News Big changes coming to EPCOT's Future World?

[Casper Gutman]

I mean, every time I’ve ever interacted with them, they’ve literally just given me a “use this pass for anything” affordance, but I also only approach them when there’s been a genuine issue, not when I simply haven’t planned.

The fact that "simply haven't planned" is an off-hand insult leveled at THEME PARK GUESTS and a supposedly legitimate reason why paying guests can't eat or ride what they want is such an incredibly glaring indictment of modern WDW and the degree to which fans are willing to excuse the inexcusable. Paying $120 for a one day pass to a theme park and then not being able to ride or eat where you want IS a "genuine issue."

And my point about the video phones is simply that I associate them with the high level of customer service WDW used to offer much more then I associate them with "outdated tech." It sort of seems like, in dismissing them as archaic, posters are also implicitly dismissing as archaic the level of service they offered. The video phone CMs helped get guests what they wanted. The roaming guest service CMs tell them they can't have what they want.

 

[James Alucobond]

The fact that "simply haven't planned" is an off-hand insult leveled at THEME PARK GUESTS and a supposedly legitimate reason why paying guests can't eat or ride what they want is such an incredibly glaring indictment of modern WDW and the degree to which fans are willing to excuse the inexcusable. Paying $120 for a one day pass to a theme park and then not being able to ride or eat where you want IS a "genuine issue."

I didn't mean it as an insult. I meant that I sometimes go to the parks without a plan, and on those days, I don't expect guest relations staff to help me in any way because I intentionally didn't reserve anything.

But to respond to the second half of your statement, I actually think it is pretty ridiculous to assume that you'll get to see everything or eat anywhere just because you showed up and paid the price of general admission. Each attraction and restaurant has a finite daily capacity that is often smaller than the total park capacity. It's just not always logistically possible to do everything you want to do when you want to do it. I think guest relations should try mitigate this to the extent possible for confused or unprepared families (hence why I don't clog up GR when I intentionally have not planned), but I don't think it's inexcusable that staff are sometimes powerless to help. That's just how things go if you wait until too late in the day or only want to do absurdly popular things.

 

[Bocabear]

Problem is, every table service restaurant is "Absurdly Popular"... Almost every attraction that is not Swiss Family Robinson Tree House is "Absurdly Popular" The parks in general are too crowded and yet there are still vacant and shuttered attractions that are needed to add capacity...

 

[James Alucobond]

Problem is, every table service restaurant is "Absurdly Popular"... Almost every attraction that is not Swiss Family Robinson Tree House is "Absurdly Popular" The parks in general are too crowded and yet there are still vacant and shuttered attractions that are needed to add capacity...

I didn't say that there shouldn't be more capacity in general to alleviate the overcrowding, just that the idea that one should be automatically entitled to anything and everything for the price of admission is inherently flawed. You could add tons of capacity to Hollywood Studios and I still very much doubt hopping on Rise of the Resistance would be anywhere near a sure thing.

 

[Bocabear]

I didn't say that there shouldn't be more capacity in general to alleviate the overcrowding, just that the idea that one should be automatically entitled to anything and everything for the price of admission is inherently flawed. You could add tons of capacity to Hollywood Studios and I still very much doubt hopping on Rise of the Resistance would be anywhere near a sure thing.

True, but there would be something worth the $120.00 entry fee...
If you go and cannot get on any of the good rides or even get a meal in a restaurant, your $120.00 was poorly spent...

 

[MisterPenguin]

I am writing this right now from Liberty Tavern where there were no reservations available but I was able to sign up for the walk up line. Got in in about 15 minutes.

Yesterday, there were no reservations available for Brown Derby, but again, walk up was 10 minutes for the lounge. The Cobb Salad was delicious.

 

[co10064]

Funnily enough even the blue umbrellas had long lines when I last visited in February. Oh the joys of Genie+...

 

[montyz81]

Because he had no designs for something called EPCOT right?

He did, but EPCOT was not a park. it was a city. It was meant to be a testbed for innovation. A much larger version of what Lake Nona is today. Originally, he didn't even want the Magic Kingdom as part of his Florida Project. His philosophy was always - "no sequals"

 

[lazyboy97o]

He did, but EPCOT was not a park. it was a city. It was meant to be a testbed for innovation. A much larger version of what Lake Nona is today. Originally, he didn't even want the Magic Kingdom as part of his Florida Project. His philosophy was always - "no sequals"

EPCOT was a transit and pedestrian oriented Garden City. Lake Nona is more sprawl. They’re not similar.

 

[montyz81]

EPCOT was a transit and pedestrian oriented Garden City. Lake Nona is more sprawl. They’re not similar.

