Is it time to drop the "Future" from Future World

[Theme Parkitect]

What about Tomorrowland ???

It looks really 70´s.

It was supposed to. It's slogan is "The future that never was." however, Future World was actually meant to display future technologies....

 

[MarkTwain]

Future World was about more than a forecast of technological trends, it was about a vision of the future. While some of the nuts and bolts of this vision have come to pass (video phones, cheap global communication), I think a coherent and optimistic view of the future is needed more than ever.

Carl Sagan said "The visions we present to our children shape the future. It matters what those visions are. Often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Dreams are maps."

I'd like to see Disney double down on Future World.

--Adam

Agreed.

I'm not sure Future World was ever as futuristic as some want to believe.

Imagination? Never really about the future. The Land? Not really about the future either, Mickey-shaped pumpkins notwithstanding. Wonders of Life? Babies, Buzzy, and Innerspace: The Ride were either completely non futuristic or more science-fantasy than anything else.

s
I feel what EPCOT tried to do was create the set-up, give guests a glimpse at what we've accomplished up to now (in other words, focus on what Disney does best; tell an entertaining story) using the main show of the pavilion and leave the "where do we go from here" part up to the guest to imagine for themselves, perhaps guided by a pavilion sponsor willing to invest in a post show that shows where the real industry leaders are actually headed.

The problem with that situation is two-fold. One, guests no longer want to do the imagining about the future for themselves, they want Disney to provide the answer for them, wrapped up neat and tidy. Second, the industry giants sponsoring the various pavilions haven't really been very good at looking to the future either. And if they can't even keep their own companies afloat without outside help, I'm not sure I want them telling me how I'm supposed to be making the future happen.

In a lot of ways, EPCOT has become that last, great shining badge of Disney's naivete. Walt Disney had a lot of confidence in both the American people and the "we can do it" attitude of big business. Even though Walt's EPCOT City concept wasn't actually built, I think a lot of the ideals of that project were a fundamental part of EPCOT Center.

But by the time EPCOT Center was built, the world had changed. Intrigue and inspiration weren't enough, it has to be instant gratification now. Open-ended questions and a lack of thrill rides will no longer be tolerated by the general public. Disney learned their lesson; look at the massive differences in scale, scope, and execution between EPCOT Center and Disney-MGM Studios.

So no, I don't think Future World needs a new name, any more than it did in 1982.

Agreed.

The fact that technology is advancing so much quicker these days should make it easier to come up with futuristic themes, not harder. That whole excuse is just a red herring, the main reason IMO is the cost.

Yep.

Red herring? Who are you a Monty Python actor? How is it an attempt to divert attention? And from divert what? :ROFLOL:

And if you think it would be easy and practical to show the "future" in a theme park setting, then let's hear your ideas?

Here's a proposal for how to overhaul Disneyland's ailing Tomorrowland in a sincere and practical fashion, by yours truly.

Disney's depictions of tomorrow are a very interesting subject to me. IMO, it represents a core part of the Disney experience.

Bear with me here. In my view, great Disney thematic design (what we call "Disney magic") strikes us at a very emotional level, because it gives us three different, rather therapeutic depictions of the world around us. That is, Disney parks work in a way similar to how our imaginations work when we want to break away from the present situation. These are defined by the plaques above the entrance to Disneyland and the WDW Magic Kingdom:

Yesterday = nostalgia: the good ol' days, the past was better, lets think back to that

Fantasy = escape: the grass is greener, if we could just go out there, things would be better

Tomorrow = optimism: tomorrow will better than now; keep moving forward, open new doors, and things will work out someday


Three different facets of the imagination, but in the end, I think it's the Tomorrow that's the most fulfilling (both in our own imaginations and in Disney parks). The other two are temporary remedies; eventually, the fantasy and nostalgia ends, we step back out in the real world and get on with our lives. But the tomorrow is like a promise - it's the only one which presents itself as a possible reality, the message that our lives could be better someday when our Disney vacation is long behind us. That, to me, is a wonderful message, and one that is the most beautiful when you think about it real in the world. Epcot's depiction of this message and feeling may be flawed, but I still feel it when I watch Illuminations, the Fountain of Nations, the finale to the American Adventure, or walk through the Spaceship Earth postshow. Those who remember the finale to Spaceship Earth '94 probably have felt it too. In my view, that is one of the most powerful experiences to be found in a Disney park, and to take out that sense of sincerity and promise would be to rob guests of a very unique type of Disney magic. I think a little maintenance to keep that going would be well worth it.

