Epcot Looks Run Down In Many Areas - Especially Bathrooms

[yaya74]

I have been debating if I should spend a whole day or half day on my upcoming trip in August. It will be my kids' first time to WDW. They are 8 and 4. After reading this thread, I guess I will just spend the evening at Epcot and go to water park in the morning.

 

[lugnut33]

Yeah, Epcot needs a little help. It is a bit out dated in many areas. Disney is probably thinking, "why bother?" at this point. Attendance is up, and the current state of the parks, (worn looking, construction, closures etc.) has not only hurt attendance, it seems to have increased it.

You are partially right. According to some sources attendance at Epcot has plunged with the closures of Soarin' and Maelstrom.

What you are correct about is Disney has no interest in updating or creating anything that does not create a new revenue stream. For example, refurbing bathrooms costs money, but doesn't bring in any money (unless they decide to do a separate ticket event for them). Creating new attractions (very expensive to develop and build) doesn't really drive revenue like a new gift store or restaurant. It's the easy way out, but it's Wall Street that is driving Disney. It's no longer about being the leader in quality family edutainment.

 

[ton80]

It's rumored that Disney will be installing pay toilets ($.25 per minute) next to the dilapidated toilets. Only during the high season!

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

What is is with people and bathrooms?????????

I totally read this in my best Jerry Seinfeld voice...

 

[Moms]

I agree that Epcot is getting a bit dated (it is still my favorite, though). While they are doing some small scale updates (Frozen and Soarin') I am sure that soon enough they will look at some major projects similar to the ones they have done at MK and are currently doing at HS and AK.

All too soon the DIS boards will be filled with concerns about all of the construction going on at Epcot and when it will all be done!

 

[rastahomie]

I remember thinking Epcot was a shell of its former self - and that was in 2005!

Epcot needs a front-to-back remodel. World Showcase needs to go - no matter how much they update it, it will be outdated as soon as it opens. They need to instead re-do the area into a sort of entry point for World Showcase. Dedicate the park to like, world history and mythology, or something.

 

[loves to dive]

Epcot is my favorite park (HS my second) and even I will admit it could use a little love. I've never had any problems in any of the bathrooms in any of the parks other than the nasty person who was there before me peeing on the seat or throwing toilet paper on the floor, but then like others I just kind of go, wait in line (I'm a woman we always have to wait in line in the bathroom) do my thing, wash my hands and leave. My biggest issue in the bathrooms is those darn wave your hand in front of the fauscett to turn it on sinks. I can never get the water to turn on and some small child ends up having to do it for me, then it turns off when I have my hands all soapy and some other small child has to turn it back on for me. And the self flushing toilets, I evidently don't have enough body mass for it to know if I'm still there and it will flush while I'm sitting there. Scares the crap out of me, good thing I'm on a toilet. I would like to see some of the empty buildings used but I'm not sure I'd want rides in them. I've never thought of Epcot in terms of rides, it's supposed to be a place to learn. As Moms said, at some point they will start working on it then people will complain about the construction walls or that a bathroom was closed because of renovations. It really is a no win situation.

 

[pa. dad]

Here's my Armchair Imagineering for my conceptually favorite park: bring a new attraction to each country.

In Mexico: A live swashbuckling adventure show featuring a Zorro-like character taking down a baddie in the Mexican village. A real Errol Flynn type thing with people swinging from chandeliers and curtains.
In Norway: Already changing.
In China: Put in a Panda Preserve. In our popular consciousness, pandas are very much associated with China (in fact, the Chinese govt. owns all pandas in the world. In order to exhibit a panda, you have to pay royalties to the Communist Party every year. There's your knowledge drop for the day). Imagine going through a pagoda out front and then emerging in the back into a lush Chinese rainforest, complete with a waterfall, with 'local workers' protecting the pandas from poachers. Pandas are conspicuously absent from AK.
In Germany: Give me a good, next-gen dark ride based on the fairy tales and legends associated with the Black Forest. The Black Forest is even today important to the German spirit, and many of the fairy tales Disney uses can be traced back to Germanic roots. But don't make it 'friendship is magic' like the MK. Give it a little bit of a darker bend, like late '90s Tim Burton.
In Italy: I'll take a nice Omni-mover people eater with some good old fashioned animatronics giving us a crash course in the Roman Empire, but with that tongue-in-cheek style that you might have seen in World of Motion. Going from room-to-room following a person as he gets up to hijinks in the market, the senate, etc.
USA: Hehehe. If I could make one single change, it would be to gut the American Adventure show and start from scratch. Its view of US history may have been ok for the '60s, but our understanding of our own story has changed drastically since EPCOT open. That show is so filled with half-truths presented as fact (example: there was NO SNOW at Valley Forge in reality, but not according the show!) and really only tells the "American Adventure" from the white perspective. Get a diverse team together to re-write it. Keep Ben Franklin and Mark Twain, keep it as an animatronic show, but add a third narrator and some new scenes. And get a team together that can help round out our story so that it is more truly American.
Japan: I would love to resurrect the Godzilla roller coaster. I would also settle for an expanded Japanese garden, especially if there was a portion indoors that was "always night" like the Mexico pavilion. Imagine that! Beautiful paper lanterns coloring the babbling streams and koi ponds.
Morocco: Look up "Fortress Explorations" at Tokyo DisneySea. Do something like that, but set in a fortress in Morocco with appropriate rooms. Add a scavenger hunt/quest component so it becomes Tom Sawyer's Island meets Wilderness Explorers. That pavilion is all about exploring the nooks and cranies. This would plus size that immensely.
In France:

