Universe of Energy observation 4/24

[bluelobster]

I was at Epcot for the day today, and noticed something...at no point did any cast member, sign, or spiel make mention of "Ellen's Energy Adventure". This is a pretty stark departure from the last time I was at the attraction three months ago, when you could still find signs and the attraction name was still being used frequently. Today, while the Ellen/Bill Nye show was still the thing playing (unfortunately), every last cast member seemed to go out of their way to refer to the area under the classic "Universe of Energy" name.

There were a couple of maintenance issues too. The film appeared to have damage in a couple of locations. One of the screens in the pre-show appeared green-hued the entire time (projection issues?), and there was visible deterioration in the main ride film, especially noticed in the outdoor scenes. Additionally, on one occasion the cars seemed to have issues with the ride tracks. Most likely money's about to have to be spent on the pavilion one way *or* the other.

It may just be a whole lot of nothing, but between what I saw today combined with the pavilion's chronic lack of sponsor, there seemed to be signs that the Ellen show may not be long for the World

 

[ChrisFL]

hmm, it could be as simple as a naming rights thing on a contract?

 

[Flight Safety]

Interesting... :shrug: I hope it doesnt get neglected too much, its one of my favorites!

 

[Neverland]

I thought the whole pavilion was still called the Universe of Energy and the ride was Ellen's Energy Adventure? Like if the Nemo ride were called something different, the CMs could still say "Welcome to the Seas with Nemo and Friends", because the whole pavilion is called that. Could be wrong, though. Don't visit Ellen and Bill very often, and I don't pay much attention when I do.

As for the maintenance, unfortunately, the World has quite a problem with that in all the parks. :/ Peter Pan's Flight needs cleaning badly, Soarin's movie is getting pretty gritty-looking, half the wall projectors in Muppets are broken, and apparently It's Tough to be a Bug has been having trouble with Hopper. It's quite sad, really.

 

[Thrill Seeker]

I've heard rumors Energy is not long for this world, but we'll see if that's actually true...

 

[harryk]

Hope it doesn't go the way of Body Wars!!
Great ride, Great idea - just get rid of the Ellen portion and get back to informing instead of giving Ellen royalties.

 

[erasure fan1]

there seemed to be signs that the Ellen show may not be long for the World

Dont you mean universe?:veryconfu

I would love for them to re-work this attraction but keep it in the same spirit as it is now. As a huge Dinosaur nut as a small kid (still love them now as well) this ride was amazing to me back then. I have a fear that because of dinosaur in the AK, this attraction could become extinct. :animwink:

 

[Prototype82]

Let's hope that comedy show goes away soon. Very interesting that they've dropped calling it "Ellen's Energy Adventure" all of a sudden. It's also promising that they repainted the exterior the original color scheme some time ago. Who knows? Maybe they're going to re-do it soon. I'd love to see some digital projectors and some new footage in there. No comedian hosts please. I'd love to see an overhaul on that place.

 

[CDavid]

I've heard rumors Energy is not long for this world, but we'll see if that's actually true...

I absolutely wouldn't want Universe of energy itself to go away, or have the attraction gutted like World of Motion or Imagination; It needs an update, not a bulldozer.

As for Ellen's Energy Adventure, it cannot go away quickly enough. I'd rather they put the original show back in there than continue to endure what we have now.

 

[thewhitequeen]

That movie is in baaaaaddddddd shape BUT we still like the ride. If there isn't a line it's a great place to get out of the heat.

 

[Glasgow]

Surely they wouldn't shutter 2 of the 4 FW East attractions at the same time. Right? Right??

 

[wild01ride]

Surely they wouldn't shutter 2 of the 4 FW East attractions at the same time. Right? Right??

By "2", are you referring to the other as being the "Wonders of Life" Pavilion?
Personally, I wouldn't even consider that "shuttered" at this point, but rather wiped from existence.
Of course, it is occassionally used for public events, as a pavilion in Epcot, I would think it's safe to say it is dead.
Unfortunately...

(Not that WoL was by any means a special thing for me, but it is sad that WDW, a place that holds much greatness in my heart, is allowing yet another important piece of real estate waste away.)

 

[SeaCastle]

Due to the high visibility of Universe of Energy (and Imagination, at that), I would be surprised if management ever pulled a Wonders of Life on those pavilions. That would leave relatively large segments of the park looking like ghost towns, and I don't imagine that's particularly desirable.

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

Surely they wouldn't shutter 2 of the 4 FW East attractions at the same time. Right? Right??

I wouldn't put anything past them :shrug:

 

[thewhitequeen]

Sometimes I wonder if new visitors even know there is a ride in the building. The last time we went on it there were only a handful of people in one ride vehicle and the others were pretty empty as well.

 

[freediverdude]

Yep, after just shuttering Wonders of Life, and then taking away the Lights of Winter during the holidays, neither with a replacement, I don't think I would be surprised at anything else just disappearing.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I thought the whole pavilion was still called the Universe of Energy and the ride was Ellen's Energy Adventure? Like if the Nemo ride were called something different, the CMs could still say "Welcome to the Seas with Nemo and Friends", because the whole pavilion is called that. Could be wrong, though. Don't visit Ellen and Bill very often, and I don't pay much attention when I do.

As for the maintenance, unfortunately, the World has quite a problem with that in all the parks. :/ Peter Pan's Flight needs cleaning badly, Soarin's movie is getting pretty gritty-looking, half the wall projectors in Muppets are broken, and apparently It's Tough to be a Bug has been having trouble with Hopper. It's quite sad, really.

I think Peter Pan's Flight and Muppets are being fixed up at the moment. Peter Pan's Flight just cleaned up the entrance a bit, so I'm guessing the ride itself will be soon after. Muppets was closed for awhile a year ago, so I think its getting some attention, but it was opened at my last visit two months ago. I didn't really see too much wrong with Hopper on my most recent visit and I think they could fix that easily. Soarin'... I'm guessing they probably have noticed it, but the ride is so popular I don't know how they would be able to do a rehab and fix the projection device. WDW has a lot on their hands so I think some of these issues may not be fixed until 5 years from now.

 

[mm52200]

I think the name Ellen's Energy Adventure being dropped just has to do with the fact that people just sort of lump it all under the Universe of Energy. There's no need to promote it separately anymore because the majority of guests today think of it as the Universe of Energy, not Ellen's Energy Adventure housed in the Universe of Energy pavillon.

 

[jbird327]

Not sure if this has anything to do with it, but Ellen does a lot of promotion for Universal on her show. I also noticed a bit of a run down appearance last October. I have always enjoyed this ride, a real classic epcot experience.

 

[WondersOfLife]

I don't see it going away any time soon.


I must admit that there should be many many MANY refurbishments in the Primevil World scene, last time I was on it the snake thingie didn't even move and Ellen was fighting a statue!