Since it opened, Epcot has been my favorite park, but I share many of the concerns and worries that Merf and others have presented.
Part of the reason I enjoy Epcot so much that is that most (and all when it opened) of the pavilions/attractions tried to tell you about whatever the subject was, not just be an attraction set in a particular place. World of Motion told the story of transportation. Universe of Energy told you about that, etc. And it was, amazingly, all done in an entertaining way. And most of the attractions used multiple different methods to do it. The Seas had a movie, a short ride, and a bunch of exhibits. Universe of Energy had that great intro movie with the turning screens, the ride, the dinsaurs, etc. And each of the World Showcase paviolions has a mix of shopping, dining, art, movies, etc. And the American Adventure is just a great show.
But this attempt and desire to tell guests about something, rather than just making them smile, is also why thrill rides weren't there in the beginning. Hard to use a thrill ride to illuminate a topic, except as part of a multi-step attraction. With Space instead of Horizons, and Test Track instead of World of Motion, we now have thrill rides set to a theme of the topic of the paviolion/attraction, but they don't attempt to really illuminate the subject anymore (although the line for Test Track does a little of that). The Seas still has most of the elements it did before, but the focus is now on characters. I really like Nemo and Turtle Talk, but I wish they'd do something to put the focus back on the real (i.e., the tank), rather than the fictional.
The imagineers have a real challenge trying to create attractions that illuminate, educate, and impart understanding, rather than just making us smile. Not that there's anything wrong with making people happy, but Epcot at its best does more than that, and some of the recent attractions haven't just failed at doing that something more -- some of them haven't tried. And that's what I worry about losing; the goal of entertaining and illuminating.
