Reposting this here, as my thread was deleted.
I cannot stop thinking about EPCOT and how badly misunderstood it is. I've listened to others try to put the park into words, and they are usually missing the point because the original intent of the park has been butchered so badly over time, but I believe it is a message that would resonate deeply if restored.
Humanity can and should break out of the destructive tiny little boxes our 2019-era society has created. People are willingly, unwittingly imprisoning themselves on social media that force people to think small, and in pithy click-baity, retweetable moments. Tiny little white noise thoughts are being frantically sent into the digital ether-- and all of this tiny nonsense is siphoning off human energy that could be used *productively*. We have more tools to DO cool stuff than ever before, yet humans are spinning in circles and staring at screens.
EPCOT is an exploration in how big life on Earth really is. It's almost a mini-model of the world. It is a gentle reminder to us all of how much there is to do and learn; how many cultures and foods and ideas and POTENTIAL are out there, waiting for us to discover and understand them and apply them to our inner model of the world. These are concepts that can soften, enlighten, and inspire guests to use their imaginations (cough cough) to create new, better things. Our Parks/Products/Plastics Chairman says they want things to be more Disney? This IS Disney. This is the actual magic.
It is comforting and hopeful to be reminded that life is a big thing. Go rewatch the opening day speech, and think in terms of the 2019 lens. I understand that technology moved so fast, almost too fast, and that the birth of the internet made EPCOT seem antiquated. What if it was actually ahead of its time?
From a business perspective, this could be a gold mine if appropriately harnessed. If the leadership really understood the park and its potential they could market it like crazy. The 1980s and 90s are massively on-trend right now, and the children of Epcot Center are now your moms and dads booking Disney trips. The current thing they are trying to force in Future World is going to ruin the park. Rebrand it back to what it was and give it a clever conceptual hashtag if you must, Disney, and just see what happens. If we can dream it, we can do it-- now more than ever.
