News Big changes coming to EPCOT's Future World?

[Rhinocerous]

Sealed lips on this one.

Answer the question! Are you or are you not Groot?

 

[WDWTank]

I have a feeling Chapek may have good intentions, especially when bringing up S.E.A

 

[HMF]

I have a feeling Chapek may have good intentions, especially when bringing up S.E.A

Good intentions really don't matter in this case. Paul Pressler had good intentions.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Yep. Literally a1/3 of that park has been demolished, yet are only getting 4 new rides (barely replacing what was taken out) based on 2 IPs.

Please stop repeating the fake news of the haters.

DHS always was a smaller park with fewer rides compared to MK and Epcot, and still is.

The area under construction knocked out

• one ride: Backlot Tour
• one show: the car stunt show
• one 'feature'?: the Honey I Shrunk playground
• one QS and various kiosks: (which I don't think anyone is crying over)
• a handful of M&Gs

And that's it. Now, would you call that 1/3 of the park?

Consider that every other attraction that was nixed was replaced. There are no empty venues with broken windows and graffiti scrawled on it. Everything else has an attraction in it. Millionaire was replaced by TSMM. Idol by Frozen sing-along. Narnia replaced by Jack replaced by sorcerer Mickey who moved to his own spot elsewhere. Animation Academy by Launch Bay. Pizza Planet by PizzeRizzo.

Also, they added:

• M&Gs: Chewie, Kylo, Jawas, Storm Troopers, Minnie, Olaf, Green Army Men Streetmosphere Boot Camp; a temporary Doctor Strange Streetmosphere; temporary Moana M&G; and soon, a Star Lord M&G/Streetmosphere?
  
• Two SW daytime stage shows
• A new SW evening show with fireworks and projections
• A third track for TSM
• New scenes for Star Tours
• New (and better) Jedi Show that allows a lot more children to participate
• A new flex space: Sunset Showcase, which, unfortunately, it being underutilized
• An updated (though, not well received) to TGMR

With the new shows cancelling out the loss of the car stunt show, DHS is down by one ride and one playground. That is demonstrably not 1/3 of the park. As I mentioned at the top, if you think the park has a dearth of attractions now, then you must have thought it had a dearth of attractions before the construction.

 

[Thelazer]

Such as the proposed GotG ride replacing Universe of Energy. Not even Martin has told us what the ride is about at all. Does it have anything to do with energy? If yes, then I'm OK with it.

Here I'll spoil you with the story line and ride concept.... let me insert my earring.

There is energy stored somewhere, by the collector, he's traveled back in time to the dinosaur age to hide it and now your going to help restore the energy, by racing back in time to help the guardians get it. But first, you'll need your safety glasses! Of course, something goes horribly wrong and you'll go zooming thru time narrowly escaping being blasted by hot lava and falling rocks...and then you'll transform thru a "magic special fog effect" you'll zoom across time into a "Surround" screen 3d movie (50K Resolution!!! OMG..) where finally you'll see your reflection all around you as the energy explodes and is released and the day has been saved.... HUARRA!

 

[HMF]

Years of neglect have already done a pretty good job of that sadly.

To be perfectly honest though, The Exterior is the least neglected part of that ride.

 

[peter11435]

To be perfectly honest though, The Exterior is the least neglected part of that ride.

Agreed

 

[sedati]

Here I'll spoil you with the story line and ride concept.... let me insert my earring.

There is energy stored somewhere, by the collector, he's traveled back in time to the dinosaur age to hide it and now your going to help restore the energy, by racing back in time to help the guardians get it. But first, you'll need your safety glasses! Of course, something goes horribly wrong and you'll go zooming thru time narrowly escaping being blasted by hot lava and falling rocks...and then you'll transform thru a "magic special fog effect" you'll zoom across time into a "Surround" screen 3d movie (50K Resolution!!! OMG..) where finally you'll see your reflection all around you as the energy explodes and is released and the day has been saved.... HUARRA!

Is there some law that says the replacement for the energy pavilion has to be about energy?

Could it be about the wonders of the Galaxy?

Or a massive $250 million dollar expansion on the beloved Bird and Robot concept from Transcenter?

 

[HMF]

Is there some law that says the replacement for the energy pavilion has to be about energy?

