Two Spirited Quickees...Imagination closing

[MerlinTheGoat]

I'm hoping for more fantastical whimsy and extreme detail like the original (personally hoping for Dreamfinder having a part), and less random scattered computer equipment and wires in a largely empty black warehouse like the current one. Also hoping as usual for an emphasis on actual physical sets and animatronics instead of projected elements.

Wonder if they'll keep the old original tune from the Sherman Brothers (still a great one).

 

[Thrill]

Future World's biggest issue has been its tendency to get outdated. Retheming an entire pavilion around a fading cable TV property? Good Lord, no no no no noooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Crazy thing is, Imagination should never be outdated, as far as content goes. Future World has very few pavilions which are future-proof, and they could very well throw one away.

Spaceship Earth with some kind of franchise is somewhat understandable (from a business standpoint), because technology changes every 4 minutes. By the time the franchise is out, the communication technology has been gone for a long time. Of course, Spaceship Earth is a bad example, because they would never put a franchise in there. Would they?

 

[stevehousse]

Not to sound douchy, but what the hell does a giant fish tank have to do with the future to begin with? Nemo or no Nemo...

 

[dhall]

My dad, because neatness isn't my strong suit, used to change it from Missy to Messy . That I mind less because it's my dad. Anyone else...don't

My daughter, Ashley, can be somewhat clutzy (ok -- quite a bit clutzy) sometimes -- so one of her nicknames is "Crashley". She's about to get her license -- hopefully, it stays just a nickname.

 

[englanddg]

Not to sound douchy, but what the hell does a giant fish tank have to do with the future to begin with? Nemo or no Nemo...

You obviously never rode Horizons.

All the rides used to be tied to a unified theme with that attraction. When they tore it down and replaced it with a simulation of a simulation with a playplace straight out of a McDonalds...that's when the front part of the park really started to really crumble...

 

[doctornick]

Crazy thing is, Imagination should never be outdated, as far as content goes. Future World has very few pavilions which are future-proof, and they could very well throw one away.

The original JII was certainly something that would have been timeless and resonate indefinitely. Due to the theme, I don't think it would have suffered from the potential "future" issues that other Tomorrowland/Future World attractions are susceptible to. I mean, imagination always will be a part of human culture.

Not to sound douchy, but what the hell does a giant fish tank have to do with the future to begin with? Nemo or no Nemo...

Well, Seabase Alpha was themed to undersea exploration with a nod to living under the water someday. It was certainly future-ish.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Of all the original Epcot rides, Imagination 1.0 I think held up the best from a future proof perspective. I still watch Martin's tribute of it and there's really not much there that needed massive updating to remain relevant to today. Just a good solid refurb and general update to clean it up, install new cutting edge lighting effects and more expressive animatronic figures, and some other miscellaneous technical improvements (obviously take the time to install new tech that can smooth out the issues the rotating theater has always had) but it certainly didn't need to be gutted (nor should it have been especially considering the complete and utter filth that replaced it). I'd argue none of the classic Epcot rides deserved a complete gutting and reworking in the manner they got, but Imagination 1.0 was in need of the least work to get it up to date.

Spaceship Earth's 1994 rehab was fantastic and is a prime example of how to update an attraction to make it superior to the original. I can't even think of any other Disney rides that have received such a wonderful and respectful overhaul, it's a rare and virtually unheard of exception to the norm. An effort I wish they had put into all the Future World collection of rides instead of gutting and replacing them with the crap we've got now.

And yes I do call it a crappy mess they pulled. Nothing will ever convince me that Test Track is anywhere close to World of Motion, Mission SPACE is anywhere close to Horizons, Imagination 2 and 3 are anywhere close to 1.0 and etc etc.

You obviously never rode Horizons.

All the rides used to be tied to a unified theme with that attraction. When they tore it down and replaced it with a simulation of a simulation with a playplace straight out of a McDonalds...that's when the front part of the park really started to really crumble...

Agreed. I won't claim Horizons didn't need updating or anything. But what it got was the last thing it needed to me. In my opinion, it needed a good long reworking like SSE's '94 overhaul. Definitely not a gutting or a replacement with a space simulator (aka glorified spinner).

