Dr.GrantSeeker
Well-Known Member
Anger doesn't even begin to describe my feelings after seeing what we should've got. This is so upsetting.
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News Big changes coming to EPCOT's Future World?
- Thread starter djkidkaz
- Start date
sedati
Well-Known Member
Yes.
Not at all what I described.
Also, I've experienced Epcot and Communicore through all of its phases- from classic beige to neopolitan.
I appreciate how Epcot tried new things. Not all of them worked. World Showcase is probably the most easy read of any park. You can stand on the shore and see what every location is and how to get there. Doesn't make it visual chaos or a strip mall. Doesn't mean this is the best either. Future World is the opposite. Stand at it's core and you know little of what's out there. There has to be a way to suggest what is where. Land and Sea. Imagination. Motion. Space. It shouldn't be hard to at least stand in the core and have a sense of which points on the compass would lead to such themes.
Now that I write that it makes the park even more of an oddity. I know there was always the story of shoving two disparate models together and calling it a single park, but no other place operates under two vastly different design philosophies and visual languages- to put it in an extreme, it's as if one hemisphere is in English, and the other in Swahili.
The architectural relationships and design of Future World reads crystal clear from the map, and I'd argue that's the way it was actually intended to be 'read'. The map was the first level most of us interacted with the park on, a much different level from the street view experience. The map told the story of Future World at a glance, nature on one side and science on the other, in symmetry and concert with the human experience down the central spine. Since the entire park was on such a grand scale the personal relationships you have with the buildings were of a much different and individualistic nature. Every pavilion in Future World is an icon, designed to draw you in. The fact that you can't see them all from the central core let each building reveal itself on its own terms, not as a competition for your attention. You picked where you want to go from the map, it was easy to get there if you had it in your head, and the story played out as you arrived at your destination.
I'm trying to think of the last architecturally significant building Disney has built. It's been awhile, and it meantime they've managed to radically corrupt the intent of several of the ones they have. This is the latest and probably greatest corruption since Bay Lake Tower.
Rteetz
Well-Known Member
Maybe but that’s where my opinion differs. Epcot needs drastic change. My faith or lack thereof in Disney leads me to believe that keeping these buildings would’ve led to a spot where we are today 10 years from now. I rather like the idea of getting rid of the Innoventions buildings but like I said I have no attachment to them. I never saw them in their hey day because I wasn’t alive then.
Mike S
Well-Known Member
I have no attachment either. I just want my Imagination redo already.
ChrisFL
Premium Member
I saw the Communicore/Innoventions buildings in their heyday and I too think that it's time to move on and try something fresh.
I still find it odd that losing a mostly empty Communicore building was the last straw for people compared to all of the other closings and lower quality replacements that Epcot has had over the years.
Since I know I can't do anything about the demolition, all I can do is wait and see what the new area looks like and maybe, just maybe, I will enjoy it.
I still find it odd that losing a mostly empty Communicore building was the last straw for people compared to all of the other closings and lower quality replacements that Epcot has had over the years.
Since I know I can't do anything about the demolition, all I can do is wait and see what the new area looks like and maybe, just maybe, I will enjoy it.
Rteetz
Well-Known Member
That we can both agree on!
EPCOTCenterLover
Well-Known Member
I would have actually preferred they totally demolish both halves instead of just one.
Wide open views to each side.
Wide open views to each side.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Is your preference here that the "kidneys" are retained or were there other components that were or were not in here that you prefer?
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Epcot needs drastic change from it's current approach, but not from it's pre 1997 approach. I think the aspirational and inspirational objectives of the first 15 years of Epcot need to be brought back. The last 22 years have been piecemeal changes with little to no connection to the original.
I think defining World Discovery, World Nature and World Celebration is a nice start for a new framework (I'd prefer World Expo instead of World Celebration, fwiw).
There is a future to Epcot, beyond the aesthetic choices that could work and satisfy myself and other fans. Those would include the eviction of Nemo, a worthwhile IP free Imagination update, a new country or two, a worthwhile SSE refurb, and an effort to tie Cosmic Rewind back to Epcot's original message. That will go a long way to fix the park.
A retained heart of the park, updated to modern standards and expectations. With a clear, clean, open and light interior that was easy to navigate. Like it was originally.
But beer.
HauntedMansionFLA
Well-Known Member
I thought the beer garden was gone?
Bar on legs.
Epcot82Guy
Well-Known Member
I enjoy bars on legs and beers, but the plan you showcased would have been infinitely better. And, there would be no reason an elevated bar (bar on mound?) couldn't have appeared on the back side - where the FW Food and Wine kiosks go.
My biggest issues is balance here. I get people who don't think that the Innoventions buildings were inspired or updated. But, why would keeping half of a dated collection of buildings and not balancing them out be viewed as a good design choice? I would potentially understand it if these were being replaced by more natural looking buildings and landscaping of a similar grand scale. But, the central core of Epcot is going to feel very lopsided, more so than any other park core they have built - save for WDSP (which I would not suggest is the best model to use).
jt04
Well-Known Member
My guess is forgoing the constraints of keeping FW symmetrical frees up the creative process in future decades.
The old configuration was much more restraining than a traditional hub and spoke design.
Little Green Men
Well-Known Member
Wheres the bar? On top? From what it sounds like, the bottom will have live shows and the middle will be the festival center.
Epcot82Guy
Well-Known Member
While I can understand that, I guess to me it doesn't forgive poor design for the interim (likely a decade) on the chance that could happen. That's what got Epcot (and Studios) into the mess they are in. And, it's more frustrating for Epcot because the park layout and design balance was, IMHO, the best of any park in the world.
And, it would suggest even more so the reason to knock the whole thing down if flexibility was desired. (Again, not disagreeing with you! I think you are likely right. But, I think that's a poor decision on their part if so.)
Where's not a bar?