When will SSE be finished?

[EPCOT Explorer]

That's why the integration I talked about would work so well.I'll use The Living Seas for a example:Turtle Talk for the kids,SeaBase for adults and kids(I've seen kids(and me)stare at the tanks for HOURS)And perhaps a new thrill ride for the teens.Wasn't it in the original concept for TLS to have a Poseidon "Thrill" attraction?
The same could be done for almost all of the pavilions.The Land practically has that now:LWTL is for adults.Lion King for kids and Soarin' is the thrill.What makes this even better is that they are really enjoyed by all.

It's possible....


The branding,however DOES need work.I'm getting really sick of Pirates in Mouse Gear.:fork:YOAMD is ok...I just don;t like the fact that EVERYTHING has the generic looking castle(is it even MK's??).

SSE or The Tree of like could be surrounded by stars and clouds too,Disney!:lol:

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

EPCOT Explorer, I completely agree with you, I've said numerous times that there truly would be something for everyone at Disney by offering more options and not just hoping and praying the family that didn't plan their trip, thinks disneyland florida and epcot are different parks, and like johnny depp...will become the focus group, and the fanboys and fangirls...well they can go to a museum or art gallery.

They could have easily kept the seabase alpha theme...given us a brand new preshow queue like we are under the ocean with eleaborate sets and coral reefs....then we see a preshow movie with nemo and friends...take the seacab to sebase alpha and nemo and friends educate us about the oceans and then we enter a refurbished seabase alpha.

SSE....give guests the option of turning their screen off after they select their language and where they are from. Guests can walk off the ride all feeling satisfied. Some can enjoy their touch screens while others can look around the descent as a time tunnel or network tunnel of shimmering stars and fiber optics.....but hey you can always throw your coat over your screen and just look at the blue triangles and angler fish orbs.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Glad you feel the same way!:wave:We really should start a club,LOL!

I'll make the avatars!

As for the SSE comment,Why not just leave or update the old sets?That's inventing the future too....

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

that would be amazing! We would have to have meetings in the merfcove. I think our slogan should be "WDI: When in doubt, add a movie character, they'll love it."

Personally I'm planning on making a t-shirt that says "remember how easy it was to learn your abc's?" and then have "Thank the pheonecians!" written on the back with an image of SSE for my next trip.

I kinda wonder what a SSE merchandise selection would look like....."Judi Dench is my numero uno time traveler"

A t-shirt for the girl in the window

Blue triangle patterned shirt

and a model of SSE surrounded by chicken wire

 

[jakeman]

I have to disagree...The way the ORIGINAL EPCOT Center was created,yes,it was another money-maker for a huge company,BUT it was truely created with the purpose of enlightenment and education.Di you honestly think the Disney Corporation enlisted all those cultural experts and scientists and visionaries just so they could make money through them?No,they were brought in to bring their unique talent and expertise to a theme park that would be much more than ANY entertainment venue could.

That's what EPCOT Center was...Now,we've lost that bright factual inspiring bold and dramatic look to the future and the world around us to cartoon fish,5 second thrills and bland attractions.And that's why so many people on here(including me) have a problem.If Disney would bring back this outlook back to the parks WITH the "fun" parts of the future,I guarantee that EPCOT would prosper again.

I don't write this blog but I'm sure of you would like to see it.It's one of the best and practically mimics our thoughts on EPCOT.http://epcot82.blogspot.com/

Or those people were brought in to bring ligitamacy to a marketing campaign for a new theme park.

Why is it so hard to grasp that Disney is not benevolent (sp?)? That they would not build a theme park unless they thought the concept would make them money?

It is not cynicism, it's realism. Disney is a business, businesses purposes are to make money.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Perhaps now,but not then.Back then it seems like they were truely dedicated to giving that message of hope and inspiration to the world.

What do you want the avvies to look like Expo?

 

[fyn]

I do not believe Figment is a well recognized character, even inside the parks. And he is nowhere close to being in the same league as Pirates or Small World...it is not a matter of "quite". That issue isn't even a debate.

I'm in an industry where we constantly study our consumers, and we're constantly surprised by the things we find. Calling an issue "not debatable" is silly as long as a case can be made for either side, especially when neither side in this case has any data to support their claims. Anyone who visits these boards is a minority in the Disney consumer population, and I'd be surprised if anyone here is qualified to make accurate generalizations about the typical Disney consumer.

The question is not "why couldn't they"...the question is simply "why". What would be the purpose of creating original charcters for the parks when there is already a group of characters well established with Disney as a whole??

Because Disney is in the business of creating new and compelling IP? By your logic, Pixar should never have made any IP other than Toy Story, and they should only make sequels. :lookaroun

Each park, and thus Walt Disney World as a whole, is benefited by each park's individuality. It adds value, and its not a given that the value it adds is less than the value of potential merchandise sales by homogenization of Disney IP. Certainly the latter is easier, but better? Better for whom? I don't agree that Disney should do anything, and sacrifice anything to make an extra dollar per (guest/minute), and there are plenty of case models to prove this point.

I think they can create compelling, original IP for the individual parks, and pay the bills, *and* reward their shareholders. More than that, I think they *should* do it.

Figment - or probably any other original park character - isn't going to pay the bills.

Again, you're assuming an original creative IP individual to Epcot is doomed to be a financial failure, and I don't see how you can possibly defend that as a true statement.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

oh come on epcot explorer, you know I don't wanna make a club, but the avatars...I dunno what they could be...figment with a sad face that says "got imagination?"

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I'll see what I can do...That will be a hard picture to find LOL.


In responce to fyn:Figgy does make a TON of money,though...Just look at all the kids wanting a plush in Mouse Gear next time.

