How to improve Epcot

[Redsky89]

They do need to focus more on the future and space I agree on that for sure. Also go back to what Disney originally wanted Epcot to be and try an incorporate something that Walt would have wanted. Sure they can't do that in full thats obvious but they could do a attraction in the spirit of it.

 

[MOXOMUMD]

Get rid of the Food & Wine Festival aka Boozefest. Not a family atmosphere and a big turnoff.

I wouldn't mind it being just a Food Festival.

 

[JohnD]

I would take down Communicore/Innoventions. They take up valuable real estate. I've always hated navigating through them to get to the east and west sides of FW. Open up the area. We can be assured WDW would find an alternative location for Mouse Gear. Gotta keep the revenue stream flowing.

Return to Imagination 1.0 with Dreamfinder and Figment (updated for 21st Century is okay)
Energy is stuck on Jeopardy in the 1990s. Update it.
Add more countries to W.S.

 

[EricJ]

I've always thought a more tame space ride would be awesome in Future World and Worldd Showcase could reeeaaalllllyy use another ride. A fun, fast paced ride.

In the above-mentioned Expo '86, there was ONE ride (apart from riding the Japanese bullet-train exhibit)--A spiral-loop coaster, which in its day was state of the art. And was the hottest ticket at the fair. World's Fairs have rides, but they're not about rides.
And it's only been the last twenty years that we've had Disney characters in Epcot at all, after the Odyssey closed.

 

[DznyGrlSD]

FW:
SSE - fix the narration & fix the ending
Energy - bulldoze it & put something new up - E-ticket please
WoL - see above bulldoze it and put something new up - how about weather-themed?
M:S - I don't ride it (makes me sick) but it's fine IMO
TT - haven't seen the Tron overlay yet
Seas - needs...something - what that is I don't know but it needs...something
Living with the land - again...needs...something?
Soarin' - new film
Imagination - please please PLEASE fix this attraction and bring back imageworks!!
HISTA/EO - new film
Oddessey restaurant - make it a restaurant again
Innoventions - I never go in there so honestly I don't know what to do with it.

WS:
New country(ies) with more rides. Something on the west side of the lagoon perhaps - something to disperse the crowds.
bring back tapestry of nations or something similar

Illuminations:
fix/replace it - it's essentially been the same show for how many years (decades?)now?

 

[Tom Morrow]

- Rename Future World to Discovery World or something, but don't let the focus drop from being about innovation.
- Remove the Leave a Legacy stones, refurbish the main entrance gates and monorail station to look modern
- SSE - new narration and an actual ending, maybe make the touch screen impact the visuals around the vehicle rather than just displaying a simple kiosk flash game that is completely out of tone with the rest of the attraction and has no purpose being ON a ride vehicle.
- Innoventions - refill it with actual hands on activities and not just a handful if "mini-attractions" that are mostly geared at kids and lots of wasted space otherwise.
- Seas - Nemo probably isn't going anywhere, but re-do the ride to be something like a field trip with Mr. Ray so it incorporates information and education.
- Soarin' Around The World (which may happen)
- A ride worthy of the JII building (obviously)
- new film or mission for Mission: Space
- Do something with the Wonders pavilion
- completely gut and replace Universe of Energy with a new E-ticket, or at least update it
- retire Captain EO (again) and find a suitable replacement
- give purpose to the Odyssey building or at least remodel it to make it less of an eyesore
- an E ticket attraction in World Showcase and a handful of C and D attractions
- add another country or two

Most importantly, bring everything up to the 21st century and stop holding on to outdated stuff (like old 80's/90's sounding music loops) for the sake of nostalgia.

 

[pixargal]

The first thing I would do is to replace the Three Caballeros film in the Mexico boat ride and replace it with a film that shows the amazing Mexican culture and history. I would begin the boat ride showing how life was for the natives before the European conquest. It would be perfect with the pyramids and jungles. Then show the change when the two cultures combined, and finally bring it into present day.

 

[Csmith041177]

Future World definately needs work. I hit the big rides, but ignore almost everything else. I know I'm not alone.

 

[Communicore]

Tear it down and start from scratch. This Epcot theme park is nothing like its former self.

 

[rct247]

To start...

Future World
-Remove Leave a Legacy
-Remove Canopies in the Innovention Plaza, bring in more trees if anything
-Expand and Update Fiber Optic concrete
-Completely overhaul the Fountain of Nations
-Completely revamp Innoventions to it's former glory... more natural light, more innovation, more prototypes to showcase
-Completely redo/rename Electric Umbrella
-Completely redo Universe of Energy...model after The Land pavilion with one big name attraction, one show, and one smaller attraction plus merchandise and snack locations.
-Wonders of Life pavilion reopens with a complete overhaul
-Mission: Space is redone to be a larger more encompassing Space Pavilion
-Imagination Pavilion receives a new 3D show and a new ride system but still revolves around Figment
-Update Soarin' film in The Land
-Close Circle of Life and replace with some other show maybe a different version of Kitchen Kabaret or something featuring Wall-E
-Redo The Seas with Nemo ride to be less retelling of the story and more exploring the seas with Nemo and Friends
-Use Odyssey building as the primary Festival Center

World Showcase
-De-clutter each pavilion
-Redo IllumiNations lighting on each pavilion
-Update the Norway film and Maelstrom
-Add a ride the boat ride to Germany
-Add a ride to Japan
-Add a dark ride through British literature to the UK pavilion
-Rebuild the mountains of Canada to hide the Soarin' building & create a quick service stand to sell Canadian foods
-Add Russia at the site of The Outpost featuring a small scale Russian ballet/ice show, an exhibit on Russian history, restaurant, quick service location, merchandise, and a Vodka bar.
-Add Brazil between France & Morocco featuring a small ride, merchandise, quick service & sit down restaurant.
-Update IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth

 

[CP_alum08]

No specific ideas from me, just a general call to action:

Forget what came out of the 80s. That ship had sailed. Give us something we've never seen before.

