EPCOT Creations Shop opening this summer

[HauntedPirate]

… and a worthy successor to the classic Centorium.

Incorrect. This new shop isn’t even in the same galaxy as Centorium. This is a Bob Special - the modern bland industrial look with some Disney characters added to make it “Disney”. No amount of THE Zach posting PR-written-and-approved Instagram posts is going to change that. If I want modern bland industrial shopping, I can go to my neighborhood Target, or dozens of other stores that have copied that look.

 

[Haymarket2008]

Incorrect. This new shop isn’t even in the same galaxy as Centorium. This is a Bob Special - the modern bland industrial look with some Disney characters added to make it “Disney”. No amount of THE Zach posting PR-written-and-approved Instagram posts is going to change that. If I want modern bland industrial shopping, I can go to my neighborhood Target, or dozens of other stores that have copied thatCentorium, apart from some the merchandise it was selling and it’s multi-levelness, was entirely unremarkable.

Centorium, apart from some of the merchandise and the multi-level elements, was entirely unremarkable. Neither am I saying Creations IS. I just like it more than MouseGear. That’s just my opinion. That I am not labeling as correct because it’s weird.

 

[Little Green Men]

Hexagons and a few character statues?

Incorrect. This new shop isn’t even in the same galaxy as Centorium. This is a Bob Special - the modern bland industrial look with some Disney characters added to make it “Disney”. No amount of THE Zach posting PR-written-and-approved Instagram posts is going to change that. If I want modern bland industrial shopping, I can go to my neighborhood Target, or dozens of other stores that have copied that look.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Hexagons and a few character statues?

Did you ever visit it, or are you relying on someone else’s pictures on Twitter?

 

[Little Green Men]

Did you ever visit it, or are you relying on someone else’s pictures on Twitter?

Visited between 95-99

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Same. Mouse Gear was an abysmal, ugly, eyesore that needed to be put out of its misery long ago. I cannot believe that people are genuinely mourning over such a trashy store. I love the sleek new direction Disney has taken with their merchandise stores over the last few years.

The majority isn’t mourning MouseGear. They’re mourning the fact that they wasted the opportunity to take that store & make it distinctly more EPCOT themed & instead repeated the generic Mickey Mouse theme but made it more “sleek & modern”. That there is the problem

 

[G00fyDad]

The majority isn’t mourning MouseGear. They’re mourning the fact that they wasted the opportunity to take that store & make it distinctly more EPCOT themed & instead repeated the generic Mickey Mouse theme but made it more “sleek & modern”. That there is the problem

What if they ARE making it more Epcot themed? What if they are retheming all of Future World to something similar?

 

[J4546]

new shop is looking great! cant wait till its all finished

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

What if they ARE making it more Epcot themed? What if they are retheming all of Future World to something similar?

Well that there is the bigger picture… that the current vision/theme for the revitalization of EPCOT is not in line with the values & spirit it should inhabit. The vision it had initially was timeless and it simply should’ve been updated without compromising it’s original integrity & vision.. it’s a travesty watching it continue to be desecrated even further than it was in the mid-late 90s/early 2000s. Making it another Disney’s MGM/Hollywood Studios clone.

 

[sedati]

The vision it had initially was timeless.

The future is ever-changing. They already learned this with Tomorrowland. You're talking about a park in need of updates ad-infinitum.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

The future is ever-changing. They already learned this with Tomorrowland. You're talking about a park in need of updates ad-infinitum.

The difference was EPCOT’s Future World was not neccesarily about what the ‘future’ itself held or predictions of what would happen in the future.. but rather the ‘subjects’ essential to ‘better’ & ‘shape’ our future. That’s the key difference

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

The idea of sponsors helping fund updates & enhancements to each pavilion every 10 or so years was not necessarily bad in-itself. It’s how Disney changed the way it managed those deals aswell as various operations within the park that would essentially force them to change the attraction the way they did later on.. sadly not for the better (Imagination pavilion is a perfect example of this..)

 

[Sir_Cliff]

The difference was Future World was not about what the future held.. but rather the subjects essential to ‘better’ our future. That’s the key difference

I do think changing the name of Future World is a good move as I'm not sure that part of the park ever quite lived up to what the name suggests for most guests.

