Well I kind of thought the same thing when you said it. Not saying I agree or disagree with the conclusion. But you used an anecdotal story to make a point. Kind of like me saying my son's favorite "toy" at Christmas was a cardboard box a toy came in, and not any of the toys themselves, therefore, cardboard boxes can be amazing experiences for kids.
Which is not inherently wrong. We are all walking anecdotes about how we experience life, let alone how we experience theme parks.
The assertion earlier in the thread was that kids don't like Epcot or learning. I was responding with a data point. Now it's very possible that my experience is the minority one. But it is a data point,.one which has more validity than the assertions that 'kids don't like Epcot' or 'people want IP' with zero supporting evidence. These are assertions without any data at all, whereas mine was 'kids do like Epcot; here are two examples'.
Easy. I'd have to care enough to spend the time to watch those in my free time. While in a theme park, I want to see and experience things, so i'd be totally down to watch something like this. I assume i'm not the only one in the world who doesn't binge watch short films or documentaries about the Earth just for the fun of it.
Sometimes I wonder if it was the kids who “didn’t like” EPCOT (even though the park had more visitors back then).
Just as a note that we all experience the parks differently, the "cool looking buildings" are what I adored about WS and that, as well as Main Street, in combo with the blessed opportunity to travel overseas as a child, inspired me to become an architect.
Oh absolutely, I apologize if my post came off as dismissive of your experience. Not the intent at all. Just wanted to bring a counterpoint and also address the idea that both experiences are equally valid. And that Disney should attempt to cater to as many different experiences as is reasonable.To be clear, I'm not discounting your personal experience at all (and I don't think anyone else is, either). In fact, all I'm doing is expressing my own personal "data" point.
We're cool.
My memory of World Showcase as a child was spending most of the time in shops (love Norway for the Trolls for this reason) and being forced to eat souerkraut. It had cool looking buildings but Future World did too and those cool looking buildings actually had stuff for me to do inside them.
I've always loved American Adventure because it hits a similar note that SSE does but really have no fond childhood memories of Morocco, UK, Germany, Italy, and somwhere-in-Africa-that-isn't-an-unstable-country-land for instance. What I remember most about the circle-vision in Canada was not being allowed to sit.
I feel this area was built with a mind more to an adult audience, originally, and that most of the family-friendly features came in the form of the live entertainment you could catch in France, or say the magician/wax guy in Japan, China, etc. More than half of those pavilions today still only feature sit-down restaurants and alcohol and shopping as their "attraction".
I'm glad that it sparked a sense of wonder for you that carried over into adult life and helped shape your own personal future. I always thought the settings in places like Morroco and Germany and Italy were cool (and not to dig too much on Canada's movie but Canada, too), I'd have just liked them more if there had been something in them for me to do the way it appeared there was for adults.
There were no "special" drinks for me and kid-cot didn't come along until later - not that I think kindergarten craft projects are suitable substitutes for attractions intended to hold the interest of children along side adults.
That said, I still think it's the wrong place for Frozen but I can accept what's happening in Paris and a carosel in the UK would be a welcome sight to me, too. If Germany and Japan had gotten what they were originally supposed to, I'd have probably had a much better opinion of this area as a six year old back in the day with my Four Seasons Pass, too.
Oh absolutely, I apologize if my post came off as dismissive of your experience. Not the intent at all. Just wanted to bring a counterpoint and also address the idea that both experiences are equally valid. And that Disney should attempt to cater to as many different experiences as is reasonable.
And I certainly won't argue that there were times I was bored and ready for mom to leave the shops. Perhaps that boredom of sitting in the various courtyards waiting gave me the opportunity to slow down and really "see" the buildings, and the details, and gain a better appreciation than I would have, had we just scurried through each pavilion.
I guess I should call mom and thank her for doing all that shopping when on vacations!
But I do see your point and agree with some aspects.
