News Big changes coming to EPCOT's Future World?

[No Name]

The transportation pavilion seems to blend in just find with the idea of Discovery with sciences and technology. I don’t think it’d be a good fit for Celebration, imho.

Imagination is a part of Celebration, at least to my understanding, because of its connection to storytelling (SSE) and human connection. In principle, at least. Not sure how much it is a model of that in its current iteration.

Nothing fits well in World Celebration except maybe a festival center. It’s a catch-all name for the center of the park. Test Track is a celebration of human achievement and corporate sponsorship, and it’s blue! I respect your opinion and I’m interested in discussing it, but I’d say you’re sort of drinking their juice if you think Imagination is a better fit.

Does the Play! pavilion fit a theme of Discovery with sciences and technology? Does Spaceship Earth not fit that?

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

They could have stuck with Future World or even used Discoveryland as in the Project Gemini, but they had to be different.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Sticking with World _______, they could have just called old Future World "World Fair" or "World Expo."

 

[No Name]

Sticking with World _______, they could have just called old Future World "World Fair" or "World Expo."

It’s far too big to be called one thing. How would people know where the nature-related pavilions are?

 

[MisterPenguin]

It’s far too big to be called one thing. How would people know where the nature-related pavilions are?

You mean like when it was all called "Future World"?

Anyhoo, it could still have neighborhoods. But it also needs a designation other than "EPCOT except for World Showcase."

BTW, in researching 'Fair' and 'Expo' titles, I found out that the World Exposition organization also runs small, more focused Expos on such topics as:

• 'Future Energy' (Expo 2017 Astana),
• 'The Living Ocean and Coast' (Expo 2012 Yeosu),
• 'Leisure in the Age of Technology' (Brisbane, Expo '88).

Now, what does that remind one of?

 

[No Name]

You mean like when it was all called "Future World"?

Anyhoo, it could still have neighborhoods. But it also needs a designation other than "EPCOT except for World Showcase."

BTW, in researching 'Fair' and 'Expo' titles, I found out that the World Exposition organization also runs small, more focused Expos on such topics as:

• 'Future Energy' (Expo 2017 Astana),
• 'The Living Ocean and Coast' (Expo 2012 Yeosu),
• 'Leisure in the Age of Technology' (Brisbane, Expo '88).

Now, what does that remind one of?

Next time I’ll add in a ton of exclamation points, emojis, and “/s”s to make sure you can’t miss the sarcasm.

 

[Haymarket2008]

Nothing fits well in World Celebration except maybe a festival center. It’s a catch-all name for the center of the park. Test Track is a celebration of human achievement and corporate sponsorship, and it’s blue! I respect your opinion and I’m interested in discussing it, but I’d say you’re sort of drinking their juice if you think Imagination is a better fit.

Does the Play! pavilion fit a theme of Discovery with sciences and technology? Does Spaceship Earth not fit that?

I wouldn’t say I’ve drank the syrup, I just feel that I get what they are going for. And it largely makes sense to me. I don’t necessarily think it is the strongest concept, but I get the approach.

World Celebration is, by their definition, a place that connects people. And their two headline attractions are about how communication via storytelling brings people together and how everyone’s imagination can inspire new ideas. For me, I do buy that as a connecting theme. One that is far more universal in scope than the stories being told in Discovery.

I’m not defending the restructuring, and I will concede that Play is a strange outlier, but the attractions within World Discovery don’t feel like they could remotely fit within the vibe that Celebration is attempting to convey.

 

[HauntedPirate]

“East” and “West” make sense to me. But using critical thinking, directional sense, and logic make me a less-than-ideal consumer to Disney.

 

[No Name]

World Celebration is, by their definition, a place that connects people. And their two headline attractions are about how communication via storytelling brings people together and how everyone’s imagination can inspire new ideas. For me, I do buy that as a connecting theme. One that is far more universal in scope than the stories being told in Discovery.

I’m not defending the restructuring, and I will concede that Play is a strange outlier, but the attractions within World Discovery don’t feel like they could remotely fit within the vibe that Celebration is attempting to convey.

