Has EPCOT failed?

[Smooth]

To me..... EPCOT-Future World was not so much about the future. It was a showcase of the history of the different aspects of our lives. ie Transportation, Communication, Agriculture, Creativity, etc. Thereby, giving us hope and inspiration of a better tomorrow. There's a great big beautiful tomorrow. At the end of these presentations was a glimpse of what was taking place in the world today and what might be coming tomorrow or in the future. If we had come so far in the past, what could we accomplish in the future if we come together and work together?

 

[AshaNeOmah]

Another interesting (or depressing) part of the tour was seeing the ballroom in The Living Seas and being told the real hey-day for the place was in the 80s.

The wife and I had our Wedding Reception there in 2005 and it was in immaculate, perfect condition. I'm not sure you meant that room specifically, but it was still being used and updated, and was very nice, as recently as that. We felt like it was a great place to have a party.

 

[THEMEPARKPIONEER]

No but It’s going to real soon.even with Future World the way it was they had something that just needed some TLC.

 

[Stitch826]

I won’t say so much that Epcot has failed. It’s more along the lines of “lost its focus”. It’s similar to what has happened to McDonalds over the years. Rather than keeping a simple menu that they executed well, they kept adding on more and more items that slowed down service. Likewise, Epcot has shifted from being about the “community of tomorrow” to being another park to insert attractions with the latest Disney IP.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I recently read an article stating how they believed that the idea of Epcot has failed. Link to that article:
http://www.screamscape.com/html/wdw_-_epcot.htm#Failed
After reading this, I see the points made and sadly I agree. The Epcot we see today, isn't great. The addition of the revamped soarin and Frozen Ride should "help", but will it long term? In my opinion, no. I believe that the future world itself needs a revamp. Mission:SPACE is empty the majority of the time (At least when I was there) Test Track in my opinion, doesn't work. Although it tries to fit in with the future theme, it doesn't make sense to the ride. The original version was better in my opinion. There is so much that needs to be changed about the park, that it is incredible. I just think that a whole revamp would be needed in order to "fix" Epcot future world. Just my opinion.

Failed long ago. The problem with pushing the idea of innovation and the future is, you have to keep innovating and pouring money to push to the new horizons (don't pardon the pun), it could have worked but it would require frequent updates. Instead,when certain pavilions became painfully outdated, they just shut them down.

 

[Marden]

That was the plan until Disney realized they'd have to pay for the updates by themselves.

Bingo. They seemed to believe the corporate sponsorship model would last forever.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Bingo. They seemed to believe the corporate sponsorship model would last forever.

Despite what's happened in the USA, the sponsorship model works for Tokyo Disney where all kinds of rides, restaurants and shops still have corporate sponsors. Seems Japanese companies have a different view on the value of having their brands in the park.

 

[Marden]

Despite what's happened in the USA, the sponsorship model works for Tokyo Disney where all kinds of rides, restaurants and shops still have corporate sponsors. Seems Japanese companies have a different view on the value of having their brands in the park.

Interesting; I know basically nothing about the Tokyo Disney so thank you for the insight. I'm curious how much of that can be chalked up to Japanese corporate/business culture.