We all miss the early days of EPCOT Ctr. I do too, but, you know what we can spend a lifetime looking back and in the process miss today and tomorrow. Epcot, is not the same, true! It has changed from one focus to a more foggy focus, but, it's what we have now. I enjoyed Horizons, but I also enjoy Mission: Space and to me it seems like I am part of it way more then I ever did with Horizons. I enjoyed WoM and thought it was very Disney, but, it's gone and Test Track has replaced it. WoM is not coming back either, there is only so long anyone should mourn the loss of a theme park ride before we move on and get enjoyment out of what is there. I loved Imagination as a complete Pavilion and hate that it no longer is one. I hate that they put Michael (hand to crotch) Jackson back in when it was rejected so many years ago. If I am absolutely honest the only part of the Imagination ride that was jaw dropping was the first part with the turntable, Dream Finder and Figment, after that it was cool but it was also boring in many places. UoE was a 45 minute advertisement for Exxon. Now, like her or not, Ellen has made it at least focused on science and explanations and HUMOR. Don't miss the original at all. Wonders of life, had Body Wars and Cranium Command, other then that, for adults, meh! It is criminal that nothing new has gone in there though.
Let's skip back over to The Land, shall we? Originally there was The Symbiosis Film that I cannot comment on because I have never seen it. Living with the Land is essentially the same ride as when it open. Soarin is a much more immersive show then Kitchen Kabaret that, if you let yourself admit it, was just a kiddy puppet show with catchy music. You never saw an hour long line waiting to see Kabaret, I'm sure. The Seas, OK I miss the Hyrdolators they were a fun part of it, but, today's ride, although dominated by Nemo is longer and at least leaves one with something to look at. Not a huge improvement but at least different. The inside, aquarium view hasn't changed a lot, if you've seen one fish swimming you have seen them all. Interesting but only for short periods of time. Sure they had the diver in the tube, but that wasn't constant and if you weren't there at showtime you didn't get to see it. Turtle talk is more entertaining.
One part that has changed negatively, in my mind, is Innoventions. That used to take up a lot of time, just looking around at things. It was never my favorite and probably not that many others felt it was a must see. I did enjoy it though.
The next is purely my opinion. Spaceship Earth, was never the same after the Walter Cronkite version ended. He was a voice that I grew up listening too and he projected calmness and the sense that everything no matter how much it changed was going to be alright. As for the ending, I haven't see one yet since the place opened up that I didn't think was lame and mostly an afterthought. Sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same.
Epcot remains my favorite park not only for what it once was, but for what it is today. I can venture one thing though and that is, if the bean counters had any reason to think that EPCOT was pulling them in, we would still be looking at everything we did in 1983. The idea that we, as a group, rehash the "old" EPCOT as much as we do seems to just be a futile attempt at nostalgia. They aren't coming back, the world has changed to the degree that it isn't wanted, except for by a group of raging fans. In the overused words of the Frozen song... "Let it Go!"
Dear spaghetti monster, I don't think I have the strength to not respond to this post.
Part of me wants to go through piece by piece and attack each of your points. Part of me wants to defend the honor of my beloved Kitchen Kabaret over that overblown clone of a ride that should have stayed in California, take down your idea that a good portion of the original Imagination was boring, scoff at the thought that "once you've seen one fish swimming you've seen them all", debate in detail why swapping Horizons for Mission:Space was a massive debacle, get into the idea of an empty pavilion sitting unused, piece by piece take issue with this post. But, you know what, it's all opinion. You are free to your opinion on Epcot. You'll find some people even agree with parts of it.
What I want to focus on here is something different. More meaningful. It's what EPCOT once stood for, and what it does now. EPCOT as envisioned by Walt is entirely different than what was built. Walt's vision for an experimental community was not going to fly as a theme park (if it would have
worked is another interesting point of discussion). But, while there were not people living, working, collaborating, inventing in the EPCOT that was opened in the 80's, I always
felt the spirit of what the park stood for. Through entertainment and technology, it was meant to foster the imaginative spirit and inquisitive nature of all of us to realize the things that are possible in the world. It was meant to educate and inspire us to a greater future.
That is what is lacking today. It's all been taken away, given lip service here or there, but based on the (incorrect) assumption that people thought learning was boring, and that kids needed to be talked to at the lowest level possible in order to keep them engaged.
World of Motion gave me the history of travel, and through understanding where we came from, it inspired us to look towards the places we could go in the future. Test Track just lets me know a simplified (and false) version of how they design and test current cars.
Nemo. I don't think I can even say it. What does Nemo do to inspire us? Seabase Alpha let us look towards the time when undersea exploration might help us understand the very nature of our planet in a deeper (pun!) way. The oceans make up 70% of our planet, and we've explored less than 5% of them. Forget the fish, that was NEVER the point of Seabase Alpha. Nemo inspires us to buy merchandise now.
Horizons. Sigh. "If we can dream it, we can do it". Looking towards the future. What Mission Space does is simulate something that for the most part happened in the 60's (substitute the moon for Mars). There is next to NOTHING forward facing in this. Nothing to inspire me to study the universe. Heck, there was nothing there to even inspire me to ride it a second time (ever).
Imagination is a travesty in it's current state, and it used to be the linchpin of the entire park. Through imagination, experience, and education the future was going to be possible. Now we learn about the 5 senses. Great, my kindergartener's mind will be blown.
No one wants to hear me rail against Soarin, believe me. Y'all seem to like that ride.
I loved the points brought up earlier regarding the soundtrack to EPCOT and what it truly meant. Those thoughts made me smile and nod.
I could go on and on. The point here is that what EPCOT was meant to do, it's mission statement:
To all who come to this place of joy, hope of enterprise and concepts of a future that promises new and exciting benefits for all. May EPCOT Center entertain, inform and inspire and above all, may it instill a new sense of belief and pride in man's ability to shape a world that offers hope to people everywhere in the world.
—
E. Cardon Walker, October 24, 1982
That is all gone now. Education was replaced for entertainment, and a lot of times in the lowest common denominator (ohh, skunk smell, LOLZ). Was EPCOT perfect? Of course not. Where Disney failed here was it took a step backwards and not forwards. EPCOT needed to be cutting edge at all times. It needed to be always looking one, two, five steps ahead. It needed to
change ahead of the times. Instead it was gutted and in it's place was an empty facade with some neon lights that distract the children. And a hangglider simulation about California, you know, the FUTURE!
