News Big changes coming to EPCOT's Future World?

[yensidtlaw1969]

That reminds me of how Six Flags was "trying" to build a storyline with Dark Knight Coasters with a minimal theme. Entryway and a horrid plain box to hide the show building..This was just around the tailend time when Red Zone and Mark Shapiro was hoping to make the parks..*ahem* "Family Friendly" with it's really strange ideas..

SFGAm (grey show building on left)

SFGAdv (Show building oddly airbrush painted)

Oh yikes . . . I was thinking less like this and more along the lines of the originally planned DLP Mermaid attraction - you still get Prince Eric's Castle bookended by rockwork, but the plain walls of the show building beyond would have been blocked from the guest path by trees.

The Mermaid building isn't nearly so tall as something like that Dark Knight warehouse - they could have hidden it without burying every guest-facing side under rockwork. Not only did it eat a ton of money, it sets the guest's expectation for the ride too high. It's an E-Ticket Facade for a C-Ticket attraction. The facade for PIRATES is less expansive (and expensive!).

 

[brb1006]

This is Six Flags were talking about....Also, I should point out the Great America Version. What they did is used a perfectly good theater venue, gutted out a seating area, used the first rows for a pre-show area and then moved you to the coaster in a box..

For those unfamiliar, here's the theater venue that got replaced with the Dark Knight Coaster. Great American had an exclusive Looney Tunes stage show called "The Toonite Show".

Despite the low budget, it was the closest Six Flags could get to a Disney style show. It ran until the early 2010s.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

For those unfamiliar, here's the theater venue that got replaced with the Dark Knight Coaster. Great American had an exclusive Looney Tunes stage show called "The Toonite Show".

Despite the low budget, it was the closest Six Flags could get to a Disney style show. It ran until the early 2010s.

That version was the 1994 show..They redid the show in 2007 with half the budget..

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Not to mention that the "coaster" inside is pretty awful.

Although, during Fright Fest where they shut off all of the lights except the finale truck horn...It's the closest to Space Mountain when they do this.

 

[UNCgolf]

Oh yikes . . . I was thinking less like this and more along the lines of the originally planned DLP Mermaid attraction - you still get Prince Eric's Castle bookended by rockwork, but the plain walls of the show building beyond would have been blocked from the guest path by trees.

The Mermaid building isn't nearly so tall as something like that Dark Knight warehouse - they could have hidden it without burying every guest-facing side under rockwork. Not only did it eat a ton of money, it sets the guest's expectation for the ride too high. It's an E-Ticket Facade for a C-Ticket attraction. The facade for PIRATES is less expansive (and expensive!).

View attachment 531666

Yes, this exactly. I've argued that before here.

I don't think it's an especially good C ticket as is because of how cheap some of the scenes look (and the fact the ride just sort of glosses over the actual climax), but that queue certainly makes it harder to appreciate the ride for what it is. It's both massive (and has been mostly empty every time I've been -- which is understandable because it's a people eating omnimover) and elaborate. It makes you expect something spectacular.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

That's almost certainly the answer. It's much easier (and cheaper) to build some roller coasters and have a successful park.

I think the only way we would ever get something akin to original EPCOT again is if it was the passion project of a billionaire who had the money to spend and wasn't too worried about the overall profitability. Not that they'd want to lose money long-term, but an individual can be on board with a modest profit for something that fits their vision. A publicly traded corporation really can't be in the present climate due to investor pressure.

Completely agree with the last point. The best thing for Disney park fans would be for them to spin off into a private company owned by someone with deep pockets.

I think another issue in the original EPCOT's decline has been the massive expansion of WDW combined with the decline of the sponsorship model. When WDW was just MK and EPCOT Center, they could more clearly justify putting the resources keeping each pavilion full of interactive features that would have to be maintained and updated periodically as they wanted each park to hold people's attention for longer. Perhaps if there were still sponsors paying for it all and watching over them, Disney would have continued putting more care into each individual pavilion. They seem to have come to the opinion, though, that all they really need to keep guests happy and occupied in each park is a certain number of attractions. All the other stuff likely comes up as being too costly in terms of time and labor to maintain. Their whole model now also seems geared toward pushing people from Fastpass+ reservation to giant queue to Fastpass+ reservation to dinner reservation, etc. rather than any kind of spontaneous discovery.

