Best ride decision in (recent) EPCOT history

[MichWolv]

Of course, the OP was going for positivity regarding Epcot, so I will add some.

• Regal Eagle Smokehouse finally gives the American Adventure an interesting restaurant.
• The restaurants in World Showcase have mostly remained good, and not been ruined by attempts to cater to the masses.
• Awesome Planet is a worthy replacement of Circle of Life.
• The elimination of the monoliths in the entrance plaza is a great improvement, and the new placement of the Leave a Legacy pics is well done.
• The F&G, F&W and Arts festivals bring life and color to the park.
• While not in Epcot, the Skyliner is the best mode of transportation in all of WDW, it also takes a decent number of buses off the roads, and it feels like an Epcot-like transport system -- big win.

 

[Anteater]

Of course, the OP was going for positivity regarding Epcot, so I will add some.

• Regal Eagle Smokehouse finally gives the American Adventure an interesting restaurant.
• The restaurants in World Showcase have mostly remained good, and not been ruined by attempts to cater to the masses.
• Awesome Planet is a worthy replacement of Circle of Life.
• The elimination of the monoliths in the entrance plaza is a great improvement, and the new placement of the Leave a Legacy pics is well done.
• The F&G, F&W and Arts festivals bring life and color to the park.
• While not in Epcot, the Skyliner is the best mode of transportation in all of WDW, it also takes a decent number of buses off the roads, and it feels like an Epcot-like transport system -- big win.

Clicked "like" even though those last two are a bit of a stretch. But, the others? definitely

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Actually shouldn’t WOL not Play be Festival Center into play? Because turning it permanent from a seasonal shell of a pavilion is better

 

[rle4lunch]

Regal beagle is a great addition. We'll be in town Sunday and epcot is first on our list. Missed the dvc preview by 1 day with our trip, but looking forward to Rat and Space 220 fwiw. Something new is better than nothing.

And yes, SSE NEEDS something and JII still needs to be bulldozed.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I voted for Test Track 2.0

While I like Soarin' better than Food Rocks, ideally we shouldn't have had to lose one to build the other.

 

[WondersOfLife]

Screw all of you Food Rocks haters.

Soarin’s entrance should have started at the circle of life theater entrance.


IM TALKIN BOUT GOOD NUTRITION!!

 

[kalel8145]

I'll have to wait to vote. I'll ride both guardians and remy in June (hopefully) looking forward to both.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Had to vote for Guardians - even without riding I know it'll be my favorite ride in the park.

It would've been Soarin', if 2.0 (which I was super excited for) hadn't nerfed it so much.

Ratatouille ride is a great idea but the execution does nothing for me, and that's been the case since riding in Paris 8 years ago.

 

[Brer Panther]

I voted for Soarin'.

Never actually did Food Rocks, but I've seen videos and it looked pretty crummy. Aside from Fud Wrapper. He was cool.

 

[UNCgolf]

I voted for Soarin' as the "best" option, although it's silly they replaced a show with it instead of building it as an addition.

Ratatouille replacing trees seems like a good idea and is probably the actual right answer, but Ratatouille is a mediocre attraction and the rest of the expansion was poorly done. It's still obviously better than unused space, but it just feels like a missed opportunity.

Everything else on the list was a significant downgrade, except maybe TT 1.0 to 2.0, the Spaceship Earth updates, and Cosmic Rewind. I liked 1.0 better (although neither is even remotely close to World of Motion) but it would have been very outdated by now without a serious overhaul. Cosmic Rewind seems like a fine attraction, and Ellen was dead and needed to be overhauled, but it's in the wrong park and they could have easily done something more befitting with that space.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Ratatouille replacing trees seems like a good idea and is probably the actual right answer, but Ratatouille is a mediocre attraction and the rest of the expansion was poorly done. It's still obviously better than unused space, but it just feels like a missed opportunity.

I’m surprised Ratatouille is polling so well, but I guess “nothing to something” beats a perceived downgrade.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

TT1 into TT2. Which turned an abrasive eyesore into a decent experience.

All else are downgrades. Except SSE, which has gone through various excellent versions. And perhaps Soarin' too, which feels like an alien intruder to the Land but at least is a good ride.

Rat helps to turn the magnificent WS into Fantasyland and is therefore a downgrade.


Swamp > city > EPCOT Center < Epcot < drunkytown superherocoasters & princessland

 

[correcaminos]

I’m surprised Ratatouille is polling so well, but I guess “nothing to something” beats a perceived downgrade.

Pretty much!

I will say we do prefer TT2 to TT1. It's more engaging to us and honestly, the obnoxious loud queue going is a bonus. Light or dark inside it doesn't matter to me either way.

I might have picked Soarin' had it not changed into such a bad ride now. The downgrade to v. 2 is awful to me. I actually preferred Kitchen Kabaret to Food rocks so that aspect doesn't play in for me.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Pretty much!