Well, yes, unless there is a better concept in line with Epcot's original vision and absolutely no IP's

 

[Thelazer]

Is there some law that says the replacement for the energy pavilion has to be about energy?

Could it be about the wonders of the Galaxy?

Or a massive $250 million dollar expansion on the beloved Bird and Robot concept from Transcenter?

Whatever will sell the most merchandise in the gift shop is the law.....

 

[sedati]

Whatever will sell the most merchandise in the gift shop is the law.....

Well yes- this was the trade off. You can have gift shops or you can make commercials for outside corporations.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

Please stop repeating the fake news of the haters.

DHS always was a smaller park with fewer rides compared to MK and Epcot, and still is.

The area under construction knocked out

• one ride: Backlot Tour
• one show: the car stunt show
• one 'feature'?: the Honey I Shrunk playground
• one QS and various kiosks: (which I don't think anyone is crying over)
• a handful of M&Gs

And that's it. Now, would you call that 1/3 of the park?

Consider that every other attraction that was nixed was replaced. There are no empty venues with broken windows and graffiti scrawled on it. Everything else has an attraction in it. Millionaire was replaced by TSMM. Idol by Frozen sing-along. Narnia replaced by Jack replaced by sorcerer Mickey who moved to his own spot elsewhere. Animation Academy by Launch Bay. Pizza Planet by PizzeRizzo.

Also, they added:

• M&Gs: Chewie, Kylo, Jawas, Storm Troopers, Minnie, Olaf, Green Army Men Streetmosphere Boot Camp; a temporary Doctor Strange Streetmosphere; temporary Moana M&G; and soon, a Star Lord M&G/Streetmosphere?
  
• Two SW daytime stage shows
• A new SW evening show with fireworks and projections
• A third track for TSM
• New scenes for Star Tours
• New (and better) Jedi Show that allows a lot more children to participate
• A new flex space: Sunset Showcase, which, unfortunately, it being underutilized
• An updated (though, not well received) to TGMR

With the new shows cancelling out the loss of the car stunt show, DHS is down by one ride and one playground. That is demonstrably not 1/3 of the park. As I mentioned at the top, if you think the park has a dearth of attractions now, then you must have thought it had a dearth of attractions before the construction.

Sorry, that's on me being sloppy with my wording. The 1/3 measurement came from some messing around on Google Maps, measuring the area of the work zone compared to the area of DHS (guest and backstage areas), give or take a percent or two.



Dividing the approximate work area of 1,441,944.66 sq ft by the approximate total area of 4,634,055.21 sq ft, you get just over 31%. While you're right that not all of that was guest area before, it was still park area suitable for development. And given it's overall size, I think it could/should have another 2 or 3 attractions.

To your other points:

• Millionaire was replaced by TSMM. Yep
• Idol by Frozen sing-along. Yep
• Narnia replaced by Jack replaced by sorcerer Mickey who moved to his own spot elsewhere. Mickey M&G isn't a replacement for an attraction in my book. Also, Mickey used to meet in the Animation building when the Narnia/Jack Sparrow attractions were open, so an argument could be made we're in net loss territory here.
• Animation Academy by Launch Bay. Yep
• Pizza Planet by PizzeRizzo. Yep

• M&Gs: Chewie, Kylo, Jawas, Storm Troopers, Minnie, Olaf, Green Army Men Streetmosphere Boot Camp; a temporary Doctor Strange Streetmosphere; temporary Moana M&G; and soon, a Star Lord M&G/Streetmosphere? Sure, a wash overall. DHS has always been home to M&G scattered about.
• Two SW daytime stage shows. I'd consider these a replacement of the old shows that took place by the hat (HSM/Disney Channel Rocks. And there was a Monsters, Inc. thing for a while I think?).
• A new SW evening show with fireworks and projections. Yes, net plus.
• A third track for TSM. Capacity upgrade; not a "new" ride.
• New scenes for Star Tours. Minor update; no substantial change to the ride capacity or experience.
• New (and better) Jedi Show that allows a lot more children to participate. I believe the Jedi show now occupies the space that used to house Sounds Dangerous. For a number of years, both these shows operated at the same time, so at best this is a wash, but really a net loss.
• A new flex space: Sunset Showcase, which, unfortunately, it being underutilized. Agree, wasted potential here.
• An updated (though, not well received) to TGMR. Preshow saw more changes than the ride honestly; much like the new scenes in Star Tours, it didn't substantially alter the overall experience.

