After reading the following post by Joe Rohde, I felt like I had to comment on his sleepover experience in DL and it feels very relevant to the disembowelment(yes I used this word intentionally) of the original theme from EPCOT Center by building GoTU; . One quote that stood out: "There’s no denying that these parks are real places, with all the opportunities and inconveniences that real places sometimes present. But they are also transcendent places, where, for a second, all the world and all of time and the secret meaning of everything can be encapsulated in the wonder of a child." Now, this could be my tainted interpretation of his words, but to me, using IPs throughout the parks in a way that is mostly in your face, is sucking out the ability for the "wonder of a child" to exist. The inability for people to exercise their imagination has become more prevalent within Disney Parks due to the constant merging of the handheld experience and the ride experience. The wonder of a child is becoming a relic. Disney needs to put back the ability to imagine in their rides. Even though it was an educational experience, UoE and Ellen's Energy Adventure did give you the ability to imagine and wonder about the topic. I firmly believe the GoTU experience will be nothing more than an extension of the movie with a bit of thrill integrated. The ability to wonder will not exist on this ride, in my opinion.
I know this is out of my control and we are heading in this direction no matter what, but reading a quote from an Imagineer talking about the wonder of a child felt a bit hypocritical as they destroy the ability to wonder in a park that he helped create, that was inherent in all the parks from the beginning. It is very frustraiting and I felt like it had to be pointed out. Don't get me wrong, I like Joe and think he is the closest we have to the original ideals of the park, but this just felt like a slap in the face.