News New Play Pavilion to replace Epcot's Wonders of Life

[Indy_UK]

I don’t get why they can’t continue and complete the project? Epcot needs capacity

 

[peter11435]

I don’t get why they can’t continue and complete the project? Epcot needs capacity

Capacity really isn’t one of EPCOT’s problems. It’s the only WDW park that can say that.

 

[aladdin2007]

Your ridiculous posting style and constant shifting of the goal post is exhausting. I never said anything about funding. I simply pointed out that this wasn’t a vague idea or announcement of something they had no plans to execute. The project was actively moving along with construction, fabrication, and installation taking place by imagineering, contractors, and vendors. But now you’re changing the subject and moving it along to something else entirely.

There were several reasons the project was reevaluated and cancelled.

maybe for something better, hopefully in the long run? One way to look at it anyway.

 

[Brer Panther]

There were several reasons the project was reevaluated and cancelled.

Was one of them to fund the Splash Mountain retheme?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Capacity really isn’t one of EPCOT’s problems. It’s the only WDW park that can say that.

You should be here now on a Friday night with the candlelight procession, the new fireworks, and the new hub, and all the Friday night drinkers here.

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

What's it look like in there right now? Was the stuff onsite already?

AFAIK there were set pieces fabricated, but I can confirm nothing ever made it on site.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Your ridiculous posting style and constant shifting of the goal post is exhausting. I never said anything about funding. I simply pointed out that this wasn’t a vague idea or announcement of something they had no plans to execute. The project was actively moving along with construction, fabrication, and installation taking place by imagineering, contractors, and vendors. But now you’re changing the subject and moving it along to something else entirely.

There were several reasons the project was reevaluated and cancelled.

The easiest way to avoid the bear is stay out of its lane

The subject is years of terrible management now bearing its “fruit”…and it applies to pretty much every topic these days…

There is a way to fix it though.

 

[James Alucobond]

The subject is years of terrible management now bearing its “fruit”…and it applies to pretty much every topic these days…

The subject of the topic is the PLAY! pavilion, not your generic Walt Disney Company management complaint du jour. You already have plenty of threads you can and do fill with the visions of sweaters and slim jeans that dance in your head.

 

[peter11435]

The easiest way to avoid the bear is stay out of its lane

The subject is years of terrible management now bearing its “fruit”…and it applies to pretty much every topic these days…

There is a way to fix it though.

Here you go again.

Let me know when you’ve learned how to have a proper discussion and stay on topic.

 

[Twirlnhurl]

Was Play! canceled before the NBA Experience crashed and burned? Is there any connection there, or am I just imagining that could be related?

 

[MagicHappens1971]

Was Play! canceled before the NBA Experience crashed and burned? Is there any connection there, or am I just imagining that could be related?

I think one of the largest factors was that this was an interactive (touchy-touchy) experience that did not make it into a post pandemic world. Another is probably something that everyone said from day one, experiences like this are outdated before they even open. They need to make a meaningful use of the space.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The subject of the topic is the PLAY! pavilion, not your generic Walt Disney Company management complaint du jour. You already have plenty of threads you can and do fill with the visions of sweaters and slim jeans that dance in your head.

There’s one way to get me to lose interest…

Actually I lied…I’m bored and I’ll move on…

Though I do always love a “window” into what low level WDI are told to keep them inline

 

[DreamfinderGuy]

Was Play! canceled before the NBA Experience crashed and burned? Is there any connection there, or am I just imagining that could be related?

The decision to cancel Play was made after NBA Experience closed, but before the permanent closure announcement was made. There's not much correlation, aside from them both being interactive experiences and a large amount of the project team having been part of both projects. I think the decision for NBA was more "This had poor attendance pre-COVID, it absolutely couldn't survive post-COVID and we can just blame the closure on the pandemic" and Play was more "Interactive experiences post pandemic? That could be a bad idea, let's press pause." Then when the conversation was held on when/how to unpause it, they realized it just wasn't worth finishing for a variety of factors.

Also worth mentioning one was a standalone experience with separate admission, the other was part of a greater theme park. Attendance wouldn't have been an issue.

Another is probably something that everyone said from day one, experiences like this are outdated before they even open. They need to make a meaningful use of the space.

This was a big thing. Creative on Play was done over five years ago. I spoke to some people on the project team, they openly admitted that much of the tech they were working with was already somewhat dated even then. Opening Play as it was originally envisioned just isn't feasible today, if they were sticking with the same basic concept they would need to start over on a lot of it.

 

[Hakunamatata]

You should be here now on a Friday night with the candlelight procession, the new fireworks, and the new hub, and all the Friday night drinkers here.

Yup. Attendance aint soft tonight. Heck lines for the food booths are overflowing.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

This was a big thing. Creative on Play was done over five years ago. I spoke to some people on the project team, they openly admitted that much of the tech they were working with was already somewhat dated even then. Opening Play as it was originally envisioned just isn't feasible today, if they were sticking with the same basic concept they would need to start over on a lot of it.

Another point (IMO) is that these “video game”-esque attractions were really innovative and cool before the masses had 85” TVs and PS5s at home. It doesn’t make any sense to continue to build similar attractions. That being said, they did build Smugglers Run, which is just a bad video game. Soooooo I guess who knows?

 

[BagOfGroceries]

Yup. Attendance aint soft tonight. Heck lines for the food booths are overflowing.

Can confirm. Chilling in the gardens now

 

[Homemade Imagineering]

As much as it pains me to see this pavilion vacant, I can’t help but feel relieved this was canned. To me it seems like it could’ve made for another JII situation, where the abandoned pavilion is given new life again but in a much more mediocre way. We’d likely be stuck with it for decades, so I think they made the right call. I hope Test Track 3.0 is a smashing success and shows disney there’s still interest in what made Epcot special, and helps move the needle for this and Imagination to get the redos they deserve

 

[Twirlnhurl]

I guess I was kind of hoping it would end up similar to DCA's Magic of Disney Animation, which wouldn't be a poor fit in any version of Epcot.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Another point (IMO) is that these “video game”-esque attractions were really innovative and cool before the masses had 85” TVs and PS5s at home. It doesn’t make any sense to continue to build similar attractions. That being said, they did build Smugglers Run, which is just a bad video game. Soooooo I guess who knows?

Smuggler's Run opened in 2019, so during its development (2015-2017) it probably sounded like a better idea.

 

[James Alucobond]

This was a big thing. Creative on Play was done over five years ago. I spoke to some people on the project team, they openly admitted that much of the tech they were working with was already somewhat dated even then. Opening Play as it was originally envisioned just isn't feasible today, if they were sticking with the same basic concept they would need to start over on a lot of it.

I think you could probably salvage the infrastructure. Fundamentally, I don't think there's an issue with the idea of the entire interior of the dome being screens or projections that can shift and change even if the imagined interactivity is bunk. The issue is that the screens can't be the attraction on their own; they need to resurrect the adjacent theaters to whatever extent they can to have something that the dome builds toward.