News Big changes coming to EPCOT's Future World?

Epcot82Guy

Epcot82Guy

Well-Known Member
Having seen it in person this week, I'm torn...

PROS:
-The environment is very nice at night.
-The lighting package here looks cool.
-The music and general vibe works well (though it can get repetitive), especially its tie in to Luminous.
-The garden aspects add a sense of depth. The former design felt "larger". This feels more "dense". I think both are great approaches, and the new approach feels more modern.
-The interaction between Creations/Connections and the center is great. I hope they can create something similar with CommuniCore Hall. (TBD)

CONS:
-The area has a very different vibe in the day vs. night. During the day, it does feel a bit lacking. The kinetic energy is not there during the day.
-They actually have a perfect place for a fountain in the southern planter. That area is basically dead. They could easily put in a jumping or creative fountain in the middle of the giant fountain and solve a number of problems.
-The lighting being out is more noticeable than I hoped. They really need to work on maintenance here.
-People gather in the center near the Figment topiary. Nowhere else...
-CommuniCore hall looks quite cheap in materials, especially when compared with the other buildings. I know it's modern materials, but it is a noticeably a box clad in flat panels. Again, the lighting is a nice touch, and the mural is not bad. But, it feels much more like the TTC than anything substantial in a Disney theme park (let alone a new build). Kinda like Luminous, it feels like a really good idea given a much reduced budget. The west side of World Celebration also feels very disjointed/sparse from the east side, which is an issue.
-I still hate the "missing" quarter of the central circle behind JOW. (However, doing some sort of modern archway walk way a la Rainbow Tunnel or Lights of Winter would do wonders.)

TLDR - Cool idea with some cool night effects. The general vibe. Execution is uncertain and feels a bit disjointed. And, it feels noticeably budget cut, even not knowing anything more substantial planned.
 
Epcot82Guy

Epcot82Guy

Well-Known Member
HauntedPirate said:
LED lighting does not provide “kinetic energy”. IMHO.
Click to expand...

I will say, it creates a nice dynamic nature. But, it does highlight the lights not working more than you would think. And, for most months out of the year, you get 1-2 - maybe 3 - hours of that at most. So, there is a glaring issue for the rest of the day where it feels a little plasticy and cheaper than it should.
 
Ayla

Ayla

Well-Known Member
There is nothing calming or restful about flashing, bright LED lights. These aren't supposed to look like the front of a Vegas hotel.

I also hope they wouldn't bring on an epileptic seizure for my sister.
 
D

DCBaker

Premium Member
As a reminder, EPCOT Becoming: Inside the Transformation airs tomorrow night at 10pm ET on National Geographic. A streaming date on Disney+ has not yet been announced.

2016x807-Q75_0c025898c5b8e1ca510bbcd4f8e8bfb6.jpg


A 15 second trailer is available at this link: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...transformation/video/most-recent/vdka36519989
 
flyerjab

flyerjab

Well-Known Member
Just spent the day in Epcot. I do really like the garden area and the Moana inspired walk through. The fact that there is no fountain here though is unfortunate. It totally stinks of Chapek and Jeff Vahle. A fountain and/or running water of some kind would have greatly elevated this area. I always think back to Pandora and the omni-present sound of water. It wouldn’t even have to be over the top.
 
aladdin2007

aladdin2007

Well-Known Member
Epcot81Fan

Epcot81Fan

Well-Known Member
DCBaker said:
As a reminder, EPCOT Becoming: Inside the Transformation airs tomorrow night at 10pm ET on National Geographic. A streaming date on Disney+ has not yet been announced.

