“EPCOT”’s New Name

Parker in NYC

Parker in NYC

Well-Known Member
Sjeason said:
It’s funny to think what these boards would have looked like had they existed in the late 60s when the board dropped just about all of Walt’s vision and plan for EPCOT and then in the 70s when they designed a theme park based on Worlds Fairs and decided to call it EPCOT, which was nothing like what was intended. The name has ALWAYS been inappropriately used. Therefore it doesn’t need to change....
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Many still feel that way, don't they? I certainly see them in EPCOT discussions throughout social media.
 
wedenterprises

wedenterprises

Well-Known Member
There's a philosophical and story argument to be made that humanity *is* the experimental prototype community of tomorrow. It seems to me like Disney is mayyyyyybe saying this, and moving towards a more thematic story principle rather than a world's fair or Walt's city.

Position new Epcot as a celebration of humanity... Whether or not the park can, or will ever, live up to that remains to be seen. The incoming changes we've seen wouldn't be enough, IMO
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
wedenterprises said:
There's a philosophical and story argument to be made that humanity *is* the experimental prototype community of tomorrow. It seems to me like Disney is mayyyyyybe saying this, and moving towards a more thematic story principle rather than a world's fair or Walt's city.

Position new Epcot as a celebration of humanity... Whether or not the park can, or will ever, live up to that remains to be seen. The incoming changes we've seen wouldn't be enough, IMO
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EPCOT Center was a celebration of humanity.
 
Rich Brownn

Rich Brownn

Well-Known Member
wedenterprises said:
There's a philosophical and story argument to be made that humanity *is* the experimental prototype community of tomorrow. It seems to me like Disney is mayyyyyybe saying this, and moving towards a more thematic story principle rather than a world's fair or Walt's city.

Position new Epcot as a celebration of humanity... Whether or not the park can, or will ever, live up to that remains to be seen. The incoming changes we've seen wouldn't be enough, IMO
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They used the "EPCOT philosophy" when building WDW (If I remember correctly some of the occupant signs at the Contemporary even said Epcot referring to rules). It did lead to some interesting things - modular construction, glueing instead of welding steel beams, the EVAC garbage system... all of which proved to be financially or operationally failures in the long run.
 
wedenterprises

wedenterprises

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
EPCOT Center was a celebration of humanity.
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Yes, but not overtly, it was always subtext because of World Showcase and the overlap of WS and Future World. World Showcase is/was a celebration of cultural traditions and FW was a demonstration of what was possible with technological advances. To me, those two ideas were never well aligned.

If they can continue to align FW closer to WS, as a celebration of what we can accomplish (or have accomplished), without necessarily science and technology as the premise, then the entire park will begin to feel more cohesive, IMO.

It's a subtle difference but I think it's why we're seeing the majority of the changes happen in FW and not WS.

I'm not saying I love it. I miss my hydrolators, but imagine doing a reverse and reinventing World Showcase as a demonstration of each culture's advances and technological contributions.
 
Epcot82Guy

Epcot82Guy

Well-Known Member
I actually agree with that. I think the misstep is not focusing on inspiration from reality and the real world. There's obviously creative license there. But, taking Epcot and its focus out of the real world is what is really rubbing me the wrong way.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
wedenterprises said:
Yes, but not overtly, it was always subtext because of World Showcase and the overlap of WS and Future World. World Showcase is/was a celebration of cultural traditions and FW was a demonstration of what was possible with technological advances. To me, those two ideas were never well aligned.

If they can continue to align FW closer to WS, as a celebration of what we can accomplish (or have accomplished), without necessarily science and technology as the premise, then the entire park will begin to feel more cohesive, IMO.

It's a subtle difference but I think it's why we're seeing the majority of the changes happen in FW and not WS.

I'm not saying I love it. I miss my hydrolators, but imagine doing a reverse and reinventing World Showcase as a demonstration of each culture's advances and technological contributions.
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It was plenty overt. Technology is a human creation. The template of Future World attractions was “This is what we have accomplished and this is what we can accomplish.”
 
wedenterprises

wedenterprises

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
It was plenty overt. Technology is a human creation. The template of Future World attractions was “This is what we have accomplished and this is what we can accomplish.”
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Technology as an american corporate creation was the message and in some cases still is ("This is what Chevrolet has accomplished and this is what Chevrolet can provide to you.") Even Living with the Land presents innovation as something someone else gets to participate in. In a sense it's all a celebration because it's being showcased and experienced, but I don't agree that the "royal we" was being celebrated.

These days it's a mixed bag of course. Take Mission: Space which, no longer sponsored, does the opposite. It's a celebration of what anyone over 40" can accomplish, and it gives us a glimpse into where we are going.
 

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