Epcot is moving away from “Infotainment” type attractions i.e. Spaceship Earth, Horizons, CommuniCore, (soon Wonders of Life I gotta think) and replacing them with more action oriented attractions such as Test Track, Mission Space, and the proposed Spaceship Earth changes.
The reason for this is that the public now has unprecedented access to infotainment and is saturated to the point of wanting a more fantasy/action oriented experience from their leisure time.
Disney does not make uninformed decisions. They religiously track hourly numbers at every attraction, conduct extensive customer satisfaction surveys, and then react to what the public wants.
Back in the late 70s when EPCOT was developed, the average Joe had not seen hydroponics, knew little of geothermal energy, and had probably not seen the history of man played out in a continuous time line.
Now Cable has this all available on a Tuesday night within a click of my sofa, complete with computer generated graphics, celebrity host, and a companion guild on a website.
Below I listed some of the options I had for infotainment this evening on TV as I surfed the net, checking out info on my favorite entertainment destination.
Yet, with all my choices for infotainment, there is still only one place where I can get an adrenalin rush with Aerosmith, see ghosts dance, go on a space mission, ride a run away mine train, splash down in a brier patch, get chased by a dinosaur, and drop down an elevator shaft and wind up in….the Twilight Zone
If Infotainment is your thing, here is a partial list of what’s available:
•Discovery Channel
•Discovery Science
•Discovery Wings
•Discovery Kids
•The Learning Channel
•Ovation
•PBS
•Cspan
•CNN
•A&E
•Travel Ch.
•Food TV
•Home & Garden
•MSNBC
•Animal Planet
•Bravo
•The History Channel
•National Geographic
•DIY
•Biography
•Not to mention the Internet, wider access to a broader range of literature (mega booksellers such as Borders and Barnes & Noble), and computers.
Remember, the only thing that is constant, is change. Walt knew it, Walt wanted it that way.
That's cool, as long as they don't touch Pirates or the Haunted Mansion.
What do you think?
The reason for this is that the public now has unprecedented access to infotainment and is saturated to the point of wanting a more fantasy/action oriented experience from their leisure time.
Disney does not make uninformed decisions. They religiously track hourly numbers at every attraction, conduct extensive customer satisfaction surveys, and then react to what the public wants.
Back in the late 70s when EPCOT was developed, the average Joe had not seen hydroponics, knew little of geothermal energy, and had probably not seen the history of man played out in a continuous time line.
Now Cable has this all available on a Tuesday night within a click of my sofa, complete with computer generated graphics, celebrity host, and a companion guild on a website.
Below I listed some of the options I had for infotainment this evening on TV as I surfed the net, checking out info on my favorite entertainment destination.
Yet, with all my choices for infotainment, there is still only one place where I can get an adrenalin rush with Aerosmith, see ghosts dance, go on a space mission, ride a run away mine train, splash down in a brier patch, get chased by a dinosaur, and drop down an elevator shaft and wind up in….the Twilight Zone
If Infotainment is your thing, here is a partial list of what’s available:
•Discovery Channel
•Discovery Science
•Discovery Wings
•Discovery Kids
•The Learning Channel
•Ovation
•PBS
•Cspan
•CNN
•A&E
•Travel Ch.
•Food TV
•Home & Garden
•MSNBC
•Animal Planet
•Bravo
•The History Channel
•National Geographic
•DIY
•Biography
•Not to mention the Internet, wider access to a broader range of literature (mega booksellers such as Borders and Barnes & Noble), and computers.
Remember, the only thing that is constant, is change. Walt knew it, Walt wanted it that way.
That's cool, as long as they don't touch Pirates or the Haunted Mansion.
What do you think?