View attachment 782202

A 15 second trailer is available at this link: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/...transformation/video/most-recent/vdka36519989
Click to expand...
Episode 1: Planters for Fountains

Episode 2: Connections and Creations: The Death of Theming

Episode 3: Wonders of Life: An Abandoned Wonder

Episode 4: Imagination Pavilion: The Monument to our Creative Failures
 
D

DCBaker

Premium Member
dmc493

dmc493

Well-Known Member
Writing this as I watch the show in my hotel room (spoilers I guess):
  • They’re glossing over each big change very quickly. Unsurprising I guess, but some of these segments are like “the entrance wasn’t great but we changed it! The end”
  • I hated how they described the inspiration for remy’s, as if it stemmed from some ties back to Walt and his time in france in the war or whatever, don’t act like it wasn’t a plop in place from Paris
  • Pretty great Luminous clips throughout, probably my favorite part of the episode overall. Crazy how they casually talk about the crunch they were under the last couple days but don’t acknowledge when development started or why it started (no mention of Harmonious basically)
  • Some cool GotG clips but it’s funny how they try and tie it into the theme of Epcot, they do a bad job
  • There’s no acknowledgement of past mistakes (like how was done in Imagineering Story). No mention of Harmonious or why they thought the plaza or the entrance or Ellen’s or anything else needed replacing
  • Enjoyed the Moana clips about how they tried to accommodate everyone’s behaviors with the water effects. Moana gets #2 in my ranking behind Luminous for quality segments
  • Plaza lighting gets a shot towards the end including the pre(?) broken ground lights
  • There are some cool shots and clips I’m excited to rewatch to pause and dig into those once it debuts on D+
  • This is my response to the first bullet I wrote. Some topics got discussed more than others. The pace and how this episode is structured is SO bizarre. They’re jumping back and forth on a ton of different topics, makes no sense
Unsurprisingly mainly a puff piece. End of the day there’s some cool clips worth rewatching to see.
 
trainplane3

trainplane3

Well-Known Member
dmc493 said:
Writing this as I watch the show in my hotel room (spoilers I guess):
  • They’re glossing over each big change very quickly. Unsurprising I guess, but some of these segments are like “the entrance wasn’t great but we changed it! The end”
  • I hated how they described the inspiration for remy’s, as if it stemmed from some ties back to Walt and his time in france in the war or whatever, don’t act like it wasn’t a plop in place from Paris
  • Pretty great Luminous clips throughout, probably my favorite part of the episode overall. Crazy how they casually talk about the crunch they were under the last couple days but don’t acknowledge when development started or why it started (no mention of Harmonious basically)
  • Some cool GotG clips but it’s funny how they try and tie it into the theme of Epcot, they do a bad job
  • There’s no acknowledgement of past mistakes (like how was done in Imagineering Story). No mention of Harmonious or why they thought the plaza or the entrance or Ellen’s or anything else needed replacing
  • Enjoyed the Moana clips about how they tried to accommodate everyone’s behaviors with the water effects. Moana gets #2 in my ranking behind Luminous for quality segments
  • Plaza lighting gets a shot towards the end including the pre(?) broken ground lights
  • There are some cool shots and clips I’m excited to rewatch to pause and dig into those once it debuts on D+
  • This is my response to the first bullet I wrote. Some topics got discussed more than others. The pace and how this episode is structured is SO bizarre. They’re jumping back and forth on a ton of different topics, makes no sense
Unsurprisingly mainly a puff piece. End of the day there’s some cool clips worth rewatching to see.
Click to expand...
I liked the disclaimer saying it was paid for by Disney, it really was an ad. That said, still always neat to see behind the scenes footage and would like more of it. They also gave us some raw audio from Luminous that didn't make it onto the soundtrack.

My favorite bit was them saying Luminous was in development for years.
 
HauntedPirate

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
trainplane3 said:
I liked the disclaimer saying it was paid for by Disney, it really was an ad. That said, still always neat to see behind the scenes footage and would like more of it. They also gave us some raw audio from Luminous that didn't make it onto the soundtrack.

My favorite bit was them saying Luminous was in development for years.
Click to expand...
December 2022-January 2023 qualifies as "years". ;)
 
Chef idea Mickey`=

Chef idea Mickey`=

Well-Known Member
trainplane3 said:
I liked the disclaimer saying it was paid for by Disney, it really was an ad. That said, still always neat to see behind the scenes footage and would like more of it. They also gave us some raw audio from Luminous that didn't make it onto the soundtrack.

