Little Green Men
Well-Known Member
The sky bar is where club cool was, weren't they adding two smaller fountains to the FON area?
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Journey of Water featuring Moana coming to Epcot
- Thread starter Rteetz
- Start date
Tied back to Walt because his wife showed up to a one-day ceremony?
Sorry, but I truly find that laughable.
Epcot, as built, was not what Walt wanted. They very specifically ditched what Walt wanted. They had ideas: "Hey, about about a permanent World's Fair?" "Hey how about a cultural center highlighting nations of the world?" "Hey about about mashing them into one park!"
That fountain had nothing to do with Walt. I was just a fountain. A one day ceremony doesn't make it special.
They could have called it "Fountain of Bears" and we'd all be like, "I don't see the bears." They could have called it "Fountain of Toys" and we'd all be like, "I don't see the toys."
I don't see the nations despite being called "Fountain of Nations."
A name is not a theme.
It was just a nice fountain. It's not elevated to the Platonic plane of theme park perfection because Walt's wife attended a ceremony that took place there.
Where are are thematic purists critical of everything that contemporary Disney does because they fail on "theme"?
That fountain has always failed on theme.
doctornick
Well-Known Member
The front half of the pad is still undeveloped, so who knows! (not expecting anything to go there anytime soon, but it is space that could feature something)
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doctornick
Well-Known Member
There's nothing wrong with the tents per se - it's the content of them that is lacking. I actually think the circus area is pretty nice, but it should have another attraction or two. It would be quite different if the two big tents houses a ride like Mickey's Madhouse or even a Pinocchio clone rather than a store and M&G.
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yensidtlaw1969
Well-Known Member
That's what you're missing - the theme wasn't "Nations". The theme was a Fountain. It was a fountain dedicated in the name of the unity of nations. The way you might dedicate a local park to a civil servant. You don't expect the park to look like them.
It worked because it was the kind of thing the designers hoped we would have in the future world. Features that commemorate and celebrate global unity as an ideal and a value. They weren't trying to depict an illusory environment that merely "looked" like it was in the future. Save that for Tomorrowland.
Future World wasn't a place where you stepped through a portal into another world. Future World was rooted IN the world. The point wasn't to make you feel like you traveled into an imaginary future, the point was to bring the future forward. Instead of waiting for the world to get its act together and move towards creating places like this, they did it themselves. Traveled down the lines of the eventualities and make them real so we could consider what could come next.
The standard of "theming" to which your trying to hold it is not the only standard - it's not even the GOLD standard. It's one that EPCOT proudly defied in the pursuit of something newer and genuinely more ambitious. That it seems to be lost on you isn't a failing of the park to achieve a level of "theming" that Future World actively rejected 40 years ago. Theming isn't theme. EPCOT Center had Theme in spades. And the Fountain of Nations was on theme.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
This made me laugh out loud.
It was just a fountain. A fine one.
I remain unconvinced it was anything more than that because of one ceremony and where it sat.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
The fountain by the tip board at DHS is just a fountain. And also a fine one.
Fountain of Nations was definitely more iconic than that. Is it the heart and soul of Epcot? No of course not.
UNCgolf
Well-Known Member
I think the synchronized shows made it more than a simple fountain. When it was fully functioning, they were very impressive and a relatively significant part of EPCOT's central area. A lot of people stopped to watch those shows.
That's also maybe the only improvement made to EPCOT in the entire 1990s!
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Josh Hendy
Well-Known Member
It was the first and most impressive thing I saw at Epcot on my very first visit there in the 90s. It's what I told my relatives about when I went home.
If any Disney exec decided to demolish it without building a similarly impressive replacement, then he probably never visited Epcot except with a crowd of clipboard carrying flunkies around him and his cellphone in his ear talking to Burbank. He probably frowned and moved away from the fountain to avoid the noise and spray. One of his flunkies later showed him on a park plan how the fountain area was a "dead zone" with no merch and alcohol sales, and guests tended to stand there watching the fountain instead of hurrying past it to spend more money.
So you could say, FP+ killed the fountain
jmuboy
Well-Known Member
This description above is easily about DOUBLE the actual thought process, brain power and design time that went into this "exciting new" Moana attraction.
The Grand Inquisitor
Well-Known Member
Interesting. I would love to see the ride come to EPCOT or Magic Kingdom.
yensidtlaw1969
Well-Known Member
Josh Hendy
Well-Known Member
Moana isn't even "about" water ... it just happens to be there in many of the scenes. It's like saying Snow White is about forestry.
Haymarket2008
Well-Known Member
But does Snow White have a powerful and mystical connection to forests like Moana does with water?
You should be relieved to hear, then, that the water feature isn't about Moana....
In World Nature, The reinvention of Epcot will include Journey of Water, Inspired by “Moana.” This first-ever experience inspired by the Walt Disney Animation Studios’ hit film will let guests interact with magical, living water in a beautiful and inspiring setting.
Also note that, at least here, it's not referred to as an "attraction."But, you know, let's shake our fist at "The Moana Attraction."
Josh Hendy
Well-Known Member
Confession ... I only saw it once ... the water motif didn't make any impression on me except she was sailing on it a lot. Was there a magic wave appearing at times? A fairy godwave is hard to relate to. Not really a character like Grandmother Willow or a theme like the circle of life. And it's hard to see how the magic wave can be represented in a theme park.
RobWDW1971
Well-Known Member
.
They trees grew scary faces and arms and tried to tear off her cape - does that count?
doctornick
Well-Known Member
A big aspect of the film is the how the Polynesian way of life involved interacting with the ocean and the film ends with Moana's people returning to their wayfaring ways. There's a significant scene where Maui is teaching her how to navigate and sail using historical methods (pretty cool IMHO from a historical standpoint of understanding on ancient Polynesian people traveled vast distances of the Pacific Ocean to find pretty small islands - though of course it is a superficial description in the movie).
Actually now that I think about it, if Journey of Water would illustrate man's historical use of water especially sailing and transportation that it would be hard to argue that it does not fit in with Epcot's general vibe of human achievement. I don't really see JoW doing that, but it would be a way to fit Epcot, ties into Moana well and be a great prelude to the Seas and the premise of humans living in a seabase under the seas.