I feel like Epcot does not have enough "future" rides.

Kuzcotopia

Kuzcotopia

Well-Known Member
Maybe we just aren't as optimistic about the future anymore? It's easy in the early 80s to talk about how awesome the future is going to be. . . but I think most discussion of the future these days is about anxiety. . . not optimism.

frabz-ONE-DOES-NOT-SIMPLY-IGNORE-THE-APOCALYPSE-MEMES-4edb71.jpg
 
Gullywhumper

Gullywhumper

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Kuzcotopia said:
Maybe we just aren't as optimistic about the future anymore? It's easy in the early 80s to talk about how awesome the future is going to be. . . but I think most discussion of the future these days is about anxiety. . . not optimism.

frabz-ONE-DOES-NOT-SIMPLY-IGNORE-THE-APOCALYPSE-MEMES-4edb71.jpg
Click to expand...
That's sad...now if someone talks about floating cities people will think they are crazy, but back then, it was a reasonable thought.
 
George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
morningstar said:
To be honest not everything about Future World was about the future even from the beginning. Spaceship Earth is a ride through history. So was World of Motion. Universe of Energy went the furthest back to the past, back to the dinosaurs (well, even to "the deluge"). It did have some message in the post-show film about solar energy or something I think. Imagination is not tied to any particular time period. So really the only futuristic original pavilions were The Living Seas, The Land (a little bit, about hydroponics and such), Horizons, and Communicore. Then Wonders of Life when it was added.

At least, however, all the pavilions were quite educational. They seem less so now.
Click to expand...

In its original form and up to the 2000s, EPCOT Center was a tribute to humanity. Where we've been, where we're going and who we are. EPCOT Center was created to showcase prototype concepts and technologies that may someday serve people everywhere. This is the essence of EPCOT Center. A collective endeavor by people, for people, in the hope for a better world. The current Future World barely reflects this at all and the pavilions have mostly been trivialized. There's an uninspiring glorified whirl and hurl that has killed people, a car ride with neon lights, an Imagination ride completely devoid of imagination and a dumbed down Pixar fish pavilion. Oh, and a hang glider ride over California.
 
DontCallMeJr

DontCallMeJr

Member
Endor Sightseer said:
In its original form and up to the 2000s, EPCOT Center was a tribute to humanity. Where we've been, where we're going and who we are. EPCOT Center was created to showcase prototype concepts and technologies that may someday serve people everywhere. This is the essence of EPCOT Center. A collective endeavor by people, for people, in the hope for a better world. The current Future World barely reflects this at all and the pavilions have mostly been trivialized. There's an uninspiring glorified whirl and hurl that has killed people, a car ride with neon lights, an Imagination ride completely devoid of imagination and a dumbed down Pixar fish pavilion. Oh, and a hang glider ride over California.
Click to expand...


you're forgetting the futuristic 3d spectacular...from the 80's
 
horizons82

horizons82

Well-Known Member
While I've written extensively on this issue with much passion and nostalgia, I think the sense of loss one feels over Epcot can be summed up in a few short thoughts...

The problem with Future World isn't simply that we no longer have Horizons, the original Journey Into Imagination, the original Spaceship Earth ending or any of the other attractions that made it so great...

The problem with today's Future World is that as those original attractions went away, so did the visions, ideas and dreams for a grand future, which have all been replaced by attractions which are--at best--mediocre replacements for something that was beautiful, imaginative, creative and visionary back when the park opened.

The original EPCOT Center was the complete package--futuristic concepts and ideas combined with amazing and intelligent storytelling, all done a way that was educational, yet so inspiring and enveloping with its themes that one couldn't help but be pulled into a "Future World". The problem isn't that the attractions that embodied all of these things are gone, the problem is that they were no longer incorporated into the current attractions that we have today.

All of this IMHO of course.
 
DontCallMeJr

DontCallMeJr

Member
horizons82 said:
While I've written extensively on this issue with much passion and nostalgia, I think the sense of loss one feels over Epcot can be summed up in a few short thoughts...

The problem with Future World isn't simply that we no longer have Horizons, the original Journey Into Imagination, the original Spaceship Earth ending or any of the other attractions that made it so great...

The problem with today's Future World is that as those original attractions went away, so did the visions, ideas and dreams for a grand future, which have all been replaced by attractions which are--at best--mediocre replacements for something that was beautiful, imaginative, creative and visionary back when the park opened.

The original EPCOT Center was the complete package--futuristic concepts and ideas combined with amazing and intelligent storytelling, all done a way that was educational, yet so inspiring and enveloping with its themes that one couldn't help but be pulled into a "Future World". The problem isn't that the attractions that embodied all of these things are gone, the problem is that they were no longer incorporated into the current attractions that we have today.

All of this IMHO of course.
Click to expand...


I'll never forget the skype scene in Horizons and thinking how that could be possible
 
M

morningstar

Well-Known Member
Kuzcotopia said:
Maybe we just aren't as optimistic about the future anymore? It's easy in the early 80s to talk about how awesome the future is going to be. . . but I think most discussion of the future these days is about anxiety. . . not optimism.
Click to expand...

Has the potential for the future changed, or our attitude? Some of both, I think. There is more awareness now that technology is not entirely good. It can spell disaster for the planet. There is also some disillusionment with amazing visions of the future. Starting around the turn of the 20th century, technology has radically revolutionized our world, with things like electricity, automobiles, flight, spaceflight, and computers. EPCOT embodied the hope that it would continue at the same pace, but since 1980, it seems to have slowed down. We have some new things - the WWW, mobile phones, video chat - but they are in the information technology domain. They improve our lives but do not go zoom. As a result there is cynicism that things like undersea cities will ever happen.

I remain cautiously optimistic about the future. I believe that colonies in space will happen, but I don't believe it will be in the next 100 years as perhaps the builders of EPCOT did. I think EPCOT has a place in keeping those dreams alive until their time comes. It needs to keep the optimistic attitude, even while admitting it is not realistic.
 
Fox&Hound

Fox&Hound

Well-Known Member
Maybe it's just me, but I wish Epcot would completely get rid of future world and use that space for more countries and make EPCOT about the world we live in now and a celebration of world culture. Yes, I know there is plenty of unused space in WS, and they should use those areas too, but as others have said, Disney has always struggled with a vision of the future that remains the future and not the present or past. in the 80's we were enthralled with technology and now we take it for granted and are bored with it. Why not take out those rides, repurpose them somewhere (maybe one of two could go into Tomorrowland at MK), and use the space in a different way. Plus, it was always an odd concept to combine EPCOT and WS to begin with. Anyone remember the old video where they showed Disney execs pushing the two display tables together (FW and WS) and saying "Hey, this could work...kind of." I know it will never happen....
 
DisneyDaver

DisneyDaver

Well-Known Member
Like many on here, I loved Epcot on the 80's. It needs a lot of work now. But, unfortunately the bottom line is that as long as the WDW resorts fill up and people keep coming back, there is no real reason for WDW to make the much needed changes to Epcot.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom