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Journey of Water featuring Moana coming to Epcot
- Thread starter Rteetz
- Start date
trainplane3
Well-Known Member
That's exactly what I expect too. Maybe have some "natural" barriers but I doubt it'll be the wonderful water filled wonderland the concept art is making it out to be.
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pdude81
Well-Known Member
That's one of the big drawbacks to me in SWGE. You actually get to see some interesting ships and speeders around the land, but they're all behind walls so you can't touch them. I guess in a park at least you're used to seeing railings in a lot of places
sedati
Well-Known Member
Who knew a sphere could have a discernible backside?
Not to harp on this point, but they did build the world's first and only geodesic sphere. Here (in green) are all the places you were granted and unobstructed view of that feat of engineering:
From the rest of the park you've got the equivalent of the Expo 67 dome- the exact thing they were trying to one-up. A bad design decision that will still go unrectified, though perhaps slightly improved.
Seriously, and not having a dig, what do you think the answer was? Single height Earthstation? Below grade load unload?
Interesting point.
sedati
Well-Known Member
Lowering load and unload seems the best option seeing as there are tunnels in the area. I do feel a lot of EPCOT Center's layout had to do with land suitability. so I'm not sure how much their hands were tied in where and how to place the larger structures. Isn't this part of why the American pavilion between WOM and JIA never happened?
More importantly, I'll ask, what purpose (beyond load/unload) did the original Earthstation provide that had to be at the exit of Spaceship Earth? The actual communication exhibits were over in Communicore. While I loved sitting in that big room and watching the animations cycle through (especially the early look at the upcoming Seas pavilion) I don't know that area needed to be in that exact location. Same goes for World Key. It was a high space, made all the higher by the corporate lounge above. This made for a huge visual obstruction from all views within the park proper. Was that compromised view of the park's icon worth a nice sitting area and lounge?
Also, I'd like to note, this is the one and only place on the earth where I don't defend EPCOT Center to the death. I enjoy (most) critical takes on the parks progress, but this has made me turn a critical eye to what was once my favorite place in the world (not just Disney World.)
sedati
Well-Known Member
To expand on my earlier point- try to imagine, just for a moment... if any of the areas in red were unobstructed (and no, I'm not suggesting all that land be cleared), what views we would have of Spaceship Earth as it stands today. I have my hopes that Journey of Water and the loss of Communicore East (Oops, West) will give us some new views of the geodesic sphere in its timeless glory.
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I’d say they could have lowered load / unload if they wanted. More work and more money, yes, but this didn’t often stop the park back then. The cross path tunnel between east and west isn’t much of a tunnel; it’s more akin to the MK utilidor by being mostly at grade with the surroundings built upwards to match. EPCOT Center had a few true basement areas but not that many.
Had things been different, there would have been more than just two legs visible on the south side as there are on the other two sides; each south leg carries a ride tunnel (of course) and its associated evacuation stairs, plus a set of backstage staircases plus utility lines. The actual structural leg sits between the staircases and the ride tunnel. The southern legs would have been a lot thicker than the others had they been standing along / more visible.
Regarding placement, the old AmAd was moved so far as I’m aware to a) become the host / central / impartial pavilion of Showcase. I recall it being on legs was a concern that it might literally be taken as America being above everyone else and looking down on those who have to pass beneath it. Earthstation was the town hall of the park, and was positioned central as such with the CommunityCore finishing the symmetry of the central area. I’ll be honest, it never bothered me seeing the buildings from the south, indeed I found the Earthstation building quite beautiful but I certainly respect and can see your point of view too.
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DreamfinderGuy
Well-Known Member
I think everything Disney Animation has made this decade has ranged from “Just okay” to “Decent”. The only one I see being a cult classic staple is Frozen, which in itself was a “Just okay” film imho. I prefer Moana over it, and it’s well more deserving of being remembered, but I doubt it’ll stay relevant in the coming years.
DreamfinderGuy
Well-Known Member
bUU
Well-Known Member
That's a rather vapid response, for you.
rreading
Well-Known Member
There are things which are subtle but make a big difference. My only stay at WDW in which I did not enjoy Epcot was the one in which we stayed at BC. We were at Epcot more than we usually were and it was over Christmas (Holiday ROE FTW!) but ultimately it felt more hollow. In retrospect, I think that it was that we never needed to go to the front of the park and only (essentially) sneaked in the back of SSE. We never got the impressive entry to the park and missed out on getting the full experience.
sedati
Well-Known Member
I never thought about that. I've said before that the best view is from the place we spend the least amount of time in, but yes, for those who come in from International Gateway, even that is lost.
Me too. Had I not experienced it I may not be on this site now let alone have the interests I do.
durangojim
Well-Known Member
The World Key kiosks with the video chat was amazing and seemed so incredibly futuristic!
DDLand
Well-Known Member
They had water features in the central courtyard? Why did they take them out? My whole life its felt somewhat like a sea of cement. That design also seems to drastically improve crowd flow. Instead of aimlessly walking around a circle of cement, there were clear arteries- the fountain of nations almost is hub like. There were no random tree islands. That makes way more sense.
One of the failures of the current layout is a lack of direction. The paths don’t lead you anywhere and the Innoventions buildings act like a wall keeping the guests view of the visual cues hidden. Which way do you go? How do I get to the attractions? Everything is actually surprisingly ambiguous. As a first time guest you should be feeling very confused. This design seems to be much much more clear. A visual weenie (fountain of nations) leads you to essentially a dead end. It’s there where you can choose the various attractions you can visit. There are only a handful of ways to go that lead you to East or West and the weenies drawing to those pavilions.
In its current form, the visual cue leading you to the heart of future world is obscured by the pin trading station and the banners. The banners also clutter up the ability for guests to see down the path. The interlocking pavement colors on the ground (needed to fix a problem they created... a pavement island) also provide distraction and disorient the guest. Once you make it past the pin station there’s no clear path leading you forward and no visual cue either. The most natural thing to do is actually to keep journeying straight, but World Showcase is closed. Multiple facades call your attention. Should you go up the buildings? The way forward are actually two holes in the walls. But they’re neither intuitive (because they’ve removed the arteries leading to them) or interesting (because they block the pavilions.
Man, I never realized how bad they messed up the Spine. It’s really a poorly designed add on. I also am realizing that the monoliths obscured the two paths around Spaceship Earth. They eliminated the visual cues! It’s like handing someone who’s never seen a book before, a novel without explanation on how to use it. The other thing that becomes clear is multiple connectors and paths were added between World Showcase and Future World. That actually would have created more confusion. Instead of viewing each area as separate and distinct, they sort of blend into each other.
I grew up with this Epcot, so thinking critically is eye opening... They were not thinking.
Though a peek at the new concept art are also is missing something... Visual cues and intuitive paths! They never learn...
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