Guardians of the Galaxy coming to Energy Pavilion at Epcot

[DreamfinderGuy]

I've given up on Epcot, Even after all the fans make their vision crystal clear Disney ignores us.

 

[Hakunamatata]

I've given up on Epcot, Even after all the fans make their vision crystal clear Disney ignores us.

You are woefully mistaken if you believe the opinions of a very small number of fans (compared to total guests) on a fan forum is going to have any sizeable impact on the direction they take the parks in.

 

[DinoInstitute]

Ah. Tower in DHS will not become Guardians. Last I checked (recently) it is still Energy.

Energys January closure was false. It's possibly still a year away maybe.

The silliness of the idea of this attraction aside, why would it take so long for them to get going on it? From what I've understood, the two big reasons for this shoehorn were A) to get Marvel in the parks as soon as possible, and B) to get rid of Ellen as soon as possible. Considering this is a big IP intrusion project like management seems to like, I'm genuinely surprised there isn't more of a sense of urgency to complete it.

 

[Cesar R M]

One of the enduring myths in the Disney fan community is that Disney CEO Michael Eisner cut expenditures after Disney President Frank Wells died in 1994. The reality is that Disney spent even more. Instead, it was the collapse of the travel industry precipitated by 9/11 that caused Eisner to curtail Parks & Resorts investments.

View attachment 182225

The problem in the 1990s was not lack of spending. Instead, it was lack of focus. Eisner tried to do too much all at once. In trying to do too much, he did a lot of things badly. All projects suffered.

Separately, note that growth capex dropped to negative for the first time ever once Bob Iger took the helm in 2005. Iger slashed budgets so much that the parks were no longer being properly maintained. Quality suffered.

To date, Iger's big capex items have been:

• Disney Dream
• Disney Fantasy
• Cars Land
• Shanghai Disneyland

None of these help Orlando. In Orlando, My Disney Experience was expensive but capex was low for the project; its costs were buried elsewhere. As far as Disney budgets go, the New Fantasyland was small, barely noticeable among Disney's other big ticket items.

Restating what I wrote early, Walt Disney World is long overdue for some serious investment dollars. It's getting them now. Walt Disney World fans should be happy.

always like those graphs by @ParentsOf4

 

[marni1971]

The silliness of the idea of this attraction aside, why would it take so long for them to get going on it? From what I've understood, the two big reasons for this shoehorn were A) to get Marvel in the parks as soon as possible, and B) to get rid of Ellen as soon as possible. Considering this is a big IP intrusion project like management seems to like, I'm genuinely surprised there isn't more of a sense of urgency to complete it.

They're not ready.

The possible January closure was to save on manpower, not to begin work.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Ah. Tower in DHS will not become Guardians. Last I checked (recently) it is still Energy.

Energys January closure was false. It's possibly still a year away maybe.

Folks need to look at spending holistically. Disney has committed to projects in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Paris, Disneyland, Disney's Animal Kingdom, and Disney Hollywood Studios. And don't forget that Disney has ordered two more cruise ships at a billion a pop.

As a percentage of revenue, combined domestic and international capex is the highest it's been since 2000. I never thought Iger would spend at these levels. Spending needs to wind down on at least some projects before Disney commits even more at Epcot.

Let's hope Pandora is a rousing success. If it fails to meet financial expectations, future investments will be in jeopardy.

 

[marni1971]

Let's hope Pandora is a rousing success. If it fails to meet financial expectations, future investments will be in jeopardy.

There's a lot of proposals not green lit yet. The saving grace is the internal admission that Epcot and DHS need help.

It's just the form of help that may not appeal to everyone.

 

[DinoInstitute]

They're not ready.

The possible January closure was to save on manpower, not to begin work.

Oh. Well then in that case that's just sad that they'd leave another pavilion empty, right next to WoL.

 

[Kman101]

Oh. Well then in that case that's just sad that they'd leave another pavilion empty, right next to WoL.

Sad but not surprising. Look at Stitch, wonder how long that'll be "seasonal".

 

[Otterhead]

There's actually a wait to do that dumb tour where you look at a bunch of plants?

Nice trolling, but yes, there is. If you're into horticulture and hydroponics, it's really interesting.

 

[MisterPenguin]

They're not ready.

The possible January closure was to save on manpower, not to begin work.

As I've noted:

You're leaving out in the life cycle of a dying attraction the stage where it's gutted and sits empty for a while and then repurposed into a flex space or M&G before finally being renovated.

 

[Otterhead]

Oh and yes of course, who could mistake the popularity of horticulture and hydroponics. Thats what all the kids want when they go to Disney

And there you go again.
The Land 'boat tour' has been running for, what, 30 years now, and nearly always has a line... and there's often a week-long wait for the in-depth tour... so yeah, apparently so. I loved it as a kid. Surprisingly, some kids are interested in things you think are boring. I'm glad that some parts of EPCOT still hold fast to the idea of education and sparking interest in new ideas.

 

[Rteetz]

And there you go again.
The Land 'boat tour' has been running for, what, 30 years now, and nearly always has a line... and there's often a week-long wait for the in-depth tour... so yeah, apparently so. I loved it as a kid. Surprisingly, some kids are interested in things you think are boring. I'm glad that some parts of EPCOT still hold fast to the idea of education and sparking interest in new ideas.

I loved it as a kid as well. I still like the attraction.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Bless. I'm touched

Hey, I want part of that action. I want a paying consulting job that I can do from home a couple days a week or even expense covered in park exposure, that pays 6 figures or 7 per year if you can swing it. I'll just drop your name, OK?

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

I like the educational aspect of Epcot. Always have. And I do not think I'm the only one. Are IP's fun? Sure- but Epcot can and should be a park that appeals to folks of a wide variety of ages and interests.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

One of the enduring myths in the Disney fan community is that Disney CEO Michael Eisner cut expenditures after Disney President Frank Wells died in 1994. The reality is that Disney spent even more. Instead, it was the collapse of the travel industry precipitated by 9/11 that caused Eisner to curtail Parks & Resorts investments.

The problem in the 1990s was not lack of spending. Instead, it was lack of focus. Eisner tried to do too much all at once. In trying to do too much, he did a lot of things badly. All projects suffered.

In my understanding, the Eisner administration started tasking Strategic Planning with value-engineering projects before 9/11 and apparently in response to the problems with Disneyland Paris. It was under this regime, for example, that the WestCOT plans were converted into DCA 1.0.

I agree that the Eisner administration appears to have tried to do too much at once during its second-half, but that seems to have been in the form of too many concurrent low-budget projects, which is why capex was high even though the budgets for the projects themselves were low. My contrast between the Iger and second-half-of-Eisner administrations is about budget allocation - with larger, higher-budget projects for the parks under Iger - rather than total capex.

I am very interested in these questions, and so I greatly appreciate the insight and opinions of those with differing perspectives on the benefits and drawbacks of the two administrations' approaches.

 

[Otterhead]

When's the last time you went to Epcot? Theres never a line for Living with the Land because it's boring. And no one wants to learn about GMO's while on a disney vacation

Last month. I stood in a half-hour line to go on Living with the Land. They don't talk about GMOs. Your trolling's cute.

 

[Kman101]

If no one cared about Living with the Land it would have been long gone by now. Plenty of people, myself included, still enjoy it. But it isn't for everyone. We all like different things, no need to knock people who do like it.

 

[Andrew C]

If no one cared about Living with the Land it would have been long gone by now. Plenty of people, myself included, still enjoy it. But it isn't for everyone. We all like different things, no need to knock people who do like it.

Living with the land is still one of my favorites.

 

[doctornick]

There's a lot of proposals not green lit yet. The saving grace is the internal admission that Epcot and DHS need help.

Hopefully they put money (literally) where their mouth is on that and actual invest in Epcot.

That said, a clarification: is the "admission" that DHS needs help take into account the current projects? IOW, are TSL and Star Wars (and whatever show modifications happen) internally expected to be the "help needed" or is there an understanding that the park needs additional help beyond those already planned/greenlit projects?