I think i'm not the only one who kept hoping something would change...
For a long time, many people pontificated and espoused in long tirades on the changes going on at Epcot. They lamented and mourned the death of EPCOT Center. It was lost, the hope for humanity had fizzled, and nothing truly inspiring or optimistic would ever come from Epcot again.
I thought they were loons. Well, until recently.
I don't think i'm alone in saying I don't think anything at Epcot will really inspire me or "wow" me the way the park used to. I used to think the next great attraction was just beyond the horizon, but that hope has been dashed by the last several attractions the park has received.
Now, don't see this as some angry rant against those attraction. Many of them aren't bad, and some are quite good.
But "good" isn't good enough. I've given pretty much every new Epcot attraction a solid "meh" for wow-factor and ability to instill a sense of wonder. Where did wonder go? Did it die long ago with the pavilion bearing it's name?
Nemo is nice.. but it's not amazing and the pavilion apart from the ride is in shambles. SSE has some nice touches, but no big "wow" moment - in fact i'd say they damaged the biggest wow in how they reveal the 180-top. It's anticlimactic. which is why we're searching so hard for a climax in the end (which should be a the falling action.)
I thought Soarin was neat, but it has minimal repeatability (the inherent flaw of screen technology). I've been on it maybe 5-6 times and have no desire to ride it again. It's pretty, but very random, and doesn't hold any sort of emotional attachment. Similarly, Grand Fiesta doesn't connect, though I love the 3 Cabs, because it is just the same sets we've seen before with new projections. A passive sort of blah experience.
Canada? I've seen it twice, and have no desire to walk back up all those steps to see it again - and i know the shortcut that skips the stairs. It was ok.. a good "meh" again.
Remember when everything Epcot was new? No, i dont mean physically new or unaged. I mean the concepts were new - we had to be introduced to computers, they had to be given a sense of humanity to avoid a coldness that kept us away from them. That was new, the technology was new, the way we interacted with it was new. Now it's all old hat.
Did that stop making Epcot amazing? I think the park went toward a new angle to make it all seem fascinating through the millenium celebration. More focus on humanity, the cultural tapestry, the exotic and the excitement of the new century. That faded too.
Partying like it's 1999 isn't so exciting anymore..
Could it get better as the park finds a new creative direction to go? Possibly.. but someone in the company would have to take a keen interest in the park and work to focus it. I would say the utterly under developed resource of the World Showcase is the key. We've tried the future through technology time and again and it just goes back to the clinical, inhumane, and cold mess that the first Epcot fought so hard to avoid.
Delve into the World Showcase and show me something amazing from the mythology, history, and culture of some fantastical foreign land. The world has shrunk though, as SSE so aptly pointed out, so turning over a stone I've not encounter will be quite the task.
Supposed they're up to it? I have my doubts.. Maybe for just a few more days i'll hope, and maybe they'll announce something in the new year.. until then, it seems a bit bleak.
For a long time, many people pontificated and espoused in long tirades on the changes going on at Epcot. They lamented and mourned the death of EPCOT Center. It was lost, the hope for humanity had fizzled, and nothing truly inspiring or optimistic would ever come from Epcot again.
I thought they were loons. Well, until recently.
I don't think i'm alone in saying I don't think anything at Epcot will really inspire me or "wow" me the way the park used to. I used to think the next great attraction was just beyond the horizon, but that hope has been dashed by the last several attractions the park has received.
Now, don't see this as some angry rant against those attraction. Many of them aren't bad, and some are quite good.
But "good" isn't good enough. I've given pretty much every new Epcot attraction a solid "meh" for wow-factor and ability to instill a sense of wonder. Where did wonder go? Did it die long ago with the pavilion bearing it's name?
Nemo is nice.. but it's not amazing and the pavilion apart from the ride is in shambles. SSE has some nice touches, but no big "wow" moment - in fact i'd say they damaged the biggest wow in how they reveal the 180-top. It's anticlimactic. which is why we're searching so hard for a climax in the end (which should be a the falling action.)
I thought Soarin was neat, but it has minimal repeatability (the inherent flaw of screen technology). I've been on it maybe 5-6 times and have no desire to ride it again. It's pretty, but very random, and doesn't hold any sort of emotional attachment. Similarly, Grand Fiesta doesn't connect, though I love the 3 Cabs, because it is just the same sets we've seen before with new projections. A passive sort of blah experience.
Canada? I've seen it twice, and have no desire to walk back up all those steps to see it again - and i know the shortcut that skips the stairs. It was ok.. a good "meh" again.
Remember when everything Epcot was new? No, i dont mean physically new or unaged. I mean the concepts were new - we had to be introduced to computers, they had to be given a sense of humanity to avoid a coldness that kept us away from them. That was new, the technology was new, the way we interacted with it was new. Now it's all old hat.
Did that stop making Epcot amazing? I think the park went toward a new angle to make it all seem fascinating through the millenium celebration. More focus on humanity, the cultural tapestry, the exotic and the excitement of the new century. That faded too.
Partying like it's 1999 isn't so exciting anymore..
Could it get better as the park finds a new creative direction to go? Possibly.. but someone in the company would have to take a keen interest in the park and work to focus it. I would say the utterly under developed resource of the World Showcase is the key. We've tried the future through technology time and again and it just goes back to the clinical, inhumane, and cold mess that the first Epcot fought so hard to avoid.
Delve into the World Showcase and show me something amazing from the mythology, history, and culture of some fantastical foreign land. The world has shrunk though, as SSE so aptly pointed out, so turning over a stone I've not encounter will be quite the task.
Supposed they're up to it? I have my doubts.. Maybe for just a few more days i'll hope, and maybe they'll announce something in the new year.. until then, it seems a bit bleak.
