Why are there so many people who don't like Epcot??

[yazmin182]

EPCOT is my favorite park! My family and I went to Disneyworld for the first time in January and we went for 6 days. We went to EPCOT 3 out of those 6 days. We just couldn't get away!

I don't mind that there are no big rides in the world showcase. I think it would kind of ruin it. I love walking around, seeing the countries change. Sampling all the different food. It's great.

And whenver you go there, make sure you go to Boulangerie Patisserie in France and get the Napoleon dessert!!! hmm mmm. Anyone else had it? I hope i can use the DDP and get it as a snack!

 

[Rayray]

You've got to relax at EPCOT. Enjoy the landscaping, amazing rides, the exhibits, and (most of all) the incredible architeture. EPCOT is one of my favorites. Just an all around wonderful place to be.

 

[nelsonj3]

Epcot is actually my favorite WDW park. (Yes, I know that might be sacrilege) I even liked it when I was really young and Walter Cronkite narrated SSE, and Horizons was there, and World of Motion was there, and Imagination was- well...

I actually do enjoy all four parks, but we usually spend more time at Epcot than the other parks.

People that don't like Epcot are usually the short attention span thrill park types that would probably rather go to Universal anyway. Granted, Epcot has a couple great thrill rides now, but some people just don't get Epcot. I guess it just isn't everyone's cup of tea.

I Love Epcot!!!

 

[nelsonj3]

I completely agree. Well said!!!

I think part of my reasoning for liking EPCOT so much is because I'm a CM and visit the parks frequently. I know the ins and outs of all of the parks, where to go what time of day, etc, and can knock everything out quickly. EPCOT, though, its almost like it just tells you, "hey, slow down and relax. Stay for a while." Some friends and I would go get lunch at the Mexican Cantina outside and we'd sit at a table by the water. It had a peaceful feel to it, grown up and sophisticated. We sat there for two hours and just talked, admired the scenery, and watched the barges come out. The birds flew by, swam in the water...I don't know, it just pulls you away from that "ok, we have to make it to Space Mountain, get in and out in an hour, or we'll never have enough time to get in Cinderellabration and the 3:00 parade at 3:30" feel. Its not hectic, or pushed, or pressured.

It's...a day in Central Park playing with your dog, reading a book, or sleeping. It's admiring the scenery, enjoying life, and forgetting everything else.

It is to me at least.

 

[CThaddeus]

I would never say I hate EPCOT (note the upper case). I love the original attractions, but I'm not a big fan of some of the more recent replacements (Test Track, Journey Imaginations 2 and 3, and yes, even the beloved Soarin'. I like the attraction, just not its location). I will admit, some of the replacements are better - Ellen's Energy Adventure, Circle of Life, the current Spaceship Earth narration - but for the most part I feel each new replacement has dumbed down the edutainment of the park. Even more disturbing is the recent closure of Wonders of Life. An entire pavilion sits empty, when people such as myself could be still discovering and enjoying it.
When I first visited in 1996, EPCOT was by far my favorite. It was amazing to me that something so magnificent, fun, and -gasp!- educational could exist. I considered it the greatest evolutionary step of Disney theme parks, and spent a good portion of my vacation exploring every last bit of it. I wasn't as fond of World Showcase, as eating and shopping only entertain me for a few minutes, but I loved the attrations it did have. My hope was that someday it would add new attractions, and eventually every country would have some kind of B, C, D, or even an E-Ticket (an American Adventure-ish show in a few more countries like the UK would be perfect).
Sadly, no new attractions have appeared in World Showcase since 1996. The China film has been "updated" (ie. shortened) and Millenium Village appeared for a short time. That's about it. And Future World has become less and less about looking backward, to the present, and to the future (all in one attraction, mind you) and more and more about just looking at now. It's also become more about thrill rides and big, overhyped E-Tickets. One or two is fine, as long as you're not also killing off everything that made the Park what it is/was.
I still like Epcot (note the lowercase); I just don't get as much inspiration from it as I used to. Oh sure, whenever I see that magnificent Spaceship Earth, my heart skips a beat or two and my pulse starts to quicken. But then I see the wand, and I know that while that great attraction is still there, a lot of the others no longer are. Now, I find myself being more interested in the Magic Kingdom, even though I go to Disneyland every other week. It still holds the same magic for me (except for Under New Management, but you can't have everything!) as it did in 1996. I hope Epcot will someday re-gain the top spot for me, but as long as it continues on its present course, I don't know that it will. Sigh.

 

[hammysammy59]

Epcot has been my favorite of the parks since before I can remember. I guess I'm just a big nerd.

It's still my favorite park, but I have to admit, I miss Body Wars, Horizons and the original Journey into Imagination. However, Test Track, Mission: Space and Soarin' fill their places pretty nicely.

