Epcot Looks Run Down In Many Areas - Especially Bathrooms

[dreiwhit]

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.

That explains why there isn't a Ratatouille character meet & greet!

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

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.

You're hired!

 

[rastahomie]

Here's how I would armchair re-imagineer Future World.

Re-name it World Outpost or World Bazaar or something.

Spaceship Earth would be the same, and would remain the focal point of Epcot. The ride inside could basically stay the same, focusing on communication in the context of world history.

The heart of what is now Future World would be something akin to a World Bazaar: an open, or semi-open, area of shops and food stands, built to resemble a bustling market in like ancient Rome or modern Istanbul or someplace.

The Seas would be dedicated to exploring the role of seafaring in the world, both ancient and modern. Complete with a Kraken attack or something.

Imagination's pyramids could be retrofitted to look like the Egyptian ones. Make the attraction a journey through Karnak, Memphis, and the like. The upstairs could be like a museum, with ancient artifacts and such.

The Land could largely stay the same, focusing on agriculture. They could also make the central area look less like a mall food court.

Energy could be retrofitted to stand in for ancient Rome, perhaps even with a live show of some kind (no actual gladiators, of course).

Other FW pavilions - currently in-use or not in-use - could be retrofitted to focus on things like, say, ancient Mesopotamia/Middle East, pre-Columbian Americas, etc.

 

[zaccaglin]

I thought the washrooms beside the restaurant closed when the new washrooms by the gift shop opened. Are the old ones still opened?

Yes they are still open.

 

[CVTmarie23]

We visited in Jan and felt the same way. We were had our reception in AAR back in 2009 and the bathroom were very clean. Jan was our first trip back after a 2 year break and we were surprised at how dirty and uncared for the looked. It wasn't just from a day of messy people (we visited early in the morning), I also saw the peeling paint, mildew etc. The whole park just felt like it needed some TLC.

 

[L&Lfan]

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.

If you know what to look for, you can see rat traps all over WDW. (My boyfriend points them out to me. Lovely!)

 

[Sparkly]

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

Yes, always important to look at your outgoings- they provide a useful sight into your overall gut health. I always recommend noting any changes to see if there's a bigger issue that might need a trip to the doctor to have a chat.

 

[Maliboo]

Yes, always important to look at your outgoings- they provide a useful sight into your overall gut health. I always recommend noting any changes to see if there's a bigger issue that might need a trip to the doctor to have a chat.

Your sarcastic reply is noted, but you know exactly what I am talking about.

 

[rastahomie]

I've cleaned my share of bathrooms; I've cleaned my share and your share and his share and her share too. I can tell you confidently that women's bathrooms are always, always worse than men's rooms. Pee on the toilet seats (just sit down for Pete's sake, what do you think is going to happen? You're going to get deadly butt-fungus?), unflushed toilets with more than just pee in them, "hygiene products" thrown on the floor...

Of course, I've never seen the inside of a women's restroom at WDW so I can't say if the same is true there.

 

[Stefecatzz]

I haven't been since December & didn't notice the restrooms being that bad. I assume you're talking about the older ones in America to the left of the QS, not the new ones to the right of the gift shop?

What bothers me most in the restrooms are the sensors on some of the toilets which don't let you keep the seat cover on without flushing it before you can sit down. I've had a couple of Donald moments as a result.

 

[Eastern]

If you know what to look for, you can see rat traps all over WDW. (My boyfriend points them out to me. Lovely!)

Interesting! I hope they don't catch any

 

[Eastern]

I've cleaned my share of bathrooms; I've cleaned my share and your share and his share and her share too. I can tell you confidently that women's bathrooms are always, always worse than men's rooms. Pee on the toilet seats (just sit down for Pete's sake, what do you think is going to happen? You're going to get deadly butt-fungus?), unflushed toilets with more than just pee in them, "hygiene products" thrown on the floor...

Of course, I've never seen the inside of a women's restroom at WDW so I can't say if the same is true there.

Yeah it's true and it drives me crazy.

 

[freediverdude]

I think they have cut the janitorial shifts. Remember when you used to almost always see someone in every restroom tidying and hanging around? Now it's more rare to see someone in there. I think they have cut a little too much in this area and need to add back. Some of these restrooms are busier than even mall or airport restrooms, and need constant care. The Main Street restrooms, the ones on both sides of the ball in Epcot, the ones nearest Test Track and Mission Space there in future world east, the ones near ToT, the Splash Mountain ones, and I'm sure people can name others, are ones that probably need a dedicated attendant.

 

[maxiesmom]

I think they have cut the janitorial shifts. Remember when you used to almost always see someone in every restroom tidying and hanging around? Now it's more rare to see someone in there. I think they have cut a little too much in this area and need to add back. Some of these restrooms are busier than even mall or airport restrooms, and need constant care. The Main Street restrooms, the ones on both sides of the ball in Epcot, the ones nearest Test Track and Mission Space there in future world east, the ones near ToT, the Splash Mountain ones, and I'm sure people can name others, are ones that probably need a dedicated attendant.

I don't agree. Thanks to many threads like this one it is stuck in my mind to pay attention to the bathrooms at WDW. And, at least during my trips, the restrooms have been clean way more often than not, and many of them had attendants in them when I walked in.

At any rate, I think this thread was about how the restrooms need repairs, not so much that they were not being cleaned. I can honestly say I have not noticed bad grout, but I bet I will be looking on my next trip.

 

[bbjunkie]

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.

Both, and in case you're not joking...

 

[Mickey28]

Here's how I would armchair re-imagineer Future World.

Re-name it World Outpost or World Bazaar or something.

Spaceship Earth would be the same, and would remain the focal point of Epcot. The ride inside could basically stay the same, focusing on communication in the context of world history.

The heart of what is now Future World would be something akin to a World Bazaar: an open, or semi-open, area of shops and food stands, built to resemble a bustling market in like ancient Rome or modern Istanbul or someplace.

The Seas would be dedicated to exploring the role of seafaring in the world, both ancient and modern. Complete with a Kraken attack or something.

Imagination's pyramids could be retrofitted to look like the Egyptian ones. Make the attraction a journey through Karnak, Memphis, and the like. The upstairs could be like a museum, with ancient artifacts and such.

The Land could largely stay the same, focusing on agriculture. They could also make the central area look less like a mall food court.

Energy could be retrofitted to stand in for ancient Rome, perhaps even with a live show of some kind (no actual gladiators, of course).

Other FW pavilions - currently in-use or not in-use - could be retrofitted to focus on things like, say, ancient Mesopotamia/Middle East, pre-Columbian Americas, etc.

Then wouldn't have to be called History World and not Future World

 

[lugnut33]

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.

They are where the old sky buckets station was, across from side of Peter Pan, left of IASW (if you are looking at it)

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

AAAAnnndddddd, Disney is listening, they just put out a press announcement that the old bathrooms near MK Town Hall are going to be refurbished!!!

 

[leebee]

I thought all the Star Wars stuff should go to Future World, over near Mission Space. Move Frozen to the Studios, leave Norway alone. We are so much more technologically advanced that was ever envisioned- it seems like this could be played up in some of the empty buildings, too. Epcot has basically been abandoned by Disney; keep Soarin, Test Trak, and Spaceship Earth in shape and nobody will notice how badly themed, outdated, and empty the rest of Future World really is.

 

[720L]

That's a shame about the washrooms in America. Aren't they just a few years old?

I think they are probably talking about the ones closest to the CS restaurant. Those are pretty old.

 

[metzgardesign]

But.....but...but, it's the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow?!?

How can it be run-down?