Let's be honest. Those rides weren't abandoned because they weren't popular. They were because they were expensive and lost the sponsor.That's a good point. Most have adapted that model for modern audiences. Personally, I loved those 15-minute long rides with huge show scenes and dozens of animatronics, but anyone who visited Epcot in the 2000s might recognize that those things weren't resonating with guests the way they once did.
Epcot’s immersive edutainment approach is arguably responsible for a host of applications across urban spaces, learning environments, shopping and entertainment venues, etc.
I’m just saying, what Epcot was has left a big impact, but Epcot needs to move on in many ways.
The thing that was great about the original EPCOT Center was it was unique. The closet to it was the NY World's Fair. It wasn't a copy of Disneyland, nor an attempt to reproduce Universal Studios, Sea World, Busch Gardens or any other park. It was something unlike anything anyone -- including Disney -- had ever built before.but does "moving on" mean abandoning what EPCOT's mission was and devolving into Magic Kingdom Part Deux? I think the general tenets of the park are still viable...there is a way to integrate IP and continue to tell the EPCOT story...
It takes planning and vision... Which seem to be sidelined right now.
For the record I like Cosmic Rewind... I like that they bothered to make it feel like an old EPCOT Pavilion...but then it is an oddball attraction in that area of the park without any other similar things... We still have World Of Motion/Test Track, then Mission Space, then a Xandar Pavilion.... That is a really strange collection of pavilions... On the other side, The Seas, Moana, The Land, and the shell of Imagination... another incoherent grouping of pavilions...the center s corporate urban park with a big meet and greet/ festival center... It just feels like complete miscellany.
Hmm. I remember walking on to Horizons before it went seasonal and I hardly remember waits for Universe of Energy. I know they were designed for high throughput, but it sure seemed to me like they’d lost popularity.Let's be honest. Those rides weren't abandoned because they weren't popular. They were because they were expensive and lost the sponsor.
Hmm. I remember walking on to Horizons before it went seasonal and I hardly remember waits for Universe of Energy. I know they were designed for high throughput, but it sure seemed to me like they’d lost popularity.
The last time I rode The Great Movie Ride, they were only doing one of the two alternative shows. I thought this was due to decreased interest?
Yeah, multiple things can be true at once.It's IMO a combination of both. Horizons was in rough shape in the post-sponsor years as they really didn't keep it up and I think it should have also had some minor updates over the years.
Also, omnimover attractions like Horizons has a huge throughput, but we know from the Hoot and Chief videos that they would often be on the attraction with hardly anyone else around.
SSE has had multiple updates/changes over the years, but in many ways it's still the same core ride and people still like it.
There's no reason the same could not have happened with WoM, Imagination, Horizons etc and that was the plan for Horizons before GE dropped their sponsorship.
Also worth considering there was a lot more stuff to do at Epcot overall in that era. Plus fewer people, so crowds were more spread out. C Tickets still had entertainment value so there wasn't as much of the mindset that something had to be a nearly-impossible-to-ride E ticket to be popular. Cultural shift and Disney slowly changing perceptions have contributed to that mindset.
The reality is that society changed. More people in the parks, yes, but also those people didn’t want to go on a 15 minute slow ride through educational and inspirational dioramas. And when they did go on those rides, the effect on them was largely not what it had been on previous generations.I continue seeing people argue that the rides were empty, but it really is ignoring the reality of the park. Original Epcot was a capacity monster and outside of the rides, had so many shows and activities that there was something to do everywhere you looked. People also continue to gloss over that a busy day for Disney in the early 90s, which was probably around 20,000 people, is what low attendance looks like by today's standards.
Not convinced..that's a very sweeping generalisation, and so cannot be true. If the park and its attractions were not wanted by any of the visitors then it wouldn't have had increased visitors. The park became more popular because people liked it, not because they hated it. And the park still has "15 minute slow, educational, inspirational" rides which people love,and you can also include the films and American Adventure in that category.The reality is that society changed. More people in the parks, yes, but also those people didn’t want to go on a 15 minute slow ride through educational and inspirational dioramas. And when they did go on those rides, the effect on them was largely not what it had been on previous generations.
I’ve never heard that sweeping generalizations cannot be true. I imagine you don’t really think that.Not convinced..that's a very sweeping generalisation, and so cannot be true.
“Not wanted by ANY visitors”? I know I was speaking generally but I wasn’t saying NOBODY liked it, just that it was clear that over time, those classics weren’t met with the same degree of appreciation as they used to be.If the park and its attractions were not wanted by any of the visitors then it wouldn't have had increased visitors.
And yet SE still draws a crowd to its slow-moving 15 minute long educational ride. The Land still draws people. The others still did but with their enormous capacity even a large for Magic Kingdom ride crowd would look empty. And it still doesn't detract from the fact that Epcot nowdays is hardly unqique withers IP-driven coasters, simulators and trackless clones.The reality is that society changed. More people in the parks, yes, but also those people didn’t want to go on a 15 minute slow ride through educational and inspirational dioramas. And when they did go on those rides, the effect on them was largely not what it had been on previous generations.
So are you saying everything at Epcot was just fine as it was?And yet SE still draws a crowd to its slow-moving 15 minute long educational ride. The Land still draws people. The others still did but with their enormous capacity even a large for Magic Kingdom ride crowd would look empty. And it still doesn't detract from the fact that Epcot nowdays is hardly unqique withers IP-driven coasters, simulators and trackless clones.
Several of the tree lights aren’t working, and quite a few of the pavement lights at Dreamer’s Point aren’t working either.Most of the EPCOT logo ground lighting seems to be working now, save for one or two sections with incorrect colors. The weird thing is, it still seems to be in some sort of B-mode, where they’re never ever on all at the same time, but instead random sections slowly pulsate on and off. They do change colors for the shows, but even then it remains in the weird B-mode and it’s not nearly as intertwined with the shows as it should be. The lights lose most of the charm that way imo, and I really dont understand why it’s not in proper show mode if most of them are working now.
I had assumed it was an intentional mode meant to obfuscate when things were going awry since it makes it less apparent that certain sections are out.The weird thing is, it still seems to be in some sort of B-mode, where they’re never ever on all at the same time, but instead random sections slowly pulsate on and off. They do change colors for the shows, but even then it remains in the weird B-mode and it’s not nearly as intertwined with the shows as it should be. The lights lose most of the charm that way imo, and I really dont understand why it’s not in proper show mode if most of them are working now.
The thing is as of tonight every single section is at the very least lighting up, again save for some incorrect colors on a few. There’s not much reason to be using the mode stillI had assumed it was an intentional mode meant to obfuscate when things were going awry since it makes it less apparent that certain sections are out.
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