News Big changes coming to EPCOT's Future World?

[Animaniac93-98]

I get so tired of this "what about the children" crap.

Me too, and it's never really about kids who are 8, 10 or 12, but always the under-6 crowd who would easily be just as entertained by staying at home with an ipad and some ice cream.

 

[SirLink]

Wrong - everyone would not be happy. Why not have something for everyone of all ages. That's what makes Disney one of the best theme parks in the world

Well yes brand advocates would hate it. There currently is only two attractions which children can't go on in Epcot. There is something for everyone even if you got rid of M+G, Nemo, Frozen and take Donald Duck out of Mexico.

 

[lobelia]

I get so tired of this "what about the children" crap. If you want your prince or princess entertained with Disney characters, take them to Magic Kingdom.

Edit: And by Disney characters I mean The Fab Five, Belle, Snow White, etc etc. Not the one created especially for Epcot (Dreamfinder, Figment, etc).

I'll second this and throw in Dreamfinder and Figment. I find Dreamfinder creepy, like clown creepy. The only character I'm ok with at Epcot is the Mickey shaped watermelon or pumpkin in Living with Land. I still love a great aquarium and planetarium.

 

[*Q*]

I think this...

View attachment 120757

There's plenty more where they came from.

I love that arch, I have always wondered why they got rid of it.

 

[Biff215]

I love that arch, I have always wondered why they got rid of it.

So they could use it at the MK toll booth.

 

[*Q*]

So they could use it at the MK toll booth.

My gut tells me it was taken down for some other reason, and then they decided to repurpose it since it became available.

 

[Biff215]

My gut tells me it was taken down for some other reason, and then they decided to repurpose it since it became available.

No doubt, just teasing. It certainly was the beginning of the end though once they managed to strip WoL of its identity and hide it. It's almost like they wanted it to fail towards the end. Perhaps a plea by management to attract a new sponsor? Clearly doesn't work that way!

 

[OneDNP]

Just got caught in the rabbit hole of lostepcot.com and man its so sad to see what Epcot has become. I will fully admit, most of the sadness is from nostalgia but another piece of that is that there was so much cohesiveness within Future World at the time (1982 - 2000 IMO). Each pavilion had a purpose. Each pavilion had a dedicated symbol. Each pavilion educated me as a child. All these elements are missing, sans "The Land".

That site is a depressing reminder that the pavilions could have evolved to keep up with times, and didn't. I get irrationally mad over the fall of Wonders of Life if I think about it too long.

 

[OneDNP]

I have no problem with the characters originally created for Epcot. I've edited my post to reflect accordingly

I enjoyed having my photo with the Space Mickey and Goofy in Epcot in the 80s, though they were free-range in those days rather than caged in a m&g location as they are now. As an adult who has done many adult-only trips in the modern area, the abundance of kids and characters doesn't harsh my mellow nearly as much as the park's failure to thrive on evolution of core concepts rather than reliance on over-hyped festivals and merchandising.

And yet, I still pay.

 

[Admiral01]

Interesting question ... physically place EPCOT on its own anywhere else in the world ... no MK no other park to hop to ... will it still draw like it does or can it even survive on its own?

I've always felt that, had Disney built EPCOT in Paris instead of another Disneyland Park, EuroDisney would have been much more successful much faster. Just a hunch. Europeans don't need to spend time with a fake castle...

 

[lazyboy97o]

All I'm saying is kids are likely more entertained having some characters in and around world showcase than watching lumberjacks and a mariachi band whether we like it or not

You're making a false and unfounded comparison. The lumberjack show sucks. That has nothing to do with it not having characters. Children tend to love music, so a good mariachi band would probably be quite entertaining to all ages. No need for characters. You claim to be speaking for keeping kids entertained, but all you're doing is calling them a bunch a idiots and saying to toss in something that already works that should shut them up instead of desiring for something of quality. Plenty of kids will happily eat dirt, doesn't mean it should be a menu item.

