Ellen's voice is back in the ride... but her animatronic is probably gone for good.

[Ulysses McGill]

It's probably because Christopher Eccleston was rubbish compared to David Tennant. When Matt Smith came along, I stopped watching.
That may not be everyones opinion, I know, but could be the reason why.

Everyone has *their* Doctor. Mine is the Fourth.

That said, I always felt Eccleston was a good Doctor hindered by horrific writing. I mean, there were some terrible episodes in that run (seriously, two-parter for farting body snatching aliens?). And I enjoyed Matt Smith. I thought he was a throwback to the second Doctor (Troughton).

 

[marni1971]

I grew up with Tom Baker. So there

 

[pumpkin7]

I think I must've been born during the 'break', in 1989. I never really got into Doctor Who until David Tennant came along. I haven't seen many of the original episodes, and I haven't watched that many since.
Any way, I find it odd that Epcot sells some random stuff like Dr Who and the Beatles... and HP Sauce! Also, all the boxes of sweets... we have them in rolls not boxes. Most odd.

 

[janoimagine]

WDI came up with M:S.

True, but WDI is not at fault for budget cuts.

@Eddie Sotto 's original plan for Mission Space was pretty epic ... what happened when the bean counters (and Eisner ... who green lit it) got a hold of it was what we are left with today ... the attraction is still pretty impressive and I do like it, but it feels unfinished (which, when compared to the concept ... it is ... only half the attraction was built).

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2009/07/from-mission-to-mars-to-mission-space.html

 

[Figments Friend]

I grew up with Tom Baker. So there

Me too.
He is the ONLY Doctor in my opinion.
Nobody else comes close.

Just like Sean Connery is the only 'James Bond'

 

[WondersOfLife]

And I remember what Excess taught me...

We Love junk...Give us sugar and fat
We love junk...you got a problem with that?
we love junk...and we'll be a disgrace
When there's junk, there's nothin like stuffin your face
Empty calories...junk...
grease and sugar too, junk...junk
We'll be fine with our junk, with out junk, with our junk...
we're just doin, what you wanna do....

This post made me happy.

 

[WondersOfLife]

There's a much more obvious solution if we're going to replace Ellen and Bill Nye...

Phineas and Ferb would be great too... They could honestly fit in any edutainment experience. It also helps that the show is so popular and still popular after such a few years.

 

[marni1971]

Phineas and Ferb would be great too... They could honestly fit in any edutainment experience. It also helps that the show is so popular and still popular after such a few years.

Or maybe something not cartoon based.

Radical I know.

 

[WondersOfLife]

I don't think Dr. Who has a wide audience

Dr. Who to teenage geek girls is the same as Star Wars to teenage geek boys. It's REALLY popular. Trust me. I know.

 

[captainmoch]

Phineas and Ferb would be great too... They could honestly fit in any edutainment experience. It also helps that the show is so popular and still popular after such a few years.

With the show over, I don't see Phineas and Ferb getting any more park presence at this point... UNLESS the feature film somehow gets revived. I feel like that could renew interest enough for something else in Epcot besides Agent P at World Showcase.

 

[WondersOfLife]

Or maybe something not cartoon based.

Radical I know.

To each their own. I respect your opinion. But I'm a toon maniac. Cartoons make me happy. I never got into the "edutainment" attractions at Epcot without, say, Figment helping along.. I remember being so incredibly bored in the living seas pre-nemo when I was tiny. But now with Nemo, I love the pavilion! I would have DREADED going on the original Energy because it looks SOOO boring. I loved the Ellen ride when I was little. It's just me. I like being "educated" and entertained by cartoons and people I know and love. Not some boring monotone narrator xP

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

To each their own. I respect your opinion. But I'm a toon maniac. Cartoons make me happy. I never got into the "edutainment" attractions at Epcot without, say, Figment helping along.. I remember being so incredibly bored in the living seas pre-nemo when I was tiny. But now with Nemo, I love the pavilion! I would have DREADED going on the original Energy because it looks SOOO boring. I loved the Ellen ride when I was little. It's just me. I like being "educated" and entertained by cartoons and people I know and love. Not some boring monotone narrator xP

That was the thing with EPCOT Center, it was in no way geared towards kids. Designed with them in mind, but aimed squarely at the niche market of "everyone from 1 to 100". Much of the park was wrought heavily in dramatic tones, and was largely uncompromising in its efforts to elevate the Theme Park experience to something beyond cartoon involvement -- much in the same way that Walt made a herculean effort with Fantasia to put forth the idea that animation had potential as a serious art form, and that it could be more than just fun for kids.

If Energy looked boring to you as a kid, I suppose you're not alone. It was certainly more "documentary" than "animated feature film", and we know which one most kids would prefer. Sadly, what we've ended up with now is more like an old sitcom, only it's overly long, lost its magic through re-runs, and the TV we're watching it on badly needs to be repaired. I'd rather watch the Documentary, you'd rather watch the Animated Feature, but I think we all agree it's time to change the channel.

