Totally feel for those who will miss it, AND I do agree it is a big draw, but those who say Epcot now has "nothing" or is now a half-day park clearly have wildly different touring than I do. Did you previously spend 1/2 day doing all the rest of Epcot and 1/2 day doing Soarin' alone?
I do 2 Epcot days every trip,have never yet "done it all" in those two days, and have never ever ridden Soarin' (fear of heights and motion sick in simulators)
Again, I completely agree why it would be a huge blow, and why people are legitimately bummed to miss it, but if the closing of one very significant attraction (could even agree it's the park's biggEST attraction) in any park made that park totally skippable to me, I can't imagine planning a vacation to that place at all.