That said, I think what would really elevate Future World would be the return of these kinds of interactive exhibits which would no doubt be popular. It seems they are sort of bringing them back, but all piled into one pavilion (Play!) and with a purely "Disney" theme. They probably see that as both a return to the interactivity that was a big feature of the early EPCOT but easier to manage and needing less frequent updating.

 

[bcoachable]

Completely agree with the last point. The best thing for Disney park fans would be for them to spin off into a private company owned by someone with deep pockets.

I think another issue in the original EPCOT's decline has been the massive expansion of WDW combined with the decline of the sponsorship model. When WDW was just MK and EPCOT Center, they could more clearly justify putting the resources keeping each pavilion full of interactive features that would have to be maintained and updated periodically as they wanted each park to hold people's attention for longer. Perhaps if there were still sponsors paying for it all and watching over them, Disney would have continued putting more care into each individual pavilion. They seem to have come to the opinion, though, that all they really need to keep guests happy and occupied in each park is a certain number of attractions. All the other stuff likely comes up as being too costly in terms of time and labor to maintain. Their whole model now also seems geared toward pushing people from Fastpass+ reservation to giant queue to Fastpass+ reservation to dinner reservation, etc. rather than any kind of spontaneous discovery.

That said, I think what would really elevate Future World would be the return of these kinds of interactive exhibits which would no doubt be popular. It seems they are sort of bringing them back, but all piled into one pavilion (Play!) and with a purely "Disney" theme. They probably see that as both a return to the interactivity that was a big feature of the early EPCOT but easier to manage and needing less frequent updating.

Agree with everything you state:
I have to Wonder if there are groups that approach TWDC and ask “hey, y’all wanna sell them thar parks?”
Who would even be in the realm of possible buyers? Cedar Fair? Coca Cola? Apple?

 

[cmwade77]

Agree with everything you state:
I have to Wonder if there are groups that approach TWDC and ask “hey, y’all wanna sell them thar parks?”
Who would even be in the realm of possible buyers? Cedar Fair? Coca Cola? Apple?

I could see SeaWorld parks, they are actively looking to buy theme parks right now to diversify their business. Now it would be interesting to see what they would do with their Platinum passes if this did happen.

Cedar Fair would have similar issues since their highest level pass allows access to all of their parks and all of them offer a dining plan for their passholders, would be interesting to see that play out. But Cedar Fair, especially Knott's Berry Farm (and this is just for their food events) has proven they are willing to invest in quality entertainment, even during COVID, albeit a little different than normal right now, so we would get more entertainment in the parks again. So this could be good for the parks in the long run.

Six Flags could be a possibility, but that would be terrible for the guests and state if the parks.

Herschend (sp), the ones that run Dollywood and Silver Dollar City would have potential. Hershey would be another with theme park experience.

Apple would have the money, but they don't have theme park experience. Coca Cola is already struggling and having to pull various products to streamline operations and save money to keep afloat, so I think they are out, Pepsi and other major soft drink makers are having similar issues right now.

 

[UNCgolf]

I could see SeaWorld parks, they are actively looking to buy theme parks right now to diversify their business. Now it would be interesting to see what they would do with their Platinum passes if this did happen.

Cedar Fair would have similar issues since their highest level pass allows access to all of their parks and all of them offer a dining plan for their passholders, would be interesting to see that play out. But Cedar Fair, especially Knott's Berry Farm (and this is just for their food events) has proven they are willing to invest in quality entertainment, even during COVID, albeit a little different than normal right now, so we would get more entertainment in the parks again. So this could be good for the parks in the long run.

Six Flags could be a possibility, but that would be terrible for the guests and state if the parks.

Herschend (sp), the ones that run Dollywood and Silver Dollar City would have potential. Hershey would be another with theme park experience.

Apple would have the money, but they don't have theme park experience. Coca Cola is already struggling and having to pull various products to streamline operations and save money to keep afloat, so I think they are out, Pepsi and other major soft drink makers are having similar issues right now.

None of the theme park companies you mention could come close to raising enough cash to purchase the Disney parks. They're on completely different playing fields. Cedar Fair is probably the closest, but Disney makes something like 20x more per year from their parks than Cedar Fair does. Disney World alone could cost 10x (or more) of the net worth of the entire Cedar Fair corporation.

The only company currently operating theme parks that I'd trust to run WDW is the Oriental Land Company (and Universal I suppose but that would never ever happen), but they aren't buying.

