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Futureworld renamed or rethemed?

hwdelien

hwdelien

Member
Original Poster
I'm probably going to get slammed for this, but here goes. Does anyone but me think Futureworld should be renamed? Or, at least, themed appropriately. The thing is, what is futuristic about it?

*UoE is a historic trip through Ellen's imagination
*TT a current technology automobile testing facility (Even adding some concept cars to the post show would help)
*JII - imagination - nothing futuristic
*SE - A history lesson with a small glimpse of the future
*Soarin' - Hang gliding?
*Living with the Land - A boat ride through a greenhouse (of the future, really?)
*The Living Seas - An aquarium

The only futuristic attractions are MS, Innoventions, and HISTA. Maybe an argument can be made for the architecture.

To me a place that calls itself futureworld should be futuristic. Some sort of mass transportation system ala TTA or even something newer (maybe enclosed in tubes) should connect the pavilions. Snack carts should be fully automated maybe even utilizing voice recognition. Food service with touch screen ordering and a door that opens with your complete meal. Maybe a pavilion that simulates an outpost on a remote planet that you step through a stargate to get to. No printed maps, but something that can be called up on your phone, beamed to a PDA or, at least printed on some sort of transparent cellophane that glows in the dark. Test track should have a futuristic looking car and tests could include hovercraft capability, airlock test, etc. Even the lands, sure hydroponics are somewhat futuristic, but as you sail through in your little boat it doesn't feel futuristic. Maybe Ellen can dream about fission power and hydrogen powered cars and a fossil fuel free future not dinosaurs. And for god sake no barbaric turkey legs served anywhere like they are in the middle of "Tommorrowland" (always seemed out of place).
 
SirGoofy

SirGoofy

Member
This has been discussed to death here. They were always going to have problems with FW when it was built. EPCOT was supposed to be realistic, and to keep a realistic view of the future, they would have had to be doing constant changes to the rides, which just wouldn't make sense. It started off great, with all the attractions fitting the central idea. But as time wore on, the strain of keeping FW futuristic just got unbearable.

Personally I think it should be renamed Discovery World.
 
Fade_to_Blah

Fade_to_Blah

Member
*UoE is a historic trip through Ellen's imagination - But it does talk about the future of energy near the end.....
*TT a current technology automobile testing facility (Even adding some concept cars to the post show would help) - Yea, this doesnt look to the future much. They could have quite a few possibilities, especially with the new hybrid cars and technology that is coming out now.
*JII - imagination - nothing futuristic - Yea
*SE - A history lesson with a small glimpse of the future - Very futuristic to me....the enter ending of the attraction is based on that.
*Soarin' - Hang gliding? - Yup, not a thing futuristic about it
*Living with the Land - A boat ride through a greenhouse (of the future, really?) - I feel this is the ride that best shows what Futureworld is about. They are showing how we are going to feed the worlds growing population in the future, with different farming techniques
*The Living Seas - An aquarium - Yep
 
Lucky

Lucky

Well-Known Member
SirGoofy said:
This has been discussed to death here. They were always going to have problems with FW when it was built. EPCOT was supposed to be realistic, and to keep a realistic view of the future, they would have had to be doing constant changes to the rides, which just wouldn't make sense. It started off great, with all the attractions fitting the central idea. But as time wore on, the strain of keeping FW futuristic just got unbearable.

Personally I think it should be renamed Discovery World.
Click to expand...

I like that name. It's taken already...

http://www.discoveryworld.org/aboutus.php

...but maybe if it's hard to get the rights some variation on it would work. Discovery something or other.
 
EPCOT Explorer

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
Search is your friend, we just had a thread on this a week ago.

But I will reiterate.. No, never, it's not possible. :fork::lol: At least not possible in my mind.

I think that these would be too big of a change. Change is needed, but there's something to be said for nostalgia.

FW, true, no longer is as futuristic as it used to be, but that's no reason to give it a generic name, for a generic subject. That is however, a reason to bring better showmanship and attractions to the park. ;)
 
TubaGeek

TubaGeek

God bless the "Ignore" button.
Frankly I'd be satisfied if they just kept Innoventions in good condition. That thing isn't anything like it was 10 years ago.
 
everest-dude

everest-dude

Member
it is futuristic enough for me...heck i am amazed by everything there...even though it isnt futuristic it is to some people because it is made p of stuff alot of people havnt seen
 
yankspy

yankspy

Well-Known Member
hwdelien said:
I'm probably going to get slammed for this, but here goes. Does anyone but me think Futureworld should be renamed? Or, at least, themed appropriately. The thing is, what is futuristic about it?

