Captain EO final show on 12/6 - Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival to be the replacement

[EngineJoe]

I am a lower school STEM instructor by profession. Given the national push for STEM initiatives at all grade levels, it amazes me that Epcot has not capitalized on such hands-on experiences as engineering and robotics, for example. This, to me, is a perfect fit for Innoventions, if nothing else. Disney has to look no further than the science and/or children's museums found in every major city. During a summer trip to Dallas, we enjoyed a trip to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. I was enormously impressed with the second floor in particular where there were enough STEM-related activities to keep people of all ages engaged for hours. Surely Disney has enough money to pull that off and keep the experiences fresh and always changing. And I would think the opportunity for corporate sponsorship would be a snap (i.e. Lego or K'Nex). It would also be in keeping with the foundational Mission Statement of Epcot. Come on Disney, you can make learning fun and entertaining! If I can do it in my classroom every day, surely you can. Change one of the Innoventions buildings to "STEMulations"....just give me credit for the name.

Once Kidzania breaks through in the U.S., Disney will have to up it's game.

 

[Theme Parkitect]

Walt Disney Imagineering doesn't decide when construction starts and it seems odd that a company would be able to survive with most of its core in something that makes no financial sense.

I guess I misspoke and you misunderstood what I meant. Imagineering will never be able build another attraction without a proven IP because the budget for it will not be cleared. I don't say that in a resentful way, it's just the way it is. I am a member of the Theme Park Engineering Group at my university and we had an Imagineer come speak with us in September. I asked him and he confirmed the both the Marketing and Finance departments have said they have absolutely no interest in buying any attractions from Imagineering unless they're based on something they know will be successful.

I'm interested to hear what you think makes no financial sense within The Walt Disney Company. I'm guessing it's sarcasm (doesn't read well over forums) or the stockholders would be on that lapse in judgement like bloodhounds on the hunt.

Figment's moichendising revenue and the "Iger's actually surprised-tier" high sales of his two comic book series would suggest otherwise. Imagineering and Marvel pretty much cracked the code on how to go about rejuvenating the characters, created a setting that manages to blend between the original's fantasy world and the Institute (though under a different name), and if it weren't for those books, that whole Kingdoms initiative of Marvel's would have probably died on the vine what with their rough start on that Museum of the Weird book.

I honestly don't think that the exposure Figment has received from the comic book sales rivals the power and reach of Inside Out. I would imagine that a lot of those comic book sales were by comic collectors and older Guests with a nostalgia for the purple dragon - not a very powerful market or an introduction to the next generation. I see Inside Out being a much more viable option for the pavillion.

 

[French Quarter]

You might be surprised at how expensive a museum visit is if you do not live in the city, 20-40 bucks for parking, figure tickets at 30 each meals plus gas and figure a 2-3 hour ride each way. It aint cheap.

Can I ask which museums are you visiting that would cost $30 for each member of the family? You can go to the Met in NYC for $25 for an adult and kids are free. And that's pretty much as expensive as it gets. (And that's only a recommended amount. You could pay less if you wanted to.) At the nearest children's museum to us, it is $7.50 per person.

I've also never had to drive 3 hours just to get to a museum but even if you did, this is still infinitely cheaper for most people to go to Disney World for the day.

 

[French Quarter]

Yeah, some people give Disney a free pass to easily. I personally think this update is fine if it is temporary for six months until Disney can FINALLY close down the entire Imagination Pavilion for a full redo once Soarin and Frozen are open and they can spare the capacity. Anything more than that is totally unacceptable. For now it is reasonable as some capacity for the park and I think worthy of one visit--incidentally, I also deemed the EO Tribute worthy of one visit...

I think that's the thing for me. This seems, at first glance, as a placeholder attraction. I think it's wonderful that they are putting something there for the time being. I am not sure why people are upset about that. Now, if this is the permanent attraction that will be there for like a decade, it's not nearly are interesting.

 

[DisneyOutsider]

I think that's the thing for me. This seems, at first glance, as a placeholder attraction. I think it's wonderful that they are putting something there for the time being. I am not sure why people are upset about that. Now, if this is the permanent attraction that will be there for like a decade, it's not nearly are interesting.

How can you NOT see why people are upset?

Look at the Imagination Pavilion as a whole, look at Energy, look at Innoventions. Half of Future World is reaching a point of disrepair... and they are inserting a "placeholder" attraction (I prefer to call it "Netflix and Chill Pavilion") to replace what was already just a placeholder. The Imagination Pavilion has been dreadfully out of date and broken for over a decade and this is what they do? Do you really think there is a plan in place?

Future World, and by extension Epcot, has slowly, piece by piece, lost its heart and soul. When it has been in such poor shape for such a long period of time, why should we feel just lucky to have a "placeholder" instead of nothing?

