EPCOT Big changes coming to EPCOT's Future World?

[Bocabear]

Meanwhile:

Original EPCOT hub looked just like an office park and filled with tech that quickly became outdated, and never plentiful enough for the crowds that came thru.

Yeah, Communicore Hall is a disgrace -- I'll give him that. But you don't need to be an ex-Imagineer to provide that insight.

I don't think it looked like an office park at all...Original EPCOT central core had a show fountain, palm trees and waterways all there between the two arcs of Communicore East and West... It was new and engaging...the architecture was futuristic and exciting....it didn't feel like any office park at the time... No one at the time thought it looked like an office park... You can't quite judge it through 2024 goggles... Difference is now, when the new central core has just opened, we are all calling it an office park... Judging it today by today's standards. And I think if you had been there in 1981, and seen the park through the eyes of someone in that time period, you would agree... it was not boring or usual at all.

 

[James Alucobond]

I don’t necessarily disagree, but it’s still so weird to me that he posted the original pre-COVID plans some time ago with more effusive praise of the “greening of EPCOT”, which is basically what we got minus the table. Like, agreed that the Festival Center was at least architecturally interesting, but a lot of what he’s criticizing was in the plans he seemed to like.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

The idea that Epcot upon opening was anything less than an awe-inspiring architectural wonder shows the lengths the sad Disney Defenders will go to justify the embarrassing current WDI output.

Enjoy your planter.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Im sorry but does Jim Shull have a real chip on his shoulder with Disney now he no longer works for them or something?

The things he worked on while he was there are also not exactly the pinnacle of Imagineering.

Does Epcot really need more Toy Storyland/Disneyland Paris Avengers Campus/Rock'n'RollerCoaster/Aladdin's Magic Carpets style Imagineering?

 

[trainplane3]

Was it replaced with something better?

Pretty sure it's now a National Geographic thing as of like 2 weeks ago.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I don't think it looked like an office park at all.

I guess you've never seen office parks with landscaping, complete with ponds and a fountain, then.

I have.

Lots of them.

 

[MisterPenguin]

The idea that Epcot upon opening was anything less than an awe-inspiring architectural wonder

That's exactly what a pixie duster would say.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

The idea that Epcot upon opening was anything less than an awe-inspiring architectural wonder shows the lengths the sad Disney Defenders will go to justify the embarrassing current WDI output.

Enjoy your planter.

Maybe some people just like stuff, man. I think it’s okay to like stuff.

CommuniCore Hall is an absolute joke, most of us can agree on that, but there’s still things to find in enjoyment in with some other additions they gave to the spine.

 

[Bocabear]

I guess you've never seen office parks with landscaping, complete with ponds and a fountain, then.

I have.

Lots of them.

I have not seen an office park with a plaza on the scale of the original communicore plaza...with a show fountain... I have seen lots of office parks with ponds, yes... but nothing quite like Communicore Plaza in 1981...
to the world at the time it debuted it was not generally thought of as an office park... The current iteration feels like a current day office park or community college campus....right now... at it's debut.... not judging it from 40 years in the future...

 

[aladdin2007]

I have not seen an office park with a plaza on the scale of the original communicore plaza...with a show fountain... I have seen lots of office parks with ponds, yes... but nothing quite like Communicore Plaza in 1981...
to the world at the time it debuted it was not generally thought of as an office park... The current iteration feels like a current day office park or community college campus....right now... at it's debut.... not judging it from 40 years in the future...

thanks to cubicle type design teams in California who never stepped foot in Epcot. That is certainly not "Imagineering" to me.

 

[Andrew C]

CommuniCore Hall is an absolute joke, most of us can agree on that, but there’s still things to find in enjoyment in with some other additions they gave to the spine.

Huh? There are zero attractions in the spine. It’s some trees and benches. 5 years.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

Huh? There are zero attractions in the spine. It’s some trees and benches. 5 years.

I don’t think something has to have attractions to be enjoyable. The greenery is lovely and I think makes walking through that area very pleasant.

 

[Andrew C]

I don’t think something has to have attractions to be enjoyable. The greenery is lovely and I think makes walking through that area very pleasant.

5 years and a boatload of money for you to walk through some pleasant greenery....

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

5 years and a boatload of money for you to walk through some pleasant greenery....

It’s nice and I like it. That’s really all there is to it. I don’t really mind how ling something takes or how expensive it is as long as me and/or my family enjoy it. We’ve all got different tastes.

 

[James Alucobond]

Huh? There are zero attractions in the spine. It’s some trees and benches. 5 years.

They did utilize former spine real estate to create Journey of Water, though the outcome is arguably somewhat lateral since it replaced Innoventions.

 

[J4546]

I also like JoW for what it is and think the new epcot core is way better. Though the floor lights still not working is ster.

 

[DisCOT_97]

I don’t think something has to have attractions to be enjoyable. The greenery is lovely and I think makes walking through that area very pleasant.

The greenery is fine and good to add. The problem with this area is that it’s not distinctly Disney. It looks like something you’d find in some affluent neighborhood or a clean office park in Southern California. That’s what people are upset about. The fact that the walls were up so long and this was the final product is pretty disappointing.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

5 years and a boatload of money for you to walk through some pleasant greenery....

Better than a bland pin trading booth..Glad that was removed.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

The greenery is fine and good to add. The problem with this area is that it’s not distinctly Disney. It looks like something you’d find in some affluent neighborhood or a clean office park in Southern California. That’s what people are upset about. The fact that the walls were up so long and this was the final product is pretty disappointing.

You know what balances this all out...A water fountain..even if it wasn't a big one but, one capable to do small water shows and such..

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

The greenery is fine and good to add. The problem with this area is that it’s not distinctly Disney. It looks like something you’d find in some affluent neighborhood or a clean office park in Southern California. That’s what people are upset about. The fact that the walls were up so long and this was the final product is pretty disappointing.

To me it wasn’t disappointing. It looks great, at least to me, and makes it an area I wanted to spend more time in than ever before. I’ve mentioned in another thread that I’ve always found that area of EPCOT rather drab and dull (especially when those awnings were around) so the greenery and all that is a big plus for me.

As I said, I’m not really fussed with how much something costs or how long it takes. The way I look at it, it isn’t my money and it’s not my time being spent. It’ll be done when it is done and it is of very little relevance to me until then.

If I like it, then wonderful, time and money well spent in my eyes. If I don’t like it, ah well, plenty of other stuff to enjoy around the park.

I totally can get why some people are disappointed, it just feels that some (not you at all!) don’t like the fact that other people aren’t disappointed along with them.