In terms of the original vision being timeless, I'm not entirely sure of that. The 'permanent world's fair' conceit seems to have been a little out of time considering that world's fairs were already on their way out as a significant cultural phenomenon when the park opened. I do wish, though, they leaned more into making the front part of the park a little more science-based. It sort of is, but the big head scratcher in that regard is Guardians of the Galaxy. This will be an unpopular opinion here, but if the Journey of Water uses Moana characters to educate about the water cycle, that also really fits that front section being more a 'science & creativity" (as opposed to "future") zone.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

The future is ever-changing. They already learned this with Tomorrowland. You're talking about a park in need of updates ad-infinitum.

Here's the problem with that - not only is that not really true of the original EPCOT Center (Journey Into Imagination as it was in 83 could run today as a crowd-pleaser with only minimal updates), but there are also two more levels on which that doesn't pass.

1) Parks need updates no matter what. The Magic Kingdom is the most visited park in the world and is constantly being updated, even if not always in the ways we want or as often as we like. Disney still spends millions every year updating all of their parks, and EPCOT isn't unique in that regard.

2) Rocket to the Moon wasn't outdated because we all go to the Moon so often. It was outdated because the presentation felt stale. That update had nothing to do with the "ever-changing future" because we STILL haven't caught up to it. It was the execution that was failing, not the concept. Disney has *barely* touched Space Mountain since 1975 and it's the most popular thing in Tomorrowland by miles. Because the Space Mountain concept isn't one that we can "catch up" to - it riffs on Space Travel to such an extent that one day when the real thing becomes casually accessible Space Mountain will still be unique from it. And we're really not close to catching up anyway.

That has always been true of the attractions that worked best in both Tomorrowland and Future World - that they dabble in futuristic subjects doesn't automatically set them racing towards an expiration date. Not any more than any other attraction. If the core of what you're doing is both fun and far-flung enough that reality won't catch up you can still inspire guests with notions of the future without it becoming "Today-land". They've just got to act on some sort of wish-fulfilment for the guest that is tangential to the subject at hand.

They could do it - they HAVE done it - but instead they now chose not to.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The 'permanent world's fair' conceit seems to have been a little out of time considering that world's fairs were already on their way out as a significant cultural phenomenon when the park opened.

Fairs continue to do just fine. There’s a big one opening later this year. The US even rejoined the BIE a few years ago.

 

[sedati]

The difference was EPCOT’s Future World was not neccesarily about what the ‘future’ itself held or predictions of what would happen in the future.. but rather the ‘subjects’ essential to ‘better’ & ‘shape’ our future. That’s the key difference

Yes, buy Bell, Buy Exxon, Buy GM, Buy Kodak, Buy Kraft. The way to that better future was through consumerism.
My dream EPCOT has a Pavillion on Evolution. One of the Beginning of the Universe. One on Comparative Religions and the Power of Myth. One on Art History. Break the bonds of sponsorship and commercialism and stick to true ideals and knowledge. I don't expect it to happen, but it has a better chance through IP than past models.

 

[G00fyDad]

Yes, buy Bell, Buy Exxon, Buy GM, Buy Kodak, Buy Kraft. The way to that better future was through consumerism.
My dream EPCOT has a Pavillion on Evolution. One of the Beginning of the Universe. One on Comparative Religions and the Power of Myth. One on Art History. Break the bonds of sponsorship and commercialism and stick to true ideals and knowledge. I don't expect it to happen, but it has a better chance through IP than past models.

 

[FigmentsBrightIdeas]

Yes, buy Bell, Buy Exxon, Buy GM, Buy Kodak, Buy Kraft. The way to that better future was through consumerism.
My dream EPCOT has a Pavillion on Evolution. One of the Beginning of the Universe. One on Comparative Religions and the Power of Myth. One on Art History. Break the bonds of sponsorship and commercialism and stick to true ideals and knowledge. I don't expect it to happen, but it has a better chance through IP than past models.

Except Spaceship Earth basically covered most of that through how Communication evolved. despite it being sponsored by AT&T and everyone else. Hence why it was a mission statement attraction of what you’d experience in the rest of the park.

