News Test Track to be reimagined

[ToTBellHop]

Yeah, it has added capacity from what was there at the time -- a better statement would be that the park still has less capacity than it did in the early 1990s.

I also think the current attraction lineup is significantly worse than the attraction lineup of that time period, but that's subjective.

I wonder what we’d discover if we compared actual utilized capacity at Epcot in the late ‘90s to today. Obviously, shuttering Wonders of Life and removing Innoventions diminished physical guest space but they weren’t particularly well-utilized. We all know they just needed updates, not removal, but I do wonder—were more guests wandering around aimlessly in the “boring” earlier Epcot (not my opinion but an opinion of many) or today? I get the impression that recent additions to Epcot are generally popular.

Once the money faucet opens up in October, I’d hope Wonders of Life will move toward reopening with an updated concept from Play. That’s something that could actually open pretty quickly. Between the blazing hot summer last year and very rainy fall and winter, that indoor space would’ve been nice. A more organized company would’ve coordinated it reopening with Inside Out 2.

 

[TTA94]

There are some potential entertainment updates. But remember, he’s speaking of all six of their resorts. Paris, for example, has a forthcoming expansion that would be included. There may be some more low hanging fruit among Magic Kingdom Classics…

Can you comment further on the potential entertainment updates and where?

 

[UNCgolf]

I wonder what we’d discover if we compared actual utilized capacity at Epcot in the late ‘90s to today. Obviously, shuttering Wonders of Life and removing Innoventions diminished physical guest space but they weren’t particularly well-utilized. We all know they just needed updates, not removal, but I do wonder—were more guests wandering around aimlessly in the “boring” earlier Epcot (not my opinion but an opinion of many) or today? I get the impression that recent additions to Epcot are generally popular.

Once the money faucet opens up in October, I’d hope Wonders of Life will move toward reopening with an updated concept from Play. That’s something that could actually open pretty quickly. Between the blazing hot summer last year and very rainy fall and winter, that indoor space would’ve been nice. A more organized company would’ve coordinated it reopening with Inside Out 2.

I think late 90s is significantly different than early 90s when it comes to EPCOT. I don't think there was much under-utilized capacity then; everything there was pretty popular.

As for Play -- I hope it doesn't open quickly, because I'd prefer to see them completely rethink it and use that space for something much better. It also feels like Communicore Hall is going to at least partially fill the role they originally envisioned for Play with meet and greet space etc.

 

[Haymarket2008]

There are some potential entertainment updates. But remember, he’s speaking of all six of their resorts. Paris, for example, has a forthcoming expansion that would be included. There may be some more low hanging fruit among Magic Kingdom Classics…

I would imagine that Small World, Peter Pan and Big Thunder are being eyed....

Fingers crossed for Carousel of Progress to get love like Country Bears are getting.

(Side note: Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Buzz are looking ROUGH.)

 

[HauntedPirate]

I wonder what we’d discover if we compared actual utilized capacity at Epcot in the late ‘90s to today. Obviously, shuttering Wonders of Life and removing Innoventions diminished physical guest space but they weren’t particularly well-utilized. We all know they just needed updates, not removal, but I do wonder—were more guests wandering around aimlessly in the “boring” earlier Epcot (not my opinion but an opinion of many) or today? I get the impression that recent additions to Epcot are generally popular.

Once the money faucet opens up in October, I’d hope Wonders of Life will move toward reopening with an updated concept from Play. That’s something that could actually open pretty quickly. Between the blazing hot summer last year and very rainy fall and winter, that indoor space would’ve been nice. A more organized company would’ve coordinated it reopening with Inside Out 2.

From what I recall of 80's/early 90's EPCOT Center, people were not wandering around aimlessly. People would generally go to SSE first, and then break to one side or the other, moving from pavilion to pavilion. Then they would stop in either Communicore, be that for a food/beverage break, taking in the actual exhibits in those buildings, or just sitting for a while and watching the fountain show, and then moving on to other pavilions before moving onto World Showcase. If you watch old EPCOT Center videos, you'll see people lined up at pretty much every pavilion, including the ones deemed "boring" by those with either no experience with EPCOT Center or those with the attention span (and potentially intellect) of a gnat.

The Land pavilion, in particular, was a master class in guest flow. It was designed to have guests enter and go to the right (the natural way people tend to move, for some reason), watch Symbiosis, proceed down the escalator to Listen to the Land, proceed then to Kitchen Kabaret, and finally having a bite to eat at The Farmer's Market (or proceeding up the escalator to The Land Grille) before leaving the pavilion. There was a flow to that pavilion and its message that was brilliantly designed by those who built it.

I won't believe the talk about 'the money faucet opening up in October' until I see it. I remain, as always, skeptical.

