EPCOT Energy Adventure-Days May be Numbered

[Planogirl]

From what I have heard, existing building would be for Que and then there would be a walkway built with building to go to the new ride building.

The existing building is huge. That would be some queue!

 

[jknezek]

The existing building is huge. That would be some queue!

This is actually one of the things that has me optimistic that the edutainment aspect of EPCOT won't be completely lost. There is no way you need that whole building for a queue, so even assuming you have the obligatory gift shop on the way out in the same building, there is still a ton of space that hopefully can be used for something within the EPCOT mission in conjunction with a desperately needed thrill ride to bring people to that section of the park.

 

[rungoofy]

A separate coaster building? Is there really room for that? Or would the current building be integrated into that too? Also, that wouldn't be too family friendly...

Lots to think about.

The outline of the "building" depicted in the application is roughly the size of the mission: space pavillion which is roughly an acre of land. Note that the stage building for rock 'n roller coaster that is the majority of the ride (i.e. not the launch or the return) is roughly half an acre of land.

 

[goofyernmost]

Who here remembers the pavilion before it became Ellen's energy adventure? Now that made the HoP feel like muppetvision

The Energy pavilion before Ellen was a 45 minute infomercial for Exxon. It was possibly the driest, most self promoting, show ever. It had some nice affects in the preshow (even though I enjoyed Ellen's preshow much more. I got to the point that I didn't go in there at all unless I wanted to have a 45 minute, eye closed, rest from the heat and the sun. The message was, we should be grateful that Exxon was there to take care of us all. This was also during the time of the Valdez oil spill in Alaska.

 

[Robo]

Ellen's Energy Adventure is fine on a super hot day when lines everywhere else are horrid and
you just want to sit in nice, quiet, dark air conditioning for a while...

Quiet?

 

[Pacolovestacos]

People need to watch out what they wish for. I understand some people might not like Ellen, but that being said, not everybody likes the roller coasters too, doesn't mean you should take those out to appease a few. I think Ellen's is a great idea. It's on par with what Walt had in mind. Its about education and what we need to do to save the plant. I think GOTG would be better placed in Hollywood studios. But again that is just one person's opinion, mine, and it doesn't mean that much. Just remember what happened when Figment got an overhaul. There were a lot of people who hated the second and I'm sure there are those who are eh with this one. And again, think about it, a park with a tiered ride issue already, I wouldn't be wishing more rides to disappear, without even knowing if something is coming. I think they need to finish with Hollywood studios before they do anything else. All the other parks are getting swarmed with that one so limited, and to remove rides from those others would just make it seem more crowded.

How many roller coasters does Epcot have right now? 0

Tiering is a problem but Ellen isn't doing anything to solve that. We need premier attractions, not ones that people go in the middle of the afternoon for a quick snooze.

Hollywood Studios doesn't need GOTG because after Star Wars Land is built, HS is going to jam packed with attractions. Epcot is lacking severely so it needs GOTG much more than HS. Additionally, I think GOTG would fit quite well in Epcot.

That being said, I would prefer Disney take down Mission Space and use that for a GOTG attraction. They can use Ellen's space for something else.

 

[smallworldnh]

This actually makes me sad. We love this ride. It's cheesy and funny and a wonderful break when you're tired.

I love it too and I hope it's there for one last ride when we go in late September.

 

[Planogirl]

How many roller coasters does Epcot have right now? 0

Tiering is a problem but Ellen isn't doing anything to solve that. We need premier attractions, not ones that people go in the middle of the afternoon for a quick snooze.

Hollywood Studios doesn't need GOTG because after Star Wars Land is built, HS is going to jam packed with attractions. Epcot is lacking severely so it needs GOTG much more than HS. Additionally, I think GOTG would fit quite well in Epcot.

That being said, I would prefer Disney take down Mission Space and use that for a GOTG attraction. They can use Ellen's space for something else.

The jury is still out on whether DHS will have so many attractions after Star Wars is done so I won't touch that. Yet. I am curious as to why you think GOTG would fit so well in Epcot. I don't see it.

 

[Jennasis]

Quiet?

When you are asleep, EVERYTHING is quiet LOL.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

I will definitely miss riding it in the summer to escape the summer heat!

 

[Phicinfan]

This is actually one of the things that has me optimistic that the edutainment aspect of EPCOT won't be completely lost. There is no way you need that whole building for a queue, so even assuming you have the obligatory gift shop on the way out in the same building, there is still a ton of space that hopefully can be used for something within the EPCOT mission in conjunction with a desperately needed thrill ride to bring people to that section of the park.

Couple of things....

When the GotG rumor first came out, some of the insiders at WDWMagic.com stated that there was more than a ride, some kind of pre-attraction was also going to be involved. The fact they plan to use the whole exisiting building for Queue(thanks for spelling...I can never remember it...) tells me that whatever IP or non-IP is going in, there is more than just the ride, that is going to be exciting I think.