If Spaceship Earth was the brain of EPCOT, i'd probably call Horizons the heart. Imagination being abstract thought that worked with the rest of them. Each pavilion kind of felt like a vital organ in its own way. Important, entertaining and insightful looks at ourselves and the universe around us. And similar to what would happen to the body, doing what they did to EPCOT literally feels like the heart, mind and creativity of the place was just ripped out and lost.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

simulation of a simulation

I never thought about it that way

 

[englanddg]

Not to sound douchy, but what the hell does a giant fish tank have to do with the future to begin with? Nemo or no Nemo...

I'd also consider that, when it was built, it was the largest saltwater aquarium in the world (not just the Disney World), and it retained that crown from it's opening in 1986 until the Georgia Aquarium was opened in 2005. The GA Aquarium is around 1/3 larger (to give you an idea for scale). The next largest after the Seas at Disney is one in Dubai that is not quite half the size of the Seas.

At the time (and even today), I'd call that feat pretty darned impressive, and all that just to build an emmersive theme park attraction? Wow...

 

[FigmentJedi]

Not to sound douchy, but what the hell does a giant fish tank have to do with the future to begin with? Nemo or no Nemo...

It's not supposed to be a giant fish tank in the story. You are transported to Sea Base Alpha, an underwater research base in the Caribbean. When they lost the Hydrolators, they lost a lot of the transition element to it. The queue for Nemo is okay in getting you underwater, but not so much the unload that just drops you into SeaBase and the exit losing the Hydrolators as well.

Though it's kinda morbid to overthink the idea of an underwater research base in a Central Florida park in a place called Future World considering where we seem to be heading now.

 

[Matt7187]

You obviously never rode Horizons.

All the rides used to be tied to a unified theme with that attraction. When they tore it down and replaced it with a simulation of a simulation with a playplace straight out of a McDonalds...that's when the front part of the park really started to really crumble...

I wish I could have ridden it. Only hear great things about it. Damn being young!

 

[doctornick]

And yes I do call it a crappy mess they pulled. Nothing will ever convince me that Test Track is anywhere close to World of Motion, Mission SPACE is anywhere close to Horizons, Imagination 2 and 3 are anywhere close to 1.0 and etc etc.

I think Test Track gets a bad rap in this regards. It's completely different from WoM and I totally understand the sentiment about it being inferior to its predecessor but I think it actually is a good fit for Future World. If TT were an opening day attraction in Epcot, I think people would regard it much more fondly. It certainly has elements of the edutainment spirit of the Epcot Center.

I just don't think Test Track deserves to be lumped into the same bin as Imagination, M:S, Nemo, etc. when it comes to disrespecting or destroying the original ambiance of the park.

 

[englanddg]

I wish I could have ridden it. Only hear great things about it. Damn being young!

Just check out @marni1971 's video tribute. Of course it's not the same as seeing it in person, but it's the closest we'll come, unless some entrprising and imaginative "Imagineer" comes along to revive the lost magic.

Here...

 

[stevehousse]

You obviously never rode Horizons.

All the rides used to be tied to a unified theme with that attraction. When they tore it down and replaced it with a simulation of a simulation with a playplace straight out of a McDonalds...that's when the front part of the park really started to really crumble...

Been on Horizons plenty of times in the past but never had been on the old aquarium ride! never had the appeal to ride it as a kid. I do miss the old Future World attractions but the Nemo retheme isn't nearly as bad as some on here tend to say that it is...

 

[quirkle]

So glad I am going this year- OL are spectacular. Imagination ride is not the issue - the raping of Image Works. I literally spent hours there as a kid. Stop taking things out people - we need year round quality and special events. not one of or the other.

 

[Admiral01]

If Spaceship Earth was the brain of EPCOT, i'd probably call Horizons the heart.

Almost exactly my thoughts. I've always told family and friends that Space Ship Earth was EPCOT's mind, Imagination was EPCOT's heart, and Horizons was EPCOT's soul.

What we've been left with is a brain that only really has one lobe, a heart that now needs a quadruple bypass, and a lost soul.

 

[englanddg]

Almost exactly my thoughts. I've always told family and friends that Space Ship Earth was EPCOT's mind, Imagination was EPCOT's heart, and Horizons was EPCOT's soul.

