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

[DreamfinderGuy]

I think it would actually have been quit a positive for the park. EPCOT is desperate for something to do with younger kids that last more than a few minutes. I think the result now is that the place sits empty, and the guests get nothing.

I had a lot of mixed emotions about it, but as a whole pretty much anything would be a net positive over continuing to leave the building empty. Making everything in Future World East a thrill ride has killed that whole section of the park for lots of families, making Wonders the kids area would have helped at least. It did waste lots of space in the pavilion, but there's nothing saying future developments couldn't have gone into the Body Wars/Cranium sections. Doing nothing is wasting more space than Play would've.

 

[Gusey]

I do hope something goes in this space at some point, but I think the Festival Pavilion becoming CommuniCore Hall and the new meet and greet location for Mickey probably started the extinction of PLAY

 

[Dragonman]

https://x.com/DreamfinderGuy/status/1764726654117519780

If there was somehow any doubt left, this project is very dead.

In terms of finding the art you could try using the Wayback Machine to look for it.

 

[Gusey]

Mickey and his friends were NEVER intended to be in the Play! pavilion, Joy, Ralph, and Baymax(the latter two wouldn't return at all) were

Oh, I knew some of the characters from the Character Spot were meant to move to PLAY, just thought it was the Mickey side as his Imagination Pavilion meet and greet always felt temporary

 

[UNCgolf]

I think it would actually have been quit a positive for the park. EPCOT is desperate for something to do with younger kids that last more than a few minutes. I think the result now is that the place sits empty, and the guests get nothing.

It's essentially opportunity cost. The Play! Pavilion was a bad idea from the start and would have been incredibly outdated quickly -- possibly within 5 years of opening. If there was a guarantee Disney would then rework it, maybe it could have been okay, but that's pretty unlikely given their standard MO. It's more probable it would have operated more or less as it did at opening for 15-20 years.

Would EPCOT be better off right now if the Play! Pavilion existed? Sure, because it would have additional capacity. In the long run, though, EPCOT is better off if the pavilion sits empty for another few years and then opens with something that actually offers a full pavilion experience closer to Wonders of Life (not in specific health content; just in terms of attractions, snacks, etc.).

Look at Imagination as an example -- if they'd shut down the second iteration for several years to do a full reworking and open with an actually excellent attraction and side activities, EPCOT would have been worse off for the years it was closed due to a loss of capacity, but would be in much better shape right now.

The only reason it's still a potential negative IMO is that the pavilion has already been empty for well over a decade. It's absolutely possible that Disney just lets it sit empty for another 10+ years, and if that's the case, then obviously the Play! Pavilion would be better than nothing.

 

[Skibum1970]

It's essentially opportunity cost. The Play! Pavilion was a bad idea from the start and would have been incredibly outdated quickly -- possibly within 5 years of opening. If there was a guarantee Disney would then rework it, maybe it could have been okay, but that's pretty unlikely given their standard MO. It's more probable it would have operated more or less as it did at opening for 15-20 years.

Would EPCOT be better off right now if the Play! Pavilion existed? Sure, because it would have additional capacity. In the long run, though, EPCOT is better off if the pavilion sits empty for another few years and then opens with something that actually offers a full pavilion experience closer to Wonders of Life (not in specific health content; just in terms of attractions, snacks, etc.).

Look at Imagination as an example -- if they'd shut down the second iteration for several years to do a full reworking and open with an actually excellent attraction and side activities, EPCOT would have been worse off for the years it was closed due to a loss of capacity, but would be in much better shape right now.

The only reason it's still a potential negative IMO is that the pavilion has already been empty for well over a decade. It's absolutely possible that Disney just lets it sit empty for another 10+ years, and if that's the case, then obviously the Play! Pavilion would be better than nothing.

And Disney would have spent untold millions on it which would have been subtracted from budgets for other rides. The worse alternative would have been that it proved unpopular in the way that you described and Disney used that as evidence that new rides don't move the needle in the way that popcorn buckets do.

 

[Chef idea Mickey`=]

Similarly the recent Baymax Disney+ series was faced with enough backlash for being "political" that the NYPost reported on it. Specifically the IP being discussed here for Wonders has this issue

Not saying that Wonders couldn't work today, it absolutely could. But let's not pretend that basic Health science isn't something a decent sized portion of this country considers political and controversial. Just look at how many cast members have stories of being yelled at about mask rules during the pandemic. Disney would have to be pretty careful in how they approach it OR they'd have to be ok with the likelihood of the NYPost writing articles about it being political

None of that is Baymax or Hiro's fault as a character! If Big Hero 6 was so problematic then Cali would be the first not to retheme build a SanFransokyo and Big Hero 6 would be dropped like Song of the South.