 

[the_rich]

I wonder what we’d discover if we compared actual utilized capacity at Epcot in the late ‘90s to today. Obviously, shuttering Wonders of Life and removing Innoventions diminished physical guest space but they weren’t particularly well-utilized. We all know they just needed updates, not removal, but I do wonder—were more guests wandering around aimlessly in the “boring” earlier Epcot (not my opinion but an opinion of many) or today? I get the impression that recent additions to Epcot are generally popular.

Once the money faucet opens up in October, I’d hope Wonders of Life will move toward reopening with an updated concept from Play. That’s something that could actually open pretty quickly. Between the blazing hot summer last year and very rainy fall and winter, that indoor space would’ve been nice. A more organized company would’ve coordinated it reopening with Inside Out 2.

Could they possibly do something with apple and the vision pro?

 

[_caleb]

The problem with Test Track is the existing corporate sponsorship. I’d love to see WDI swing for the fences with a big idea and if GM doesn’t like it, maybe they should turn to Kia or an electric car company I won’t name here.

 

[MisterPenguin]

if GM doesn’t like it, maybe they should turn to Kia or an electric car company I won’t name here.

You mean that company that has actual self-driving cars up and running in three major cities?

 

[_caleb]

You mean that company that has actual self-driving cars up and running in three major cities?

The future is here, and citizens of San Francisco HATE it!

Crowd Sets Waymo Self-Driving Car on Fire: ‘They Couldn’t Even Recognize the Vehicle’

An onlooker said no one made a move to stop the crowd. “I mean, there wasn’t anything you could do to stand up to dozens of people.”

gizmodo.com

 

[UNCgolf]

I really hope Spaceship Earth is on that list...

Depending on what they plan to do with it.

 

[SteveAZee]

So even though it’s technically lower capacity it carries more guests.

Peter, could you explain this please?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Peter, could you explain this please?

I’m not Peter but I think the point is that Guardians is very popular and pretty much runs at capacity all day. Universe of Energy had a higher potential capacity, but never used the full capacity.

 

[peter11435]

Peter, could you explain this please?

Let’s say attraction A has a capacity of 2000 guests an hour and attraction B has a capacity of 1200. Attraction B obviously has a lower capacity than attraction A. But if attraction A has lost popularity and only experiences 50% utilization then it’s only accommodating 1000 while attraction B is experiencing 100% utilization accommodating 1200. So while A has higher capacity, B is actually carrying more guests and benefiting the park more.

 

[Mickeynerd17]

Let’s say attraction A has a capacity of 2000 guests an hour and attraction B has a capacity of 1200. Attraction B obviously has a lower capacity than attraction A. But if attraction A has lost popularity and only experiences 50% utilization then it’s only accommodating 1000 while attraction B is experiencing 100% utilization accommodating 1200. So while A has higher capacity, B is actually carrying more guests and benefiting the park more.

That's how an attraction like Cosmic Rewind can have a higher capacity than Energy. Operationally, I'm pretty sure energy could move more people per hour, but most of the time the middle 2 theater cars weren't even used due to lost popularity.

 

[aladdin2007]

I really hope Spaceship Earth is on that list...

Figment needs to be as well, after riding it today, the thing needs to just be put out of its misery. I cant believe they are okay with the state of attractions, but keep spending millions on shrubs, and lights that dont work.

 

[AKL2003]

SSE refurb, WoL attraction(s) and Imagination pavilion reworked would satisfy most IF done correctly…BIG IF…i also think Epcot is the park that would actually require the least PURE expansion…

 

[ToTBellHop]

Let’s say attraction A has a capacity of 2000 guests an hour and attraction B has a capacity of 1200. Attraction B obviously has a lower capacity than attraction A. But if attraction A has lost popularity and only experiences 50% utilization then it’s only accommodating 1000 while attraction B is experiencing 100% utilization accommodating 1200. So while A has higher capacity, B is actually carrying more guests and benefiting the park more.

True, but you also would spend 45 minutes to an hour in the UoE building. It doesn’t usually take that long to go through Cosmic Rewind due to the VQ/ILL.

 

[UNCgolf]

True, but you also would spend 45 minutes to an hour in the UoE building. It doesn’t usually take that long to go through Cosmic Rewind due to the VQ/ILL.

There's a term for that that's been used here before, but I can't ever remember what it is.

But yes, if UoE was serving 1000 guests an hour but they were kept busy for 45 minutes, and Cosmic Rewind served 1800 an hour and they're only kept busy for 10 minutes, UoE could still be doing more capacity wise for overall park operations.

I doubt Ellen was drawing even 1000 guests per hour before it closed, but it was heavily dated and definitely needed a change. I wonder what they could have come up with if they'd kept the moving theater system and built a new attraction around that, though. It would have been nice to keep that kind of extended experience.

 

[James Alucobond]

There's a term for that that's been used here before, but I can't ever remember what it is.

Might be thinking of instantaneous capacity.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Might be thinking of instantaneous capacity.

Do we need to know calculus for this?