Epcot82Guy
Well-Known Member
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.
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