing instead of a nice diversion?
This is purely hypothetical. Food & Wine has been going on since the 90s, and the country pavilions are as beautiful as ever...with TDO reportedly planning to build Brazil. If Brazil turns out to be a lone shed with a handful of food options, then I can entertain this argument.
The only thing they are elevating is the price/portion. There are far more engaging food celebrations around if thats what you want to experience. That doesn't make food sampling a central idea of what to build a theme park around.
And guests can stay at a true luxury resort for the same price (or less) than Contemporary/Poly/Grand Flo, but they don't. You'll always be able to point to higher quality experiences with lower price points outside of Disney. Like I said, it's a different (and clearly to some) more valuable experience by sheer association with Disney...and being set against the backdrop of WSC doesn't exactly hurt its appeal either, so belatedly, no, I don't think a Disney Springs festival would see anywhere near the same level of enthusiasm from guests. Disney has actually tried this on a smaller scale (offering seasonal food & beverage items at Springs, complete with Epcot festival-esque pamphlets listing the locations and prices) w/ what I saw as a lukewarm response. Could be wrong there, but don't think so.