My favorite bit was them saying Luminous was in development for years.
Click to expand...
Harmonious wasn't a disaster either it was just the barges that were the issue.. all they had to do was admit the barges were a mistake. Do I prefer Luminous over Harmonious not really 🤭
 
Bocabear

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
Harmonious was the first EPCOT lake show I was actually bored with after the first few minutes.... It did not hook me at all....and all of the others have. It was too much all at once, the actual show content was repetitious and poorly paced... The Barges and Stargate were another issue entirely. It felt like it was reverse engineered... We want to do these effects and we will worry about the actual show later....and when it came time to use their new equipment they threw together movie clips. It felt soul-less.
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
dmc493 said:
Writing this as I watch the show in my hotel room (spoilers I guess):
  • They’re glossing over each big change very quickly. Unsurprising I guess, but some of these segments are like “the entrance wasn’t great but we changed it! The end”
  • I hated how they described the inspiration for remy’s, as if it stemmed from some ties back to Walt and his time in france in the war or whatever, don’t act like it wasn’t a plop in place from Paris
  • Pretty great Luminous clips throughout, probably my favorite part of the episode overall. Crazy how they casually talk about the crunch they were under the last couple days but don’t acknowledge when development started or why it started (no mention of Harmonious basically)
  • Some cool GotG clips but it’s funny how they try and tie it into the theme of Epcot, they do a bad job
  • There’s no acknowledgement of past mistakes (like how was done in Imagineering Story). No mention of Harmonious or why they thought the plaza or the entrance or Ellen’s or anything else needed replacing
  • Enjoyed the Moana clips about how they tried to accommodate everyone’s behaviors with the water effects. Moana gets #2 in my ranking behind Luminous for quality segments
  • Plaza lighting gets a shot towards the end including the pre(?) broken ground lights
  • There are some cool shots and clips I’m excited to rewatch to pause and dig into those once it debuts on D+
  • This is my response to the first bullet I wrote. Some topics got discussed more than others. The pace and how this episode is structured is SO bizarre. They’re jumping back and forth on a ton of different topics, makes no sense
Unsurprisingly mainly a puff piece. End of the day there’s some cool clips worth rewatching to see.
Click to expand...
giphy.gif
 
CJR

CJR

Well-Known Member
ChrisFL said:
Yes.....at night
Click to expand...

This annoys me too, it's nice coming back from World Showcase, but especially this time of year, good lighting does very little for most of the day.

Sunset starts after 8pm and both fireworks and park closing are at 9pm, which means most people are in World Showcase already at sunset. Even in December though, it gets dark around 5pm, that's still only four hours of a twelve hour day. To be fair, we're often still in the park at 9:30pm since it takes a bit of time to exit.

Hopefully the area will continue to liven up during the day with CommuniCore Plaza opening up.
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
CJR said:
This annoys me too, it's nice coming back from World Showcase, but especially this time of year, good lighting does very little for most of the day.

Sunset starts after 8pm and both fireworks and park closing are at 9pm, which means most people are in World Showcase already at sunset. Even in December though, it gets dark around 5pm, that's still only four hours of a twelve hour day. To be fair, we're often still in the park at 9:30pm since it takes a bit of time to exit.

Hopefully the area will continue to liven up during the day with CommuniCore Plaza opening up.
Click to expand...
Just remember the "other" reason to come to EPCOT during the later part of the day..😉
6fc38fce-ba2d-413b-9187-b8947c7589a3_text.gif
 
SoFloMagic

SoFloMagic

Well-Known Member
CJR said:
This annoys me too, it's nice coming back from World Showcase, but especially this time of year, good lighting does very little for most of the day.

Sunset starts after 8pm and both fireworks and park closing are at 9pm, which means most people are in World Showcase already at sunset. Even in December though, it gets dark around 5pm, that's still only four hours of a twelve hour day. To be fair, we're often still in the park at 9:30pm since it takes a bit of time to exit.

Hopefully the area will continue to liven up during the day with CommuniCore Plaza opening up.
Click to expand...
Epcot needs to stay open til 11. But by then they'd have to trespass half the crowd.
 

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