What do you mean by sprawl? I was talking about the idea of real companies implementing innovations into city life to improve how the people and city interact. If you look at Lake Nona, that is basically what it is meant to do:

From the Lake Nona Website:
A COMMUNITY OF AND FOR THE FUTURE
Some places are proud of their history. Lake Nona is proud of its future. Encompassing 17-square-miles and located adjacent to the Orlando International Airport, Lake Nona is a modern mecca for technology, innovation, and community.

Walt Disney, on EPCOT the city:
"EPCOT will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise."-

They honestly sound eerily similar

 

[lazyboy97o]

What do you mean by sprawl? I was talking about the idea of real companies implementing innovations into city life to improve how the people and city interact. If you look at Lake Nona, that is basically what it is meant to do:

From the Lake Nona Website:
A COMMUNITY OF AND FOR THE FUTURE
Some places are proud of their history. Lake Nona is proud of its future. Encompassing 17-square-miles and located adjacent to the Orlando International Airport, Lake Nona is a modern mecca for technology, innovation, and community.

Walt Disney, on EPCOT the city:
"EPCOT will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise."-

They honestly sound eerily similar

EPCOT was part of a specific vision for how cities should work and operate beyond just technology. It had a specific form intended to facilitate those ideas. Lake Nona is not about a specific urban vision that functions a specific way, it’s just a shiny version of the same sort of stuff you find everywhere else in the US.

 

[Rich Brownn]

He did, but EPCOT was not a park. it was a city. It was meant to be a testbed for innovation. A much larger version of what Lake Nona is today. Originally, he didn't even want the Magic Kingdom as part of his Florida Project. His philosophy was always - "no sequals"

After his death, the Imagineers quickly realized having people live there would remove the E,P and T. As one said "You can't experiment with peoples lives". (There wasn't much thought put into the EPCOT concept before Walt died, other that "a futuristic city". Even the maps and painting in the movie were last minute add ons. The film wasn't supposed to inspire the public - it was a piece to convince the legislators to pass RCID. )

 

[lazyboy97o]

After his death, the Imagineers quickly realized having people live there would remove the E,P and T. As one said "You can't experiment with peoples lives". (There wasn't much thought put into the EPCOT concept before Walt died, other that "a futuristic city". Even the maps and painting in the movie were last minute add ons. The film wasn't supposed to inspire the public - it was a piece to convince the legislators to pass RCID. )

This ignores the over half century history of Garden Cities. EPCOT wasn’t a completely new idea and cities are built on guidelines, not a single specific plan.

 

[montyz81]

EPCOT was part of a specific vision for how cities should work and operate beyond just technology. It had a specific form intended to facilitate those ideas. Lake Nona is not about a specific urban vision that functions a specific way, it’s just a shiny version of the same sort of stuff you find everywhere else in the US.

I get all that EPCOT was. It was a utopian society run by Walt. The part that I am talking about that compares to Lake Nona and a major part of Walt's vision was for companies to test out new technology, a part that carried over to the 1982 Epcot Center but without the residents (although there are plenty of dead residing in Epcot). That is what makes Lake Nona very much like E.P.C.O.T. The controlled part is what Celebration was.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I get all that EPCOT was. It was a utopian society run by Walt. The part that I am talking about that compares to Lake Nona and a major part of Walt's vision was for companies to test out new technology, a part that carried over to the 1982 Epcot Center but without the residents (although there are plenty of dead residing in Epcot). That is what makes Lake Nona very much like E.P.C.O.T. The controlled part is what Celebration was.

There are companies and universities in Lake Nona that make it a “technology” place. It has almost no actual impact on the majority of it as a development. Living in a Lake Nona subdivision isn’t that different than living in other subdivisions. It’s mostly sprawl, subdivisions and strip shopping centers like you find all around Florida and the country. Celebration was probably more forward looking because they had the foresight to build a fiber optic network.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

It's a bit like modernism vs futurism. Lake Nona showcases some hottest trends in current design. But, having it continue to be at or ahead of the curve is unlikely. EPCOT the city was meant to, as
much as possible, be constantly growing and evolving to be showcase the constantly cutting edge.

That honestly doesn't work in reality as much as Walt would have wanted. But I'd argue that's the difference between the two. Nona will keep growing the way it is. EPCOT (theoretically) would have tried to constantly evolve.

 

[solidyne]

[..] (although there are plenty of dead residing in Epcot) [...]

You, too, saw the new concert lineup for Food and Wine?

 

[HauntedPirate]

You, too, saw the new concert lineup for Food and Wine?

 

[solidyne]

To be fair, any musician with a steady gig deserves kudos. I'm glad they're still out there doing it!

 

[HauntedPirate]

To be fair, any musician with a steady gig deserves kudos. I'm glad they're still out there doing it!

You and I both. I know it's a "greatest hits" show for most artists these days, but people want it.