Guardians of the Galaxy coming to Energy Pavilion at Epcot

[Pete C]

Very interesting take, and one that I agree with.

Over the summer we went to the Universal parks in Orlando as part of our trip, mainly to see Diagon Alley. My wife is a huge Potter fan, as am I, and she came away with the impression that it is the best themed land in Orlando. And she has every right to think that as it is exceptionally detailed. It really was like stepping into the movie.

I, however, still hold that Disney creates more impressive environments. It isn't debatable for me, even after walking down DA itself and entering the shops (big thumbs up though to Nocturne Alley!). I still place NFL right with DA in terms of theming. And, as anyone that has read my posts on the boards knows, nothing in Orlando comes close to Harambe, Serka Zong or Anandapur. Those areas alone amaze me every time I see them.

The discussion that my wife and our two friends and I had was an interesting one. And it feeds into the main crux of your point. They were impressed with how UNI recreated DA, whereas I am more impressed with how WDI can create something new. Both can be equally challenging in different ways. UNI's approach is challenging as there are built in expectations for recreating a known place, whereas WDI is challenged by creating a new place based off of familiar constructs. Each is a challenge in its own right. As with most things, though, it comes down to individual preference.

Maybe that is what Chapek is challenging the Imagineers to do with Epcot. Create new experiences bolstered by familiar constructs from Disney IPs. Maybe he thinks he can keep the general fans and the zealots appeased by doing so. Then again maybe he really doesn't think as deeply about this stuff as we do.

Everyone has their opinion, but I don't think anything at WDW touches Diagon Alley. Animal Kingdom is beautiful and if you really appreciate the level of detail, it is incredible. However, many people will walk right through those areas and not be utterly blown away. I know some people that recently went to AK and they didn't think it was that great. The detail was lost on them. If you are into taking in all the details and finding all the enclaves and hidden things, maybe AK theming compares, but it does not compare at all in terms of first impression shock-value. NFL does not knock your socks off either in that way.

Now, when one first enters Diagon Alley it is like a full on assault of the senses. It is so awe-inspiring, so jaw-dropping that you can't even believe it when you first see it. That, AND it has all the details make it the best themed land in Orlando...possibly the world. I have been to DisneySea, and that place blew me away. I can't honestly say, though, that DA blew me away any less...there's just less of it by comparison. IMO the ball is very much in Disney's court to match Diagon Alley here in the States.

 

[flyerjab]

Everyone has their opinion, but I don't think anything at WDW touches Diagon Alley. Animal Kingdom is beautiful and if you really appreciate the level of detail, it is incredible. However, many people will walk right through those areas and not be utterly blown away. I know some people that recently went to AK and they didn't think it was that great. The detail was lost on them. If you are into taking in all the details and finding all the enclaves and hidden things, maybe AK theming compares, but it does not compare at all in terms of first impression shock-value. NFL does not knock your socks off either in that way.

Now, when one first enters Diagon Alley it is like a full on assault of the senses. It is so awe-inspiring, so jaw-dropping that you can't even believe it when you first see it. That, AND it has all the details make it the best themed land Orlando...possibly the world. I have been to DisneySea, and that place blew me away. I can't honestly say, though, that DA blew me away any less...there's just less of it by comparison. IMO the ball is very much in Disney's court to match Diagon Alley here in the States.

No worries as I always value other people's opinions. I have been to DAK so many times for the past several years and it still blows me away each time I visit it. I hold Africa, Asia and Discovery Island (since the ToL Garden Trail reopened) above anything else in Orlando. To me this really comes down to opinion and ours differ which is fine.

 

[WDWTank]

Part of the design in theming involves a designer's purpose, or thematic intention. In other words, theming is not just the surroundings of an attraction(s). Theming is an enhancement; an experience for visitors. Not just concrete depicting Cinderella's Castle. But a place to unleash and behold your ultimate fantasies.