Plus, the way the attraction’s were executed were not to be extremely blatant with the advertising. You may have gotten hints of it simply due to the fact they dealt with those very subjects. But it wasn’t the mission statement nor was it what you mainly got from those attractions. It was the subjects that were at the forefront, not the companies sponsoring it

i also say, you could cover some of the various religions of the various countries through the World Showcase. One big one being the Israel pavilion that was supposed to be built, which would’ve gone over their beliefs aswell as the countries cultural achievements & history.

There are many ways EPCOT could have new pavilions and attractions to better celebrate mankind’s achievements and culture. Constantly using Film IP rides that make little effort to tie into real world culture & subjects isn’t one of them

 

[sedati]

Here's the problem with that - not only is that not really true of the original EPCOT Center (Journey Into Imagination as it was in 83 could run today as a crowd-pleaser with only minimal updates), but there are also two more levels on which that doesn't pass.

1) Parks need updates no matter what. The Magic Kingdom is the most visited park in the world and is constantly being updated, even if not always in the ways we want or as often as we like. Disney still spends millions every year updating all of their parks, and EPCOT isn't unique in that regard.

2) Rocket to the Moon wasn't outdated because we all go to the Moon so often. It was outdated because the presentation felt stale. That update had nothing to do with the "ever-changing future" because we STILL haven't caught up to it. It was the execution that was failing, not the concept. Disney has *barely* touched Space Mountain since 1975 and it's the most popular thing in Tomorrowland by miles. Because the Space Mountain concept isn't one that we can "catch up" to - it riffs on Space Travel to such an extent that one day when the real thing becomes casually accessible Space Mountain will still be unique from it. And we're really not close to catching up anyway.

That has always been true of the attractions that worked best in both Tomorrowland and Future World - that they dabble in futuristic subjects doesn't automatically set them racing towards an expiration date. Not any more than any other attraction. If the core of what you're doing is both fun and far-flung enough that reality won't catch up you can still inspire guests with notions of the future without it becoming "Today-land". They've just got to act on some sort of wish-fulfilment for the guest that is tangential to the subject at hand.

They could do it - they HAVE done it - but instead they now chose not to.

Imagination, I heartily agree.

1) I think you confuse maintenance and updates. EPCOT would need both. Pirates needs expensive maintenance to keep it mostly the same. Now imagine not only needing to keep it going, but now make it cowboys instead.

2) EPCOT relied on slow-moving diorama attractions. What about that is easy to update when found stale? I don't know if the argument of the timelessness of coasters in the dark is the best here.

3) Yes, the attractions only dabbled in futuristic subjects, but what of the park/land itself? Spaceship Earth and Space Mountain seem eternal, but the rest is just bland beyond what paint can really fix. As for wish fulfillment, Mission Space does it for me- I went up in a rocket instead of just watching a clip of one (see SE, UoE, H.) Who doesn't want to explore the Galaxy with the Guardians? See how far we'll go with Moana? Learn about the Seas with Mr. Ray? Tour Scandanavia with Anna and Elsa? (I do find the execution somewhat less than fulfilling, but the concept isn't as flawed as some make it out to be.)

 

[UNCgolf]

Who doesn't want to explore the Galaxy with the Guardians? See how far we'll go with Moana? Learn about the Seas with Mr. Ray? Tour Scandanavia with Anna and Elsa? (I do find the execution somewhat less than fulfilling, but the concept isn't as flawed as some make it out to be.)

I think this is much harder to pull off than you're insinuating. For the people that loved original EPCOT and its attractions, it's hard to imagine an IP ride coming close to offering the same experience. The very nature of having IP means they're going to want to showcase it; a Guardians ride about space is going to focus on the Guardians themselves to some extent.

And on the other side, if there's too much focus on learning, science, whatever in an IP ride, it will just annoy or even anger the people who are solely interested in the IP. If Frozen Ever After was a ride that's actually about Norway just with Anna and Elsa as tour guides, there would be a huge number of guests unhappy that the Frozen ride wasn't actually about Frozen.

That doesn't mean they couldn't pull it off, just that there's a very fine line to walk between those opposing viewpoints. Some are easier than others, of course -- learning about the ocean with Mr. Ray would be pretty easy to pull off without even deviating from what people seeking the IP would expect.