Good discussion.

EDIT: By the way PlutosPlace, love your avatar.

 

[828tnt]

I agree that the name does not actually fit anymore but they don't need to change it. I hear this question from time to time and people always respond with "Instead of going through the process of renaming it, maybe they ought to actually make it more of a Future World." The only problem with that is technology is moving so fast these days that by the time they put out something "futuristic" it will probably be more common to us. Think about it, how futuristic can you imagine things? Now, how long until you think those things will be commonplace? Back in the 1960's it might not have been too hard for Walt to dream up futuristic things that would amaze people. These days, not so much.

LOL! that's exactly what we used to think in the 80's.

i mean, that's exactly what we thought in the 90's.

crap! i meant, that's what the 2000's were.

wait, what?:brick:

don't worry, eventually you'll get it. if not, i'm sorry.

 

[PlutosPalace]

LOL! that's exactly what we used to think in the 80's.

i mean, that's exactly what we thought in the 90's.

crap! i meant, that's what the 2000's were.

wait, what?:brick:

don't worry, eventually you'll get it. if not, i'm sorry.

Got it.

 

[donaldduck1967]

I'm not sure Future World was ever as futuristic as some want to believe.

Imagination? Never really about the future. The Land? Not really about the future either, Mickey-shaped pumpkins notwithstanding. Wonders of Life? Babies, Buzzy, and Innerspace: The Ride were either completely non futuristic or more science-fantasy than anything else.

Spaceship Earth, World of Motion, and Universe of Energy were all 90% history lessons; any guesswork about "the future" was left up to post shows or films. Even though The Living Seas tried to tell us its aquarium was somehow futuristic, it would take more than a Hydrolator to make me believe that. C'mon, not even one shark with a frickin' laser on his head? THAT would have been futuristic...

And poor Horizons, the only pavilion that gives us (another) history lesson before actually showing us some concrete and logical guesses about the future was the first pavilion to be completely torn out. Granted, Mission: Space is probably the one pavilion that ended up being the most dead-on in what it guessed about the future; considering the state of our space program even real astronauts will only be pretending to go to Mars for a very long time.

I feel what EPCOT tried to do was create the set-up, give guests a glimpse at what we've accomplished up to now (in other words, focus on what Disney does best; tell an entertaining story) using the main show of the pavilion and leave the "where do we go from here" part up to the guest to imagine for themselves, perhaps guided by a pavilion sponsor willing to invest in a post show that shows where the real industry leaders are actually headed.

The problem with that situation is two-fold. One, guests no longer want to do the imagining about the future for themselves, they want Disney to provide the answer for them, wrapped up neat and tidy. Second, the industry giants sponsoring the various pavilions haven't really been very good at looking to the future either. And if they can't even keep their own companies afloat without outside help, I'm not sure I want them telling me how I'm supposed to be making the future happen.

In a lot of ways, EPCOT has become that last, great shining badge of Disney's naivete. Walt Disney had a lot of confidence in both the American people and the "we can do it" attitude of big business. Even though Walt's EPCOT City concept wasn't actually built, I think a lot of the ideals of that project were a fundamental part of EPCOT Center.

But by the time EPCOT Center was built, the world had changed. Intrigue and inspiration weren't enough, it has to be instant gratification now. Open-ended questions and a lack of thrill rides will no longer be tolerated by the general public. Disney learned their lesson; look at the massive differences in scale, scope, and execution between EPCOT Center and Disney-MGM Studios.

So no, I don't think Future World needs a new name, any more than it did in 1982.

As I was these posts I started thinking the same thing you did. It never was about the Future. With the exception of the Imagination Pavilion it was more about technology and history. They should have gone after History Channel to sponsor the whole area.