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Was EPCOT Center really boring?
- Thread starter comics101
- Start date
Communicore
Well-Known Member
According to I Love The 80's EPCOT Center was boring. Sure, even I initially thought it was boring, but I like comps and so I grew to like it.
paul436
Active Member
I always feel that these types of questions are impossible to answer. We can never know what another person would really think about something. Sure, we can look at Walt's past decisions and ideas and watch videos of him telling us how he feels things should be done but we can never know. And, he, like everyone else in life, would have changed his views and ideas about things as he aged and grew as a human being. I think it impossible to believe that his outlook on things both personal and business would not have changed over the course of the 45+ years since his passing.
NeedMoreMickey
Well-Known Member
Always amazed why someone opens a two year old thread but I'll throw my opinion out there.
No it is not boring.
No it is not boring.
Stu29573
Member
I think the whole idea that "today's guests" only want thrill rides is flawed. People like a story as much as they always have, and Epcot told them well. Thrill rides are cheap and dirty imagineering (ok, maybe not cheap in cash, but cheap in creativity). If I want to be spun around until I barf, I can go to Six Flags fir much cheaper. I expect more from Epcot.....
ajrwdwgirl
Premium Member
Epcot wasn't boring to me at all. I have always wanted to travel the world so World Showcase has always been amazing to me.
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
EPCOT Center was the most exciting, thrilling thing on the entire planet. The world's largest private construction project. For a while even better than the MK.
'Boring' are people who mistake seeing dinosaurs and a space shuttle for educational and freak out that their kids should be anywhere near such a thing as learning.
'Boring' are people who mistake seeing dinosaurs and a space shuttle for educational and freak out that their kids should be anywhere near such a thing as learning.
Lightyear999
Member
My wife thinks Epcot is boring but I personally love the place. Never been in the 80's so cannot compare. Our two girls love Epcot as well.
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disneyflush
Well-Known Member
Epcot of the 80's had a lot of attractions that showed how technology could and might shape our world. This was before most people had personal computers in their home or had any idea an Internet would ever exist. The world was a bigger place back then. Mail wasn't instant, communication wasn't always on, educational opportunities, while plentiful, were still primitive compared to all of the options people have now. In a way, Epcot romanticized the future and how bright it was for all of us if we treated the planet well. Looking at the possibilities of the future certainly had a 'magical' quality that I personally really enjoyed. Of course, the whole angle of the park must be expected to change when 99% of people now carry small computers in their pockets which are constantly connected to to a network of knowledge and all their family and friends are instantly available to them through it. Disney still has some fun rides but the decisions being made aren't brave anymore. It will take a true hero with guts to make some risky decisions that might pay off big for the future of the parks. Decisions that aren't completely based on profit potential.
If you were just looking for rides then EPCOT may not have been the best park for you. But its immersive design, particularly around the WS, makes it far from a boring park.
lunchbox1175
Well-Known Member
I agree here, I think that Walt would be ashamed of the condition of the parks, and the lack of innovation in the parks. I feel like Walt would have wanted the parks to evolve with society and technology, and make them the trend setters for the industry and not just a marketing machine to sell goods and movies. But that's just me.
Dragonrider1227
Well-Known Member
When I was a kid, the only part of Epcot I liked was Journey into Imagination.
Now, the only part I really like is World showcase and Club Cool.
As for World of Motion's wait time, I don't know if it was the ride capacity or the ride itself was boring but here it was in 1994. As you can see, not much of a turn out.
Now, the only part I really like is World showcase and Club Cool.
As for World of Motion's wait time, I don't know if it was the ride capacity or the ride itself was boring but here it was in 1994. As you can see, not much of a turn out.
AdventureHasAName
Well-Known Member
Like every other ride in every other park, it all depends on when the video was taken. Space Mountain is mega-popular. If you want to ride it at 1PM on a Saturday in July, you're going to wait over an hour. If you want to ride it 20 minutes before closing, you can walk on. If you want to ride it at 1PM on a Tuesday in November, you can walk on.
Same thing was true with WoM, Horizons and JII - their lines were very comparable to SSE and today would likely be similar to SSE's lines. The longest line I ever waited in at a Disney Park was the WoM in the Summer of 1983 (it was over 2 hours).
ChrisFL
Premium Member
zombie thread...oh well
Since people are chiming in, I might as well add my opinion.
Was EPCOT Center of the 1980's boring? It depends on what kind of person you are. A futurst geek would love the place, as I did when I was growing up. Of course, my father worked there and I spent LOTS of time at the park, much more than at MK.
Everything in future world was exciting to me as a little kid (I was 4 when the park opened), but world showcase was not as exciting...understandable.
I think part of the problem is, let's say you're a visitor to EPCOT Center for the first time, don't really know anything about it...and nearly every ride you go on is a variation on a slow omnimover type of setup where you just watch show scenes. If its not a busy day, you could have all of those attractions done in 3 hours. You may not even remember which rides had which scenes (Spaceship Earth and World of Motion especially could be confusing IMO)
I was able to study the rides and get more out of them through as many times as I went on them...most people didn't, so I can understand the sentiment.
Since people are chiming in, I might as well add my opinion.
Was EPCOT Center of the 1980's boring? It depends on what kind of person you are. A futurst geek would love the place, as I did when I was growing up. Of course, my father worked there and I spent LOTS of time at the park, much more than at MK.
Everything in future world was exciting to me as a little kid (I was 4 when the park opened), but world showcase was not as exciting...understandable.
I think part of the problem is, let's say you're a visitor to EPCOT Center for the first time, don't really know anything about it...and nearly every ride you go on is a variation on a slow omnimover type of setup where you just watch show scenes. If its not a busy day, you could have all of those attractions done in 3 hours. You may not even remember which rides had which scenes (Spaceship Earth and World of Motion especially could be confusing IMO)
I was able to study the rides and get more out of them through as many times as I went on them...most people didn't, so I can understand the sentiment.
Dragonrider1227
Well-Known Member
yeah, but that was in '83. The ride was still fresh and new at the time. This video was taken in '94. You still make a good point but one must also take into account that this was over ten years later and the ride's previous "umph" factor might've died down by then.
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
To my eyes this video shows what many have argued: the lack of lenghty lines is owing to enormous capacity.
Just look at the throngs of people getting on this ride! They're coming in thick and fast. TSMM would wish it were this popular!
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
I did that too! I would always mix up scenes from SSE and WoM!
FW did take us more than 3 hours though. Rides alone are fifteen minutes, plus getting to and from places, lines, bathroom visits in between. Just hitting the big E-tix took up half a day. Then there were postshows and endless CommuniCore exhibits. FW could last the better part of a day and still we wouldn't have seen everything we wanted.
When I was young I thought WS was a bit on the boring side. One ride (Maelstrom wasn't open for the first years), some fine but otherwise unthrilling movies, and a lenghty AA show. Bit of a bore.