Crazy Theory based on recent rumors...

[Sevenwords]

Bear with me here for a second, I know this sounds crazy at first... Screamscape is reporting that there are more rumors of expansions coming to Epcot at D23 (specifically in the Future World area) . They posted this the same day that they are talking about Zootopia breaking ground at Shanghai. There has been talk that Disney wants to put more Disney IP into Epcot....what if this means they plan to build Zootopia next to Nemo and Friends? I know this sounds nuts at first...but maybe not THAT nuts. I live in CA and have only been to WDW once. On the Map it appears there is enough room next to Nemo and friends, but the park maps can be deceiving.

 

[rteetz]

Zootopia if anything would go to AK. At this time I have heard Zootopia is not currently being planned for a stateside park.

 

[writerguyfl]

Epcot is blessed with plenty of open space for expansion. Instead of using park maps, it's easier to see on aerial maps from Bing or Google. Here's a quick and dirty measurement of the space between the Land and the Living Seas pavilions.

Link to Bing Maps: https://binged.it/2MlM8BB

Even without realigning that backstage road and taking up that open field in the upper-left of the image, it's still a massive area. Here are comparisons of that space and two other pavilions (measured using Bing Maps):

• Highlighted Expansion Space: 156,970 square feet (14,583 square meters)
• Living Seas: 126,652 square feet (11,766 square meters)
• Imagination Pavilion: 142,556 square feet (13,244 square meters)

That said, I agree with rteetz. I can't picture Zootopia going to Epcot.

 

[mcurran]

I also can’t imagine guardians of the galaxy in epcot... but here we are.

Also there was a faux news story about the land and the seas both getting bulldozed (saving soarin).

It isn’t impossible to think of a land/sea zootopia taking over both pavilion areas... it would feel out of place I think? But with guardians, ratatouille and frozen maelstrom overlay I guess maybe having non-ip overlays is starting to feel out of place.

 

[Darklord77]

If it will make Disney $, they will make it fit. Don't put your tinfoil hat on just yet.

 

[Matthew Caito]

I think its more practical to build a Marvel Land there seeing all the rights they just purchase and with Guardians just a walk across the way. I'M not routine for a Marvel land seeing as I love EPCOT. I personally would hope they develop something with their own original IP. Maybe a better Nemo experience seeing as the ride there now is basically the Little Mermaid ride just Nemo themed. or and actual attraction and not a show of Wall-E, UP,Big Hero 6. Or and actual Inside Out area with the different emotions rather than possible putting Inside Out in one of the existing pavilions. Disney has so many great movies they could develop around that would do well, they should look at that and try to build upon it. Then again, unless the are going to go the opposite direction and stick with a eco friendly type theme, IE the Land or the Seas. I'M sure whatever they do, as much as people say they wont go, will and it will be great, maybe not nostalgic as we all like, but great.

Also, what do I Know I'M from the northeast and have no insight.

 

[umichigan10]

I think its more practical to build a Marvel Land there seeing all the rights they just purchase and with Guardians just a walk across the way. I'M not routine for a Marvel land seeing as I love EPCOT. I personally would hope they develop something with their own original IP. Maybe a better Nemo experience seeing as the ride there now is basically the Little Mermaid ride just Nemo themed. or and actual attraction and not a show of Wall-E, UP,Big Hero 6. Or and actual Inside Out area with the different emotions rather than possible putting Inside Out in one of the existing pavilions. Disney has so many great movies they could develop around that would do well, they should look at that and try to build upon it. Then again, unless the are going to go the opposite direction and stick with a eco friendly type theme, IE the Land or the Seas. I'M sure whatever they do, as much as people say they wont go, will and it will be great, maybe not nostalgic as we all like, but great.

Also, what do I Know I'M from the northeast and have no insight.

They can do little to no marvel given their current state with universal and their rights to marvel in Florida. It’s a big, complicated web that I have very little expertise in

 

[jknezek]

They can do little to no marvel given their current state with universal and their rights to marvel in Florida. It’s a big, complicated web that I have very little expertise in

Actually, they can do a lot of Marvel, just not the Marvel that people with little interest in actual comic books and storylines know about. Sure they can't call it Marvel, as they can't do in California, but there are dozens, possibly hundreds, of characters available to Disney. And I fully expect Phase IV to exploit those characters to see if they can make them popular enough to be worthwhile.

 

[TheGoofster]

Here are some Disney movies that I think could go in that space that would kind of fit in with the Epcot theme:
Wreck it Ralph - it could be an inside the computer / virtual high-tech kind of attraction (tons of neat possibilities with old games)
Big Hero 6 - create an actual San Fransokyo with some action based attraction
Bolt: the Rescue - a virtual ride where you help Bolt rescue his friends
Meet the Robinsons - A time traveling adventure
Treasure Planet - An outerspace / pirate adventure with cool possible worlds to explore
Atlantis - tons of possibilities here
Great Mouse Detective - Help Basil using different technologies to solve a case.

