I really don't know what to feel about all of this, other than that this is one more step in Futureworld's totally losing its focus. Mission: Space is the only thing that's opened there in my lifetime that has anything of a futuristic or ever-so-slightly educational feel to it. It's kind of sad that now even attractions with an originally futuristic or progress theme are changing to a more Disneyfied theme. I truly believe our society is taking steps backward. Why is nobody excited about progress any more?
Test Track is educational. Mission:Space is educational. All the new exhibits in the Living Seas are educational. Soarin' isn't, but is fun and more appopriate for a pavilion about the land than Food Rocks was and perhaps might inspire someone to realize how great "our land" truly is. Imagination 3.0, well I can't say much good about that in either the enterainement of education dept. All of the Innoventions exhibits are educational. The main difference I see compared to the early 80's Epcot is all of the newer attractions don't spoon-feed you information in a 3-D history book ride-through. In fact, with the exception of Horizons and the supposedly futuristic Sea-base Alpha theme, most of my memories of Epcot's original rides were more about looking at the history of progress than necessarily what the future held. Understanding where we came from is important to make any progress, but the original Epcot actually seemed to be more of a history lesson than displaying a look into the future. I think that is why it was getting the bad reputation of being a "teacher's park" when it was so much more.
I hear a lot of people say Test Track isn't educational, but I disagree. The queue is a motor-lovers dream museum. The actual ride is an inside look into what the cars we drive on a daily basis goes through before they are manufactured. I admit that I actually learned my fair share of things from TT.
I loved the original Epcot Center as much as the next guy here, but I certainly would not be happy if everything had stayed the way it was for nostalgia sake. Epcot today is much more of a passive educational experience, and dare I say more fun. To be honest, I think the average guest finds that more fun as well. Will the new Living Seas ride provide any educational value? I have no idea. But I hope it does a little. If not, the main pavilion is just as educational about sea life as it ever was...just a little less emphasis on a theoretical future of sea exploration, which I admit is kind of a shame.
Anyway, I think people are very interested in progress. But in a world where the next big technological advancement that will change how we live our lives, experience entertainment or travel from place to place is literally months to a few years away, it is impossible for a park to focus each of their attractions on the future. By the time they went through the design phase and were built, they'd be out of date and require an update...its actually a problem I see with many of the Innoventions exhibits and why I think they are going to more generic hands-on experiences than future technology advancements.