News Big changes coming to EPCOT's Future World?

[CastAStone]

Food and Wine is now failing.

Are you able to expand on this at all? It runs counter to my assumptions so I’m curious to hear about the underlying issues.

 

[marni1971]

Are you able to expand on this at all? It runs counter to my assumptions so I’m curious to hear about the underlying issues.

It’s not the draw it was thought it once was, hence they’ve got to spend money.

 

[marni1971]

That is in part due to the current covid crisis marni..

No, that is pre Covid.

I would bet that Marni1971 has actual attendance figures to work with over the last several years and is not guessing.

 

[SplashJacket]

It’s not the draw it was thought it once was, hence they’ve got to spend money.

If its not the draw it once was, what's the thought process of creating a temporary festival area?

 

[trainplane3]

If its not the draw it once was, what's the thought process of creating a temporary festival area?

Without knowing and totally guessing, having an actual center to an ongoing festival might be thought to help the numbers. A central "party" area. Having booze, food, and live entertainment in one spot would definitely get money out of people easier then making them walk around WS.

 

[marni1971]

If its not the draw it once was, what's the thought process of creating a temporary festival area?

Because It’s temporary?

 

[HauntedPirate]

Not really. Epcot during its first few years was a strong success but over time it did start to break down. Attendance floundered as many preferred the standard amusement park attractions. To solve this problem disney had to bring in guests with more than just its attractions and restaurants. It had to find a way to bring people back with seasonal events that attracted attention. Celebrity chefs gave seminars on cooking. New food and drinks brought in regular visits from guests looking to try new things at decent prices. As attendance improved disney decided to invest more in the park and replace older attractions with new ones. If disney had not used the food and wine they likely would have allowed epcot to continue to fail until one day it would all get scrapped and what we would have then would be nothing like what we have now. In many ways seasonal events are what helped to bring new life to epcot and its why events like the food and wine always bring in the highest amount of traffic during a period normally when attendance would be at other parks like universal with its halloween horror nights. It also convinced other parks to follow similar routes which also had big success.

You jump from the first few years of Epcot Center to 2010 in a snap. Guess the lines in the late 80’s/early 90’s are glossed over in your misguided quest to justify the decades of management neglect that led to the current focus on booze events.

 

[Virtual Toad]

If its not the draw it once was, what's the thought process of creating a temporary festival area?

My guess is they're tearing down half of Communicore to save $$$ on utilities and maintenance. That had to be an expensive building to cool without any direct revenue streams to pay for it you know. Runs consistent with their systematic drive to strip Epcot of moving parts, complicated show scenes, AAs to maintain, smaller attractions, etc. A campaign they're been waging for decades.

Epcot was an elaborate and expensive dream of a park, but DisCo's pretty much stated for a long time now (through words and actions) that they have absolutely no interest in paying to keep it up to standard. And no sob stories about lack of sponsorships allowed. Please.

The sad thing is with half of Communicore gone, the beauty and symmetry of the design are gone forever as well. And without the use of that building to block the view of half of future world, the genius design of using the building as a device to "reveal" is gone as well.
I fear the new sightlines will erode the sense of wonder and discovery, the true sense of journey and adventure that made original Epcot so wondrous. The park will seem a whole lot smaller when this is done and that's not a good thing at all.

 

[danlb_2000]

At the risk of stating the blatantly obvious, what gets to me most about this project is that enough people thought it was a good idea to fully develop the plan and get it greenlit. The point of the CommuniCores on a basic scale is to compliment each other. With one gone, the purpose of the other is nullified. If they insisted on removing West, I almost wish they would've finished the job and removed East. Almost.

I don't know what the actual approval process was like for this, but large corporations are not democracies, it only take one high level executive to push through a bad idea if they really want to.

 

[wdwmagic]

It’s not the draw it was thought it once was, hence they’ve got to spend money.

This is what happens when there are kiosks out on the promenade all year round. It is no longer special.

 

[Bocabear]

This is what happens when there are kiosks out on the promenade all year round. It is no longer special.

This exactly! It really has eroded the reason for going at certain times of the year when it is festival time all year round... We go in June, why come back in October for Food and Wine when it is the same thing with different topiaries?
I know the leadership team running the organization HAS to know this...and see it happening.

 

[HauntedPirate]

This exactly! It really has eroded the reason for going at certain times of the year when it is festival time all year round... We go in June, why come back in October for Food and Wine when it is the same thing with different topiaries?
I know the leadership team running the organization HAS to know this...and see it happening.

Honestly, if the quarterly financials are good, they likely don’t care.

 

[ptaylor]

I know the leadership team running the organization HAS to know this...and see it happening.

They don't see anything beyond short term profit. So if that means kiosks year round, then that is what happens. The long term damage done to the festival formula will be someone else's problem.

 

[Communicora]

They don't see anything beyond short term profit. So if that means kiosks year round, then that is what happens. The long term damage done to the festival formula will be someone else's problem.

And many of them aren't even open year-round. It made the world showcase feel a bit like a sad mall when I was last there in July 2019.

 

[Mac Tonight]

lol... when someone tries to "teach" Martin about Epcot...

 

[brb1006]

Or Idiot Jr.

"That's my name, don't wear it out".

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

I don't know what the actual approval process was like for this, but large corporations are not democracies, it only take one high level executive to push through a bad idea if they really want to.

Based on Martin's previous "someone started an agenda" statement I would believe you're onto something there.

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

The park will seem a whole lot smaller when this is done and that's not a good thing at all.

Maybe compared to the park at it's peak. With an actual expansion being made in World Showcase and multiple completely unused spaces getting used again, I'd wager the park will feel bigger than it did a few years ago when this is all said and done.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Maybe compared to the park at it's peak. With an actual expansion being made in World Showcase and multiple completely unused spaces getting used again, I'd wager the park will feel bigger than it did a few years ago when this is all said and done.

That could depend on the total number of carts and kiosks one has to navigate around.

 

[Indy_UK]

Is there a time frame for them looking to complete the central part of Future world with the demolition, landscaping and addition of the Moana water thing?