Bob Chapek Confirms Disney Will Overhaul Epcot

[marni1971]

But anything has to be better than what Epcot currently is surely?

No. That only causes more long term damage. The not inconsequential money available should have been spent more wisely IMHO. But that’s just me.

 

[larryz]

The complaints are mainly about bad decisions. Progress is only progress if it’s better than what came before or if it is done properly.

Not everyone is a sheep who laps up every announcement like it’s the messiah speaking. Some are brave/clever enough to question it.

There are also those who recognize that Disney's baseline strategy for Epcot has changed and refuse to tilt at windmills...

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I bet they also don't teach that the architecture and landmarks of Rome and Venice are in the same line of sight nor that Octoberfest is all year round.

Point taken...but at least there was an attempt at some representation for education purposes...

Unlike princess Halls and meet and greets

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

No. That only causes more long term damage. The not inconsequential money available should have been spent more wisely IMHO. But that’s just me.

Exactly...it’s important to work the problem...not make up convenient “solutions” from off the map

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There are also those who recognize that Disney's baseline strategy for Epcot has changed and refuse to tilt at windmills...
View attachment 330606

Though I love that graphic...
Basically you’re just laying out the standard defense of management...there is never a need to “settle” for anything when it comes to your money to a supplier and groupthink isn’t mandatory

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Why? A better assortment of rides might be an improvement as an amusement park but it doesn’t improve or even establish a new theme.

It’s obvious that the attention span of most customers is fleeting to the detriment of quality of the experience...

Why insist for more edutainment that endures longterm when you can be happy on the whizzbang (I love whiz bang where appropriate - by the way) for 8 minutes and get geeked up thinking about booking fast passes and special events while watching your 516 day trip ticker info graphic slowly wind down on the Dis??

...no point

 

[Rich Brownn]

Yknow I was wondering about that the other day, if there are still even World's Fairs. The last one I can remember in the US was maybe Knoxville 82?

There are major world fairs every 10 years (Next one is in Dubai in 2020). The Us had pulled out of the bureau that sanctions WFs for many years (we just rejoined and had made a bid). Ironically, the NY World's Fair in 64/65 was an unofficial WF since it wasn't approved (Canada already had one for 1967) which is why it was so industry-heavy as most nations refused to participate.

 

[Tavernacle12]

But anything has to be better than what Epcot currently is surely?

I'm not a fan of the GOTG theme but I am of the coaster. I was hoping that with the Vol 3 delay they may axe them and put in a different IP

By that logic, adding a Bob The Builder themed tilt a whirl to the front of World Showcase would make Epcot better.

 

[montyz81]

The complaints are mainly about bad decisions. Progress is only progress if it’s better than what came before or if it is done properly.

Not everyone is a sheep who laps up every announcement like it’s the messiah speaking. Some are brave/clever enough to question it.

Unless it is you who speaks... the one true Dissiah.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

By that logic, adding a Bob The Builder themed tilt a whirl to the front of World Showcase would make Epcot better.

“Brought to you by Lowe’s Home Improvement”?

...that meets Disney’s main Epcot criteria

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Why insist for more edutainment that endures longterm when you can be happy on the whizzbang (I love whiz bang where appropriate - by the way) for 8 minutes and get geeked up thinking about booking fast passes and special events while watching your 516 day trip ticker info graphic slowly wind down on the Dis??

I'm not thrilled with the direction in which Epcot is going, but I find it hard to see much evidence the original edutainment approach produced attractions that were any more enduring than the IP-based attractions going up everywhere. Within 15 years of EPCOT Center opening, they were already either tearing out or highly modifying almost all the original FW attractions they'd spent a fortune building. I wish they were thinking bigger in terms of how to reimagine Epcot, but I doubt that in 15 years they'll be scratching their heads wondering what to do with Frozen Ever After.

 

[geekza]

I'm not thrilled with the direction in which Epcot is going, but I find it hard to see much evidence the original edutainment approach produced attractions that were any more enduring than the IP-based attractions going up everywhere. Within 15 years of EPCOT Center opening, they were already either tearing out or highly modifying almost all the original FW attractions they'd spent a fortune building. I wish they were thinking bigger in terms of how to reimagine Epcot, but I doubt that in 15 years they'll be scratching their heads wondering what to do with Frozen Ever After.

They were tearing them out because they had not been maintained and updated properly and also because they were relying almost exclusively on corporate sponsorship, not because they were flash-in-the-pan attractions. There's a certain "Edutainment" attraction located in a giant geodesic sphere that is still quite popular, even though it is now time for it to get some TLC. It isn't the edutainment part that was the problem with EPCOT Center. Those attractions worked and were popular. The place was simply mismanaged during the later Eisner years, leading to some pavilions not getting the care they needed and others being replaced by lesser attractions. Given the right people spearheading attraction design, there is no doubt in my mind that they could make a new Future World that is both entertaining and informative. That takes work and risk and risk is not something that current management wants to take. (Hence, formula superhero movies, sequels, remakes, roller coasters, and IP overload.)

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

They were tearing them out because they had not been maintained and updated properly and also because they were relying almost exclusively on corporate sponsorship, not because they were flash-in-the-pan attractions. There's a certain "Edutainment" attraction located in a giant geodesic sphere that is still quite popular, even though it is now time for it to get some TLC. It isn't the edutainment part that was the problem with EPCOT Center. Those attractions worked and were popular. The place was simply mismanaged during the later Eisner years, leading to some pavilions not getting the care they needed and others being replaced by lesser attractions. Given the right people spearheading attraction design, there is no doubt in my mind that they could make a new Future World that is both entertaining and informative. That takes work and risk and risk is not something that current management wants to take. (Hence, formula superhero movies, sequels, remakes, roller coasters, and IP overload.)

