Just back from EPCOT Center, a quick report:

DarthGrady

Active Member
Original Poster
Hello everyone, I just wanted to give a quick report from my visit to EC yesterday:

Food and Wine is in full swing and the whole park was packed, especially WS. Mostly the same as previous years, overpriced samples of food and shot glasses of beer/wine.

I got one last ride on Maelstrom, it was great to see it again before Disney ruins the whole pavilion. A lot of sadness all around. All of the CMs we spoke to were unhappy to see Maelstrom go. Like many of us fans, the ones I talked to agreed that it needed updating. But an overlay from a movie mostly unrelated to Norway isn't welcome.

Captain EO was down for a bit early in the day, but up the afternoon. I was very happy, a day at EC isn't complete without EO. There was a pretty big crowd in there, and many were cheering (as is typical) at the start, finish and when MJ comes onscreen. Such a better use of the space than HISTA.

Wonders of Life is still being wasted as a hub for the festival. No surprises there. They had a Ghirardelli store in the back, I didn't remember that from last time, maybe I missed it.

The Odyssey was open as a craft beer pavilion, all Odyssey signage was covered up. The wonderful, original 80s bathrooms were open.

There is a large construction wall around the southwest corner of Communicore, not sure what's in there.

Other odds and ends: Moronic cartoon fish continue to infest The Living Seas. Dreamfinder is still MIA. Horizons has still not been rebuilt, in its place is some fancy Gravitron knock-off. Test Track, which was itself a poor substitute for WOM, has gotten a weird Tron-esque overlay which further derails any serious effort to educate anyone about the history of transportation. Ellen is rapidly approaching her second decade on Jeopardy. And finally, SSE still doesn't have a respectable narration or descent.

All in all it was a nice day. I got the major goals done, and of course completed a round of Drinkin 'Round the World.

I'll try to answer any questions anyone may have. I'm submitting this from my phone, so please excuse any typos.
 
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WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
Glad to hear this wonderful, positive post c:

Captain EO was great when I went.. But I don't remember any cheering in the 1/4 filled theater on August 7th. It was around 1:30 ish.. I did, however, have like 5 mexicans behind me just flat out talking. Wanted to slap them with a flip flop.
 

DarthGrady

Active Member
Original Poster
Glad to hear this wonderful, positive post c:

Captain EO was great when I went.. But I don't remember any cheering in the 1/4 filled theater on August 7th. It was around 1:30 ish.. I did, however, have like 5 mexicans behind me just flat out talking. Wanted to slap them with a flip flop.

The "pretty big" yesterday was about half full. But unfortunately that's about all the love the Imagination pavilion gets nowadays. To my surprise, there was actually a brief wait to get on the ride.

The stairs up to the Imageworks still look super sad. I thought about sneaking up there, but I didn't want to get kicked out halfway through the day.
 

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
The "pretty big" yesterday was about half full. But unfortunately that's about all the love the Imagination pavilion gets nowadays. To my surprise, there was actually a brief wait to get on the ride.


Same thing happened to me! Although, far from brief. It was probably a result of a tour group, but there was a 30 minute wait for Imagination.
 

FettFan

Well-Known Member
Question....are they ramping up Maelstrom with all of the effects in full swing? Fog machines, choppy waves, etc.
 

DarthGrady

Active Member
Original Poster
Question....are they ramping up Maelstrom with all of the effects in full swing? Fog machines, choppy waves, etc.

I wish that were the case, but sadly no. It didn't look great at all. The troll before the second drop wasn't moving, except his eye. The splashing wave under the oil rig was working. The fog was very thin, way less than it should be.
 
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wmtpcantuat

New Member
Lol UoE is so old that Alex is growing back the 'stache
9n.jpg
 

danpam1024

Well-Known Member
I stopped going to the world in 2011- for many reasons- #1 being I hated seeing the place I loved being destroyed. I am so sad to read your review, but it seems typical. Glad you had a good time anyway :)
And I am on (of the few//) who just doesn't get the "Frozen" rave- the movie just didn't do it for me I guess.
Whatever happened to EPCOT Center? It used to be "real"?
 

juniorthomas

Well-Known Member
I stopped going to the world in 2011- for many reasons- #1 being I hated seeing the place I loved being destroyed. I am so sad to read your review, but it seems typical. Glad you had a good time anyway :)

Change is pretty difficult to slow, especially when there are shareholders involved. It's sad that business decisions outweigh emotional ones, but ultimately they're made to (hopefully) enhance the visit of younger guests so they can build memories of their own. I'm okay with that.
 

danpam1024

Well-Known Member
Change is pretty difficult to slow, especially when there are shareholders involved. It's sad that business decisions outweigh emotional ones, but ultimately they're made to (hopefully) enhance the visit of younger guests so they can build memories of their own. I'm okay with that.
I agree to a point- I'm just not sure WHO exactly they're targeting anymore. It is DEFINITELY not boys. :( My son has chosen to make his childhood memories at Universal Studios- that's what resonates with him and his generation. Although I understand and totally agree with him, it makes me sad- only because I grew up Disney. Maybe, like you said, in 5-10 years it will return to it's former glory and be worth the cost. I just have no idea why everything takes SOOOO LONG to build there.
 

juniorthomas

Well-Known Member
I agree to a point- I'm just not sure WHO exactly they're targeting anymore. It is DEFINITELY not boys. :( My son has chosen to make his childhood memories at Universal Studios- that's what resonates with him and his generation. Although I understand and totally agree with him, it makes me sad- only because I grew up Disney. Maybe, like you said, in 5-10 years it will return to it's former glory and be worth the cost. I just have no idea why everything takes SOOOO LONG to build there.

It's not that they don't have a specific target - they do: they're targeting everyone. And I don't see why they shouldn't. There should be something for everyone at WDW. In my opinion, there already is.
 

danpam1024

Well-Known Member
Why, because of Frozen? You realize boys like Frozen, too?
Not just because of Frozen- and yes I'm sure some boys like Frozen as well (I'm a girl and wanted to stab my eyes out when I watched it- kept waiting for it to get better- to each their own). From the time my son was 7- he was over Disney- there's not much there for boys- especially as they get to the tween/early teen stage. Or not enough to make him want to go back. He had a blast when he was a little kid (but then again he had a blast in Target LOL!). When I mention wanting to go, even for a quick trip, the look of horror on his face is enough not to want to waste my money. But we can go to UOR every other month and he's good with that :p. Again, my family's opinion/experience. And BTW- I AM rooting for Disney ;)
 

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