 

[admiral-ari-x]

What AAs are broken or missing in Energy? It definitely needs an update (though, who would've predicted that Ellen would be a bigger star now than she was back then?) but the only AA that's missing is the one of her poking a dino with a stick, which I thought was removed because of guest feedback (i.e., it sucked).

Sorry for going back to the beginning of the thread with this, but there was another post on the board talking about how they threw out an entire scenes worth of animatronics just recently because they didn't care enough to fix them, or is this the scene you're talking about in this post? Either way, I do hope that Future World gets the love it deserves, and isn't turned into "Various Lounges World".

 

[marni1971]

I've always felt that, had Disney built EPCOT in Paris instead of another Disneyland Park, EuroDisney would have been much more successful much faster.

Wouldn't have mattered. A recession is a recession. Mismanagement is mismanagement.

 

[Admiral01]

Wouldn't have mattered. A recession is a recession. Mismanagement is mismanagement.

That's a good point.

 

[GhostHost1000]

You're making a false and unfounded comparison. The lumberjack show sucks. That has nothing to do with it not having characters. Children tend to love music, so a good mariachi band would probably be quite entertaining to all ages. No need for characters. You claim to be speaking for keeping kids entertained, but all you're doing is calling them a bunch a idiots and saying to toss in something that already works that should shut them up instead of desiring for something of quality. Plenty of kids will happily eat dirt, doesn't mean it should be a menu item.

lol wow. No actually I'm speaking about my 6yr old girl as an example. I don't think she would be AS entertained exploring world showcase like I explore it for hours unless there were things like kidcot coloring, a few character meet and greets, etc. thrown in vs the more historic, educational, shopping, and food and wine side of world showcase. That's all I'm trying to say.

I'm not trying to argue and anyone can believe what they want based on their experiences and type of family....all I know is my child isn't an idiot and doesn't eat dirt and will spend more time at her age around world showcase with me as it is today vs if they had less to no kid focused offerings. Kids can get bored quick and that's why you need some little things here and there for them as well. It doesn't take away from the adult side of world showcase IMO (again frozen is an example I don't approve of) but that doesn't mean they are idiots that just means they are kids

 

[Chris82]

I've always felt that, had Disney built EPCOT in Paris instead of another Disneyland Park, EuroDisney would have been much more successful much faster.

Or if Eisner hadn't built five resort hotels right off the bat in DLP?

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

They always talked about a third gate at DLR - dust off the plans EPCOT for that part of the country?

 

[lazyboy97o]

lol wow. No actually I'm speaking about my 6yr old girl as an example. I don't think she would be AS entertained exploring world showcase like I explore it for hours unless there were things like kidcot coloring, a few character meet and greets, etc. thrown in vs the more historic, educational, shopping, and food and wine side of world showcase. That's all I'm trying to say.

I'm not trying to argue and anyone can believe what they want based on their experiences and type of family....all I know is my child isn't an idiot and doesn't eat dirt and will spend more time at her age around world showcase with me as it is today vs if they had less to no kid focused offerings. Kids can get bored quick and that's why you need some little things here and there for them as well. It doesn't take away from the adult side of world showcase IMO (again frozen is an example I don't approve of) but that doesn't mean they are idiots that just means they are kids

Differing interests and boredom still don't justify diluting theme. If your daughter isn't interested then don't drag her there.

 

[marni1971]

Or if Eisner hadn't built five resort hotels right off the bat in DLP?

That was damned if he did and damned if he didn't at the time. Hindsight of course says what he should have done.

Could have been worse. Could have been six resorts. Or even eight. Imagine.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Differing interests and boredom still don't justify diluting theme. If your daughter isn't interested then don't drag her there.

lol - thanks for the fathering advice. I'll call Disney and ask them to redesign Epcot for your likes only. Unfortunately Disney has diluted theming all over the place since the beginning. In my opinion Future World has been changed way more than World Showcase. Things change whether we all like them or not.

End of the back and forth...different opinions only...lets go enjoy the day - Happy Thanksgiving