GladToBeHear
Well-Known Member
Still my favorite park. But I've been advocating on this board for years that they put it out of its misery and rename it. Just let it be its own thing at this point.
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Is Epcot's theme/mission changing?
- Thread starter mharrington
- Start date
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
You know..I'd be up for these attractions any day..The Simpsons Episode 7 Season 14 2003.
https:///wp-content/uploads/2015/01/soarin-simpsons.jpg
mightynine
Well-Known Member
Guess we can put park reservations on the list of things The Simpsons predicted.The Simpsons Episode 7 Season 14 2003.
Spookie2018
Member
The Simpsons have always been about as funny as a gutful of pinworms.
But scary on how much they predicted..............................
NickMaio
Well-Known Member
It really did.
Epcot fostered my love of learning, and inspired me to become a teacher.
It will be missed.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
I for one loved the original Epcot but understand that education attractions aren't the majoritys thing. Having Mission Space and Test Track never bothered me as Epcot needed some thrills. My favorite thing about Epcot was how little IP there was. I loved how original the park was. My dream has been to see Disney finish World Showcase as planned with the original attractions. Seeing it become just another IP park like the rest of them angers me. I equate it to how Six Flags puts ads on all their rides. At Disney instead it's what IP can we attach this ride.
John park hopper
Well-Known Member
Walt's vision of EPCOT with his death never really got off the ground and it has been floundering from the beginning
RandySavage
Well-Known Member
It goes without saying that EPCOT Center has always been a completely different (and better, IMO) entity than Walt Disney's EPCOT, the planned city. The defense that "it doesn't matter what happens to EPCOT Center because it was never Walt's EPCOT" irks me. I'm very glad we got EPCOT Center (by John Hench, Randy Bright, Card Walker, etc.) rather than a Walt's planned 'city', which was mildly interesting as modernist city-planning, but not something I'd go on a vacation to see.
And I'm reading some fiction that EPCOT (the theme park) was a financial albatross for Disney. It was quite the opposite. Expensive, but lifting WDW's attendance and profits througout the 1980s and 90s (MGM created some attendance poaching), a pillar of the expansive Vacation Kingdom, must-see destination that WDW became. The tonal changes that began to infect EPCOT Center in the 90s were more top down (sponsers, Eisner's vision (or lack thereof), a new gen of WDI coming up, etc.) rather than a groundswell of "we don't like this park, change it" from the audience, as someone proposed above.
It's been interesting for me to discover how much the great World Expositions going back to the 1800s have had in common with EPCOT Center. A typical template since the later 1800s has been to build an Expo in a park with half devoted to Technology & Innovation (industry, it was called), and half devoted to a collection of cultural pavilions from around the world. So describing it as a "permanent world's fair" has been accurate though probably little understood by the public who aren't familiar the history of the pre-war World's Fairs. The Dedication Plaque supports this.
And I'm reading some fiction that EPCOT (the theme park) was a financial albatross for Disney. It was quite the opposite. Expensive, but lifting WDW's attendance and profits througout the 1980s and 90s (MGM created some attendance poaching), a pillar of the expansive Vacation Kingdom, must-see destination that WDW became. The tonal changes that began to infect EPCOT Center in the 90s were more top down (sponsers, Eisner's vision (or lack thereof), a new gen of WDI coming up, etc.) rather than a groundswell of "we don't like this park, change it" from the audience, as someone proposed above.
It's been interesting for me to discover how much the great World Expositions going back to the 1800s have had in common with EPCOT Center. A typical template since the later 1800s has been to build an Expo in a park with half devoted to Technology & Innovation (industry, it was called), and half devoted to a collection of cultural pavilions from around the world. So describing it as a "permanent world's fair" has been accurate though probably little understood by the public who aren't familiar the history of the pre-war World's Fairs. The Dedication Plaque supports this.
Cmdr_Crimson
Well-Known Member
This video seems to fit the situation...
Heppenheimer
Well-Known Member
The fact that World's Fairs no longer capture the public's attention (and discretionary vacation money) at least partially explains why Epcot's original intent could never survive today. Until I looked them up on Wikipedia, I didn't even realize these events were still held (or were, pre-COVID, at least), but now they're called Expos and act as little more than glorifed trade shows.
networkpro
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
Well yes and no to the ReviewTyme video, it does point out that some of the fans who are still grasping and holding on to any remaining fragment of its Edutainment past as a current problem, it doesn't address the relevancy of the Worlds Fair as the place where innovation is displayed. As Heppenheimer pointed out, they still exist, but any normal trade show displays more at a smaller price point to the presenters. If you want to lay blame at any innovation's feet for the demise of the concept, place it on the internet post-AOL.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
Countries still build pavilions for them, though. There's one happening in Dubai right now which looks pretty cool -- there a ton of national pavilions with unique architecture. I think they're basically an architectural showcase at this point, although they do have exhibits inside.
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THEMEPARKPIONEER
Well-Known Member
I’m not even old enough to remember original Epcot, I know Epcot 94 and later but only had 3 times there with my favorite long lost attractions there. 3 times and to this day still remember Original Universe of Energy, original Imagination and Horizons
Heppenheimer
Well-Known Member
Expos still look interesting. They just don't capture the public's attention like they used to.
These days, I wonder if even Disney fans would notice if the company built attractions for an Expo, like Walt did for the 64-65 World's Fair in Queens (as if Chapek would ever do such a thing...).
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
Interestingly enough, the Expos apparently still get huge attendance numbers -- I think they just aren't covered the way they once were. Almost every country in the world built/sponsored a pavilion.
Expo2020 supposedly had over 5 million visitors in the first two months, despite all the travel difficulties associated with COVID. The one in Italy in 2015 had over 20 million visitors during the 5 months it was open.
Robbiem
Well-Known Member
I went to the Milan expo in 2015 and the London millennium dome in 2000 and had a good time at both. I‘d love to go to some more expos, especially the 2025 one in Osaka.
The big difference is that World’s Fairs/ Expos are only held for a short period so they don’t have time to age as EPCOT center has. Sometimes a few of the pavilions or landmarks are kept like the space needle or the atomium in Brussels but the majority of attractions are only there for around six months.
The big difference is that World’s Fairs/ Expos are only held for a short period so they don’t have time to age as EPCOT center has. Sometimes a few of the pavilions or landmarks are kept like the space needle or the atomium in Brussels but the majority of attractions are only there for around six months.