Epcot - Future World, how did it get so screwed up?

[labattblue]

While the commitment to DHS(SWL & TSL & ???), and AK(Pandora, Rivers of Light, etc..) will be great, Epcot, specifically FW is a train wreck. Compared to when the pavilions first opened...

SSE - The ascent is much better now, the descent is bad...

Seas - Adding Nemo and Turtle Talk...

Land - Adding Soarin', losing Kitchen Kaberet...

JII -nothing needs to be said on this...

Innoventions/Communicore(both sides) - might as well be shuttered...

Ellen - Just sad that nothing has been done to it except for adding Ellen. So dated...

World of Motion to Test Track...

Horizons to Mission Space, only the thrill seekers like the spinning version and the other version is boring -

Wonders of Life - what a shame -



What say you?

 

[maxiesmom]

I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who didn't agree with you. Future World needs work. I think with so much going on in other areas (Soarin, Frozen) and at the other parks, they are loathe to shut anything else down in Epcot.

I have to disagree with you on SSE. I miss Jeremy Iron's voice, and I like the descent.

 

[GPC0321]

Maybe once HS and AK are set, they'll start turning their attention to FW? That'd be neat. I personally don't care about them doing more "rides", but would love some updated interactive experiences and places to play around with cool stuff. I'm kind of glad we'll be there during Flower and Garden so we at least have that stuff to fill in the gaps between the few rides we'll do there.

 

[mshanson3121]

Maybe once HS and AK are set, they'll start turning their attention to FW? That'd be neat. I personally don't care about them doing more "rides", but would love some updated interactive experiences and places to play around with cool stuff. I'm kind of glad we'll be there during Flower and Garden so we at least have that stuff to fill in the gaps between the few rides we'll do there.

This. It would be nice to see Epcot brought back to life in a hands-on, interactive, fun, educational way (ex. Frozen Ever After? Sorry, has no place in Epcot). The only things in FW right now that my kids would enjoy are Nemo/Seas, Figment, Living with the Land and Soarin'.

I really hope they don't wait until the DHS expansion is done, seeing as how SWL likely won't be done until 2019. If they wait until then to start something at EP, we'll be looking at likely 2021+ for updating there.

 

[msb578]

The 80s ended.

 

[newdeal]

When I was a kid I really liked all the hands on stuff they had at Epcot. They don't have much of that anymore except those games you can play at the end of spaceship earth

 

[MrKnight]

I have to agree with OP.. Epcot has always been and remains my favorite WDW park, however, the lack of TLC given to Epcot in general (in comparison to other WDW parks) is blatantly obvious and frankly very sad.. It bothers me every time I walk into Ellens (which believe it or not I enjoy and do not want to see go) and thinking, WHEN will they ever update this film? Something so SIMPLE as updating a film seems to be an impossible task for WDW management, the same applies for the films at the various pavilions in WC.. If I recall correctly, Pete has ranted about this before, and if he hasn't recently, I hope he does..

 

[eastendlights]

Very true and walking around there the last couple of trips has been depressing. I always think how much Walt would be upset by the way all of FW has been allowed to deteriorate.

 

[Disneylover99]

I like the way Future World is now. Some parts are bleak and depressing, but some parts are great. It's kind of how I imagine the Future. Maybe Walt would agree.

 

[akadada]

I like the way Future World is now. Some parts are bleak and depressing, but some parts are great. It's kind of how I imagine the Future. Maybe Walt would agree.

very funny

 

[akadada]

Epcot is basically a large outdoor bar and restaurant in an awesome park like setting; I suspect it's very profitable that way.

 

[Disneylover99]

Epcot is basically a large outdoor bar and restaurant in an awesome park like setting; I suspect it's very profitable that way.

That's what I love about it.

 

[larryz]

I like the way Future World is now. Some parts are bleak and depressing, but some parts are great. It's kind of how I imagine the Future. Maybe Walt would agree.

Have one of the cryotechs move his head side to side, will you?

Walt was an optimist. He would expect some rough patches, but overall progress in the future.

 

[kataEbi]

EPCOT still remains my favorite park, as a kid and now as an adult.
But it's definitely not the same. We visit it now more for a couple of rides, a tour, and mainly.. nightly dinner options.

Small things like updating some of the videos would be simple and effective upgrades.
-Like... the Living with the Land video is easily from like '91. Just show me some new clips of people farming at least.

 

[Disneylover99]

Have one of the cryotechs move his head side to side, will you?

Walt was an optimist. He would expect some rough patches, but overall progress in the future.

Walt was an optimist. Would he have continued to be? Probably. But sadly, we'll never really know, since he was gone long before Epcot opened. Anyways, the Epcot that opened was not what Walt envisioned.

 

[Accident]

Walt and roy were definitely great at getting sponsors to make even better and up keep attractions. They used to stand in line listening to what people didn't like to change it. The world has just changed and I'm not seeing any new mega companies sponsoring anything and many of the original sponsors just aren't what they used to be, if they are even around.

Epcot has become the bar hopping almost never stopping seasonal event space and I don't see future world coming back. If anything, they need to start to think of how to make world showcase even larger and push it into future world.

 

[PerfessorZ]

Future World was so, for lack of a better word, cool back in the 80s. I remember they had a robotic machine that drew portraits of people. Good ones, too, not the tchotchky caricatures you see at any tourist trap.

I hadn't been back from 1988 to 2013 and boy was it a rude awakening. I was so disappointed when I took my son around to see what I expected to be cool science-related exhibits. It was nothing like I'd remembered - a hollow shell of its former glory.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who didn't agree with you. Future World needs work. I think with so much going on in other areas (Soarin, Frozen) and at the other parks, they are loathe to shut anything else down in Epcot.

I think Future World is great. I miss old classics like Cranium Command, Horizons, etc. I also continued to love Honey I Shrunk the Audience long after it lost its relevance. I still love what's there and the new things that have been added over the years.

We prefer the old version of Imagination, but enjoy the new one. SSE, Nemo, Turtle Talk, Test Track, Mission Space, Soarin and The Land are great. Never cared much for Universe of Energy much, the old one or Ellen. Sum of All Thrills is often forgotten and super fun.

Mission Space always gets a bad rap and I don't get it. It's such a cool ride. To me, it's perfectly aligned with Future World. I've only ever ridden the spinning version and personally think more people could ride it and choose not to because of all the hype about the spinning. I get that it's a risk to ride if you're prone to motion sickness, but my sister who gets motion sickness did just fine (and she can barely ride in the backseat of a car.) Some people don't like drops, they don't do Splash or ToT. I think it's fine for FW to have a "thrill" that maybe not everyone can do. Works for me, I like the short lines for an outstanding attraction . I think the scariest part is all the motion sickness/enclosed spaces warnings beforehand!

Bottom line is, for us, we can spend a day in Future World and still completely enjoy ourselves. I don't think it's the complete wasteland so many people make it out to be.

 

[rachel09985]

Definitely agree! Personally, I think Epcot(excluding World Showcase) needed more work than Hollywood Studios!

 

[SnackCredit]

Energy sorely needs an update, but I hope they don't get rid of it! (Efficient energy is still a current topic, and the solar-powered vehicles)

Innoventions doesn't have much anymore.

The current Imagination 3.0 ride is okay, and much better than version 2.0, but I wish they redid it again to bring back Dreamfinder and get rid of the Imagination Institute stuff (especially because Honey I Shrunk The Audience has been gone for a while).