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

[UNCgolf]

If they're hoping PLAY! isn't happening, then they're also hoping for the consequence of PLAY! not happening: The pavilion sitting unused for years like Stitch's Great Escape is.

And they're hoping for Disney character M&Gs to be all over EPCOT, rather than relegated to the WoL Pavilion.

Be careful what you hope for!

That's actually exactly what I want! The pavilion sitting unused for another 5 years is better than it being the Play! Pavilion for 15+ years, which is what would happen if it opens.

I'd rather it be unused so that it has the potential to eventually be something worthwhile instead of wasting a whole pavilion for decades.

Plus, Disney character M&Gs are already all over EPCOT; the Play! Pavilion wasn't going to stop that.

 

[J4546]

Aybe they combi e their play ideas and use them to refurb the imagination pavilion with new experiences and interactions...keeping figment of course

 

[JohnD]

It is, and that's obviously not a quality source, but it already felt like they were on the verge of quietly canceling it when they said nothing at D23. It hasn't been mentioned when they've discussed EPCOT in quite a while.

None of our insiders have refuted it, either.

I still say Play! is sooo 2019 and pre-pandemic. My hunch is it's not coming back.

 

[Coaster Lover]

I feel like the fact that Play wasn't mentioned at all at D23 is the biggest "confirmation" we have that plans have changed and I don't think it's unreasonable to think that we wouldn't hear anything about a cancelation from any insiders until/unless a replacement was late in the planning. How much has been done on the inside and what are the chances they just move stuff towards the walls and make this event space?

 

[Jrb1979]

I feel like the fact that Play wasn't mentioned at all at D23 is the biggest "confirmation" we have that plans have changed and I don't think it's unreasonable to think that we wouldn't hear anything about a cancelation from any insiders until/unless a replacement was late in the planning. How much has been done on the inside and what are the chances they just move stuff towards the walls and make this event space?

Add in the Mary Poppins attraction that seems to be cancelled too.

 

[Fear]

Why do you think anyone is treating this as gospel?

It's basically just people hopeful that it's true.

Check twitter. Bunch of memes and posts about it.

 

[UNCgolf]

Check twitter. Bunch of memes and posts about it.

I thought you meant on this forum/in this thread.

Half of Twitter's whole existence is people believing/posting ridiculous things.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I feel like the fact that Play wasn't mentioned at all at D23 is the biggest "confirmation" we have that plans have changed

Oh... no, no... Lack of D23 announcements are meaningless...

21 Major Omissions That Weren't Revealed At D23

Fans may have overhyped themselves.

www.buzzfeed.com

What was missing from the Disney D23 Expo Boundless Future presentation

A look back at D23 Expo and what didn't make the cut for this year's Disney Parks presentation.

www.wdwmagic.com

All the Big Disney News that was not Announced this Weekend

The Walt Disney Company made many BIG Announcements, but a few we were hoping to hear about were missing. Here is what was NOT announced this past weekend

www.kennythepirate.com

What WASN'T Announced at the D23 Expo This Year?

We look at all the things that we didn't hear announced at the 2022 D23 Expo Parks Panel, and what this means for the parks!

mickeyblog.com

 

[TwilightZone]

I wish for a combination like Eisner / Wells.

And why’s Humungous in that montage?

It's a little comparison chart that made sense in my brain but now realize is kinda cryptic in practice lol.
Harmonious is similar to the failure of Light Magic.
The Play logo being placed everywhere despite it being (supposedly) dead in thee water is similar to the Beastly Kingdom Dragon being placed all around Animal Kingdom (as well as advertising materials for the park)

 

[Coaster Lover]

Oh... no, no... Lack of D23 announcements are meaningless...

I agree with you to an extent, but I feel like there is a difference here... most (all?) of the things you linked to were things that were never announced that had initial announcements after D23. This was a project that was previously announced that had no updates at D23. Of the projects that were previously announced but hadn't opened, what others (if any) had no updates? Frog mountain was updated, so was Tron, Zootopia, Runaway Railway, Fantasy Springs, Moana, Avengers Campus E Ticket, World of Frozen... all had updates... further, all of these were listed on Disney's "Boundless Future" timeline presented at the end of the event...

Play! and Mary Poppins? Both completely missing...

 

[TwilightZone]

I think it's more (beaver) daming that Disney has been radio silent about this rumor than anything else. Remember the Country Bear debacle? Or the Tiki Room one? It feels weird that Disney hasn't said anything about this rumor anywhere. Maybe I am looking too deep into things though.

 

[ToTBellHop]

FWIW, I’ve not heard it’s canceled. Possibly postponed like TRON was (and we all know that postponement didn’t last very long). If the Board actually canceled it this week, why release that exclusively to the bad site? They hate him.

Also, I doubt the Board would make a decision like that. Might they have decided to pull its FY23 funding and shuttle it elsewhere? Sure. That would delay the project by a year (if it then was added to the FY24 budget). But a cancellation from that group seems unlikely.

 

[Fear]

I think it's more (beaver) daming that Disney has been radio silent about this rumor than anything else. Remember the Country Bear debacle? Or the Tiki Room one? It feels weird that Disney hasn't said anything about this rumor anywhere. Maybe I am looking too deep into things though.

It's not weird at all. CBJ and Tiki had huge outcries from people who believed they were going to get bulldozed based on That Site's rumors. Nobody's flooding Disney's inbox with Save PLAY! Pavilion petitions.

Also, there's really no reason to respond to rumors like this at all. Those responses in the past were extremely, extremely unprecedented.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Could this be made into an indoor theatre similar to what was announced for the Magic Kingdom off of Market Street??

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

or the short lived in-park gondolas giving guests access to other lands or infrastructure or any other 'back of house' -- there's only so much that can be hidden.

Not far off with the Epcot line on the skyliner..

 

[ToTBellHop]

Could this be made into an indoor theatre similar to what was announced for the Magic Kingdom off of Market Street??

If that’s what they really want. Just make a pavilion with a theater. Like Wonders of Life…

 

[J4546]

make it an outerspace planetarium imax theater with cool solar system universe shows

 

[_caleb]

FWIW, I’ve not heard it’s canceled. Possibly postponed like TRON was (and we all know that postponement didn’t last very long). If the Board actually canceled it this week, why release that exclusively to the bad site? They hate him.

Possible at least one person close to the Board doesn't hate him, and maybe "leak" might be a better word than "release?"

Or maybe he's just specu-lying, as usual.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Possible at least one person close to the Board doesn't hate him, and maybe "leak" might be a better word than "release?"

Or maybe he's just specu-lying, as usual.

But why would someone on the Board want a bad headline? They all want the company making money. In this case, if the project were canceled, they’d rather have nothing said. Whether or not the headline is true, the story behind its creation doesn’t pass the smell test for me.

 

[_caleb]

But why would someone on the Board want a bad headline? They all want the company making money. In this case, if the project were canceled, they’d rather have nothing said.

Oh, I'm just speculating.

But haven't we seen leaks like this happen sometimes in political maneuvering to try to influence things? Leak that a project is cancelled so that Disney has to refute it, further solidifying their commitment to the project. Or the opposite: leak that a cancelled project is still on so that public opinion can apply pressure to stick with it.

Also, on the Board and close to the Board aren't the same thing.