This thread is essentially people arguing the same thing over and over again. Ideally, we would all love Disney to update UoE and use the refurbishment as a new way to draw guests to the park, but realistically we know that wouldn't happen. By no fault of Disney, it's not enough to get peoples attention whereas the implementation of an IP guarantees to bring in more foot traffic. It just makes sense.
Nostalgia needs to be left out of the picture- as admirable as the original intention of EPCOT Center was, many of the original attractions that were there in '82 simply wouldn't hold up with today's crowds. Simply put, people aren't going to a theme park to learn. Take Universe of Energy for example, the only portion that was probably considered impressive to modern day audiences was the dino diorama because aside from that, the ride was all screen based. The videos shown throughout the ride are no different than what teachers are showing children in their classrooms today.
Let's say Disney did go through with actually updating UoE and keeping the same theme- realistically, where's the appeal in that? On one hand you have the hardcore fans who (most of which) would still be upset because they wont accept anything but the original, and on the other hand you have the average "stupid Judy stupid energy" park-goer that simply put, literally would not care to ride this. Disney may have made some dumb decisions lately, but they're not stupid and what they're doing with this pavilion makes sense and quite honestly, I see more good than bad. They took arguably one of their more outdated and least popular attractions, and are turning it into something that will actually draw more guests into Epcot so that they can experience the other attractions the park has to offer.
The fact that it's going to be tied to Guardians of the Galaxy doesn't make the attraction any less timeless- since day one Disney has been doing this with Peter Pan's Flight and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride to a more modern "classic" like Splash Mountain. Admittedly, these were original attractions and didn't take over another but GOTG might as well be a "new" attraction since only the original structure of UoE itself will be used in the new attraction to house the queue. Those arguing that it doesn't fit in Epcot- we don't even know the theme! For all we know, the ride could literally be called "Universe of Energy sponsored by Xandar." The fact that it's a rollercoaster tied to a popular franchise doesn't automatically rule out the idea of it having a relevant and educational story. In fact, this attraction will probably tie into the core values of Epcot better than something like the Seas with Nemo and Friends and even THAT still manages to be educational (well, the post show at least).
While I agree, the use of IP's currently in this park specifically is a bit overkill, but it's nothing we haven't seen before. This kind of tactic has been used in the park for decades and yes, eventually it dies out. Think back to the opening of Toy Story Land and how it was practically a giant flop. Disney learns from these mistakes, it just unfortunately takes a while before they decide to fix them. Ideally, I like to imagine that Disney ends up going through with an update to the Imagination Pavilion, original theme intact, so they realize an original IP CAN bring in more guests, allowing them to experiment with this in other areas of the park. However, Disney just isn't ready to take that risk yet which is why they rely on attractions like the gotg one to market the park.
