Is Epcot Losing It's Appeal ?

[WaltD4Me]

Epcot has moved up alot for me. In earlier trips...before 2000, Epcot didn't interest me much, then in 2004 I went during the Flower & Garden Festival and everything was so beautiful with all the flowers and toparies, I took the time to really look at Epcot and now I absolutely love it. It's hard for me to say whether MK or Epcot is my favorite park, I would say it's a tie, but I know that's cheating, so I'll go with MK edging out Epcot ever so slightly, then DHS and AK.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

I agree with the OP about a few things but I still put EPCOT as my #2 park (MK first, of course). I DO agree that Innoventions is a disappointment these days and I wish they would reinvent the stations there. And I do somewhat agree with the food options.

But the reason I still keep EPCOT as my #2 is the fact that I can always find good music there. Music is definitely one of my passions and the fact that I can go to several countries and hear live music makes me happy I LOVE the UK for the Beatles cover band and the Irish band (sorry, can't remember the name) and I really enjoy listening to MoRockin' in Moracco. So, for me, EPCOT is more about enjoying the things I happen upon - not the stuff that I race to see... ya know?

 

[oilheadbob]

Epcot is still our favorite park. We love to walk the world showcase as much for the walking as much as the countries. Love the rides in future world. Just a great place to be.

Bob and Nancy
Gainesville, Va.

 

[TexDisFan]

Epcot is my favorite park followed very closely by MK. I can remember going to Epcot while on our honeymoon in 1990 and being intrigued by the new technology on display. Going again in '98 and '07 did not capture that same intrigue with FutureWorld. Didn't seem to be as much 'cutting edge' as there was in the earlier years. Still love Epcot as a whole though.

 

[OKW Lover]

We actually wind up spending a lot of our time in Epcot. Its our park of choice on most days. Sure we need to do the MK at least once on a trip, but Epcot is a multi-day park for us. We especially love going there for the Flower & Garden Festival and the Food & Wine Festival. And when they aren't doing either of those, we just enjoy walking around WS and stopping now and then to take-in something in one of the countries.

 

[paperdoll1986]

ok, I've only physically been in Epcot once (well, twice in one trip) in Dec. 2007.

When i was first researching WDW, Epcot didn't hold much interest, but i was listening to a podcast that dealt a lot in trivia and history, which is my specialized love for Disney and Disney parks, and I sort of fell in love with it that way.

around 1990-91, my godfather came to florida on a cruise and spent a couple of days in WDW. Now, my godfather is not exactly....cheerful. my mom says he smiles three days out of the year, his kids' birthdays and mine. and he LOVED Epcot. He told me Kitchen Kabaret had him laughing out loud. and he adores Figment. Brough me home a big stuffed plush of him. how he got him home, I'll never know. and while i didn't know who he was, not having been, being told he was Disney (part of the family, if you will), I loved him all the same.

The first time I walked into Epcot when I finally came. Well, I felt as if I was somewhere I was always meant to be. Like coming home.

Now, while I wasn't disappointed, I'm freaking envious of not getting to go on attractions like World of Motion, Horizons, the original Journey into Imagination, Communicore.

The mantality has changed so much to accomodate, once again, the casual visitor as opposed to those who enjoy a sense of continuity and history with the parks, that the idea of "theming" is kinda out the window. Not entirely, but to a certain extent.

It's almost as if Future World would benefit from a nostalgia treatment like Disneyland's tomorrowland is sort of getting.

 

[wishspirit]

One word: Illuminations!

Still holds that Disney Magic for me!

 

[wdwfreeksince88]

Epcot is still my favorite but MK is very close. I do think that Innoventions was better in the 90's when we first started coming.

I totally agree with this statement as we feel the same way

 

[PinkBudgie]

As a "Disneylander" I found this thread facinating. I've never been to WDW but always imagine that I would like it best. I've wanted to visit ever since I was a child. It just sounds so cool and so unlike what we have here in CA. It sounds like some parts are similar to Tomorrowland at DLR, which badly needs an update! I don't know how similar the two Innovations are but I like it. They just put in a house of the future which had some interesting ideas I would love have in a house someday.