Doesn’t transportation connect people and bring people together by allowing us to travel to one another and see the countries of the world? Improvements in transportation and communication are the two reasons we live in more of a global community than ever before.

My main issue is that they strained to come up with definitions to fit the pieces they already had in place. They strained to create an asymmetrical configuration out of symmetrical pieces. Hopefully the end result will change my mind slightly but it feels very half-assed to me.

 

[James Alucobond]

“East” and “West” make sense to me. But using critical thinking, directional sense, and logic make me a less-than-ideal consumer to Disney.

If the main park entrance were from the south, the nomenclature would be fine, but you enter from the north, meaning true north differs from many people’s relative perception of north. If it’s noon, you literally have no way of determining what’s what, and some in-park maps even have the layout rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Next time I’ll add in a ton of exclamation points, emojis, and “/s”s to make sure you can’t miss the sarcasm.

Use the most sarcastic font you can!!!

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I wouldn’t say I’ve drank the syrup, I just feel that I get what they are going for. And it largely makes sense to me. I don’t necessarily think it is the strongest concept, but I get the approach.

World Celebration is, by their definition, a place that connects people. And their two headline attractions are about how communication via storytelling brings people together and how everyone’s imagination can inspire new ideas. For me, I do buy that as a connecting theme. One that is far more universal in scope than the stories being told in Discovery.

I’m not defending the restructuring, and I will concede that Play is a strange outlier, but the attractions within World Discovery don’t feel like they could remotely fit within the vibe that Celebration is attempting to convey.

I'm with you on this one. The new names aren't perfect, but they make enough sense to me to work. Future World certainly hadn't made sense in a long time.

World Celebration is the most nebulous of the new lands, but I also can see the logic of including the more whimsical tribute to human imagination in the Celebration area and including the attraction based around car design in World Discovery. The latest version of Test Track is tilting more toward fantasy, but I don't see much about it that conjures up the concept of "celebration." It does fit the science and technology focus of World Discovery, though.

Agree Play is the outlier in all of this that would make more sense in World Celebration but will be weirdly marooned in World Discovery if it ever opens.

 

[GladToBeHear]

I'm not typically one of those people who refuses to use the new name for a park or land after a change. But I don't think I'll ever be able to adopt the new names for the front of this park. I'm afraid it's going to continue to be Future World for me (even though that concept was essentially abandoned years ago).

 

[lazyboy97o]

EPCOT Center was itself already a celebration of human achievement and possibilities.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

Imagination should just be part of World Nature. I mean, human imagination (via the human brain) is a part of / a product of nature...

 

[co10064]

I have always been surprised by the number of people who can't seem to understand how the pavilions fit in their respective neighborhoods.

World Discovery is about science and technology. Space travel, transportation, and a digital-inspired PLAY all seem to fit into this theme quite well.

World Nature is (IMO) the most obvious of the neighborhoods: the land, seas, and skies that make up our earth system.

World Celebration is perhaps a bit less intuitive to the casual observer, but the general idea of the area is an optimistic (you guessed it) celebration of humanity's connectedness and creativity.

It's why I could never understood how people were confused if Imagination was going in World Nature... how in the world would that fit thematically?

Mind you, this post isn't to comment on whether I or anyone else particularly likes the neighborhood concepts, or whether the "neighborhoods" have enough visual distinction to separate them, but IMO every pavilion/attraction/shop does in fact fit thematically in its respective area.

 

[Haymarket2008]

I have always been surprised by the number of people who can't seem to understand how the pavilions fit in their respective neighborhoods.

World Discovery is about science and technology. Space travel, transportation, and a digital-inspired PLAY all seem to fit into this theme quite well.

World Nature is perhaps the most obvious of the neighborhoods: the land, seas, and skies that make up our earth system.

World Celebration is perhaps a bit less intuitive to the casual observer, but the general idea of the area is an optimistic (you guessed it) celebration of humanity's connectedness and creativity.

It's why I could never understood how people were confused if Imagination was going in World Nature... how in the world would that fit thematically?

