2015: The year of the EPCOT makeover?

Magenta Panther

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
kpilcher said:
While I get and agree with your general point here, and I always like Rolly's storytelling, Bear Country was added to Disneyland long after Walt's death and WDW opened. Walt wanted Country Bears for a ski resort called Mineral King. Bear Country was added as a way to liven up a relatively dead end of the park with what imagineers knew would be a hit show from Florida. They built DL Country Bears with twice the capacity with two theaters. That's a move they had to have anticipated after seeing mock-ups of the completed show. CBJ opened in FL in Oct 71. Bear Country opened in Mar 72. Despite urban legend of it being built in reaction to the show being a big hit in Florida, that is too short a time for even Disney of the 70s to design and build a full land. After a decade, or so, CBJ was so under-utilized they kept one theater set up for the Christmas show year-round. Flip a switch. Instant seasonal promotion. Not sure why CBJ never quite caught on as well in California. Kind of a reverse situation to the logic that people in Florida wouldn't want to see pirates. I'm still glad I got to experience the bears in DL before pooh happened.
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Not quite sure what you're saying here, but it's a fact that Bear Country was being discussed by Walt (we know he saw sketches for Country Bear Jamboree), as were the Haunted Mansion and Pirates, shortly before his death. And of course, we know that he didn't live to see them built. The point is that Walt did not create on basis of greed, as that other poster (who's chosen to take his ball and go home) insinuated.

Your post was a fun read just the same. You do know your Bears! :)
 
FutureWorld1982

FutureWorld1982

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
Frozen early 2016 (Shudder)
Soarin third theatre....Maybe
Plussing for RoE

Not exactly a makeover.
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Definitely not. One of Disney's most ambitious theme parks treated like this... how sad. And the thing that is even more sad is that no other work has started in the park, meaning that IF anything else is coming, we will have to wait a minimum of four more years for it to open.
 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
Agreed, of all the parks that need the most help, i'd definitely say it's EPCOT. In my mind it's the park that has fallen the most from its original form, even DHS and its watered down working studios theme still more closely resembles its original form than Epcot (DHS didn't have that many rides to ruin in the first place).

Practically every Future World pavilion needs help in some way or another, i'd say the only one that comes close to a somewhat decent representation of its original glory is The Land (and even it needs a lot of work, particularly the maintenance problems with the animatronics in the boat ride). Spaceship Earth is arguably close and still a fantastic ride on its own, but it's being held back by the descent (somehow decades more outdated than the 1994 version) and incredibly poor script.

But the rest are complete messes. Imagination needs to start over entirely (there wasn't even anything about the original ride that needed replacing in the first place but now we're in this mess). Mission Space and Test Track both are and always have been pale imitators of what preceded them (World of Motion and Horizons). The Seas is a toonified mess that was never designed for this nonsense (and the inclusion of Nemo doesn't seem to be attracting the kiddies). Universe of Energy also needs a major overhaul (as time goes on, its fossil fuel centric message becomes more irrelevant and uncomfortable). Innoventions is a complete mess that doesn't convey new tech at all. And there's an empty building in the form of Wonders of Life being completely squandered (more like Wonders of empty convention space).

Now their sights have been set towards ruining what little remains of World Showcase's dignity. I dread the possible day the idiots have their way with either American Adventure or France, I hope good taste or better leadership prevails before this occurs to prevent it...
 
flyerjab

flyerjab

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
This thread still going?

Shouldn't it be in chit chat?
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I think they keep this post up so that two specific posters can hurl insults at one another.

The only comment I could add that would be of any value to this "awesome" thread is in relation to a comment Lee made on the DHS makeover thread. Someone asked why DHS is getting this much needed redo when EPCOT is falling into a sham of what it was meant to be. Lee replied that people shouldn't worry about that happening because Disney is in a spending mood. I think Lee's post received more likes than there were words in his post.

However, 2015 is not the year...for EPCOT anyway.
 
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Mike S

Mike S

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
Indeed they're in a spending mood. The budget is quite substantial should it stay as is. And DHS could get the lions share, again if things remain as is.

I'm still trying to ascertain if the DHS figure I've been told is included in the overall figure, and what the overall figure (I've been told) does or doesn't include.
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Are you saying there could be more than just the DHS redo coming that we don't already know about?
 
flyerjab

flyerjab

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
Indeed they're in a spending mood. The budget is quite substantial should it stay as is. And DHS could get the lions share, again if things remain as is.

I'm still trying to ascertain if the DHS figure I've been told is included in the overall figure, and what the overall figure (I've been told) does or doesn't include.
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I assume by budget you mean a budget for all of WDW (and whatever happens with DLP). What I have been wondering is, aside from DAK and DHS, is anything else happening to the MK between now and 2021? I am assuming a new fireworks show now that Pandora Jewelry is a sponsor; which by the way, should look nice in the new hub. There have been a ton of refurbs going on, along with the completion of NFL. But in 7 years remaining before the 50th, will anything be added/replaced in MK?

To me there now seems to be a plan to get all of WDW ready by 2021. An obvious but slow, almost glacial plan to improve the overall experience across the entire resort. MK, DS, DAK, and now the much rumored massive makeover of DHS. Along with my question about MK, I also wonder if EPCOT will also get some work done aside from Soarin', Frozen and possibly Illuminations. Is it possible for any work to be done on Imagination and the Energy Pavilion? Or maybe I'm just losing my mind. Probably.

It's just a shame though because in 3 to 5 years, EPCOT will be where DHS is now.
 
Fox&Hound

Fox&Hound

Well-Known Member
flyerjab said:
I assume by budget you mean a budget for all of WDW (and whatever happens with DLP). What I have been wondering is, aside from DAK and DHS, is anything else happening to the MK between now and 2021? I am assuming a new fireworks show now that Pandora Jewelry is a sponsor; which by the way, should look nice in the new hub. There have been a ton of refurbs going on, along with the completion of NFL. But in 7 years remaining before the 50th, will anything be added/replaced in MK?

To me there now seems to be a plan to get all of WDW ready by 2021. An obvious but slow, almost glacial plan to improve the overall experience across the entire resort. MK, DS, DAK, and now the much rumored massive makeover of DHS. Along with my question about MK, I also wonder if EPCOT will also get some work done aside from Soarin', Frozen and possibly Illuminations. Is it possible for any work to be done on Imagination and the Energy Pavilion? Or maybe I'm just losing my mind. Probably.

It's just a shame though because in 3 to 5 years, EPCOT will be where DHS is now.
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I agree that it seems Disney is looking to spend in several of the parks =) But for all of my armchair imagineering (and, it's pretty amazing, I must say), I just can't figure out what they will do with EPCOT. Add more countries that do not tie into an IP? Probably not. Add more cartoons? Maybe, but at the alienation of many fans. How do they begin to fix future world when Tomorrowland shows they really don't know what to do with the future. I feel like EPCOT is such a hot mess right now with such a distorted theme, that I'm really curious to see what direction they take it in, whenever they do decide to invest.
 
RX-24

RX-24

New Member
Does anybody know anything more about the Jerry Rees mystery Epcot attraction project?

From his website:
image.jpg


"If I told you any more I'd have to kill you" o_O
 

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