Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
It was 'game over' the day Disney dropped 'Center' from the Park name.
Or was it....?
Discuss.
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Or was it....?
Discuss.
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EPCOT: 1982 vs. 2022
- Thread starter mharrington
- Start date
ChrisFL
Premium Member
Yes....unless something miraculous happens in the park's direction and they find a new way to make actual futuristic pavilions again.
I lived through all this and the world has changed. First time I went to Epcot in the mid 80's I was with my parents. We rode there with a paper map, no cell phones, no internet, in fact our car didn't have AC because we were from up North and many cars didn't come with AC or for that matter electric windows.
Epcot was suppose to be the world of tomorrow, well that is a moving target and everything needs to be updates every few years. Honestly the stuff from the past has to go, many here seem to think you need to hang on to it but that isn't the world of tomorrow it's the world of tomorrow stuck in a certain time period. It's like the carousal of progress which is stuck in the late 50's or maybe early 60's. It's a museum piece at this point.
Epcot was suppose to be the world of tomorrow, well that is a moving target and everything needs to be updates every few years. Honestly the stuff from the past has to go, many here seem to think you need to hang on to it but that isn't the world of tomorrow it's the world of tomorrow stuck in a certain time period. It's like the carousal of progress which is stuck in the late 50's or maybe early 60's. It's a museum piece at this point.
Inspired Figment
Well-Known Member
Yeeah, Epcot ‘94 I think is when things started to fall. Particuarly the addition of the Film franchise/IP based ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Audience’ at the Journey Into Imagination pavilion … for more reasons than one I’m afraid. That ended up starting a trend that we’re still facing today and I don’t think people realize just how significant that attraction was & the way it was advertised to that change in direction.. but yeah.
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Inspired Figment
Well-Known Member
Now granted, there was still enough of OG EPCOT that you could still have an almost entirely stellar visit there. ‘But’ I think things truly took a turn for the worse in ‘98 & ‘99 when the original Journey Into Imagination, the ImageWorks, & Horizons were removed.
Inspired Figment
Well-Known Member
Yes! But “futuristic” in the sense that they’re topics/subjects that are essential to improving our future. A very important distinction many people tend to miss or not catch. Not neccesarily focused on the future itself…
Granted, Horizons was focused on the future. But it was moreso on how our ‘visions’ of what the future would bring had evolved.. not necessarily what would happen in the future or what “tomorrow is today”.
Little Green Men
Well-Known Member
Soarin', Awesome Planet, American Adventure, Both Circle vision films, Ratatouille, Via Napoli, Spice Road Table, Space 220 are either better than their predecessors or nice gains
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ChrisFL
Premium Member
American Adventure is basically the same as it was in 1982 except for the ending song
I guess, as with many things in EPCOT it's a question we should probably split into World Showcase vs Future World (Whatever they're calling it now that no one else will call it)
peter11435
Well-Known Member
The figures in AA received a significant upgrade in 1994American Adventure is basically the same as it was in 1982 except for the ending song
EricsBiscuit
Well-Known Member
Soarin has been downgraded. The others are modest upgrades. No one goes to a theme park for restaurants.
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
I agree with you about the year things went south, but Eo was always going to become dated and was destined to run into... other issues. Switching out 3-D movies, even putting in an IP, wasn't the end of the world - my memory is that the IP trend was still many years in the future. What presaged the total destruction of EPCOT in 1994 was the removal of Kitchen Kabaret, a charming AA attraction, and its replacement with an awful, 'cool' new show reliant on 2-D figures. It was this desperate pursuit of '90s 'cool' that quickly wiped EPCOT off the map.
PS: Oddly, EPCOT and The Simpsons have a lot in common - classics that peaked around '94 or '95 but which still stumble along, much diminished, making everyone feel a bit sad.
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Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
And overall the food at EPCOT has gotten much more expensive and less interesting, with quality declining as well.
Heppenheimer
Well-Known Member
The World Showcase restaurants at Epcot definately were a draw at the time. The US hadn't quite escaped the meat-and-potatoes era of dining in the 80s, so having a selection of different cuisines (mostly well done at the time, minus perhaps the lacklustre fare at the Italian pavilion) was definately an attraction in and of itself.
Not so much nowadays, where you can get virtually any type of food in many US cities, and Disney Springs itself has become a dining destination. The dumbing down of the World Showcase restaurants over the years hasn't helped either.
ppete1975
Well-Known Member
we had lost Astuter Computer Revue by then sadly i remember loving that as a kid but im not sure how much difference was that and backstage magic that replaced it. (both of which now would be a yawn fest and super dated and everyone on here would want replaced, but at that time was awesome) Also not sure if the centurium had become disneyfied yet. Its been a few years lol Outside of that id totally agree with you.
ppete1975
Well-Known Member
The moving auditorium ride vehicles was always an amazing thing. I really dont know why they dont try and reuse that somewhere. It really ate alot of people. It could be basically a movie theater then ride, the possibilities are limitless
EricsBiscuit
Well-Known Member
Not to mention, when in a theme park, you’re paying for time in addition to the food itself.
ppete1975
Well-Known Member
In the first few years epcot had peanut butter klondike bars, (not the ones they make now), i never saw them in stores even then (cause my mom looked everywhere). I remember eating way more of them than we should. And standing under spaceship earth while it poured rain eating a pb klondike bar thinking "this is the coolest place ever"
Todays Epcot cant compete
Todays Epcot cant compete
Little Green Men
Well-Known Member
Soarin ATW fits Epcot better. You said everything was worse than 1982 and thats not true