Mind you, this post isn't to comment on whether I or anyone else particularly likes the neighborhood concepts, or whether the "neighborhoods" have enough visual distinction to separate them, but IMO every pavilion/attraction/shop does in fact fit thematically in its respective area.

THIS. It’s fairly straight forward.

The transportation pavilion isn’t an abstract idea like communication, imagination or even story telling. It’s a hands on exploration of the making of cars in a digital medium lol.

And yes, the Imagination in World Nature confusion was always baffling to me. Makes no sense.

 

[didney85]

iger isnt the ceo chapek is........am i missing something here?

 

[doctornick]

I wouldn’t say I’ve drank the syrup, I just feel that I get what they are going for. And it largely makes sense to me. I don’t necessarily think it is the strongest concept, but I get the approach.

World Celebration is, by their definition, a place that connects people. And their two headline attractions are about how communication via storytelling brings people together and how everyone’s imagination can inspire new ideas. For me, I do buy that as a connecting theme. One that is far more universal in scope than the stories being told in Discovery.

I’m not defending the restructuring, and I will concede that Play is a strange outlier, but the attractions within World Discovery don’t feel like they could remotely fit within the vibe that Celebration is attempting to convey.

I'm with you on this. I don't think I would have gone with that nomenclature were I in charge but they seem largely reasonable and understandable. To some extent I do think breaking down FW into smaller neighborhoods makes sense and potentially makes it easier to navigate for people less familiar (though I would reserve judgement until the construction walls are down and such).

The two outliers are Imagination and Play. Imagination because being in Celebration makes perfect sense but since it is splayed west it seems detached. I actually hoped that whatever they did with the SW part of the hub would actually make Imagination more connected with the spine but the new planned building and stage doesn't seem to that.

Either way, I think separating Imagination conceptually from Land/Sea (and air with Soarin'!) is the right call in terms of grouping.

Play seems like an outlier for sure. Would love to see the pavilion get something in the existing BW ride space or Cranium Command theater that would strengthen it as being a better fit for Discovery (something more hard sciences/engineering focused). I think that could improve things, but not holding my breath.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

I have always been surprised by the number of people who can't seem to understand how the pavilions fit in their respective neighborhoods.

World Discovery is about science and technology. Space travel, transportation, and a digital-inspired PLAY all seem to fit into this theme quite well.

World Nature is perhaps the most obvious of the neighborhoods: the land, seas, and skies that make up our earth system.

World Celebration is perhaps a bit less intuitive to the casual observer, but the general idea of the area is an optimistic (you guessed it) celebration of humanity's connectedness and creativity.

It's why I could never understood how people were confused if Imagination was going in World Nature... how in the world would that fit thematically?

Mind you, this post isn't to comment on whether I or anyone else particularly likes the neighborhood concepts, or whether the "neighborhoods" have enough visual distinction to separate them, but IMO every pavilion/attraction/shop does in fact fit thematically in its respective area.

This is where the big distinction is for me. I get the tie. The issue is it falls apart when you go deeper than that. CR isn't about science or technology. That is only the setting. The attraction is about the Guardians, music and saving the galaxy. The focus on technology is a minor framing reference at best. And that's the same issue as the IP in world showcase. They are about the characters. The countries are settings at best.

That itself isn't a problem. But, it then makes them conflict with the more traditional Epcot pavilions.

It doesn't make sense to combine two pavilions with a story showcasing real world technologies with a story about saving the galaxy with a fantasy alien race and Marvel. In fact the pavilion confuses the story by highlighting Xandar chose Epcot for it's educational setting. Something this pavilion itself is actually destroying in Epcot.

This isn't to say it's all off base. If the story was "how technology allows us to explore worlds, real and imaged" - that would at least be a bit more cohesive. But CR's own story is convoluted. (Frankly, l if it was 'Wonders of the Universe presented by Xandar" - where there were going to teach us about the Universe's history then the Guardians came in to make it a bit more fun by actually taking us there, I would enjoy the whole thing a lot more.)

At the end, Epcot Center was a very consistently themed park at the park level. Much like Studios. And it's more falling victim like TL, Studios and DCA have. It just feels more jarring to some of us, I'd say, because it went from so layered to quite muddy.