Buh-bye Innoventions "Road to Tomorrow"!

[mousermerf]

Incase anyone had any doubts or lingering.. "it's just a refurb" thoughts about the towers outside of Innoventions.

This is the final tower left in the park, facing the Land and Seas pavilions.

You can see the parts where they cut the metal apart - those towers are NOT coming back.

I can't imagine being in Epcot at night and seeing them just lob chunks off these things. Anywho, so long "Road to Tomorrow" theme.

 

[Horizons1]

Bout time. The Road to Tomorrow really just stunk after the Millenium celebration. Any idea on whats going to happen now?

I will miss the towers tho. They were always one of my most favorite things about Innoventions, the awsome signage.

 

[Nemo14]

I hate seeing this go - kind of like watching the last gasp for breath.....

 

[SirNim]

Nice photo...

The future's all about simplicity in design. Just ask Apple. It was time for those towers to go.

 

[lpet11984]

I'll miss those signs too...I love the whole neon glow of the Plaza at night time, and it won't be the same without them.

At the same time, I'm even more curious now that they're gone to see what's to come of it...

 

[jedimaster1227]

Road to Tomorrow was an alright concept but its home is what killed it. Innoventions doesn't pull in the guests it should even with the towers blatently announcing their names. Tom Morrow 2.0 was the host but his character was not humorous, impressive nor large enough to captivate an audience like a larger animatronic could (Innoventions at Disneyland got lucky with its large host). The whole concept of Innoventions has really be dead for a while, now as more of a exhibit hall with a mish-mash of different sponsored modules on a rubber road "to tomorrow." When none of the exhibits even match in theme, you know that it is just exhibit space and nothing more. At least Communicore shared a working theme...

 

[cm1988]

Refrain

I'm puzzled by this one. They spent a lot of money designing, constructing and installing the signage. It seems they must be planning some change (or simply closing) beyond the doors... Innoventions itself.

If only all of this chopping and dismantling of useless metal framework were practice for a much larger project... removal of The Wand.

Again, I say, "Mr. Iger, tear down that Wand!"

 

[jmuboy]

I faer all the exhibit space will become plush stores, DVC sales areas, McDs fry carts, princess boutiques and other misguided retail ventures.

 

[TP2000]

Why isn't there an Al Lutz for Walt Disney World who can spill the beans on new things coming to the Parks, or new concepts taking shape at Imagineering for future additions?

If this was a project for Disneyland, the scoop on it would have been leaked by Al Lutz three months before construction started or before Disney admitted to it in a press release.

It amazes me that they are doing major construction at Epcot, and very possibly changing a major theme for the area/attraction, and yet no one seems to know anything about it. There's just a lot of speculation and analyzing of snapshots taken by park visitors. Where are the solid rumors and leaked info from the Team Disney Orlando building?

 

[jedimaster1227]

If this was a project for Disneyland, the scoop on it would have been leaked by Al Lutz three months before construction started or before Disney admitted to it in a press release.

There are several different people like Al that report on Walt Disney World news long before press releases, some of which you can find on this forum (and even on this thread) and others you neglect to believe because of some risque articles...

Alot of the things that the sources on this forum say isn't direct-you just have to read between the lines. As for the off-site sources, you need to stay open minded to believe them, otherwise you will be a source-flamer like most others...

 

[dxwwf3]

Sure I'll miss that stuff being up there, but this is hardly something I'm going to be disappointed about. Any changes they can make to Innoventions is ok with me.

It kinda looks like the changes brought in 94 are slowly starting to fade away. First The Land and now the Innoventions Road To Tomorrow and possibly even Siemens making some upgrades to SSE. Very interesting.

 

[JEDIsney]

I'm honestly going to miss the signs. I liked them most when I would walk around Epcot at night and seeing them lit up really made me feel good for some reason, now that I think about it.

But I will be extremely devastated if they get rid of Tom Morrow 2.0. I know he's not much, but I love the little guy. I get my picture with him every trip and he's honestly one of my favorite parts of Epcot. I would be so upset if he was to be done away with.

 

[TP2000]

There are several different people like Al that report on Walt Disney World news long before press releases, some of which you can find on this forum (and even on this thread) and others you neglect to believe because of some risque articles...

There are websites that offer risque rumors about upcoming Disney theme park attractions?! That's news to me, although what the Imagineers do in their own bedrooms is none of my business. :ROFLOL:

I've seen a few of the "insiders" here on this forum, but I don't neccesarily read every thread, or every post in a thread I do check out, so it's easy to miss a key sentence or post that might offer some info.

I'm just saying it would be nice to have a One Stop Shop type of place like Al Lutz offers for Disneyland rumors. Someone who offered up regular "columns" about what the latest scoop is and what all of this construction in Epcot may mean. This Epcot construction could be a retro-80's remake to take this area back to its CommuniCore roots, or it could just be demo work to install a new pin trading kiosk. If this level of construction was happening inside Disneyland, there already would have been an Al Lutz mention about it in one of his update articles.

It would be nice if Walt Disney World had a website that offered up a columnist or two to offer pre-packaged articles updating us on the latest plans and rumors, that's all.

 

[St205]

I was lucky to be there last week and toy around with some of the exhibits. But I gotta say it wasn't Innoventions 99 or 94 when the exhibits were in fact very interesting.

Now what happens?

 

[jasondiff]

There's supposed to be a new exhibitor coming to Epcot, a biotechnology-related research organization, so maybe they are going to take over a big section of innoventions.

 

[Pongo]

Hmm. I'm really confused by this. Seems kind of like a totally random thing to do. Why would they tear down those signs? I thought they were really cool. Seems like just a waste a of time and money...

I don't think Innoventions is going anywhere. They just opened up that "Too Small To See" exhibit (which, being a science nerd, I must say is pretty cool). I highly doubt they're going to do anything major to the inners of Innoventions.

I just hope the new signs will be good.

 

[mousermerf]

No one ever listens to me.. *pouts*

Too Small to See is a temporary exhibit that will be gone by summer. It's meant to tour at science museums around the country. The website for it from its sponsor said so. It's going to probably be the first exhibit to close of the current roster.

 

[jedimaster1227]

There are websites that offer risque rumors about upcoming Disney theme park attractions?! That's news to me, although what the Imagineers do in their own bedrooms is none of my business. :ROFLOL:

Actually there are such websites but they don't dish on Joe Rhode or any other Imagineer's personal life. I mean risque as in hard to accept or believe. (Though I am sure that you were joking, I did catch that!)

 

[CTXRover]

Its interesting to see so much work go into dismantling what were basically huge, brightly lite signs for an exhibit that has its difficulties already getting the masses to enter. What, if anything, will replace them? I've also seen a picture recently over at another site where mice chat that showed one of the purple twirly things partially taken down...was this piece broke and taken down for rehab or are they soon to be MIA also?

I'm getting more interested into what is going on here. It looks like it may be more than rehab of the Innoventions signs as I originally thought when this was first mentioned. Are there bigger plans to rehab the area around the fountain and Innoventions in the works here? If so, that would be another rehab to add to the list before Epcot's 25th. For a celebration that is supposedly not being celebrated, it sures seems like quite a bit of things, even if some are small, are happening to ready the park for its special anniversary.

 

[mousermerf]

On the whirly thing...

It's the one by Innoventions East's breezeway, right by the Electric Umbrella.

It's entirely plausible it was damaged when they were working outside EU on the blue-tile removal recently. However, it wasn't fixed, but rather lobbed off, just like the dismantling of the towers.

So, either they don't intend to fix it, or really screwed it up, or know that it'll be on a scrap heap soon anyways.