 

[TheBouff]

EPCOT is one of my favourite theme parks and a trip to orlando without going would be wrong in my oppinion

In regards to the original posts mention of Honey I Shrunk the audience... all i can say is i was dissapointed with this attraction when i went in may 2005. on previous visits to the world i have loved it. However this time the film seemed a little blury like it was not in focus and i nowhere as spectacular as philarmagic

 

[kcnole]

I love Futureworld, and thoroughly enjoy the world showcase but I can easily understand why many people get bored there. You don't come to disney to just walk around and look at things. People want rides. WS really needs two more rides over there, preferably on the other side across the pond from Norway and Mexico.

 

[abian]

I don't think Epcot is been disliked as many peopel as MGM, even MK. MGM is still wating for newer attractions and Magic Kingdom is been hated mostly by people who've been to Disneyland.(which they got their points casue DL is indeed in many ways a lot better than MK). I acutally Epcot got the highest reviews so far.

 

[CatLady]

I actually like Epcot quite a bit (it's my #2 park after MK), but I know my father hates it. This last visit I finally figured out why: It's so big and spread out, and there's so little shade. I can sympathize with that one. Epcot is physically pretty daunting for people who aren't normally all that active.

 

[Dangeresque]

In that EPCOT is primarily educational in nature I would guess that there is a direct correlation between ones IQ and dislike of EPCOT

 

[ChuckElias]

In that EPCOT is primarily educational in nature I would guess that there is a direct correlation between ones IQ and dislike of EPCOT

That's exactly what I thought, but you said it in a much more diplomatic way than I would've.

Although I also have to admit that the physical exertion is a factor to some people. The first time we took my mother-in-law to WDW, we only had 3 days. She specifically wanted a whole day at MGM and my daughter specifically wanted a whole day at MK. So we (stupidly) dragged her around AK and EPCOT in the same day. It wasn't much fun, I have to admit.

 

[MichelleK]

Can't put my finger on it

On our last trip my son wanted to go to Epcot more than anywhere else. Its his favourite and he can't quite say why. He's 14 now and Epcot has always been his favourite.

My husband however didn't really like Epcot. For him it was too much like a commercial. The sponsors of the attractions are too in your face. One we really didn't like was Test Track. The whole queue line is loud and one big commercial for GM. One of his favourite attractions was Soarin' but we also watched the Cirle of Life movie and got the same 'commercial' feeling.

We were not big fans of the World Showcase. They aren't bad but we are not into shopping. Trying food from other countries is nice. But we'd rather go to the real country. These little snippets seem too fake.

We are Canadians. We stopped by 'Canada' and talked to some girls who worked there and asked them how their costumes were Canadian. They didn't know either. When we were in France we bought some pastries. We speak french after going to french immersion school and living in Quebec for awhile so we were chatting with the girl at the counter and we asked what the pastry we were ordering was in French. She didn't know as it wasn't really a 'French' pastry. Everything is Americanized.

We've been to France and the UK and the pavilions just were just sort of American imitation snippets of the real things. I haven't been to many of the other countries in 'real' life but I imagine they are the same.

However just the same I geuss it might give you a taste for seeing the real thing and then it is a good thing. If it expands your view of the world, then its good. Don't get me wrong, I love Disney and going to WDW. I like going to Epcot and I found it educational for my children to go around the World Showcase and find out different things about the different countries. But I found that the World Showcase was more about shopping than about education. Other countries have so much more to offer than shopping. When we visited the UK and France we took our bikes and rode through the countryside and really visited the country, not the big centres and the expensive tourist shopping. So maybe its just us and what we like to experience.

So I geuss I can't quite put my finger on it. Future World used to be better. I liked the World of Motion and Horizons. I like the Life pavilion. Nothing replaces those - Test Track is just about the ride not like the World of Motion was. It always was more an advertisement for the sponsors than say MK. It didn't spoil it for me but it did for my husband.

The World Showcase doesn't hold my interest because I'd rather see the real thing and I'm not into shopping. To get someone interested in going somewhere else, fine, but that isn't what I hear.

For my kids, they loved it. That surprised me. If it gets them interested in learning then I am all for it.

Michelle

 

[MichelleK]

Can't put my finger on it

On our last trip my son wanted to go to Epcot more than anywhere else. Its his favourite and he can't quite say why. He's 14 now and Epcot has always been his favourite.

My husband however didn't really like Epcot. For him it was too much like a commercial. The sponsors of the attractions are too in your face. One we really didn't like was Test Track. The whole queue line is loud and one big commercial for GM. One of his favourite attractions was Soarin' but we also watched the Cirle of Life movie and got the same 'commercial' feeling.

We were not big fans of the World Showcase. They aren't bad but we are not into shopping. Trying food from other countries is nice. But we'd rather go to the real country. These little snippets seem too fake.