 

[Chef idea Mickey`=]

I think it would actually have been quit a positive for the park. EPCOT is desperate for something to do with younger kids that last more than a few minutes. I think the result now is that the place sits empty, and the guests get nothing.

Wasn't the Play Pavilion was also to hold return back several meet and greets such as Baymax and potentially maybe even bring over the Inside Out characters and ofc Venellope would have a new permanent home?..

 

[S.I.R. the Robot]

The fact they did this to Body Wars, which was perfect for people like me (insides are a sensory/comfort thing for me, as long as I know who we're inside) fleeping BOILS MY BLOOD!! And we still don't know who played the volunteer in the main show!! (They only did that to have the riders decide who it was, but I'd like to know the actual identity.)

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I think you guys are really grasping at straws here. There's nothing inherently political about healthcare and learning healthy habits.

In the USA? It is absolutely a highly political issue.
Even the idea of healthy habits is highly political.

 

[S.I.R. the Robot]

In the USA? It is absolutely a highly political issue.
Even the idea of healthy habits is highly political.

I'm apolitical, but I've been gaining weight due to my medication, and exercising is tiresome for me. What I've been doing is putting coaster/ride POVs on the bike/treadmill screens at the gym so I can pretend I'm on them.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

In the USA? It is absolutely a highly political issue.
Even the idea of healthy habits is highly political.

Disney is aware of the typical demographic that comes to the park. Usually large in size and needs a ECV to function.

 

[DisneyGentlemanV2.0]

And you HAD to have an endo ride in the OG pavilion too. If I worked for Disney, then I'd be pushing a revival of it on everyone! Except knowing who the patient is in the new Body Wars is a big deal for me...

Face it - they were just PLAYing us!

 

[S.I.R. the Robot]

Face it - they were just PLAYing us!

Like a darn fiddle.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

https://x.com/DreamfinderGuy/status/1764726654117519780

If there was somehow any doubt left, this project is very dead.

Why not here?

PLAY! pavilion Photos

PLAY! pavilion Photos

www.wdwmagic.com

 

[brb1006]

Man the Wonders of Life Pavilion can't catch a break.

 

[Chef idea Mickey`=]

The fact they did this to Body Wars, which was perfect for people like me (insides are a sensory/comfort thing for me, as long as I know who we're inside) fleeping BOILS MY BLOOD!! And we still don't know who played the volunteer in the main show!! (They only did that to have the riders decide who it was, but I'd like to know the actual identity.)

Haha you'd actually like to know who the individual they used to portrait the human they used for us to go inside of ...yeah tell us anyone

 

[MichWolv]

It has gone the way of Hyperion Wharf and David Copperfield Underground. Erased from history.

Sadly, it has gone the way of many updates announced for Epcot. New China movie, attraction in UK, Spaceship Earth changes, and of course the festival center.

 

[doctornick]

I think it would actually have been quit a positive for the park. EPCOT is desperate for something to do with younger kids that last more than a few minutes. I think the result now is that the place sits empty, and the guests get nothing.

Exactly. Regardless of whether one liked this idea, not having it is bad for everyone.

And even if it had been built as planned, there would still have been the former theater and ride footprints that could have been utilized for something "more" or "better" in the pavilion in the future. It's not like the main floor and activities of WoL were anything groundbreaking.

 

[UNCgolf]

Exactly. Regardless of whether one liked this idea, not having it is bad for everyone.

And even if it had been built as planned, there would still have been the former theater and ride footprints that could have been utilized for something "more" or "better" in the pavilion in the future. It's not like the main floor and activities of WoL were anything groundbreaking.

As explained above, it isn't.

It is in the short-term (anything not being used is bad in the short-term), but isn't in the long-term, unless they continue to leave it unused for another decade (which is admittedly a possibility, unfortunately).

It would be hard for them to come up with a worse use for it than the Play! Pavilion, and EPCOT has enough capacity that it isn't desperately needed right now the way it would be at DHS or DAK.

Building something bad just to have additional capacity isn't a good thing, especially because of how it blocks that space for future development. It also wouldn't be good if they threw up a carnival ferris wheel in the middle of DHS (I guess that would at least be more easily moved/temporary).