 

[EngineJoe]

Can I ask which museums are you visiting that would cost $30 for each member of the family? You can go to the Met in NYC for $25 for an adult and kids are free. And that's pretty much as expensive as it gets. (And that's only a recommended amount. You could pay less if you wanted to.) At the nearest children's museum to us, it is $7.50 per person.

I've also never had to drive 3 hours just to get to a museum but even if you did, this is still infinitely cheaper for most people to go to Disney World for the day.

Philly and Indy museum's cost about $20 per person. Not quite $30 but still quite expensive. If you want to ride the carousel it's $3 more.

 

[ToTBellHop]

How can you NOT see why people are upset?

Look at the Imagination Pavilion as a whole, look at Energy, look at Innoventions. Half of Future World is reaching a point of disrepair... and they are inserting a "placeholder" attraction (I prefer to call it "Netflix and Chill Pavilion") to replace what was already just a placeholder. The Imagination Pavilion has been dreadfully out of date and broken for over a decade and this is what they do? Do you really think there is a plan in place?

Future World, and by extension Epcot, has slowly, piece by piece, lost its heart and soul. When it has been in such poor shape for such a long period of time, why should we feel just lucky to have a "placeholder" instead of nothing?

LOL @ Netflix and Chill Pavilion. That'd be worth a Tier 1 FP+!

 

[French Quarter]

How can you NOT see why people are upset?

Look at the Imagination Pavilion as a whole, look at Energy, look at Innoventions. Half of Future World is reaching a point of disrepair... and they are inserting a "placeholder" attraction (I prefer to call it "Netflix and Chill Pavilion") to replace what was already just a placeholder. The Imagination Pavilion has been dreadfully out of date and broken for over a decade and this is what they do? Do you really think there is a plan in place?

Future World, and by extension Epcot, has slowly, piece by piece, lost its heart and soul. When it has been in such poor shape for such a long period of time, why should we feel just lucky to have a "placeholder" instead of nothing?

I was commenting on people being upset abou the Pixar Short Film Festival....not about everything that's wrong with Epcot.

 

[TubaGeek]

I was commenting on people being upset abou the Pixar Short Film Festival....not about everything that's wrong with Epcot.

Netflix: The Attraction is just another component of the overlying Epcot issue.

 

[Magenta Panther]

You hopped a bus to Epcot from EO?

I somehow doubt Iger has any knowledge of this minuscule update to a theater he's probably never set foot in.

Oops, sorry. I meant I went to MK to get dinner. Tony's, as I recall now. I've been very busy at work lately, and I'm very tired.

As for Iger, I guessed I assumed he had some input into this decision because it's so lazy and stupid.

 

[michmousefan]

It really is the old nighttime environment from Downtown Disney, except now that Disney Springs is opening with better restaurants the park is going to suffer even more.

Except for the fact that Pleasure Island doesn't shut down at 9pm every night...

 

[SamN'Dean]

Captain Eo will be having its "farewell mission" on December 6th, per the sign outside of the attraction.

YES! FINALLY!
This is the rare (so far only) time where I would say an empty building is better than what is there.

 

[ford91exploder]

Can I ask which museums are you visiting that would cost $30 for each member of the family? You can go to the Met in NYC for $25 for an adult and kids are free. And that's pretty much as expensive as it gets. (And that's only a recommended amount. You could pay less if you wanted to.) At the nearest children's museum to us, it is $7.50 per person.

I've also never had to drive 3 hours just to get to a museum but even if you did, this is still infinitely cheaper for most people to go to Disney World for the day.

Museum of Science in Boston (no it does not get taxpayer funding)

Membership is expensive and its on a per person basis

 

[French Quarter]

Museum of Science in Boston (no it does not get taxpayer funding)

View attachment 119447

Membership is expensive and its on a per person basis

And this is the museum you visit? I love Boston. I could tell you lots of cheaper places for your family to explore.

In any case, this is significantly cheaper than visiting Epcot for the day, especially if you are in Mass. Wasn't that the point?

 

[Haymarket2008]

I guess I misspoke and you misunderstood what I meant. Imagineering will never be able build another attraction without a proven IP because the budget for it will not be cleared. I don't say that in a resentful way, it's just the way it is. I am a member of the Theme Park Engineering Group at my university and we had an Imagineer come speak with us in September. I asked him and he confirmed the both the Marketing and Finance departments have said they have absolutely no interest in buying any attractions from Imagineering unless they're based on something they know will be successful.

I'm interested to hear what you think makes no financial sense within The Walt Disney Company. I'm guessing it's sarcasm (doesn't read well over forums) or the stockholders would be on that lapse in judgement like bloodhounds on the hunt.



