I personally think they should have kept Horizons as a pre-show to Mission:Space, which would have been added on to the back. This would have kept a 'family' attraction for the pavilion and provided a lead in to the thrill ride, since the rides last horizon was space. The final mini-simulators could have geared towards Space, choosing a lift off, landing or moon fly-by (while promoting the thrill ride to come). It would have then dropped you into the display area where the non-thrill seekers could spend their time, while the thrill seekers went on to the new Space ride. They also could have kept Horizons open while Space was being built as sort of a teaser for the new ride (after a short update), with peaks into the progress of the ride at the end. This would have boosted Horizons attendance leading up to the opening, and the tie in would keep it busy after.
>I also think they should have done the same thing with World of Motion. Replacing 'family' rides with thrill rides is a dangerous thing for 'Disney' to do. And what was GM thinking anyway??? If they would have left the World of Motion and ADDED Test Track, then while the kids were waiting for and riding Test Track, Mom and Dad would have been looking at the car$!!! Now, they've scared away Mom and Pop and are left with teens running through the showroom more concerned with what their next ride would be. Same with Horizons, while the kids rode the ride, Mom and Pop would view the displays (including Compaq computers which could have touted the importance of owning a computer in a house with kids). Both GM and Compaq have both replaced 'attractions' that attracted families, and replaced them with 'attractions' that do not attract their key demographics. And like Horizons, they could have added peaks at the new ride at the end of Motion, which would have boosted Motions attendance leading up to the opening, would have saved the embarrassment when it opened a year late, and the tie in would keep it busy after. Another way to look at it is while TT and MS were being built, the sponsor sponsored nothing and had NO contact with the public (+ the extra year TT took to build). If they had spent a little bit more to upgrade and keep the original, that obviously valuable exposure would have been saved (and well worth the $$$ spent).
I'm a PERFECT example...I am a computer professional who goes to WDW with his 7yo daughter who doesn't like thrill rides. If Horizons and Motion still existed, we would regularly ride them and pass through the display area (I BUY NEW cars-need one now a matter of fact, home COMPUTERS, AND influence the purchase of computers and network equipment at work!$?). We never go on Test Track (she did it once, I've snuck in a couple of other times when I was in the park alone), so we never see the sponsor and I don't really plan on going in the back way to do that, either.
This isn't Disney's fault, since Epcot is run more by the sponsors. JitYI is another perfect example...the ride sucks, and Tasha gets scared by the 3D film, so we never see the sponsor. What's the point?????
>I also think that Pooh and Company could have had a whole new area built for them (hundred acre woods) and the new ride, sparing Mr. Toad, who might of had a resurgence (and more meaning) after the movie was released on video.
>I also think that 20,000 Leagues could have been easily converted into a Little Mermaid Submarine ride, with the Octopus replaced with Ursula attacking the ship, and a slight glimpse of Atlantis just before the attack and retreat. Hell, the mermaids could even have been salvaged. The narration could have been done by Prince Eric (the Captain of the sub), and Ariel.
>I also think that CoP could easily be made a premier attraction by adding the current Tommorrowland theme to it and changing the scenes from the current history lesson with Mr. Boring and his goofy family, to Jules Vern's look visions of the future, starting from 1900, then his view of the near future (2000, a distorted view of now), the future (2100, pretty wild), then the distant future (2200, wacky). It could also be less far out with the final scene still being in the 21st century with aliens helping out in the kitchen. The building itself could be changed into a giant retro-spaceship.
>Living Seas could easily be fixed...eliminate the pre-show requirement and let people straight into the hydrolators. Turn the preshow areas into show areas INSIDE the 'underwater' station (more capacity, more to do). The pre-preshow (which shows nothing right now), could be converted into a kiddy aquarium where kids climb THROUGH a giant aquarium surrounded by the fishes, while the parents sit and watch or take the opportunity to explore the exhibits. The preshow area could show a series of movies that you can choose to see (IF YOU WISH, WHEN YOU WISH) The original movie, a terrors of the deep, a treasures of the deep and highlight film of what can be seen within the station (a different film every 15 minutes, 4 different films)...and a place to SIT(!!!!). The kiddy aquarium idea, again gives families something to do, Mom and Pop might just go there JUST because junior want to play, and then (if there was a sponsor) the sponsor could pitch their stuff. It's hard for parents to check out all the displays, when junior is crying, "can we go now"?
>Then there's Food Rocks...as far as I'm concerned, I prefer Disney cute to Disney cool, and miss Brocolli
>More JityI...When Kodak decided to rip-off the public by taking away the 2nd floor of the pavilion, then replaced what once was significant ride space with line space and the new play area???, I was offended. This is not something you want to do to your 'patrons'. They could have easily added on the the 1st floor providing new area for a significant new ride that would have been worthwhile and DREW people to the pavilion (instead of repulsing them).
>Superstar TV should be replaced with Superstar at the Movies. The whole premise for this attraction was right on target for MGM, providing an avenue for guests to be part of the show. And just because the TV version got stale didn't mean the idea was stale. They could alternate the movie version with the TV version every 5 years (changing them each time), and the attraction WOULD do well (hell the comfortable COOL theatre was almost good enough to go in (Doug wasn't, though).
>And Epcot could use a culture fix (Millenium Village did a good job providing us with more variety for a while). The don't have to build a whole new country, just a new pavilion hosted by 4-6 new countries. Each country could share the sponsor costs and a central stage and picnic area. Each country would take turns presenting a show on the stage and would operate a store, food counter, with a large shared restaurant in the back. Hopefully the countries would share something in common so a common architecture could be developed to represent them all (and the menu in the restaurant would make some sense, while providing a wide variety)