 

[Figments Friend]

Or maybe something not cartoon based.

Radical I know.

Now that would be nice...
Radical thinking.

Today's 'Disney' needs more 'radical thinkers' and less IP based 'attractions'.
EPCOT especially could benefit from that.



-

 

[Figments Friend]

That was the thing with EPCOT Center, it was in no way geared towards kids. Designed with them in mind, but aimed squarely at the niche market of "everyone from 1 to 100". Much of the park was wrought heavily in dramatic tones, and was largely uncompromising in its efforts to elevate the Theme Park experience to something beyond cartoon involvement -- much in the same way that Walt made a herculean effort with Fantasia to put forth the idea that animation had potential as a serious art form, and that it could be more than just fun for kids.
.

^
This.

Re-read again.
Repeat.


-

 

[KeithVH]

To heck with Dr. Who. if our gauge is to base decisions on the potential for revenue generation, then UK needs a Top Gear Experience attraction. That is a license to print money.

What if they swapped the UK and Odyssey Center and then refurbed TT into a Top Gear focus with the boys doing the pre-show and linked it to the back of the new UK pavilion?

 

[marni1971]

To each their own. I respect your opinion. But I'm a toon maniac. Cartoons make me happy.

That's why they built the MK

 

[marni1971]

To heck with Dr. Who. if our gauge is to base decisions on the potential for revenue generation, then UK needs a Top Gear Experience attraction. That is a license to print money.

What if they swapped the UK and Odyssey Center and then refurbed TT into a Top Gear focus with the boys doing the pre-show and linked it to the back of the new UK pavilion?

They'd have to go to Amazon now. The BBC own only the name. And trust me you don't want Chris Evans in Epcot. Idle was bad enough.

 

[RSoxNo1]

And yet they sure are selling quite a bit in the UK Pavilion...

Am I the only one that has been sick of the "Keep Calm" shirts since they first came out?

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Everyone has *their* Doctor. Mine is the Fourth.

That said, I always felt Eccleston was a good Doctor hindered by horrific writing. I mean, there were some terrible episodes in that run (seriously, two-parter for farting body snatching aliens?). And I enjoyed Matt Smith. I thought he was a throwback to the second Doctor (Troughton).

I'll probably get some flack for this, but Eccleston is actually my least favorite Doctor. It's interesting because Eccleston is also my "first" Doctor. Of the now 13 "official" Doctors, Eccleston is the only one I actually actively don't enjoy (I like all the other 12, not a bad one of the bunch IMO even the relatively less pronounced portrayals by Paul McGann and John Hurt).

I personally don't feel it can be entirely blamed on bad writing, i'd say there have been terrible episodes in all the New Who seasons. Even during bad episodes however, David Tennant and Matt Smith have always been consistently good as the Doctor (IMO). Same with Peter Capaldi, he's had some bland/bad episodes as well but thus far enjoying him.

I'll also say that the original Doctor Who was not always without its own poor writing (great though it usually was), even sometimes in generally great eras. Colin Baker is heavily criticized by fans (IMO he is an example of a good Doctor held back by poor writing, his performance shines through). Even in poorly written episodes, all the other Doctors have still been engaging and interesting. I never got that with Eccleston, even in very good episodes and given good material to work with. I actually think he may simply have been a poor choice for the role (he also seems to have mixed or even negative feelings about the series and his experience with it). I enjoyed the first season of New Who to a certain degree, but it was sometimes in spite of Eccleston instead of because of him. He lacked the charisma and uniqueness that the other Doctors have had, he just felt bland and ordinary to me (an anti-thesis to what seems to define the character). I didn't really "get" Doctor Who from his time and it almost lost me on a couple of occasions (the farting aliens being particularly stupid). The Empty Child really impressed me and kept me on board though.

Tennant's introduction was where the series finally hooked me. The series still had poorly written stories, but the character of the doctor finally clicked with me with Tennant's. So while Eccleston was my introduction to the character, I actually consider Tennant my "first" Doctor (and it's hard to pick favorites but he's a definite contender for me in spite of some occasional poor writing for his character as well). I've also since begun acquainting myself with old Doctor Who and enjoyed all of the original 7 portrayals of the Doctor individually (I have certain favorites of course). It'll take me forever to get through them all, and many episodes are sadly lost now...

 

[WondersOfLife]

That's why they built the MK

I don't want to argue with you because 1). I definitely respect your opinion and I look up to you and 2). You'd probably out-wit me anyways.

The only thing I'm going to say is for me personally, there's never enough characters cx I wouldn't want to go to "Disney World" or "Disneyland" without seeing characters! That's just the generation I was born in. I'm sure if I lived to appreciate what Epcot was originally in the 80s/90s, I'd be all for the non-character thing. But it's just not what I'm used to. Can't help it. xP