I will say we do prefer TT2 to TT1. It's more engaging to us and honestly, the obnoxious loud queue going is a bonus. Light or dark inside it doesn't matter to me either way.

I might have picked Soarin' had it not changed into such a bad ride now. The downgrade to v. 2 is awful to me. I actually preferred Kitchen Kabaret to Food rocks so that aspect doesn't play in for me.

Can totally respect preferring TT2 (aesthetically the new one is the clear winner), I just wish its spirit of fun and quirky humor hadn’t been stripped as well. 100% on the queue, though - forgot what a train wreck the original was!

With Guardians opening, there will at least be some irreverent humor in World Discovery, so perhaps that’ll soften what was lost from TT.

Soarin’ to me is beyond infuriating, as someone who *loved* the original and also loved the idea of a world version. What they did to the soundtrack is perhaps worst of all; the original score was intentionally composed with soaring, mighty moments and relaxing + building the tension in between; for 2.0, it felt like someone had buttons featuring all the key ‘motifs’, kept hitting them in random order/going back to the main one, and finally added in some ethnic touches just for kicks.

They would have been better off remastering the original score and adding those worldly touches, but what we got is nothing but a downgrade.

 

[correcaminos]

Can totally respect preferring TT2 (aesthetically the new one is the clear winner), I just wish its spirit of fun and quirky humor hadn’t been stripped as well. 100% on the queue, though - forgot what a train wreck the original was!

With Guardians opening, there will at least be some irreverent humor in World Discovery, so perhaps that’ll soften what was lost from TT.

Soarin’ to me is beyond infuriating, as someone who *loved* the original and also loved the idea of a world version. What they did to the soundtrack is perhaps worst of all; the original score was intentionally composed with soaring, mighty moments and relaxing + building the tension in between; for 2.0, it felt like someone had buttons featuring all the key ‘motifs’, kept hitting them in random order/going back to the main one, and finally added in some ethnic touches just for kicks.

They would have been better off remastering the original score and adding those worldly touches, but what we got is nothing but a downgrade.

I did like the quirkiness of the first as well. I always miss when fun is removed like that. I agree that part is totally missed. Though we use the design your car portion to be over the top which we create but adds. We had some HS kids in our car during spring break this year appalled that you can score over 100 on a given attribute. Our cars are nuts! I never gave the queue much thought until my (at the time) 3yo was in line. By the time we got to the end he was freaked out by the noises and such. Funny enough this is his favorite ride now.

I think what gets me most about Soarin' now is how distorted the movie is first. My first ride was on the edge and it was so sad to see a droopy pyramid, Neuschwanstein castle, and Eiffel tower. Seeing the curve on the Taj Mahal knowing it was CGI was baffling. The scents are not as good and the added CGI to everything is just lousy. I'd take screen noise over this any day. But yes, remastering would have been an improvement. This version just sucks comparatively. Not to say we don't ride, it's just not top of my list.

 

[ppete1975]

Soaring was a huge improvement, and much needed capacity without adding IP. Although I didnt like it they should have kept or moved Food rocks or kitchen kabaret, or an updated version . The idea of an educational childrens show is still needed especially if you an slyly educate them about nutrition and food, especially with the obesity problem we have in the united states. This removal/replacement strategy is unnecessary, they should be adding, without removal, especially something that is small footprint.

 

[DavidDL]

Mission: SPACE is probably my favorite attraction in all of EPCOT and I was never able to ride Horizons so.. that has to be my vote. Maybe if I'd of been among the folks fortunate enough to experience it, I'd feel differently but I can't judge based on something I've never ridden before (same reason why I can't pick Cosmic Rewind right now).

 

[Soluna16]

Mission: SPACE is probably my second or third favorite ride so that would be my choice outside of the fact that Trees > Ratatouille was just a park expansion which is the correct answer.

 

[celluloid]

Not an option on here was Entrance revamp and Wand Removal. Those would be mine.

 

[Herah]

I think what gets me most about Soarin' now is how distorted the movie is first. My first ride was on the edge and it was so sad to see a droopy pyramid, Neuschwanstein castle, and Eiffel tower. Seeing the curve on the Taj Mahal knowing it was CGI was baffling. The scents are not as good and the added CGI to everything is just lousy. I'd take screen noise over this any day. But yes, remastering would have been an improvement. This version just sucks comparatively. Not to say we don't ride, it's just not top of my list.

Soarin' Over California mainly celebrated different landforms, which a) makes sense, to me at least, for The Land, and b) involves a lot of horizontals and a lot of banking over those horizontals. It avoids the distortion of vertical lines and maximizes the physical sensations inherent in the ride system. The new one celebrates landmarks, many of which have strong vertical lines, which maximizes the distortion and also leads to a lot of nearly-straight rising motions, which just aren't as much fun as banking. It's like they set out to showcase the limitations of the system.