I honestly don't think that the exposure Figment has received from the comic book sales rivals the power and reach of Inside Out. I would imagine that a lot of those comic book sales were by comic collectors and older Guests with a nostalgia for the purple dragon - not a very powerful market or an introduction to the next generation. I see Inside Out being a much more viable option for the pavillion.

It really is sad that non IP attractions are such tough sells to management. But I don't think that Inside Out has the "power" that Figment has. People still love the character 33 years after its conception and are vying for its' return to form. The merchandising for Figment apparently does extremely well. Inside Out did phenomenally in theatres and will eventually win many awards come award season, but it's lasting power remains to be seen. It's FAR from a phenomenon like Frozen. It seems to me that Figment/Dreamfinder is a franchise that Disney is afraid to truly invest in, despite the fact that it will be successful, and they know it. So there is hope, in my opinion. So far, I only see them giving the Inside Out property a show in the Magic Eye theatre.

 

[Theme Parkitect]

It really is sad that non IP attractions are such tough sells to management. But I don't think that Inside Out has the "power" that Figment has. People still love the character 33 years after its conception and are vying for its' return to form. The merchandising for Figment apparently does extremely well. Inside Out did phenomenally in theatres and will eventually win many awards come award season, but it's lasting power remains to be seen. It's FAR from a phenomenon like Frozen. It seems to me that Figment/Dreamfinder is a franchise that Disney is afraid to truly invest in, despite the fact that it will be successful, and they know it. So there is hope, in my opinion. So far, I only see them giving the Inside Out property a show in the Magic Eye theatre.

Agree to disagree I guess! I think that being so submerged in the "fanboy" community skews our perception of Figment's popularity. I'm sure that knowledgeable Disney fans over the age of 25 share this affection for Figment. However, excluding a few outliers, the majority of the general public and especially the next generation of Guests (what Disney really cares about) don't have that affection or even exposure to the character.

I just use Inside Out as an example because I've heard that rumor before and it does make thematic sense with it's connection to the mind and imagination. How cool would it be to journey through abstract thought, get lost inside long term memory, or even take a tumble into the memory dump? The children in my family love the movie, but only know Figment as the "purple guy who sprays skunk stuff" (actual quote). Not the best reputation.

 

[EngineJoe]

Agree to disagree I guess! I think that being so submerged in the "fanboy" community skews our perception of Figment's popularity. I'm sure that knowledgeable Disney fans over the age of 25 share this affection for Figment. However, excluding a few outliers, the majority of the general public and especially the next generation of Guests (what Disney really cares about) don't have that affection or even exposure to the character.

I just use Inside Out as an example because I've heard that rumor before and it does make thematic sense with it's connection to the mind and imagination. How cool would it be to journey through abstract thought, get lost inside long term memory, or even take a tumble into the memory dump? The children in my family love the movie, but only know Figment as the "purple guy who sprays skunk stuff" (actual quote). Not the best reputation.

I've always found Figment and the red beard guy weird. Like we are supposed to know who they are from a Disney movie or cartoon or something but really I have no idea who they are.

At least with Carousel of Progress there's an easy to follow story behind them. Same thing with the Tower of Terror at Tokyo Disney Sea. There's an entire storyline with this explorer called Harrison Hightower the III and a tribal idol that's cursed. But with Figment and the red beard guy there's zero explanation who they are or what their deal is.

 

[Haymarket2008]

I've always found Figment and the red beard guy weird. Like we are supposed to know who they are from a Disney movie or cartoon or something but really I have no idea who they are.

At least with Carousel of Progress there's an easy to follow story behind them. Same thing with the Tower of Terror at Tokyo Disney Sea. There's an entire storyline with this explorer called Harrison Hightower the III and a tribal idol that's cursed. But with Figment and the red beard guy there's zero explanation who they are or what their deal is.

I hope you're joking. If you watched footage online and/or listened to the entire first 5 minutes of the attraction is is pure exposition and an introduction to the characters. It has more of a plot set up than most attractions. There is 100 percent explanation.

 

[EngineJoe]

I hope you're joking. If you watched footage online and/or listened to the entire first 5 minutes of the attraction is is pure exposition and an introduction to the characters. It has more of a plot set up than most attractions. There is 100 percent explanation.

Nope, not memorable. I still don't know who they are. Just some purple dragon and his red beard friend who constantly talk about Imagination.
That's a poor attraction.

Something like Carousel of Progress or Harrison Hightower III's Tower of Terror are very easy to understand.

 

[Chris82]

But with Figment and the red beard guy there's zero explanation who they are or what their deal is.

I think you're supposed to use your imagination