Anyway, I hope to get to see Epcot within the next 5 years, aiming towards 2012, but we'll see.

 

[Minnie Lor]

Epcot is still my favorite and mostly because of WS. I love to sample the different tastes in each country (still wish Canada would get a CS or kiosk), I love meandering thru the stores, talking to the CM's, watching the various shows, people watching. I take Epcot at a slow pace. Over a 7 day trip we are usually at Epcot 3-4 days.

My next favorite is AK especially on a cooler day. There's not many rides that I do at AK but I love the shows, the feel, the architecture, the smell, the sounds. I like to take it easy there as well. It's funny. Our first trip to WDW was not too soon after AK opened and we hated AK. We love zoo's and this wasn't a zoo. Finally we 'got' it and I feel in love with the place.

Next is MK which of course how could you not love. It's beautiful and there's so much to do there. So many favorite rides, so much detailing, and I really try to stop and smell the roses at MK but there's just so much to do.

DHS is last on my list and that makes me sad. I wish that someone with the gift for writing could write something that would capture the magic of DHS. I really really want to like it but it's not charming, whimsical, beautiful, inspiring, or anything else. It's just there with a few good shows and a couple of great rides. *sigh*

 

[miss missy]

The World Showcase appeals to my teen, the shopping and such of it. I do think the "Future" is behind the times and would love to see what they could put there now? what is our future going to look like? what is mind blowing to think of ever coming later??

I think MK will always be the #1 as it IS Walt, and is Disney, it is Mickey. AK is moving up since they are adding more and more I think. DHS seems to be the one that is less changed IMHO.

But I will always love it all

 

[uncleleo]

I am confident that Epcot remains an outstanding experience for visitors. Moreover, I think the ways it has changed in the last decade or so comprise a direct and terrifically effective response to criticisms of the park that arose in the 1990s. Many opined then that Future World was becoming obsolete and held inadequate appeal for children. So Disney brought in state-of-the-art thrill rides and integrated its characters far more extensively into FW. I am one who pines sentimentally for Horizons and World of Motion, but I can't deny the excellence of what replaced them.

World Showcase has been much more static, but given its purpose, WS requires a much lower "refresh rate" than a ride-focused theme park. Though its mass-appeal attractions could probably use more rehab, the exhibits change and evolve with adequate frequency and the stores hold more than adequate novelty for the all but the minority of patrons who visit multiple times a year. The one great knock against WS from the beginning has been the low appeal for kids. Disney has addressed that need with increasingly vigorous efforts, from the passports through the Kidcot stations to the new Kim Possible adventures.

I don't have enough historic perspective on the WS table service restaurants to comment with any authority. I would assume that they follow the same trends as other TS restaurants at WDW, including potentially negative impacts of DDP. I would contend, however, that WS has plenty of room for quality reduction before it has to worry about being outperformed by any other theme park.

If there's any park that has been diminished, it's DHS. I think the major attractions it has added in the past 10 years are fantastic, and I could enjoy them all day. But the slow death of the park's original vision as a working studio has, for me, turned DHS from a theme park into a random collection of admittedly compelling attractions. It's not studios anymore, it's Magic Kingdom south, or Universal Lite.

 

[Joshua_me]

Thanks for all the kind responses, everyone !

I was worried that this thread would come off as too 'negative'.

It's interesting to hear all of your points of view....

 

[JeniferRabbit]

My husband & I are locals (we actually live about 4 mins away) and we have the Epcot after 4 pass. That is by far my favorite park of all. We go often, so we get to stroll around at our leisure with a drink, or hit as many rides as we can. Getting to go so often makes us appreciate the little things that often get overlooked. I love how there are so many different areas to explore.
My ranking of the parks is: Ep, AK, MK, DHS