News Character Spot, Innoventions and more to close in September

[FutureCEO]

Nooooo. I hope the fountain comes back. The rest they can tear down.

 

[Nunu]

They actually had a shortlived stage show featuring Mickey and friends called Splashtacular.


Which was an adaptation of the Tokyo Disneyland stage show of the same name.

Thanks for that!

 

[dreday3]

Would you all know - we haven't been before in the spring - is this going to affect Flower/Garden? Will they still have it or will it be discontinued during construction? I know food/wine mostly takes place in World Showcase, but I thought flower/garden was all over the park.

thanks!!

 

[Fear]

Would you all know - we haven't been before in the spring - is this going to affect Flower/Garden? Will they still have it or will it be discontinued during construction? I know food/wine mostly takes place in World Showcase, but I thought flower/garden was all over the park.

thanks!!

I don't think so. The topiaries are usually installed all over with an emphasis on World Showcase, but some still got installed around the Future World Pavilions. I think the only ones near the Spine area are usually Stitch and a few others.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Quite upset over the fountain leaving. I don’t really care about the rest. Hopefully a new, high tech centerpiece fountain will be built elsewhere.

 

[ChrisFL]

I just want to remind everyone, we're only hearing half of the story so far. We're hearing about the removals and very vague rumors of replacements, but no specifics on what the replacements will look like, or how they will fit into the aesthetic....I'm still taking a wait and see approach, except for the Beer Garden, that's unnecessary.

 

[ChrisFL]

Does anyone else think "Electric Umbrella" was a weird name for a restaurant, especially in Central Florida where lightning is so common? Every time I think of the name, it makes me think of someone with an umbrella getting struck by lightning

 

[Nunu]

Does anyone else think "Electric Umbrella" was a weird name for a restaurant, especially in Central Florida where lightning is so common? Every time I think of the name, it makes me think of someone with an umbrella getting struck by lightning

Who came up with that name? I can imagine the meeting and someone saying: "Oh I know, Electric Umbrella! It sounds futuristic...somehow!"

Maybe someone knows if it is related to something we don't know about.

 

[ChrisFL]

I heard a rumor there will be a smaller replacement for the Fountain of Nations, but keeping the same feeling....you know, like they did at the Polynesian lobby.....

 

[KBLovedDisney]

I heard a rumor there will be a smaller replacement for the Fountain of Nations, but keeping the same feeling....you know, like they did at the Polynesian lobby.....

Just....why?

 

[HauntedPirate]

Communicore was my favorite place in the world when I was a kid. It's a shame they couldn't figure out what to do with it for the last 25 years. While others enjoyed the meet & greets, I enjoyed the carpeted walls, the smell of nostalgia, and a weird toilet urinal set in back of two other urinals. Edit: attached. I'll miss you strangely placed toilets.

I loved that unique little feature of that particular restroom.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I just want to remind everyone, we're only hearing half of the story so far. We're hearing about the removals and very vague rumors of replacements, but no specifics on what the replacements will look like, or how they will fit into the aesthetic....I'm still taking a wait and see approach, except for the Beer Garden, that's unnecessary.

Yes. And most of their announced decisions regarding Epcot post-40th anniversary leave something to be desired.

Of all the park’s problems, the enormous fountain in the middle isn’t one. It needs to be modernized, but not removed. Like most of what’s in the park. I was always able to took past cosmetic faux pas like Project Kaleidoscope because the bones of a great park (the park’s architecture) were still there. When they start demolishing, mistakes become irreversible.

 

[TestTrack99]

R.I.P. Epcot. It was nice knowing you.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

From the way it's explained on Twitter...It's history...

What, the fountain or everything around it?

 

[mikejs78]

What, the fountain or everything around it?

Both. Unfortunately.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Poor Lillian Disney.

In a world named after him, the wife that Walt loved so much has lost her boat - the Empress Lilly - and now her fountain too, the centerpiece of the park build in tribute to her husband's last dream.

But bring on the beer, eh? Makes more money.

The good news is she’s been dead for 22 years and won’t mind a bit

To be clear though...I hate to see the fountain go...it’s those types of hardscapes that really change the dynamics of Disney’s parks. Their effects are more than just what they are in brick and mortar.

You’d hope they do sometype of new common area that can serve as a visual centerpiece...but I doubt it

 

[mikejs78]

The good news is she’s been dead for 22 years and won’t mind a bit

To be clear though...I hate to see the fountain go...it’s those types of hardscapes that really change the dynamics of Disney’s parks. Their effects are more than just what they are in brick and mortar.

You’d hope they do sometype of new common area that can serve as a visual centerpiece...but I doubt it

I'm not one to criticize Disney too much (although they've been making some boneheaded decisions as of late), but what they are doing to Epcot is awful, shortsighted, and stupid. Ruining the bones of a great park to no real benefit.

They could have done something that appealed to contemporary audiences, fit within the theme of the park, and respected its history and past, and paid homage to it while updating it for the 21st century. But instead they decided to tear it all down.

 

[AVAC Juice]

Indeed. We need to keep calling Iger Disney out for transforming America's largest family entertainment venue into America's largest outdoor bar. It's disgusting.

And indeed it's the very subject of this thread: the closures are to make way for a beer garden, smack dab in the middle of the park. To increase the confrontation with alcohol, to induce guests to consume more of it. To turn FW into what WS has already become too, a place full of drunks, never more than sixty feet removed from an alcohol vending point.

I mostly agree with you and can only speak for myself but I couldn't stomach any of WDW without a few drinks in me.

It makes me reflective on what it was instead of fuming about how it is.
Sadly alcohol sales are about the only thing that is keeping Epcot afloat.

Imagineerings most diverse surely isn't.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm not one to criticize Disney too much (although they've been making some boneheaded decisions as of late), but what they are doing to Epcot is awful, shortsighted, and stupid. Ruining the bones of a great park to no real benefit.

They could have done something that appealed to contemporary audiences, fit within the theme of the park, and respected its history and past, and paid homage to it while updating it for the 21st century. But instead they decided to tear it all down.

Are you saying you’ve been known to defend the shield from time to time???

 

[mikejs78]

Are you saying you’ve been known to defend the shield from time to time???

I think there's a propensity to find everything wrong with current Disney, just as people did during the Eisner years. There's a lot to like in what current Disney is doing (outside of Epcot)...

I also object to Pixie Dusters who think the mouse can do no wrong.

Reality is somewhere in the middle.