 

[Kman101]

No worries as I always value other people's opinions. I have been to DAK so many times for the past several years and it still blows me away each time I visit it. I hold Africa, Asia and Discovery Island (since the ToL Garden Trail reopened) above anything else in Orlando. To me this really comes down to opinion and ours differ which is fine.

Pretty much. I prefer it to both Harry Potter areas, which are amazing in themselves, but I don't have the affection or nostalgia for it, but I appreciate how incredible they are. Very immersive and full of details. It's too bad if someone doesn't want to slow down and appreciate AK for what it is, I went there today and went on zero rides and spent hours walking around, taking pictures and loving every second of it. It was also my first time hitting the Tree of Life trail and it was incredible to see the details up close. No one was even on the trail and the park was insane. It was great. This park beats any park in Orlando IMO.

 

[yeti]

BLX is certainly in the right place to stay for the reasons you mention. Until they (possibly) decide to exploit the Indy pad which would of course bring all the offstage upheaval we would expect. Due to this I dare say it may never happen.

What's interesting is the backstage delivery access to Commissary is maintained - even enhanced - with TSL.

You mean the berm beside SWL will double as an access road?

 

[Mike S]

It was Book 6

Thank you

I really need to read them again.

Everyone has their opinion, but I don't think anything at WDW touches Diagon Alley. Animal Kingdom is beautiful and if you really appreciate the level of detail, it is incredible. However, many people will walk right through those areas and not be utterly blown away. I know some people that recently went to AK and they didn't think it was that great. The detail was lost on them. If you are into taking in all the details and finding all the enclaves and hidden things, maybe AK theming compares, but it does not compare at all in terms of first impression shock-value. NFL does not knock your socks off either in that way.

Now, when one first enters Diagon Alley it is like a full on assault of the senses. It is so awe-inspiring, so jaw-dropping that you can't even believe it when you first see it. That, AND it has all the details make it the best themed land in Orlando...possibly the world. I have been to DisneySea, and that place blew me away. I can't honestly say, though, that DA blew me away any less...there's just less of it by comparison. IMO the ball is very much in Disney's court to match Diagon Alley here in the States.

The first time I walked into Diagon Alley during soft openings I was overcome with emotion. Can't exactly describe it. All I know is that I could not stop smiling. That whole weekend of taking in its details was amazing and Gringotts wasn't even open! I did that the following weekend

No lie, I might cry the first time I walk into Super Nintendo World. I've been waiting for this for so long especially if we really are getting a Donkey Kong Mine Cart ride

 

[Haymarket2008]

@marni1971 Judging by your recent comments, Guardians is the next tenant of the Energy pavilion. Do you think this attraction will be the first major piece in the Epcot overhaul? Or should we expect something sooner, like the Innoventions refresh?

 

[RoysCabin]

Thank you

I really need to read them again.

The first time I walked into Diagon Alley during soft openings I was overcome with emotion. Can't exactly describe it. All I know is that I could not stop smiling. That whole weekend of taking in its details was amazing and Gringotts wasn't even open! I did that the following weekend

No lie, I might cry the first time I walk into Super Nintendo World. I've been waiting for this for so long especially if we really are getting a Donkey Kong Mine Cart ride

Yeah, to me that's why IPs like Potter, Simpsons, and hopefully Nintendo work so well for a themed land: they take places, environments, and fictional worlds that have a lot of depth and development behind them and make them tangible. They have written languages, food and drinks, and particular views and angles that are universally known to anybody who reads/watches them, so finally having them "come to life" for fans can create that emotional moment. I remember being in high school and seeing the first Lord of the Rings movie in theaters and having that type of an emotional choke-up moment when they showed the Shire for the first time: I was shocked that it was almost exactly as I had imagined it (no doubt influenced by the great illustrators of Tolkien's work that many are familiar with), so seeing it move and live like that made my heart jump.