 

[ChrisFL]

You've stopped making sense...there is plenty of entertainment for the whole family. Now you are just making stuff up. This discussion has run its course.:snore:

Actually they are making total sense.

I found a similar discussion on MiceChat (and it was a VERY long one).

Disney is suffering from being way too kid friendly, to the point where many of the attractions are no longer the same family friendly slightly edgy attractions we've seen in the past.

What are historically the most popular family attractions? Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain...

Now compare those to what we see these days with the newest attractions, they're missing the edge or thrill factor that can be more appreciated by older family members (save for Everest)

Pirates, Princesses, Nemo, Cars, etc. are all to satisfy the younger kids.

Back in the old days, there were more experiences that were family friendly without being just kid-friendly.

I agree there needs to be a better mixture...even in the same pavilion there can be things for all ages to experience. Techically they could have left the entire "Living Seas" area and added Nemo separately! The sea cabs weren't even touched for years.

 

[ChrisFL]

Outside of Figment and Dreamfinder, are there any other examples of characters (not concepts) created originally for the parks? I guess you could list Master Gracey, although I think his identity has grown more out of the lore surrounding HM than the content of the ride itself. The Yeti is a new take on an old legend, so that seems like a stretch to me.

The Country Bears?

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

Unique and Creative characters made for the disney parks at WDW

Flight to the Moon
Mission to Mars
Alien Encounter
Carousel of Progress
Space Mountain home of future living family and RCYA-1 and FedEx postshow
"it's a small world"
Haunted Mansion
Hall of Presidents (maybe?)
Country Bears
Big Thunder
Tom Sawyer Island (to an extent)
The original POTC
The original Tiki Room
Spaceship Earth
Wonders of Life
Mission:Space
Horizons
Test Track
World of Motion
Communicore
Innoventions (give or take..I beleive there have been some disney characters in those exhibits over the years)
Imagination
The original Land
The original Seas
World Showcase with the exception of some meet and greets and the three cabs
Tower of Terror
Lights Motors Action
The Great Movie Ride? :shrug: (in a way)
Rockin Rollercoaster
Backlot?
Sounds Dangerous
Countdown to Extinction
E:E
safari
river rapids

I'm sure there's more but thats what I could think of for now...

 

[mousermerf]

Lest we forget, "Stupid Judy."

 

[Wilt Dasney]

The Country Bears?

Good call. The characters have names and clear identities, which is what I was going for.

Expo_Seeker40, you listed a lot of original attractions, but many of them don't have clearly identifiable characters (in my mind). AE, CoP, Tiki Room, and I would say HM (although it's a close call) fit the bill, so there are a few. I guess the point I was trying to make is that not every attraction with an original story results in original characters...often you get "suggestions" of an unseen character's presence (Big Thunder) or anonymous role-players who fit a theme (Small World) instead of fleshed-out inhabitants of the story.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

How could we?Tom Morrow too.

 

[mousermerf]

Quick inquiry - anyone figure out when it (Spaceship Earth, the topic of the thread) will be finished?

 

[plpeters70]

I guess the point I was trying to make is that not every attraction with an original story results in original characters...often you get "suggestions" of an unseen character's presence (Big Thunder) or anonymous role-players who fit a theme (Small World) instead of fleshed-out inhabitants of the story.

Your point is well taken, and it was somewhat in error that I related Figment to the characters in Small World, Mansion, etc. Clearly, Figment is a more clearly defined character than any in those other attractions. But my point was more that attractions with original characters can be just as successful as attractions designed with already known characters.

 

[imagineer boy]

So what I'm hearing you say is that as long as you are a fan of something, you hold the ultimate opinion of what it should be?

Star Wars: Episode I, fans hated it, #5 top grossing movie of all time.

I'll even take your word that fans hated Spiderman 3, #15 top grossing movie of all time.

I am a Transformers fan, I didn't care for the movie. Therefore according to your logic that means the general public did not care for it. #19 top grossing movies of all time.

So I will reiterate my point, when we can have a discussion with facts and not emotions or assumptions then there is room to disagree, until then its just opinions.

Just because somthing makes money, doesn't mean its good. Lots of bad movies make money all the time. Episode one made tons of money because it was a highly anticipated sequal, it would make loads of money regaurdless of bad buzz, same with Spiderman. SSE is going to draw in crowds regardless because for one thing its at the front of the park, and heck, its in a huge geodesic sphere! That draws people to it. But will the current ride most likely make people want to ride it again for more? And be one of the more memorable ride experiences of the whole trip? Probably not.

 

[DisneyAnole]

Unique and Creative characters made for the disney parks at WDW

Flight to the Moon
Mission to Mars
Alien Encounter
Carousel of Progress
Space Mountain home of future living family and RCYA-1 and FedEx postshow
"it's a small world"
Haunted Mansion
Hall of Presidents (maybe?)
Country Bears
Big Thunder
Tom Sawyer Island (to an extent)
The original POTC
The original Tiki Room
Spaceship Earth
Wonders of Life
Mission:Space
Horizons
Test Track
World of Motion
Communicore
Innoventions (give or take..I beleive there have been some disney characters in those exhibits over the years)
Imagination
The original Land
The original Seas
World Showcase with the exception of some meet and greets and the three cabs
Tower of Terror
Lights Motors Action
The Great Movie Ride? :shrug: (in a way)
Rockin Rollercoaster
Backlot?
Sounds Dangerous
Countdown to Extinction
E:E
safari
river rapids

I'm sure there's more but thats what I could think of for now...

You lost me here. Who are the unique characters in Test Track? Or LMA? Or Living with the Land?

Do you mean stand-alone (i.e. independent) attractions?

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

Hell yeah the two people in the control room in the test track preshow! :lol:

Living with the Land.....I dunno how that got in there my bad.

LMA :shrug: meh?