How I’d Revamp EPCOT

[Miru]

Welcome back to the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Today I will discuss how I would revitalize it. It’s a revival-palooza as I bring back many missed extinct attractions. Let’s start in Future World;

At the Imagination Institute, you may notice a new attraction has joined our pal Figment; “Dreamflight; If You Had Wings”. Join these friendly harpies on a suspended dark ride as they ferry riders throughout the world and beyond. It’s also about the history of aviation, too. Meanwhile, take a step into Journey into Imagination to notice that Dreamfinder has returned. (I considered even a trackless Ride starring him to also be added). Head down to Spaceship Earth to find out that Outer Space isn’t the only kind of space, riders may now take the “Adventure Thru Inner Space” located near Spaceship Earth itself. This revamped version features the Mighty Microscope, back in action (courtesy of a certain Wayne Szalinski), ready to take you through inner space once again. This Adventure is now trackless. Test Track’s pavilion is now named “World of Motion Featuring Test Track”, indicating expansion to come. Inside the pavilion, changes are to come, in the form of the return of the original “World of Motion”, as a walkthrough attraction. In a more minor tweak, “The Seas with Nemo and Friends” is now known as “The Living Seas with Nemo and Friends”.

Now, let me get to the most exciting part; a new pavilion! Not really, it’s a much-missed old one back from the dead, and in a new place. None other than... HORIZONS! A revamped Horizons is now open to riders. This ride features new scenes and more detailed animatronics. Nearby, in the same pavilion, is none other than “The Timekeeper: From Time to Time”, a Circle-Vision 360 film with Animatronic accompaniment and 4D effects. (Maybe the House of the Future could be here too?)


Cross over to World Showcase, and...

I’ll save that for later. For one thing, there’s plenty more rides there now.

But for now, there’s a few more minor things in Future World to see. The Land contains an exhibit on energy, as a nod to Universe of Energy. Which attraction should I cover first?

Edit: I forgot I did World Showcase a while back:

World Showcase': Revision

One area that obviously needs an overhaul is World Showcase in Epcot. Only two rides, lots of unused space, and entire planned lands that were scrapped. Here's the gist of what I'd do. * One ride per pavillion. No less, no more. There could still be shows and walkthroughs and whatnot as well...

forums.wdwmagic.com

 

[QuasiNoFroyo]

1. Restore the Imagination pavilion to its former glory but with a more modern twist.
2. Build a Tangled-themed boat ride for the Germany pavilion.
3. Re-theme the Gran Fiesta Tour after Coco.
4. Place a new ride or show inside the Japan pavilion (more than enough space for it).
5. Mary Poppins ride at UK.
6. Remodel the Seas pavilion after the Marine Life Institute from Finding Dory, complete with Sigourney Weaver narrating in the background of the main tank exhibit.
7. Add more countries to World Showcase (Brazil, India, Cambodia, Thailand, Ethiopia, and Australia come to mind).
8. Get either Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling, or Rachel McAdams to host O Canada.

 

[QuasiNoFroyo]

And since I have a lot of people in mind for the next version of Spaceship Earth, I'll just go over my personal top picks for each of the following categories:

British males: Idris Elba, Benedict Cumberbatch, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen.
British females: Tilda Swinton, Gwendoline Christie, and Emily Blunt (unless the latter is prominently featured in the aforementioned Mary Poppins ride).
American males: Samuel L. Jackson and Laurence Fishburne. I would definitely also suggest Morgan Freeman except for the fact that he already narrated MK's Hall of Presidents not too terribly long ago.
American females: Emma Stone ("Remember how easy it was to learn your ABCs?") and Scarlett Johansson. Sigourney Weaver would be really amazing as well but I'd honestly rather hear her inside the Seas pavilion. Phylicia Rashad would also be great though I would find it slightly distracting to hear Dr. Marsh from AK's Dinosaur ride as the new narrator of SSE.
Australian males: Chris Hemsworth.
Australian females: Definitely Cate Blanchett. Though Margot Robbie could also potentially work.
South African females: Charlize Theron (literally the only person from that country I could think of).
Colored females born outside of the US: Lupita Nyong'o.

 

[Miru]

1. Restore the Imagination pavilion to its former glory but with a more modern twist.
2. Build a Tangled-themed boat ride for the Germany pavilion.
3. Re-theme the Gran Fiesta Tour after Coco.
4. Place a new ride or show inside the Japan pavilion (more than enough space for it).
5. Mary Poppins ride at UK.
6. Remodel the Seas pavilion after the Marine Life Institute from Finding Dory, complete with Sigourney Weaver narrating in the background of the main tank exhibit.
7. Add more countries to World Showcase (Brazil, India, Cambodia, Thailand, Ethiopia, and Australia come to mind).
8. Get either Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling, or Rachel McAdams to host O Canada.

I’ll wait for Universal’s contract to end for that last one so Ryan Reynolds can do it in-character as Deadpool. And the Tangled idea is valid. I’ll include it. Coco may get an attraction, but not necessarily something replacing GFT. MLI as part of Living Seas might be fun, but didn’t the movie heavily imply it was corrupt?

 

[QuasiNoFroyo]

I’ll wait for Universal’s contract to end for that last one so Ryan Reynolds can do it in-character as Deadpool. And the Tangled idea is valid. I’ll include it. Coco may get an attraction, but not necessarily something replacing GFT. MLI as part of Living Seas might be fun, but didn’t the movie heavily imply it was corrupt?

All very good points you make there.

 

[danheaton]

1. Restore the Imagination pavilion to its former glory but with a more modern twist.
2. Build a Tangled-themed boat ride for the Germany pavilion.
3. Re-theme the Gran Fiesta Tour after Coco.
4. Place a new ride or show inside the Japan pavilion (more than enough space for it).
5. Mary Poppins ride at UK.
6. Remodel the Seas pavilion after the Marine Life Institute from Finding Dory, complete with Sigourney Weaver narrating in the background of the main tank exhibit.
7. Add more countries to World Showcase (Brazil, India, Cambodia, Thailand, Ethiopia, and Australia come to mind).
8. Get either Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling, or Rachel McAdams to host O Canada.

I agree with most of these. Coco makes a lot of sense for Mexico. New countries would be something great, even without rides if the budget is more limited. The one that doesn't excite me as much is the change to Finding Dory. If it could revitalize the Seas, that would be okay. The big issue that I have with the pavilion is that The Seas with Nemo and Friends blocks some of the best views of the aquarium. That was one of the best parts of the Sea Cabs ride.

 

[Miru]

And now, some new additions:

* Tangled: River of Dreams (Germany). A retelling of the film’s events, with some cameos from the TV series thrown in (Cassandra and Varian are at the tavern and the ending party, for example). Maybe something more directly based around the show could work instead? The ride features a few drops, though.
* Miguel LIVE! (Mexico). An animatronic (dinner) show in the vein of Tiki Room, CBJ, etc. Miguel and Hector perform their tunes from “Un Poco Loco” to “Remember Me”.