What we've been left with is a brain that only really has one lobe, a heart that now needs a quadruple bypass, and a lost soul.

Truer words have never been spoken! <grin>

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I think Test Track gets a bad rap in this regards. It's completely different from WoM and I totally understand the sentiment about it being inferior to its predecessor but I think it actually is a good fit for Future World. If TT were an opening day attraction in Epcot, I think people would regard it much more fondly. It certainly has elements of the edutainment spirit of the Epcot Center.

I just don't think Test Track deserves to be lumped into the same bin as Imagination, M:S, Nemo, etc. when it comes to disrespecting or destroying the original ambiance of the park.

I don't think Test Track gets a lot of hate actually. I've yet to ride the new version with the Tron like lighting (looks like an improvement over the first one at least), but still not a big fan. Even less when I consider what we lost to gain it. To me it was just a way to satisfy people who thought the park needed a thrill ride. I'm not really again that, but it should have been an addition, definitely not a replacement to the current roster of rides.

If it was really necessary, they should have just built the ride around the general area of the World of Motion building, not inside. I gather that this was one of the original concepts when the park was in concept stage. From Martin's tribute on WoM, looks like a Test Track type of ride was going to travel around the WoM building (perhaps through it in parts and intersecting with the ride inside), but both were going to be separate rides. That would have been a much better way of dealing with the situation and would have pleased pretty much everyone.

And yes people probably wouldn't have hated so much on Test Track had it been an opening day attraction. If there was never a World of Motion to begin with, there wouldn't be anything to compare it to. Though it still doesn't compare to other rides like Horizons or Spaceship Earth. To me, it would have been a tolerable addition to the area had they kept World of Motion as it was (obviously any SSE'94 refurb would have been welcome to all the Epcot rides though), not replacing it.

 

[Thrill]

Spaceship Earth's 1994 rehab was fantastic and is a prime example of how to update an attraction to make it superior to the original. I can't even think of any other Disney rides that have received such a wonderful and respectful overhaul, it's a rare and virtually unheard of exception to the norm. An effort I wish they had put into all the Future World collection of rides instead of gutting and replacing them with the crap we've got now.

Haunted Mansion's 2007 refurb was really, really good. Better audio, the Escher staircase room, new attic, floating Leota, and other minor enhancements. Respects the original and improves the ride dramatically.

I don't think Test Track gets a lot of hate actually. I've yet to ride the new version with the Tron like lighting (looks like an improvement over the first one at least), but still not a big fan. Even less when I consider what we lost to gain it. To me it was just a way to satisfy people who thought the park needed a thrill ride. I'm not really again that, but it should have been an addition, definitely not a replacement to the current roster of rides.

If it was really necessary, they should have just built the ride around the general area of the World of Motion building, not inside. I gather that this was one of the original concepts when the park was in concept stage. From Martin's tribute on WoM, looks like a Test Track type of ride was going to travel around the WoM building (perhaps through it in parts and intersecting with the ride inside), but both were going to be separate rides. That would have been a much better way of dealing with the situation and would have pleased pretty much everyone.

And yes people probably wouldn't have hated so much on Test Track had it been an opening day attraction. If there was never a World of Motion to begin with, there wouldn't be anything to compare it to. Though it still doesn't compare to other rides like Horizons or Spaceship Earth. To me, it would have been a tolerable addition to the area had they kept World of Motion as it was (obviously any SSE'94 refurb would have been welcome to all the Epcot rides though), not replacing it.

The new Test Track is a vast improvement over the original, as I see it. I have only seen videos of World of Motion, but I'd probably prefer it. I get the whole thrill rides thing, but WoM looks like an excellent dark ride that might well be just a step behind Haunted Mansion or Pirates.

Both would be ideal, but if I had to take one, World of Motion.

 

[englanddg]

The only thing I don't like about Test Track is the queue (which may have been updated with the last refurb, I won't know for another few weeks...I've been avoiding updates and videos of the new ride like the plague)...

I think they could have kept some of the more memorable scenes and put them in the queue and made for a nice little walk through attraction/queue to get to the main ride...that way you have a short and funny "history" of automotive and a new thrill ride.