I've seen people argue that Disney goes the other way and instead is opting to make lands "based on" but not directly drawing from the properties they're using now (Star Wars, Avatar, etc.), but personally speaking in such a situation I'd rather they just ditch the IP and do what brought them to the dance in the first place and make a broader genre themed area, then sprinkle in the IPs as needed. Not saying Star Wars or Avatar will be bad as themed areas, mind you, just that they don't have the same types of physical/tangible associations for many people that Potter/Simpsons/Nintendo do. I feel like Tolkien would, in fact, be one of the few remaining IPs out there that COULD work in a similar vein to those latter ones, though.

More on-topic, more trailers are showing up for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, so the hype machine is definitely ready to get cranked up for that. I figure the movie itself is going to be fun, but guess we'll see how it hits the parks; I think it's going to have enough buzz that more rumors will be swirling around within a couple of months.

 

[Kman101]

I wish I had that emotional attachement towards Harry Potter but I don't. Still love the lands though. And the rides. I have more of an attachement towards Nintendo and Simpsons.

 

[Princess Leia]

Yeah, to me that's why IPs like Potter, Simpsons, and hopefully Nintendo work so well for a themed land: they take places, environments, and fictional worlds that have a lot of depth and development behind them and make them tangible. They have written languages, food and drinks, and particular views and angles that are universally known to anybody who reads/watches them, so finally having them "come to life" for fans can create that emotional moment. I remember being in high school and seeing the first Lord of the Rings movie in theaters and having that type of an emotional choke-up moment when they showed the Shire for the first time: I was shocked that it was almost exactly as I had imagined it (no doubt influenced by the great illustrators of Tolkien's work that many are familiar with), so seeing it move and live like that made my heart jump.

I've seen people argue that Disney goes the other way and instead is opting to make lands "based on" but not directly drawing from the properties they're using now (Star Wars, Avatar, etc.), but personally speaking in such a situation I'd rather they just ditch the IP and do what brought them to the dance in the first place and make a broader genre themed area, then sprinkle in the IPs as needed. Not saying Star Wars or Avatar will be bad as themed areas, mind you, just that they don't have the same types of physical/tangible associations for many people that Potter/Simpsons/Nintendo do. I feel like Tolkien would, in fact, be one of the few remaining IPs out there that COULD work in a similar vein to those latter ones, though.

More on-topic, more trailers are showing up for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, so the hype machine is definitely ready to get cranked up for that. I figure the movie itself is going to be fun, but guess we'll see how it hits the parks; I think it's going to have enough buzz that more rumors will be swirling around within a couple of months.

Star Wars and Harry Potter almost have equal footing in my heart. I think HP has the slight advantage, even though both have had major impacts on me for almost my entire life. Regardless of the continuity, I know that I will be a crying mess when I finally go to Uni and see the Harry Potter lands that they have created. And I'm sure the Star Wars Experience will have a similar impact if Disney gets it right.

I think you're right about LotR, but I would also make a case for Star Trek. Choosing a series to base a land/ship off of would be the main conflict, but that would be a great miniland somewhere. I would love to see something based off of The Originals series or Enterprise, but I'm sure someone else would want Voyager or Deep Space Nine. If we ever do get a Star Trek attraction somewhere, it will probably be based around the films or the new show.

 

[Magic Feather]

IMO, the best way to categorize the two is (for lack of better terms) viewing Uni lands as .gif and Disney lands as .mp4 (bear with me). Universal puts you into a small repeating loop of a world, as if everything is frozen to just happen at the right moment in the movie. The best example of this is Diagon Alley with the Dragon. The dragon is still, as if it had just landed atop Gringotts. He breaths fire periodically to add a bit of repeating motion, but that is it. Uni cycles the same moment, whereas Disney uses evolving environment. Their lands aren't set to have this impressive effect go off every five min. The best example here is the ToL Awakenings. There a no set times, and it occurs randomly with longer, and different things. Oh Well, jut my two cents.