Absolutely. Nothing needs to be brought back. A horizons-like attraction is fine but a scene for scene redo would be awful today. Same with imagination. 1982 EPCOT Center was great but that needs tone left to nostalgia.

However, the original IDEA could be brought back. Bring back the ideas of educating people and stop dumbing everything down for the masses.

 

[KCheatle]

I vote they tear out the HISTK theatre and put a restaurant in that overlooks the world showcase. It could be used at night as a place to watch Illuminations (similar to the dessert party at MK, but I'm picturing a little more upscale - with wines from around the world, etc.)

In between Germany and Italy, there should be a ride. In my perfect world, it would be Soarin, but it would be over Italy instead of USA. That way it would be a great, educational ride that is attached to the World Showcase instead of awkwardly somehow fitting into Epcot. Since it is not my perfect world, I would put in some type of Gondola-based ride in that space that takes people around a tour of Italy.

In between Morocco and France there should be another attraction. It would be amazing if they would bring the Ratatouille ride in. I understand that that gets into the "character" issue with Epcot and not wanting to make it a character-themed place. But, it would definitely relate to the food/how culture impacts food-aspect of Epcot. Plus, if that's the only thing besides Donald in Mexico, I don't think it would ruin it. Plus, it would make it a little more kid-friendly as they walk around the World Showcase.

 

[FettFan]

So....Tom Fitzgerald is taking over at Epcot. He's a WDI lifer, and Horizons fans know him as "That Beach Boy" who works on submarines while flirting with the hosts' granddaughter.

This, I believe, is a step in the right direction. Best of luck, Tom. Our thoughts/hopes/dreams/prayers are with you.

 

[FettFan]

Also....return Dreamfinder and Figment to their rightful places as Epcot's de facto mascots.

 

[DznyGrlSD]

To start...

Future World
-Remove Leave a Legacy
-Remove Canopies in the Innovention Plaza, bring in more trees if anything
-Expand and Update Fiber Optic concrete
-Completely overhaul the Fountain of Nations
-Completely revamp Innoventions to it's former glory... more natural light, more innovation, more prototypes to showcase
-Completely redo/rename Electric Umbrella
-Completely redo Universe of Energy...model after The Land pavilion with one big name attraction, one show, and one smaller attraction plus merchandise and snack locations.
-Wonders of Life pavilion reopens with a complete overhaul
-Mission: Space is redone to be a larger more encompassing Space Pavilion
-Imagination Pavilion receives a new 3D show and a new ride system but still revolves around Figment
-Update Soarin' film in The Land
-Close Circle of Life and replace with some other show maybe a different version of Kitchen Kabaret or something featuring Wall-E
-Redo The Seas with Nemo ride to be less retelling of the story and more exploring the seas with Nemo and Friends
-Use Odyssey building as the primary Festival Center

World Showcase
-De-clutter each pavilion
-Redo IllumiNations lighting on each pavilion
-Update the Norway film and Maelstrom
-Add a ride the boat ride to Germany
-Add a ride to Japan
-Add a dark ride through British literature to the UK pavilion
-Rebuild the mountains of Canada to hide the Soarin' building & create a quick service stand to sell Canadian foods
-Add Russia at the site of The Outpost featuring a small scale Russian ballet/ice show, an exhibit on Russian history, restaurant, quick service location, merchandise, and a Vodka bar.
-Add Brazil between France & Morocco featuring a small ride, merchandise, quick service & sit down restaurant.
-Update IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth

You're hired!

 

[morningstar]

What say you?

In a word, yes.

I think the Universe of Energy has to be the first thing redone. The topic of energy and how we consume it is still an important issue going forward. I would like to see more focus on the future rather than the past.

Sad but true. I do like those dinosaurs, but yes, it needs to be about the future.

Communicore East and West original idea needs to be brought back to life. Disney needs to aggressively go after companies to come in and show their new products. Love to see blue sky ideas that are maybe 10 years away, kinda like concept cars at car shows.

Yes. Back in the late 90s and 2000s I can see how this would have been difficult. It seemed like American innovation was kind of dead. But now companies like Google are doing amazing blue sky things. Google has loads of money. I think they could spare some for a pavilion.

The space pavilion needs more emphasis on the new space program. What is the future of the Space program, can we see a replica of the new shuttle. Maybe bring someone other than NASA who is working on space travel.

Yeah, honestly, the technology referenced in Mission: Space is little different from that of the 1960s. Big rockets. A manned mission to Mars, while undoubtedly ambitious, is just not all that interesting. It's another rock like the Moon. Let's talk about missions to Jupiter's moons, looking for liquid water. Let's talk about Alpha Centauri. Let's talk about technology like ion drives. Look really far to the future. Not what can we do, what could we do.