In UK: The least possible, but get that Lord of the Rings license and build a Mines of Moria adventure. The Dwarves come to get Bilbo and head out on a new quest. They run into a few 'old friends' and come up against the Balrog before escaping.
In Canada: Do an attraction based on the legends of the Northern Lights told by the Inuit populations in the north.

If I had a gazillion dollars, that's what I would do! I love EPCOT so much. Every attraction that currently exists there I really do like. Spaceship Earth is still my favorite in all WDW. It makes me sad that it gets so neglected.

Italy had plans to do a gondola ride at one time and that would also fit an Italian theme.
How about something James Bond for the UK also?

 

[MichiganScott]

I remember thinking Epcot was a shell of its former self - and that was in 2005!

Epcot needs a front-to-back remodel. World Showcase needs to go - no matter how much they update it, it will be outdated as soon as it opens. They need to instead re-do the area into a sort of entry point for World Showcase. Dedicate the park to like, world history and mythology, or something.

World Showcase needs to go, and be redone into an entry point for the World Showcase? Huh?

 

[rastahomie]

OOPS!

I meant, "Future World" needs to go.

 

[dreiwhit]

FWIW, its (unfortunately) been my experience that maintenance is one of the first things that gets cut when organizations are looking to save money. Training and travel are the other two.

 

[Maliboo]

What is is with people and bathrooms?????????

Bathrooms are typically a great indicator of bigger issues, seen and unseen.

 

[bbjunkie]

You are partially right. According to some sources attendance at Epcot has plunged with the closures of Soarin' and Maelstrom.

What you are correct about is Disney has no interest in updating or creating anything that does not create a new revenue stream. For example, refurbing bathrooms costs money, but doesn't bring in any money (unless they decide to do a separate ticket event for them). Creating new attractions (very expensive to develop and build) doesn't really drive revenue like a new gift store or restaurant. It's the easy way out, but it's Wall Street that is driving Disney. It's no longer about being the leader in quality family edutainment.

Which, if true, does not explain the Tangled Bathrooms at MK, then.

 

[lugnut33]

Which, if true, does not explain the Tangled Bathrooms at MK, then.

True, it is a toilet and an attraction all in one!! LOL

 

[rastahomie]

True, it is a toilet and an attraction all in one!! LOL

I've not heard of these "Tangled" bathrooms in MK! Is it just the women's room, or both?

Apparently Moaning Myrtle can be heard in the women's rooms at the Harry Potter section of Universal, don't know if she's in the men's, too.

 

[Disneylvr]

The ones on the right hand side of the pavilion (near the gift shop) are. The ones on the left next to the restaurant and original to 1982.

I didn't even know there were restrooms on the right side near the gift shop!

My daughter is disabled so we usually, not always, use a companion restroom. I noticed this past September that the ones in Epcot were particularly dirty, had clogged toilets and were just gross. I realize guests are the ones that got them dirty but you could tell they weren't being cleaned very often.

 

[anniemae]

You are partially right. According to some sources attendance at Epcot has plunged with the closures of Soarin' and Maelstrom.

What you are correct about is Disney has no interest in updating or creating anything that does not create a new revenue stream. For example, refurbing bathrooms costs money, but doesn't bring in any money (unless they decide to do a separate ticket event for them). Creating new attractions (very expensive to develop and build) doesn't really drive revenue like a new gift store or restaurant. It's the easy way out, but it's Wall Street that is driving Disney. It's no longer about being the leader in quality family edutainment.

This may be true, but it seem all those people are just shifting over to MK. It's not hurting attendance, same amount of people at Disney, if not more, only less evenly distributed throughout the 4 parks.