NAIL ON THE HEAD.

 

[Indy_UK]

By that logic, adding a Bob The Builder themed tilt a whirl to the front of World Showcase would make Epcot better.

Of course not but I can't see anything being added to Epcot currently which is going to make the park worse?

Rat in France is a fantastic addition. It's popular in DLP, and fits well into the existing pavilion.

The space restaurant. Fantastic idea. Isn't fixed into the apparent IPCOT mindset but brings something fresh.

Guardians I'm not 100% sold on. Epcot needs a coaster and the worlds biggest indoor one sounds impressive. I'm just not sold on the IP as I'd prefer Guardians to have gone to studios.

They still then have so much space they can use from the empty spaces

 

[CinematicFusion]

Next year's sequal will tell if Frozen has staying power and how much. I'm sure it will do well - but will it do as well as the first, or be more in line with other Disney movies like Moana, Wreck it Ralph 2, etc.

I wouldn't bet against it, it made 875 million overseas. I think frozen will do 750 million to 1 billion total.
It will be huge. Solid demand to see the film. Frozen is a different animal then Moana and Wreck it Ralph...and I like those films.
However, its up to Disney to come up with a solid story concept and market it right. Looking at you LucasFilm.

 

[Hatbox Ghostbuster]

They were tearing them out because they had not been maintained and updated properly and also because they were relying almost exclusively on corporate sponsorship, not because they were flash-in-the-pan attractions. There's a certain "Edutainment" attraction located in a giant geodesic sphere that is still quite popular, even though it is now time for it to get some TLC. It isn't the edutainment part that was the problem with EPCOT Center. Those attractions worked and were popular. The place was simply mismanaged during the later Eisner years, leading to some pavilions not getting the care they needed and others being replaced by lesser attractions. Given the right people spearheading attraction design, there is no doubt in my mind that they could make a new Future World that is both entertaining and informative. That takes work and risk and risk is not something that current management wants to take. (Hence, formula superhero movies, sequels, remakes, roller coasters, and IP overload.)

100%.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

They were tearing them out because they had not been maintained and updated properly and also because they were relying almost exclusively on corporate sponsorship, not because they were flash-in-the-pan attractions. There's a certain "Edutainment" attraction located in a giant geodesic sphere that is still quite popular, even though it is now time for it to get some TLC. It isn't the edutainment part that was the problem with EPCOT Center. Those attractions worked and were popular. The place was simply mismanaged during the later Eisner years, leading to some pavilions not getting the care they needed and others being replaced by lesser attractions. Given the right people spearheading attraction design, there is no doubt in my mind that they could make a new Future World that is both entertaining and informative. That takes work and risk and risk is not something that current management wants to take. (Hence, formula superhero movies, sequels, remakes, roller coasters, and IP overload.)

I agree with a lot of what you're saying, and ideally I think they should try and think of how to reimagine a science museum as a Disney-scale theme park experience for Future World in the same way DAK builds on the concept of a zoo. My only point here was that I don't quite buy the idea that EPCOT Center was full of classic, popular attractions that were irrationally torn down. I think Journey Into Imagination entirely fits into that category and is one of the great tragedies of WDW history. While World of Motion and Horizons were good attractions on their own (sorry, not a Universe of Energy fan), however, I do think there was a real limit to how many attractions taking you slowly through the history of a particular concept one theme park could hold. My memory based on when I first started visiting in 1994 was that by then the attractions never had any real waits. I really think that even with fantastic maintenance and updated effects that World of Motion, for example, would also still be a little too cheesy for modern audiences.

I do agree, though, that the direction they're going in currently lacks ambition and doesn't seem the right way to go.

 

[Hatbox Ghostbuster]

I agree with a lot of what you're saying, and ideally I think they should try and think of how to reimagine a science museum as a Disney-scale theme park experience for Future World in the same way DAK builds on the concept of a zoo. My only point here was that I don't quite buy the idea that EPCOT Center was full of classic, popular attractions that were irrationally torn down. I think Journey Into Imagination entirely fits into that category and is one of the great tragedies of WDW history. While World of Motion and Horizons were good attractions on their own (sorry, not a Universe of Energy fan), however, I do think there was a real limit to how many attractions taking you slowly through the history of a particular concept one theme park could hold. My memory based on when I first started visiting in 1995 was that by then the attractions never had any real waits. I really think that even with fantastic maintenance and updated effects that World of Motion, for example, would also still be a little too cheesy for modern audiences.

I do agree, though, that the direction they're going in currently lacks ambition and doesn't seem the right way to go.

I truly believe there is a difference in how Epcot is remembered based off when you visited. I went pretty solidly from 89-94, moved away and went back in 98 and felt like a lot had changed. Then I took an even longer hiatus and didn't go back until 2011. I could barely recognize it.

All that to say, if I had visited for the first time post '94, I'd probably hold a much different impression of the park than I do today.

 

[larryz]

Though I love that graphic...
Basically you’re just laying out the standard defense of management...there is never a need to “settle” for anything when it comes to your money to a supplier and groupthink isn’t mandatory

Looks like we'll all have to be content to let the visitors decide whether or not the changes will be popular. It doesn't look like management is changing their strategy on Epcot any time soon.

 

[CinematicFusion]

None of this EPCOT refurbish/renew talk with matter if the market tanks.