I could definitely see them adding a Marvel based attraction (obviously none of the banned ones) to try and get Marvel in as many of their parks as they can. A Dr. Strange type attraction could actually fit pretty well in Epcot. Personally I would rather not see Marvel at Epcot, but it would make sense in a marketing kind of way.
If Disney ever does use Zootopia in Orlando, I think the AK would have to be the most obvious place to put it.

 

[tlmadden73]

Epcot is SOO large and so spread out they could practically fit a whole a whole new park on the west side of Epcot (okay .. maybe exaggerating a bit).

I like the old Pavilion concept and these west-side attractions are the only ones remaining. I like the concept of going into a building and having an attraction, a show, and some activities (like looking at fish, or playing with the imagination exhibits or playing around the jumping fountains. It is nice to have shelter from the sun, but have several things to do while there. I have good RECENT memories of going to the Land and spending a few hours there -- riding Soarin' then eating lunch then riding Living with the Land. We would have seen the show there too, but it had closed down for good.

I like being able to do several attractions in one place. I like "hanging out" there for a while. I hope they keep that concept with the West side, just maybe add on to the pavilions to give another attraction other than Soarin' to make the West Side a bit more of a draw. Totally gut Imagination and redo it and ditch that Nemo "ride" (that is just a glorified moving sidewalk).

I doubt they will do a full bulldoze and redo of those pavilions unless they think they can have a HUGE attraction like they are doing with the former energy pavilion.

On another point.
I don't see Disney investing into IP-based attractions of old movies (Bolt, Meet the Robinsons, Treasure Planet) that a lot of people (even "Disney" fans) don't even know are Disney movies .. those were during another dark time in disney Animation history. You aren't going to draw or sell merchandise with a Bolt or Meet the Robinson's ride(even though the concepts sound cool).

 

[TheGoofster]

Epcot is SOO large and so spread out they could practically fit a whole a whole new park on the west side of Epcot (okay .. maybe exaggerating a bit).

I like the old Pavilion concept and these west-side attractions are the only ones remaining. I like the concept of going into a building and having an attraction, a show, and some activities (like looking at fish, or playing with the imagination exhibits or playing around the jumping fountains. It is nice to have shelter from the sun, but have several things to do while there. I have good RECENT memories of going to the Land and spending a few hours there -- riding Soarin' then eating lunch then riding Living with the Land. We would have seen the show there too, but it had closed down for good.

I like being able to do several attractions in one place. I like "hanging out" there for a while. I hope they keep that concept with the West side, just maybe add on to the pavilions to give another attraction other than Soarin' to make the West Side a bit more of a draw. Totally gut Imagination and redo it and ditch that Nemo "ride" (that is just a glorified moving sidewalk).

I doubt they will do a full bulldoze and redo of those pavilions unless they think they can have a HUGE attraction like they are doing with the former energy pavilion.

On another point.
I don't see Disney investing into IP-based attractions of old movies (Bolt, Meet the Robinsons, Treasure Planet) that a lot of people (even "Disney" fans) don't even know are Disney movies .. those were during another dark time in disney Animation history. You aren't going to draw or sell merchandise with a Bolt or Meet the Robinson's ride(even though the concepts sound cool).

I agree that Disney probably wouldn't invest in a movie that didn't do well or isn't that popular - of course they are building a new Tron roller coaster, so you never know. (I'm kind of surprised that they didn't put Tron into Epcot, it seems like it would fit the theme better). Also, you never know if someday Disney might try to remake, or add a sequel to some of their older movies - BOLT 2 for example (I doubt it, but again, you never know). Maybe Disney will really throw us a curve ball and make a Black Cauldron dark ride.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

If Disney ever does use Zootopia in Orlando, I think the AK would have to be the most obvious place to put it.

I think DHS would be better than DAK for Zootopia.

 

[tlmadden73]

I agree that Disney probably wouldn't invest in a movie that didn't do well or isn't that popular - of course they are building a new Tron roller coaster, so you never know. (I'm kind of surprised that they didn't put Tron into Epcot, it seems like it would fit the theme better). Also, you never know if someday Disney might try to remake, or add a sequel to some of their older movies - BOLT 2 for example (I doubt it, but again, you never know). Maybe Disney will really throw us a curve ball and make a Black Cauldron dark ride.

True -- I guess since Tron is so "futuristic" it fits, despite its lack of popularity, though when they probably were developing Tron, it was fresh off the Tron:Legacy movie, right?

Thinking about a Black Cauldron dark ride? Oof. Something children will go screaming off of? Would be worse than Alien Encounter! Heh.
Didn't they have a walk-through attraction in one of the foreign Disney Parks featuring the Horned King that was super creepy? Thought I saw a video somewhere.