 

[Eastern]

We saw rats in Epcot, but it was exciting. omg, look, a rat!! A lady stepped on one and it didn't make it. The other was just nibbling treats in FW.

 

[Sevey13]

I remember thinking Epcot was a shell of its former self - and that was in 2005!

Epcot needs a front-to-back remodel. World Showcase needs to go - no matter how much they update it, it will be outdated as soon as it opens. They need to instead re-do the area into a sort of entry point for World Showcase. Dedicate the park to like, world history and mythology, or something.

Disagree about Future World. It should stay and be updated. I can trace some of my inquisitive nature and 'lifelong learning' bent and optimism for the future to riding attractions at EPCOT. There is so much negativity in the world, and Future World could serve as a living monument to a bright tomorrow.

I already armchair Imagineered World Showcase, so here's what I would do if given my druthers at Future World:

Spaceship Earth: Keep as-is, but continue with the legacy of updating it every 10-15 years. Spaceship Earth is bar none my favorite attraction in WDW and the only one that still has that spirit of optimism that needs to permeate Future World.

Innoventions: Re-facade the buildings taking inspiration from the golf ball. I'm not saying cover them in triangles, but bring the design in-line aesthetically with Spaceship Earth to help with immersion and bring a more common thread into the area. And re-open both sides of Innoventions. Have one side be a permanent tech expo. Companies can showcase their hopes for tomorrow. The other side can be a permanent art and design expo. Imagine if part of Innoventions was an actually curated art museum bringing in touring paintings and sculptures of some of the great artists of yesterday and today to inspire us on what tomorrow might bring. Put that alongside models of great buildings and cities of the world (who doesn't like an intricate model?) and architectural renderings of what people think might be on the horizon.

Universe of Energy: I love this attraction. Specifically, I love Ellen and Bill Nye and a nice ride in the dark air conditioning. There are others who are less attached to it. Ellen is still a big deal, so I would keep her as the host and keep the focus on energy and sustainability.

Life Pavilion: Use this space to create Horizons 2.0. Old Horizons is dead and gone, but bringing it back with next-gen technology would be amazing. It would be like the video in your seat at the end of SE, except playing out for real. Bring on the animatronics! Bring on the video screens! A ride about the history of the future bringing us visions of what people thought the future might be over the years, and a new vision for tomorrow from today.

Mission Space: People like it, people don't like it. I'm fine with it. At least the building is being used (looking at you, Life Pavilion). I think one of the big problems it has it that it doesn't really fit in with anything else around it. Future World isn't really about the future anymore, so it sort of sticks out as something that would currently fit better in Tomorrowland. If you were to bring Future World back in-line with its 'big beautiful tomorrow' story, I think people would find Mission Space more palatable.

Test Track: It's fine and just got updated. Leave it.

Odyssey Building: This is bleeding over into World Showcase, so what I would do here is actually turn it into a restaurant that is sort of a permanent "Food and Wine," with counter service options from countries not represented in WS.

Imagination: In my dreams, I would bring back the second floor of Imagination Pavilion. As a kid I loved wandering around up there and touching things. The current use for the theater with Pixar is admittedly in-line with the current 'story' of EPCOT as a sort of town festival. That said, with the new 'Future' story under my iron fist, I would build a new film stylistically similar to Tomorrowland (the George Clooney film) set in that optimistic future.

Land: Soarin' is fine. I think it still fits in the 'bright future' story because it is about exploring the world around you. Living with the Land is also fine, as it showcases what is coming in hydroponics, etc. There are some theater spaces that aren't being used, though. This would be a great space for Disney Nature documentary division to have basically a rotating preview of their films. They roll out one a year, and the theater isn't really rigged for special effects so there's no reason that every year they can't put in a new film showcasing the animals for that year's film, or even better have a rotating selection of films. The moral of these animal documentaries is always for humans to live in harmony with the land so these animals can share Earth with us. That's a perfectly fine message for my Future World.

The Seas: As much as I like the Nemo overlay, it doesn't fit as well into the 'bright future' story as the whole seabase concept. The Nemo ride is a nice, classic dark ride so I would hate to kill it. I would look for other ways to integrate that pavilion into the new story, but largely leave it be.

The big sin that EPCOT commits right now is so much unused space. Couple that with a disjointed story in Future World, and I can see how people are disappointed. Don't get me wrong, EPCOT is still my favorite park, but I think it's also the one with the most potential.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Epcot is still my favorite park but sadly there isn't much to do or enjoy there anymore. With only one good FP+ open at the moment, we didn't use any FP+ at that park. We spent way more time in MK then we ever did in the past. I did get one afternoon to myself wandering around WS but frankly, with a resort wide crowd level of 9-10 Epcot was a ghost town.