News Big changes coming to EPCOT's Future World?

Princess Leia

Well-Known Member
Keeping my fingers crossed for a new country in the WS... Though now I'm thinking about IP tie-ins, and I'm coming up with blanks, other than a Jungle Book attraction in India...
 

flyerjab

Well-Known Member
Land has plans but it's way down the list. Unless sponsorship pulls rank it could be after Imag.

I wish The Living Seas Pavilion would be re-imagined as part of this. There is so much potential there for a truly unique experience within a theme park, but the aquarium needs an overhaul and more marine life in it. And the Nemo ride is almost embarrassing in its execution. The queue is huge and it is almost always a walk-on.
 

JWG

Well-Known Member
I wish The Living Seas Pavilion would be re-imagined as part of this. There is so much potential there for a truly unique experience within a theme park, but the aquarium needs an overhaul and more marine life in it. And the Nemo ride is almost embarrassing in its execution. The queue is huge and it is almost always a walk-on.

As has been mentioned, if a marine IP tie in is a must given Disney's current MO, then they have that tie-in with Finding Dory and the Marine Life Institute. They really could focus on the rehabilitation of marine life and better leverage the aquarium. Or, at least possibly allow you to see more of it in conjunction with animation like the very end of the curren version.

Though, all that said, while I'm not a huge fan of the ride, I'd much rather see the very brokent and outdated parts of Epcot get something first (Energy, WoL, Imagination, Innoventions).
 

flyerjab

Well-Known Member
Since first lurking in the forums back in 2011 and seeing responses to changes like the removal of the Poly Fountain, the outrageous price points for the Poly Bungalows, the partnership with Cameron, the shuttering of half of DHS well over a year before starting anything, as well as the infamous MDE expenditures, I still feel that this announcement carries the most weight. I am both looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. Full disclosure - I am not an Epcot purist, and I will never pretend to be one. But being involved in this site, I know that a lot of the forum members experienced EPCOT Center in its heyday. I seemingly have been experiencing in its final dying moments.

Will I welcome the removal of the tombstones out front? Definitely. Will I enjoy a more pleasant central Hub with greenery, trees, etc. over the cement wasteland partially shadowed below these rather strange translucent tarps? Absolutely. Will I miss what has become of Innoventions East and West, which are basically vapid, air-conditioned rest areas? No way. Future World has become this bizzare, empty, soulless petrified forest of forgotten ideas that people strangely stroll through as they decide if they want a hot or cold Starbucks beverage. At this point, I want this change to occur. I feel like only until recently, I was wasting my time in this park. EEA and Imagination were both so bad nobody ever wants to go on them anymore so they are always skipped. Obviously nothing to see in Innoventions as we are typically not meet-and-greet people. We don't go on M:S due to some in our party not handling that ride very well. The Living Seas is a boring pavilion and we rarely go in there anymore. This basically leaves The Land and Test Track. So yeah, when we go, we typically FP+ Soarin' or Test Track, go on SSE and walk through WS. We also never really went on Maelstrom or the Mexican ride unless we wanted to cool off.

For the most part, this park does not offer very much. And for myself, I can only go on LwtL so many times. The problem for us with the 'edutainment' based rides is that they do not present a lot of re-ridability. Honestly, if SSE didn't have AMAZING AAs for the first part of the ride, I doubt I would go on that one very much either. Epcot has become more of a place we go to in the evening to enjoy time in WS, select a nice place to eat dinner and maybe watch Illuminations. I guess what I am saying is that for better or worse, this park needs a course correction BADLY.

With the new Test Track and Soarin' refurbishments, we really look forward to those again. And I will readily admit that I don't have the issues with Frozen in Norway that others do. The ride is wonderfully executed, with some of the best cartoon-based AAs to date. Honestly, if more expansion pads are used for IP-based rides in WS, I welcome them. I can only walk through shops and not buy stuff so many times (we are not big merch people). I need WS to become more than just a place to eat. I know people will want to kill me for saying this - sorry @sshindel - but we look forward to Epcot more during F&W and F&G because there are different things to do and the park just looks better from an aesthetics standpoint. I want more attractions, and better attractions. I still believe that this park can be an incredible place to visit and experience.

I like that @marni1971 doesn't seem to already hold this open disdain for everything that he has been hinting at. I just hope that it ultimately leads up to the Epcot 3.0, meaning that there shouldn't be any TSL-ing of ideas. Present us with some incredible visuals of what is to come and then hold to those!
 

FigmentJedi

Well-Known Member
The "Dreamfinder's coming back, but he and Figment are being exiled to Tomorrowland as walkarounds while Imagination gets turned Inside Out" thing that Jim Hill is claiming is the most stupidly wishy-washy thing I've ever heard.
Like if you're gonna put all this money and energy into updating Epcot, even if you're going for an IP-driven route, it makes no sense to evict the characters and have them set up shop somewhere else and have no big thing presenting context for why they're even there. The comics have been great, but it's a niche medium. You need a movie/TV Show/Actual Freaking Attraction around to support Dreamfinder and Figment.
 
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JWG

Well-Known Member
The more I think about an Imagination redo, I'm not sure what I want. It likely spells the end of Figment and confirmation of the end of Dreamfinder, so maybe the longer the wait the better. Is it worth it for the pavilion to out wait the current "IP tie-in" mindset?
 

JWG

Well-Known Member
The "Dreamfinder's coming back, but he and Figment are being exiled to Tomorrowland as walkarounds while Imagination gets turned Inside Out" thing that Jim Hill is claiming is the most stupidly wishy-washy thing I've ever heard.
Like if you're gonna put all this money and energy into updating Epcot, even if you're going for an IP-driven route, it makes no sense to evict the characters and have them set up shop somewhere else and have no big thing presenting context for why they're even their. The comics have been great, but it's a niche medium. You need a movie/TV Show/Actual Freaking Attraction around to support Dreamfinder and Figment.

Well, it does support the current direction that Tomorrowland is just a dumping ground for IP they don't know what to do with that is so loosely tied to the theme that anyone who thinks about it sees through it. I mean, really, Tomorrowland is Buzz, Stitch, Monster's Inc., old smelly cars... Why not pile on Dreamfinder and Figment? It helps support the idea that Imagination and creativity is a Disney theme park concept founded in the past and hopefully again someday in the future... but not right now.
 

KikoKea

Well-Known Member
I shouldn't say more than I have already. Central spine will be more organic. East and west will have different feels.
That does sound interesting and makes me hopeful. As long as it is done with an overall theme and design and isn't just something slapped together on the cheap so they can say they've done wonders.
 

DC0703

Well-Known Member
marni1971 - I know you might not be able to reveal anything yet, but has the topic of new countries come up in regards to the WS changes or are the talks limited to extensions of existing areas?
 

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