*UoE is a historic trip through Ellen's imagination
*TT a current technology automobile testing facility (Even adding some concept cars to the post show would help)
*JII - imagination - nothing futuristic
*SE - A history lesson with a small glimpse of the future
*Soarin' - Hang gliding?
*Living with the Land - A boat ride through a greenhouse (of the future, really?)
*The Living Seas - An aquarium

The only futuristic attractions are MS, Innoventions, and HISTA. Maybe an argument can be made for the architecture.

To me a place that calls itself futureworld should be futuristic. Some sort of mass transportation system ala TTA or even something newer (maybe enclosed in tubes) should connect the pavilions. Snack carts should be fully automated maybe even utilizing voice recognition. Food service with touch screen ordering and a door that opens with your complete meal. Maybe a pavilion that simulates an outpost on a remote planet that you step through a stargate to get to. No printed maps, but something that can be called up on your phone, beamed to a PDA or, at least printed on some sort of transparent cellophane that glows in the dark. Test track should have a futuristic looking car and tests could include hovercraft capability, airlock test, etc. Even the lands, sure hydroponics are somewhat futuristic, but as you sail through in your little boat it doesn't feel futuristic. Maybe Ellen can dream about fission power and hydrogen powered cars and a fossil fuel free future not dinosaurs. And for god sake no barbaric turkey legs served anywhere like they are in the middle of "Tommorrowland" (always seemed out of place).
Click to expand...
Just out of curiosity, what does futuristic food look like?
 
kcnole

kcnole

Well-Known Member
If they're not going to do the job properly and truly make it a Futureworld I'd like to see it renamed although I know that won't be popular with some fans of Epcot. I'd much prefer to see them spend the money to truly keep it futuristic but since I know that's not going to happen, I'd prefer they change the name to something like Discovery World and just make the area about the quest for knowledge. That way it can retain its educational qualities while allowing it to branch off into a number of other attractions.
 
MickeyDent

MickeyDent

Member
Do you realize the COST involved to totally retheme all the attractions in futureworld?? The ticket prices would go through the roof!!

I say leave well enough alone. I agree that the technology represented in FW is not all that futuristic, but the idea behind it is the same. Maybe it's no longer about the future as a destination, but about the future as a journey.
 
hwdelien

hwdelien

Member
Original Poster
MickeyDent said:
Maybe it's no longer about the future as a destination, but about the future as a journey.
Click to expand...

Very poetic.

My thing is, take tomorrowland, for example. We have the TTA, SM, AO, SGE, etc. Even though many of which did not boast any mind boggling technology, it is futuristic. Except for the turkey legs. Even CoP devotes 25% of the show to the future and has had updates to keep it that way.
 
yankspy

yankspy

Well-Known Member
I would like to see it lean a little more towards the future. The problem that always seems to come up is that you always have to change it to keep up. Tomorrowland avoided this problem by making a whimsical 50's view of the future.

I keep thinking of Walt's speech about Epcot and although the city did not happen it seems like he expected sponsors to be lining up to constantly showcase new ideas and technologies. Corporations today have to justify every single cost and prove that something provides profit. With that in mind it seems hard to justify spending millions of dollars on pavilions and then spending millions more 5-10 years later to have it re-themed. I have no idea if that makes sense, I seem to be rambling a bit.:D
 
EPCOT Explorer

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
yankspy said:
I would like to see it lean a little more towards the future. The problem that always seems to come up is that you always have to change it to keep up. Tomorrowland avoided this problem by making a whimsical 50's view of the future.

I keep thinking of Walt's speech about Epcot and although the city did not happen it seems like he expected sponsors to be lining up to constantly showcase new ideas and technologies. Corporations today have to justify every single cost and prove that something provides profit. With that in mind it seems hard to justify spending millions of dollars on pavilions and then spending millions more 5-10 years later to have it re-themed. I have no idea if that makes sense, I seem to be rambling a bit.:D
Click to expand...
I have an idea...:D

Innoventions. In all seriousness, it could be the main attraction and CENTER *cough:lookaroun* of EPCOT...If done right. ;)
 

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