 

[SteveDude]

I think a much more likely scenario for that empty space is probably expansions to both The Land and Seas pavilions. Could make sense given the rumors of them being demolished/refreshed.

 

[BrianL]

True -- I guess since Tron is so "futuristic" it fits, despite its lack of popularity, though when they probably were developing Tron, it was fresh off the Tron:Legacy movie, right?

Thinking about a Black Cauldron dark ride? Oof. Something children will go screaming off of? Would be worse than Alien Encounter! Heh.
Didn't they have a walk-through attraction in one of the foreign Disney Parks featuring the Horned King that was super creepy? Thought I saw a video somewhere.

TRON though is popular and well-known as a concept more so than a movie. It is generally associated with Disney and most people do know what you're talking about when you say something is "like TRON" so it has that hook. Also, it's a roller-coaster, so it will be popular no matter the theme. If anything, it may make TRON as a franchise even more popular.

 

[OSUZorba]

TRON though is popular and well-known as a concept more so than a movie. It is generally associated with Disney and most people do know what you're talking about when you say something is "like TRON" so it has that hook. Also, it's a roller-coaster, so it will be popular no matter the theme. If anything, it may make TRON as a franchise even more popular.

I had no idea that TRON was Disney until talk of the coaster...

 

[jbehr12]

I also can’t imagine guardians of the galaxy in epcot... but here we are.

Also there was a faux news story about the land and the seas both getting bulldozed (saving soarin).

It isn’t impossible to think of a land/sea zootopia taking over both pavilion areas... it would feel out of place I think? But with guardians, ratatouille and frozen maelstrom overlay I guess maybe having non-ip overlays is starting to feel out of place.

It’s not a faux news story. There is internal paperwork with tentative demolition plans. Disney didn’t flat out deny, they skirted around a denial. Reread the tweet.

 

[tguz]

It would cost a fortune to buy the Marvel rights from Universal so Disney could use all the characters in their parks. Disney has spent huge amounts of money before but Disney has so many things in the pipeline for the next few years that, at this time, they do NOT need Marvel in the parks to draw people. That time may come, but it is not now. Plus, I guarantee that Universal would insist on Disney paying 100% for the retheme of their Marvel land and that would be a bitter pill for Disney to swallow.....knowing that people are paying big money to visit a newly retheme land at Universal that Disney paid for.

 

[rteetz]

It’s not a faux news story. There is internal paperwork with tentative demolition plans. Disney didn’t flat out deny, they skirted around a denial. Reread the tweet.

Incorrect. There is no internal paper work. No more I can say on that.

 

[HopperFan]

Epcot is blessed with plenty of open space for expansion. Instead of using park maps, it's easier to see on aerial maps from Bing or Google. Here's a quick and dirty measurement of the space between the Land and the Living Seas pavilions.

Link to Bing Maps: https://binged.it/2MlM8BB

Even without realigning that backstage road and taking up that open field in the upper-left of the image, it's still a massive area. Here are comparisons of that space and two other pavilions (measured using Bing Maps):

• Highlighted Expansion Space: 156,970 square feet (14,583 square meters)
• Living Seas: 126,652 square feet (11,766 square meters)
• Imagination Pavilion: 142,556 square feet (13,244 square meters)

Looks like plenty of functional space to me so that's not an issue.

I also can’t imagine guardians of the galaxy in epcot... but here we are.

Also there was a faux news story about the land and the seas both getting bulldozed (saving soarin).

It isn’t impossible to think of a land/sea zootopia taking over both pavilion areas... it would feel out of place I think? But with guardians, ratatouille and frozen maelstrom overlay I guess maybe having non-ip overlays is starting to feel out of place.

1000% THIS.

Future World was dated before it was finished.
The themes of the pavilions didn't work with the layout.
Now we are adding Guardians?
The original "plan" is long dead.
Honestly Zootopia next to Seas makes more sense than other stuff.
With all the other IPs it would be short sighted to not see anything is possible in Epcot.
It's a huge park with huge capacity and yet the least popular park. Money lost here.

Since Disney responded to the "story" by saying these pavilions are part of the future and we know there will be big announcements for Epcot ..... and the fact that both pavilions need MAJOR renovations and updating .... I could totally see that land in the middle being used as a Zootopia or something similar with a transition in both directions to "connect" the stories of the land. We should know soon enough at D23 what they are thinking. It doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks.

Bottom line we are talking about BOB CHAPEK, the single finger pointer ... do we really think he cares if it fits?


Walt Disney World Today
There are big plans for Epcot, Kaz. We do have new pavilions joining, like the play-themed pavilion and the Guardians of the Galaxy-themed roller coaster, but The Land and The Seas with Nemo & Friends are planned to be with us into the future.