We are Canadians. We stopped by 'Canada' and talked to some girls who worked there and asked them how their costumes were Canadian. They didn't know either. When we were in France we bought some pastries. We speak french after going to french immersion school and living in Quebec for awhile so we were chatting with the girl at the counter and we asked what the pastry we were ordering was in French. She didn't know as it wasn't really a 'French' pastry. Everything is Americanized.

We've been to France and the UK and the pavilions just were just sort of American imitation snippets of the real things. I haven't been to many of the other countries in 'real' life but I imagine they are the same.

However just the same I geuss it might give you a taste for seeing the real thing and then it is a good thing. If it expands your view of the world, then its good. Don't get me wrong, I love Disney and going to WDW. I like going to Epcot and I found it educational for my children to go around the World Showcase and find out different things about the different countries. But I found that the World Showcase was more about shopping than about education. Other countries have so much more to offer than shopping. When we visited the UK and France we took our bikes and rode through the countryside and really visited the country, not the big centres and the expensive tourist shopping. So maybe its just us and what we like to experience.

So I geuss I can't quite put my finger on it. Future World used to be better. I liked the World of Motion and Horizons. I like the Life pavilion. Nothing replaces those - Test Track is just about the ride not like the World of Motion was. It always was more an advertisement for the sponsors than say MK. It didn't spoil it for me but it did for my husband.

The World Showcase doesn't hold my interest because I'd rather see the real thing and I'm not into shopping. To get someone interested in going somewhere else, fine, but that isn't what I hear.

For my kids, they loved it. That surprised me. If it gets them interested in learning then I am all for it.

Michelle

 

[Grim Grinner]

I fell in love with Epcot the day my family was sent a full-color brochure advertising each of the pavillions. It even had the Living Seas shown, although it would be years before that was actually made.

I'll never forget my first trip there. From Horizons to Spaceship Earth, I was instilled with an optimism for the future. The future of mankind seemed tangible and wonderous. The World Showcase had left me flat at first, but as I matured I began to explore it.

I used to ride Horizons over and over- I loved the multiple endings you could choose. In one night I rode World of Motion 15 times in a row just for that surround IMAX screen that made you seem like you were going so fast (the effect was also used in If You Had Wings).

The original Imagination fueled my mind and also was a favorite. Living Seas prompted me into studying undersea life and its exploration.

In 2000, my wife and I went down to Orlando for our honeymoon. Our first stop was Epot, with the intention of riding Horizons. Sadly, although the structure was still standing- the ride had just closed. Test Track ended up being the first ride we had together... and we still have the picture that was taken.

Epcot is our favorite park. You don't have to endure the screaming kids and stroller parades. You learn something new every time, and you gain a small appreciation for where mankind's been and where he just might be going.

(coincidentally, MGM is our least favorite park- because it is Epcot's antithesis)

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

EPCOT is our favourite park - you just can't beat rounding off the day watching Illuminations - Reflections of Earth. There isn't a better show in WDW

 

[RedGear]

My guess is that people can't relax and enjoy, that have to have rides all the time, and I know that younger kids get bored.
Epcot for me is going off the beaten path and people watching is also one of my fav's to do in Epcot. Last time I went we sat for over an hour watching people walk by in England, it was fun.

 

[yeti]

What kind of dummy would hate epcot? Honestly, Honey I Shrunk the Audience is my least favorite 3D show at disney, but the rest of epcot rules!

Maybe they hate it because some kids might find World Showcase boring (even though it's NOT) because it doesn't have much rides, but putting alot of rides in world showcase would kind of ruin the atmosphere.

Anyway, :fork: to those of you fools who hate Epcot, because it is truly AWESOME!

 

[tink rules]

I also LOVE Epcot...

My only beef with the park is that Future World is starting to look a bit OLD...It needs more than sprucing up.... It looks like it comes out of the 80's which it does...

And you can update Future World without losing it's character...

My biggest problem with Epcot is that the rides they are planning, MS, TT, etc... I cannot go on due to a disability in my neck. Spruce up SSE, etc and give us all something to look at!!!

 

[CrashNet]

I also LOVE Epcot...

My only beef with the park is that Future World is starting to look a bit OLD...It needs more than sprucing up.... It looks like it comes out of the 80's which it does...

And you can update Future World without losing it's character...

My biggest problem with Epcot is that the rides they are planning, MS, TT, etc... I cannot go on due to a disability in my neck. Spruce up SSE, etc and give us all something to look at!!!

EPCOT has always been the "Cinderella Park" if you will of Disney World. With Everest done, imagineers will be moving to a "reimagineer" stage of development, giving some TLC to parks and attractions that have been there, mostly unchanged, since the beginning.

It's coming...may be a few years, but its coming.