Disney isn't going to sell the parks anyways. They make too much money.

 

[CastAStone]

I swear if GM ever drops with Epcot you can guarentee Disney would jump the gun to make TT the Rusteez Racing Center and move the Lighting Mcqueen AA from DHS in the main foyer as a preshow element while still keeping the same aspects of TT 2.0 but changing the vehicles to the RSR cars..

Isn't Radiator Springs Racers the most popular ride at Disney’s California Adventure?

Put me on team “what’s it matter at this point” for that one.

 

[Bocabear]

I am sure Radiator Springs Racers is the most popular ride at DCA and also the most expensive. The settings and rockwork are monumental...And it is beautifully done from all in park angles... Certainly better then any attraction at WDW. What a shame we got the Toy Story crap instead of the amazing Carsland... I doubt if GM left that they would ever undertake a ride as elaborate as RSR again...we would just get the cheapest overlay with CARS theming and video clips added in.

 

[M:SpilotISTC12]

I swear if GM ever drops with Epcot you can guarentee Disney would jump the gun to make TT the Rusteez Racing Center and move the Lighting Mcqueen AA from DHS in the main foyer as a preshow element while still keeping the same aspects of TT 2.0 but changing the vehicles to the RSR cars..

Coming to IPcot in 2025!

 

[tparris]

Does anyone know if they’re going to also replace the windows on the side of Innoventions East facing World Discovery? The current windows don’t match up with the new ones at all, so I kinda hope they replace them. Here’s two photos from BlogMickey for reference, the first photo shows the new, larger windows and the old windows can be seen in the second photo. @marni1971 @Magic Feather

 

[marni1971]

Does anyone know if they’re going to also replace the windows on the side of Innoventions East facing World Discovery? The current windows don’t match up with the new ones at all, so I kinda hope they replace them. Here’s two photos from BlogMickey for reference, the first photo shows the new, larger windows and the old windows can be seen in the second photo. @marni1971 @Magic Feather View attachment 533202View attachment 533203

I’d assume so. Needless to say I’ve not been chasing this up.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

Looking at WDWMagic's latest Innoventions West demolition photos, it looks like the wonderful "Inventor's Circle" is still there:

EPCOT Innoventions West demolition - February 17 2021 - Photo 5 of 5

EPCOT Innoventions West demolition - February 17 2021 - Photo 5 of 5

www.wdwmagic.com

I hope this means it's going to survive the changes. It's a great example of a thoughtful, meaningful detail that represents what EPCOT is all about.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Inventor's Circle: https://www.worldofwalt.com/epcot-i...era-and-middle-ages-detailed-look-1-of-4.html

 

[trainplane3]

Looking at WDWMagic's latest Innoventions West demolition photos, it looks like the wonderful "Inventor's Circle" is still there:

EPCOT Innoventions West demolition - February 17 2021 - Photo 5 of 5

EPCOT Innoventions West demolition - February 17 2021 - Photo 5 of 5

www.wdwmagic.com

I hope this means it's going to survive the changes. It's a great example of a thoughtful, meaningful detail that represents what EPCOT is all about.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Inventor's Circle: https://www.worldofwalt.com/epcot-i...era-and-middle-ages-detailed-look-1-of-4.html

I don't want to be that person, but it's there for now. We don't know if once West is gone, the walls will shift for Moana, and remove it. It was touched up prior to the work starting too but that doesn't mean anything either.

 

[montyz81]

Does anyone know if they’re going to also replace the windows on the side of Innoventions East facing World Discovery? The current windows don’t match up with the new ones at all, so I kinda hope they replace them. Here’s two photos from BlogMickey for reference, the first photo shows the new, larger windows and the old windows can be seen in the second photo. @marni1971 @Magic Feather View attachment 533202View attachment 533203

Where the hell is World Discovery, do you mean Future World East?

 

[montyz81]

I don't want to be that person, but it's there for now. We don't know if once West is gone, the walls will shift for Moana, and remove it. It was touched up prior to the work starting too but that doesn't mean anything either.

Isn't that supposed to be the original center of E.P.C.O.T?

 

[JohnD]

Where the hell is World Discovery, do you mean Future World East?

No, he means World Discovery. See below.

Taken from here: https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...f-epcot-underway-at-walt-disney-world-resort/

 

[trainplane3]

Isn't that supposed to be the original center of E.P.C.O.T?

Basically on top of West and towards the Seas: