What kind of gets me the most is the feeling that we won't see that kind of seamlessly integrated pavilion experience again. When my family would go to WDW during my childhood my parents always knew that we could go to the Imagination pavilion and spend multiple hours in a place all of us could enjoy; the ride was genuinely fun for everyone, it ran a decent length of time, it was a constant loader so the line was rarely too arduous a wait, the Image Works allowed for a chance for kids to let off some steam and had some genuinely interesting tech for its time, and then heading right down to the Magic Eye theater was the capper on the experience.
In other words, you got a really great narrative (ride --> apply what the ride shows in the Image Works --> experience the ride's thesis in the movie theater), you got a place that appealed to almost everyone, and, at bare minimum, you could have over 2 hours in air conditioning during a humid central Florida day.
Almost none of that is being emphasized now. There's little to no integration between rides and some kind of follow-up experience, which defeats the idea of the pavilion setup; the emphasis we seem to get instead is to finish one ride, get a few minutes in the gift shop, then hurry to the next one. There's far less concern about crowd control: as we get fewer Omnimovers, lose the moving theater shows, etc., we're often getting lower capacity rides, instead, which in turn become shorter experiences once we actually board them.
Agree completely.
You 'get it'.
Part of the beauty of EPCOT Center back in the day was exactly what you have touched on .
Each Pavillion was a complete package where the theme or idea being presented was done so on multiple related levels.
Choose any Pavillion in Future World during the heydays and all offered several experiences that together equaled more then the sum of its parts.
Each experience built on what was also present in the same building...and one could indeed spend a hour or more inside exploring the exhibits and various offerings.
Guests would come out and feel they had a enjoyed a full offering of entertainment value, and in many cases also come away with their curiosity perked.
Others left downright inspired, and others still pursued learning more about the topics touched on.
The offerings left impressions, as well as moments of fun or awe.
Today, things are very different.
The Land from that time period (1982 - 1992 ) is a great example.
You had the boat ride giving Guests a very direct and live experience regarding the subject matter, and then a complimentary film touching on another aspect in a more relaxed setting.
Dining offered at the old 'Farmers Market' brought the message even more into focus, as you were now enjoying the 'harvest' of physical crops and future thinking ideas you had just previously experienced.
The seating areas inside the interior of the Pavillion with the sculptured fountain , ceiling murals, lighted table umbrellas, and drifting hot air balloons also 'told the story' of the cycles of the Earth.
Everything had been carefully thought out and designed in a way that each aspect complimented the other gracefully.
It was a entire 'package'.
Today, The Land is pretty much the last remnant of the 'old Pavillion experience' but it is a jumbled mess currently.
Fragmented offerings that are just remotely related to the topic.
The offerings don't compliment each other, and the consistentsy of the Pavilion's 'story' has been compromised and in some cases somewhat ignored.
Now we have a shopping mall styled food court, a flight simulator over 'the world', and the still present boat ride.
Disjointed, 'singular' experiences with a microfiber suggestion of being related to the topic strung together like unmatching beads on a necklace.
The message of how man can harness the Earths bounty and the responsibiltes that entails is pretty much lost now with the exception of the still present 'Living With The Land' Attraction.
One can still spend some time here, but now it's mostly for standing in line for 'Soarin' and not nessesarily enjoying the Pavillion as a 'whole cohesive package'.
The Imagination Pavillion suffers the same issues , but worse in many respects.
It is such a patchwork mismatched skeleton of what exsisted there prior.
Where once there was a beautifully designed flow through all the experiences offered, now it is reduced in scope to just one poorly executed ride experience and a quick exit through empty corridors and the remnants of a defunct photo service kiosk.
The upstairs exploratory play area that used to be housed there is gone and is now a underused space in it's current state, and the tacked on retail spot near the exit door is a afterthought to try to fill the gaping space of nothingness now there.
The entire Pavillion is a mess....and needs a serious redesign inside to remove the multiple walls and added corridors that are gumming up what was once a stunning entrance atrium and charmingly designed interior.
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