 

[RoysCabin]

Star Wars and Harry Potter almost have equal footing in my heart. I think HP has the slight advantage, even though both have had major impacts on me for almost my entire life. Regardless of the continuity, I know that I will be a crying mess when I finally go to Uni and see the Harry Potter lands that they have created. And I'm sure the Star Wars Experience will have a similar impact if Disney gets it right.

I think you're right about LotR, but I would also make a case for Star Trek. Choosing a series to base a land/ship off of would be the main conflict, but that would be a great miniland somewhere. I would love to see something based off of The Originals series or Enterprise, but I'm sure someone else would want Voyager or Deep Space Nine. If we ever do get a Star Trek attraction somewhere, it will probably be based around the films or the new show.

Yeah, Star Trek has that sort of deep lore and world building in it that could make it work; it'd be a big challenge given the scope of the entire mythos and in terms of the pacing/style of the shows and films, but it's such a fully realized fictional universe that it has that potential.

Potter was just a bit after my time in terms of me being in the right window for it (it was hitting phenomenon status just as I was hitting high school and was still in my Tolkien phase), but I definitely grew up a big Star Wars nerd from about 5th through 8th grade. I'm hoping to have that kind of experience with Star Wars Land, but I do fear that, again, while Star Wars is a huge film franchise, as a fictional universe it just doesn't quite have that same sort of tangible depth that Potter/Trek/Tolkien do. I mentioned in another thread that if you wanted to "recreate" something from Star Wars then the only location that really works for that is Tatooine/Mos Eisley, but outside of that the universe of Star Wars is so vast and varied that it's not like you're going to get people hooked the way, say, the Simpsons area does by recreating the main street in Springfield, or the way Potter does by letting you peruse the shops outside Hogwarts that are mentioned in all the books/films, or by giving Nintendo fans World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. (or whatever they have in mind).

Like, I'd love to visit and have an ale in Shire-inspired pub in a Tolkien-themed area; outside of the one cantina scene in Star Wars, I'm not sure there are those types of locations to recreate that would really get visitors feeling that deep emotional pull. Again, this does NOT mean they won't pull something impressive off, it'll just have to be something quite different, and it's why I'm more inclined toward Disney keeping their themed areas broad in terms of genre rather than specified on one IP.

 

[doctornick]

Funny thing: Animal Kingdom is too well themed to find anything out of place (besides how some don't think Pandora belongs there) and Hollywood Studios is too chaotically themed to declare anything out of place there as long as there's some sort of TV or Movie tie-in.

Nemo in Dinoland is the one misplaced thing in DAK.

 

[Princess Leia]

Yeah, Star Trek has that sort of deep lore and world building in it that could make it work; it'd be a big challenge given the scope of the entire mythos and in terms of the pacing/style of the shows and films, but it's such a fully realized fictional universe that it has that potential.

Potter was just a bit after my time in terms of me being in the right window for it (it was hitting phenomenon status just as I was hitting high school and was still in my Tolkien phase), but I definitely grew up a big Star Wars nerd from about 5th through 8th grade. I'm hoping to have that kind of experience with Star Wars Land, but I do fear that, again, while Star Wars is a huge film franchise, as a fictional universe it just doesn't quite have that same sort of tangible depth that Potter/Trek/Tolkien do. I mentioned in another thread that if you wanted to "recreate" something from Star Wars then the only location that really works for that is Tatooine/Mos Eisley, but outside of that the universe of Star Wars is so vast and varied that it's not like you're going to get people hooked the way, say, the Simpsons area does by recreating the main street in Springfield, or the way Potter does by letting you peruse the shops outside Hogwarts that are mentioned in all the books/films, or by giving Nintendo fans World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. (or whatever they have in mind).