And yes, I do think DHS was short on attractions before construction began, and will remain so even after it's complete (given what is confirmed to be happening at this point).

 

[PREMiERdrum]

To be perfectly honest though, The Exterior is the least neglected part of that ride.

Agreed

Heck, they've arguably improved it by returning the original paint scheme. Remember this???

 

[G00fyDad]

Sorry, that's on me being sloppy with my wording. The 1/3 measurement came from some messing around on Google Maps, measuring the area of the work zone compared to the area of DHS (guest and backstage areas), give or take a percent or two.

View attachment 193211 View attachment 193212

Dividing the approximate work area of 1,441,944.66 sq ft by the approximate total area of 4,634,055.21 sq ft, you get just over 31%. While you're right that not all of that was guest area before, it was still park area suitable for development. And given it's overall size, I think it could/should have another 2 or 3 attractions.

To your other points:

• Millionaire was replaced by TSMM. Yep
• Idol by Frozen sing-along. Yep
• Narnia replaced by Jack replaced by sorcerer Mickey who moved to his own spot elsewhere. Mickey M&G isn't a replacement for an attraction in my book. Also, Mickey used to meet in the Animation building when the Narnia/Jack Sparrow attractions were open, so an argument could be made we're in net loss territory here.
• Animation Academy by Launch Bay. Yep
• Pizza Planet by PizzeRizzo. Yep

• M&Gs: Chewie, Kylo, Jawas, Storm Troopers, Minnie, Olaf, Green Army Men Streetmosphere Boot Camp; a temporary Doctor Strange Streetmosphere; temporary Moana M&G; and soon, a Star Lord M&G/Streetmosphere? Sure, a wash overall. DHS has always been home to M&G scattered about.
• Two SW daytime stage shows. I'd consider these a replacement of the old shows that took place by the hat (HSM/Disney Channel Rocks. And there was a Monsters, Inc. thing for a while I think?).
• A new SW evening show with fireworks and projections. Yes, net plus.
• A third track for TSM. Capacity upgrade; not a "new" ride.
• New scenes for Star Tours. Minor update; no substantial change to the ride capacity or experience.
• New (and better) Jedi Show that allows a lot more children to participate. I believe the Jedi show now occupies the space that used to house Sounds Dangerous. For a number of years, both these shows operated at the same time, so at best this is a wash, but really a net loss.
• A new flex space: Sunset Showcase, which, unfortunately, it being underutilized. Agree, wasted potential here.
• An updated (though, not well received) to TGMR. Preshow saw more changes than the ride honestly; much like the new scenes in Star Tours, it didn't substantially alter the overall experience.

And yes, I do think DHS was short on attractions before construction began, and will remain so even after it's complete (given what is confirmed to be happening at this point).

To be fair, your comparison in those photos is including a lot of backstage areas that were never accessible by the public in the first place so having it demolished should not add to your "1/3" total.

 

[MCast]

In my imaginary perfect world, The Land would have "Journey to the Center of the Year" as a ride (from Tokyo DisneySea). Also, I'm surprised Epcot hasn't necessarily tackled the weather - I feel like that has strong potential as a ride or even a whole pavilion dedicated to it. The other thing I feel Epcot could tackle is air travel - imagine the ride possibilities there (outside of Soarin, of course).

 

[danheaton]

World of Motion used Tron in the leadup to the finale as something suggestive of the future of transportation though. Not to mention the scrapped Tron arcade plan.

They used the Tron shots, but they didn't call them out like "let's now visit the world of Tron!". If you weren't aware of the Tron connection, you'd have no idea they were from Tron. Of course, that approach doesn't work now because Iger and co. want the IP to make you interested in merchandise, movies, etc. I understand it from a business perspective, but they have to remember the parks should have be something unique that draw people on their own.

 

[marni1971]

Also, I'm surprised Epcot hasn't necessarily tackled the weather - I feel like that has strong potential as a ride or even a whole pavilion dedicated to it).

They couldn't get a sponsor.

 

[Earl Sweatpants]

They couldn't get a sponsor.

Was Al Roker not available???

 

[montyz81]

Was Al Roker not available???

Or was it because Willard Scott was already committed to UoE

 

[Earl Sweatpants]

Or was it because Willard Scott was already committed to UoE

He's still under the Smuckers contract.