Iger mentions plans for EPCOT

Soarin' Over Pgh

Soarin' Over Pgh

Well-Known Member
UpAllNight said:
You make good points and it's hard to argue against most of the points you make. I will however have to disagree with the notion that the culture of people and way we have developed over the decades has no impact, in regards to this specific point on a futuristic theme of Epcot that it is more difficult for Disney to achieve what they could in the past.

I do however think they could have done much better had they pursued a more thoughtful path and I largely agree with your comments on show, and definitely agree with the fact they haven't made the effort they should have done. Any effort they have made over the years has been misguided; to go back to my previous post, Nemo to me is a shining example of this.
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If Disney can no longer keep up and wow people with new technologies then maybe it's time to give up the schtick and aim for a new angle.
 
Omnispace

Omnispace

Well-Known Member
Just to reflect on some of the themes in this thread...

There's no doubt that Epcot Center of 1982 was on the edge of a technological revolution which contributed to it's WOW factor. Anyone here who's had the (mis)fortune of loading programs from a cassette tape onto an Apple II knows exactly what that era was like, and how far we have come. Thus the "introduction to technology" approach is not going to have the same impact. But that doesn't mean that the mission of Epcot is now irrelevant -- just that it's execution has to change it's focus. And it can be something as simple as changing the premise of "This is how we (as corporations) are creating the future" to "This is how you can shape the future". All the original topics of Epcot center are still relevant such as Energy, Health, Seas, Horticulture, Arts, Culture. It just takes Disney's commitment to pull things back into a cohesive statement. A unifying theme that we shape the future as a community would be a strong way to do that with many possibilities for it's application.

I think that there is room for Disney's characters in Epcot as long as it's done correctly. When I heard that Nemo & Friends were going to be introduced to The Seas pavilion, I was thinking that a ride-through attraction would be a wonderful way to introduce the themes of the pavilion in a streamlined way. The original pavilion had too many waiting areas and shuffling about from theater to hydrolator to seacabs, and was a bit austere in it's execution. But Disney missed an excellent opportunity when they shoehorned a Fantasyland-style reprisal of Finding Nemo into what could have been an exciting adventure exploring the seas with Mr Ray. The same goes for the overly simple "Where's Donald" theme of Grand Fiesta Tour. Disney's characters can be very effective in making the content of the shows approachable but Disney needs to realize that they cannot always be the focus of attention.

I think that both Eddie Sotto and Tony Baxter would be great together to reinvigorate Epcot. Eddie has a great sense of "shaking things up" with unconventional and fresh ideas and Tony has a great talent of bringing "heart" to his shows that resonates with what Disney represented long before Iger took charge. They would balance each other nicely. Both have an excellent sense of creating immersive environments and both seem to understand how to WOW guests. Epcot was designed to be an epic adventure and the mindset of bringing that to the shows needs to prevail. They also understand that people are no less sophisticated than back in 1982 and they will be able to develop attractions that can reach their audience on many levels.
 
Omnispace

Omnispace

Well-Known Member
Belowthesurface said:
Again, this has been budgeted for 2020. Inside Out, TRON, and Guardians of the Galaxy are being tossed around as possible attractions in Future World. I hope this changes, though.
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When John Lasseter came on board with Disney I remember reading an interview in which he talked about how he would like to enable bringing fresh content onto the parks. In fact, I think his statement went so far as to suggest having a movie and a related theme park attraction debut at the same time so that one could see the movie and immediately enjoy the experience at the parks. I'm not going to suggest that Lasseter is behind the shoehorning of ill-placed attractions into the parks but the mindset of turning the parks into a place for current IP definitely resonates with him, based on that article. The challenge is understanding what IP is going to be a classic and what is going to be a transient fad. Walt Disney seemed to have that ability but it's not evident that he current WDC does.
 
hpyhnt 1000

hpyhnt 1000

Well-Known Member
Omnispace said:
Just to reflect on some of the themes in this thread...