Like, I'd love to visit and have an ale in Shire-inspired pub in a Tolkien-themed area; outside of the one cantina scene in Star Wars, I'm not sure there are those types of locations to recreate that would really get visitors feeling that deep emotional pull. Again, this does NOT mean they won't pull something impressive off, it'll just have to be something quite different, and it's why I'm more inclined toward Disney keeping their themed areas broad in terms of genre rather than specified on one IP.

LOTR would probably be just as daunting a task as Potter, and as a nearly 17 year fan of the HP series, there is so much more that I think Uni could do with the property (the Ministry of Magic lends itself to so many opportunities). LotR is the same. The Shire would need to be eternally peaceful (minus the occasional fireworks display), but guests- who would all be hobbit sized here- could get carriage rides, tour Bag End, eat at the Green Dragon Inn, and watch Hobbit celebrations. The rest of the area is tricky, because how do you properly convey the massive scope of that series in a 4-9 minute ride? Ringwraiths, riders of Rohan, knights of Gondor, elves, dwarves, ents, wizards. It's totally possible; I just wouldn't want to be in charge of the project.

 

[doctornick]

I think you're right about LotR, but I would also make a case for Star Trek. Choosing a series to base a land/ship off of would be the main conflict, but that would be a great miniland somewhere. I would love to see something based off of The Originals series or Enterprise, but I'm sure someone else would want Voyager or Deep Space Nine. If we ever do get a Star Trek attraction somewhere, it will probably be based around the films or the new show.

I feel like WDW1974 at one point hinted that Uni acquired the rights for Star Trek. Maybe not. If they do have them, maybe they are saving them for the eventual 3rd gate in Florida.

I do think any Star Trek land built now would be centered on the new movies since they are relatively popular, but I would find that sad since they don't IMHO capture the essence of Trek as well. I'd love to see a land build around the Next Generation/Deep Space Nine venues and timeframe since that would offer the widest array of material. It would be very easy to build a land being based on being at the DS9 station with Enterprise docking there that day to hit both of those series.

 

[Mike S]

Nemo in Dinoland is the one misplaced thing in DAK.

Also DinoRama in an otherwise extravagantly themed park.

LOTR would probably be just as daunting a task as Potter, and as a nearly 17 year fan of the HP series, there is so much more that I think Uni could do with the property (the Ministry of Magic lends itself to so many opportunities). LotR is the same. The Shire would need to be eternally peaceful (minus the occasional fireworks display), but guests- who would all be hobbit sized here- could get carriage rides, tour Bag End, eat at the Green Dragon Inn, and watch Hobbit celebrations. The rest of the area is tricky, because how do you properly convey the massive scope of that series in a 4-9 minute ride? Ringwraiths, riders of Rohan, knights of Gondor, elves, dwarves, ents, wizards. It's totally possible; I just wouldn't want to be in charge of the project.

I think HP is fine with Hogsmeade and Diagon. One is the central location of the series and the other is where we as an audience, whether it was through the books or films, first saw the Wizarding World. LOTR seems a lot harder to pick locations since there are so many distinct ones. It can honestly fill a whole park.

 

[The_Jobu]

It would be very easy to build a land being based on being at the DS9 station with Enterprise docking there that day to hit both of those series.

I think that and an Oliver and Company coaster are two of the extremely few things they could build that would actually make me plan a trip just to see a new build.

 

[marni1971]

You mean the berm beside SWL will double as an access road?

There's access behind the berm.

 

[marni1971]

@marni1971 Judging by your recent comments, Guardians is the next tenant of the Energy pavilion. Do you think this attraction will be the first major piece in the Epcot overhaul? Or should we expect something sooner, like the Innoventions refresh?

Innoventions wouldn't be complete before Energy starts. There would be a lot of overlap. And both would potentially complete around the same time. IMO.

 

[Kman101]

Although the theater is in Dinoland, I've never really thought of it as part of the area. It's off on the side and "in the wild" so it does it's own thing but I agree that it's out of place because it's listed in Dinoland and features Nemo.