I will add here, as I did in the Rumor tracking thread insider Martin at WDWMagic.com has stated the UoE could be closing this year now...so big movement may be starting and the delay may be over. Not locked in stone yet though.

 

[PlainJane]

People need to watch out what they wish for. I understand some people might not like Ellen, but that being said, not everybody likes the roller coasters too, doesn't mean you should take those out to appease a few. I think Ellen's is a great idea. It's on par with what Walt had in mind. Its about education and what we need to do to save the plant. I think GOTG would be better placed in Hollywood studios. But again that is just one person's opinion, mine, and it doesn't mean that much. Just remember what happened when Figment got an overhaul. There were a lot of people who hated the second and I'm sure there are those who are eh with this one. And again, think about it, a park with a tiered ride issue already, I wouldn't be wishing more rides to disappear, without even knowing if something is coming. I think they need to finish with Hollywood studios before they do anything else. All the other parks are getting swarmed with that one so limited, and to remove rides from those others would just make it seem more crowded.

I think the difference between Figment and Ellen is that Figment was pretty universally liked. It was only overhauled because it was a part of the contract they had with the sponsor, not because it was stale. I've enjoyed this ride many times, but as long as it's replaced with a decent attraction (not a parking lot or some other backstage nonsense), I'm ready to say goodbye.

I've never seen GOtG, so I don't really know how it would or wouldn't fit.

 

[JennyDrake]

We can only hope.......

 

[Pacolovestacos]

The jury is still out on whether DHS will have so many attractions after Star Wars is done so I won't touch that. Yet. I am curious as to why you think GOTG would fit so well in Epcot. I don't see it.

So people tend to think of Epcot as this beacon of education but it's really not. Spaceship Earth, kind of. Soarin really isn't, just a bunch of pictures of pretty places. Test Track isn't educational in the least. Mission Space isn't. Frozen sure as hell isn't. GOTG fits in well with the overall futuristic concept of Epcot.

 

[snoopy352]

NOOOOOOOOOOO.

Impressions de France is my favorite thing at Epcot. Air conditioning, pretty music, pretty scenery - and it dumps you into a bakery! We were on the Disney Fantasy this past weekend and there was piano music in the atrium and I recognized the song as the one that plays during the hot air balloon section.

I agree and I just read today on the rumor site that Ratatouille is going to France in 2019 or 2020 but it will NOT replace Impressions de France - that the entire France pavilion will remain intact and that the R ride will be additional.

 

[tlmadden73]

So people tend to think of Epcot as this beacon of education but it's really not. Spaceship Earth, kind of. Soarin really isn't, just a bunch of pictures of pretty places. Test Track isn't educational in the least. Mission Space isn't. Frozen sure as hell isn't. GOTG fits in well with the overall futuristic concept of Epcot.

Agree. Epcot being an "Edutainment" theme park is done and gone. Which is fine, it had it's day.
Spaceship Earth and Living with the Land are the only things that feel like the Epcot I remember from the 80s.

And like you said, they have already re-done most of the attractions/pavilions to be less educating and more entertainment. I mean Test Track could give you some information while waiting in queue on HOW to make your car instead of just rushing through tons of options for two minutes to make a Frankencar.

Now with cable tv, internet and smart phones and information at the tip of your finger, the need to be educated isn't there.

It's pretty obvious they have something in mind for Epcot, but considering the focus is on DHS right now, and potentially Tomorrowland next. I wouldn't expect anything for a DECADE .. until then we either will get patchwork attractions to replacing the aging ones before you get a total re-theming of Ecpot/Future World.

Ellen's Energy Adventure seems like a good target for something brand new. I don't think Epcot's capacity would suffer it just stopped running for a while. It already has few attractions, what's one less?

 

[bryanb]

I don't think Epcot's capacity would suffer it just stopped running for a while. It already has few attractions, what's one less?

Absolutely agree. It's not like many people ride it anyway. During a relatively busy day at Epcot, in the middle of the hot afternoon, they were running only the middle car. Even then, more than half of the rows were still empty and the other rows had only had 2-3 people.

I'm afraid the people have voted with their attendance, and the attraction just doesn't get much interest.

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

Agree. Epcot being an "Edutainment" theme park is done and gone. Which is fine, it had it's day.

Maybe this is true, but. . . I feel like Future World should still at least be future focused in some way, shape, or form. Not fantasy or science fiction like GotG. And this is coming from someone who LOVES GotG. I know that's tough because technology and innovation move faster than anyone can predict, but I think there could still be something far-off enough that we can look forward to it at Epcot.

 

[Farro]

I just watched a video of the new Mission Breakout - we need some version of this ride somewhere, it was great! looks like a lot of fun!

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

I hope if the rumor ever does come true they keep the vehicles and the length of the ride! This is our go-to air conditioned napping ride in Epcot! We have places in every park that allow us time to cool down and recharge our selves without having to go back to the resort! LOL