I think that there is room for Disney's characters in Epcot as long as it's done correctly. When I heard that Nemo & Friends were going to be introduced to The Seas pavilion, I was thinking that a ride-through attraction would be a wonderful way to introduce the themes of the pavilion in a streamlined way. The original pavilion had too many waiting areas and shuffling about from theater to hydrolator to seacabs, and was a bit austere in it's execution. But Disney missed an excellent opportunity when they shoehorned a Fantasyland-style reprisal of Finding Nemo into what could have been an exciting adventure exploring the seas with Mr Ray. The same goes for the overly simple "Where's Donald" theme of Grand Fiesta Tour. Disney's characters can be very effective in making the content of the shows approachable but Disney needs to realize that they cannot always be the focus of attention.
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THIS so many times over. Even if we ignore the "characters don't belong in Epcot" argument, Nemo and Donald taking over their respective rides are still annoying because of the execution. They're generic Fantasyland-esque overlays that center on the characters rather than the pavilion. These attractions should be focused on the oceans and Mexico, not finding Nemo and Donald.

Using characters to explore a larger topic is EXACTLY why the original Journey into Imagination was such a great attraction. The ride was not about Figment; it was about the human creative process with Figment being used as a way to introduce concepts and ideas.

But unfortunately, we're seeing the same mistakes being made in Norway. Rather than use Frozen characters as a way of presenting the culture and beauty of Norway, we're getting just a rehash of different elements from the animated movie. Watching an animatronic Elsa sing "Let it Go" is a great concept for Fantasyland. Using it in a country pavilion at Epcot is pull-your-hair-out maddening and disappointing.
 
Soarin' Over Pgh

Soarin' Over Pgh

Well-Known Member
hpyhnt 1000 said:
THIS so many times over. Even if we ignore the "characters don't belong in Epcot" argument, Nemo and Donald taking over their respective rides are still annoying because of the execution. They're generic Fantasyland-esque overlays that center on the characters rather than the pavilion. These attractions should be focused on the oceans and Mexico, not finding Nemo and Donald.

Using characters to explore a larger topic is EXACTLY why the original Journey into Imagination was such a great attraction. The ride was not about Figment; it was about the human creative process with Figment being used as a way to introduce concepts and ideas.

But unfortunately, we're seeing the same mistakes being made in Norway. Rather than use Frozen characters as a way of presenting the culture and beauty of Norway, we're getting just a rehash of different elements from the animated movie. Watching an animatronic Elsa sing "Let it Go" is a great concept for Fantasyland. Using it in a country pavilion at Epcot is pull-your-hair-out maddening and disappointing.
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I think if the characters were more seamlessly integrated into the rides, people would (yes, most of yall) still fuss over it, but it wouldn't be ZOMG THEY KILLED THE SEAS WITH NEMOOOOOO

But yes, I'm on board with you 100%. It can, and could have, been done better.
 
hpyhnt 1000

hpyhnt 1000

Well-Known Member
Soarin' Over Pgh said:
I think if the characters were more seamlessly integrated into the rides, people would (yes, most of yall) still fuss over it, but it wouldn't be ZOMG THEY KILLED THE SEAS WITH NEMOOOOOO

But yes, I'm on board with you 100%. It can, and could have, been done better.
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Oh, I'm sure I'd still be grumbling. ;) But much less so! And again, EPCOT Center saw Figment used for theme park learning. Using Mr. Ray in a similar matter in The Seas was such a no brainer and would have been a decent adaptation of Finding Nemo for Epcot.

Maybe that's why it bothers me so much. The solution was so obvious and worked fairly well within the concept of Epcot (they could even update it today for relative pennies!). Yet Disney still found a way to screw it up.
 
Progress.City

Progress.City

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
If you think of it, money spent on EPCOT could go a long way because most of FW simply just need "software" upgrades and not new show buildings. I can forecast what will not be included:

Soaring/ The Land
Test Track
Nemo

These attractions could get new software:

UoE
Space
Magic Eye Theater

A complete redo of the Imagination ride would probably be the most costly of the entire project.

Updates to SSE and new Innovation exhibits are also a given.

If they really wanted to spend money, there is still one parcel of vacant land left in FW.

There is also the WoL question. It could be torn down and replaced, gutted and replaced, or left as an exhibition hall.
 

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