I apologize, but this is going to be a long post. I have gone through my thoughts as an EPCOT Center fan...from practically Day 1 when the park opened, I was 4 years old and my father was working in the central computers area (like you saw in Astuter Computer Revue/Backstage Magic).
There have been a LOT of emotions going around from people who are taking this time....at the loss of a barely used ex-Communicore building to vent their frustrations at the lack of original vision of EPCOT Center and what we're getting next.
So let's take a look at that further.
First, I want to start out by saying I do feel like things we grew up with when we were very young have an overwhelming impact on our emotions if they get changed later on. That is part of why some are massive Star Wars fans, Harry Potter fans, etc. Many of them saw those films when they were 8, 10, 12 years old, etc. and it was very impacting to them as one of the early memories of a big phenomenon.
EPCOT Center was the same way for a group of people, although probably not as big a group of people as many of us would like to think.
People who have ever been to EPCOT Center in the first decade or so....did you ever mix up which scenes were in which ride? Did you think one scene from World of Motion was actually in Spaceship Earth? Because I did. It's one of the issues with the original park. The vision was great, it was stellar...but it was full of omnimovers with somewhat similar themes in parts.
Let me be clear The loss of Horizons and Journey into Imagination WERE the loss of the heart and soul of the park, no question, but let's go over the attractions and their evolution.
Mission:Space is a semi-decent attraction on its own, pales in comparison to the awe inspiring futurism of Horizons but more tangible I guess? I do wish Mission:Space had more educational aspects to it, but the post show isn't terrible and does have some activities for kids.
Imagination with Figment - A very bland ride that might be fun for smaller kids, but pretty low budget and lacking 90% of the charm and visuals of the original. The theater has never had a GREAT film in there to begin with...so meh.
Spaceship Earth has always been mostly very good. I find it ironic that people are lamenting any changes to it soon as people really didn't like what happened on the iteration we have know. I guess it's uncertainty about the unknown changes coming up.
The Seas - I really hate losing the Seabase Alpha theme, however the aquarium and exhibits are mostly intact...I just wish they put more emphasis on exploring those areas when people get off the main ride, or promote people not going on the Nemo ride through the exit if they just want to see the aquarium.
The Land - Living with the Land is 90% intact and doesn't show any sign of going anywhere. New film coming that will improve things I think. Soarin' is a great addition, and no, I don't miss Food Rocks....Kitchen Kabaret however....
Test Track - Still the same sponsor after all of these years, and IMO it holds up quite well as an Epcot style attraction. YES, I prefer 2.0 to 1.0 which was very dated and noisy. That doesn't mean they can't improve some things about 2.0 which are pretty dull, especially the middle "tests" which don't really do anything. The car creator graphics could be improved as well.
Universe of Energy now Guardians - I don't think they were going to keep that elaborate ride system forever, for a 38 minute slow moving dinosaur attraction when they have another much more thrilling Dinosaur ride at DAK. I know, I know, that's only one part of a much longer experience, but it might just have been designed for a different era of guests.
Wonders of life/Play pavilion- WOL has been closed for a long time and no chance of it coming back. Body Wars was very rough and never lived up to the quality of Star Tours for most guests. The other attractions were nice, but I'm interested to see what the Play pavilion will be like, it seems more like an Innoventions style area actually.
Innoventions - The thing that hasn't been great since the 90's other than a few cool points like the House of the Future on and off, the Segway test rides and the Sum of All Thrills. Things like these kept it somewhat interesting, but still wasn't incredible.
World Showcase hasn't really lost much of anything except Maelstrom and the old Mexico ride...not a big loss. I don't like IP being added, but it is what it is.
So I would say that Spaceship Earth, the Land, The Seas, Mission:Space and Test Track still keeps somewhat of the original vision of EPCOT Center and are decent to good attractions, and 95% of Wold Showcase still does. Imagination COULD if it was a better attraction, the Play pavilion COULD be also, we have to wait and see, Guardians is the odd one out.
That's why I'm keeping out the doom and gloom of people who's nostalgia tinted glasses are on a little bit too tight.
. Imagine that. Must be a day that ends in a y.
