Please Put Epcot Out Of Its Misery!

[jhaig]

Watching that musical performance outside of Test Track was the last straw. Epcot needs help, STAT! The evidence is overwhelming:

- Soarin' is still good, but it's a shell of what it was. A grainy film on a dirty screen does not compel me to stand in line for an hour. In this age of HD and digital, there's no excuse why this film has to look like garbage

- The whole Test Track refurb fiasco, punctuated by the hastily thrown-together Test Track singers - somewhere Up With People is laughing hysterically

- Mission Space, while still cool, makes people vomit

- Ellen's Energy Adventure is now the best place to catch an air-conditioned nap in all of WDW

- Habit Heroes shut down in less than a month - wait, you mean mocking kids isn't what we do here at WDW?

- The Imagination Pavilion is a complete waste of space

- Body Wars Pavilion is still empty

- When you ask you kids what they enjoyed most at Future World, and they say Living With the Land, it's time to re-evaluate things


The ONLY thing that has been consistently interesting and worth-while at Epcot over the last few years has been the World Showcase. When your park has the name "Future World", you shouldn't ever be outdated.

Either Epcot needs a complete makeover, or it should be plowed under and become a giant World Showcase. Add in some countries like Russia, Australia, Brazil, etc. That's at least more interesting than watching Alex Trebek banter with Bill Nye the Science Guy.


Epcot - time to step up. Universal has Harry Potter. You have Figment and the Test Track Five. Think about it

 

[WorldWacky]

I agree on all counts, except for that part about Figment...I like Figment.

 

[Tomh]

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed

Universal does indeed have Hary Potter, but are we really comparing just Epcot to all of Universal Studios? Disney World is a LOT more than just Epcot!

However, Soarin' is still a cool ride, as is Living With the Land, and Spaceship Earth. I also very much enjoy the Gran Fiesta Tour (yeah, I know, but I absolutely love that ride) and the Maelstrom is pretty cool.

The gem of Epcot, however, IS the World Showcase, and it is amazing. My family can easily waste away several days just touring the World Showcase.

This makes me wonder though, why we are comparing all of Universal to Epcot, when there is so much more to Disney World.

If I were going to make a comparison, I would compare Harry Potter to the new Fantasyland, or the proposed Avatar land, I think those are more appropriate comparisons than to compare the brand new Harry Potter area to the ages old Future World. I would HOPE a brand new attraction like that would out do the much older Future World.

 

[jhaig]

Universal does indeed have Hary Potter, but are we really comparing just Epcot to all of Universal Studios? Disney World is a LOT more than just Epcot!

Nope, just the fact that Epcot is falling behind everything else. Epcot used to be a highlight. Now we blow through it on our way to World Showcase. We too, love Maelstrom and can waste hours at WS and still not see everything. It just seems like other parks, both in and out of WDW, are progressing and Epcot is still stuck in the 80's wearing its leg warmers listening to Duran Duran

 

[MolonLabe]

I agree on all counts, except for that part about Figment...I like Figment.

I like Figment too. I recall him being much cooler in the late 80's though. Did they change him?

In any event, future world is really outdated and.. dare I say it, lame.

Ellen is obnoxious in Energy, I miss the old narrator skits.

Mission Space, was really cool. Not so much any more, but I'm ambivalent on that one, lots more to address prior to that.

Test Track. I enjoyed it. I didn't think it was spectacular or anything. That said, my wife loved it and so did the kids. Leave it be.

Sorin... was soooo much cooler last decade. It needs to have the video footage reshot and brought into the HD age. Other than that, the ride is still top notch IMO.

Captain EO... where to begin? Send it back to the 80's. What a waste.

The land is still cool, except that horrid movie, how it's lasted this long, I have no idea.

Future World needs major work. It's like Disney has just written it off.

I still like Epcot. I'm hoping after the new Fantasy land gets finished, they start on Future world ASAP.

ROFL, so much for long posts on a tablet

 

[Planogirl]

I like Harry Potter and Figment and Ellen.

I kind of get what you're saying though. Epcot was my favorite park by far but it's really taken a nosedive for me. I still love Spaceship Earth and World Showcase but otherwise I could by pass it nowadays. We will just spend a day now where we used to go for about three days.

 

[jhaig]

Captain EO... where to begin? Send it back to the 80's. What a waste.

Can't believe I forgot to rip on this piece of...nostalgia. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Mickey Gator]

No doubt Future World is lame and to put singers at Test Track is laughable. But the World Showcase is still enjoyable and where else can you drink around the world. Oh yeah, IMHO Duffy is silly and Captain EO is old and tired. With that being said we will be there in 2 days and will love every minute.

 

[shawy1269]

While I agree that EPCOT's Future World is in need of a MAJOR overhaul, I believe putting it "out of it's misery" is a bit of an overreaction. I believe that overhauling Test Track could be the beginning of a shift towards a more modern experience in Future World. It COULD be.

Hopefully Disney sees this as important. EPCOT is my favorite park. By that I mean, it holds the most memories of attractions I used to love. Its my sentimental favorite. But even I, sometimes, find myself in EPCOT wondering why this is the case. The attractions aren't as good as they used to be. World Showcase is still a viable option, but they could use a new pavilion or two. Hopefully the new Test Track will start a trend.

Now I understand that the change in sponsorship from GM to Chevy has a lot to do with the attraction update. I'm sure they are footing a good portion of the bill for the update. Is it so strange to think that there are other sponsors out there in the world who would want an EPCOT pavilion to showcase their companies dedication to making the world a better place? Apple, Coca-Cola, Google, Facebook, Visa...

It seems to me that an EPCOT pavilion should be an opportunity for these companies to showcase themselves in a positive way. However the relationship between Disney and these sponsored pavilions has a history complications. It seems to me that the entire sponsorship system should be reevaluated. Disney wants to control all aspects of the attraction design, take all the profits, but then still charge the sponsor to put their logo on the sign and maybe a shoutout in the ride audio track. It just doesnt seem like all that good of a deal for the sponsors. Especially when the attractions become antiquated like some are now, and Disney comes calling for even more money for an update. If a commercial gets old, you make a new one. A billboard can be changed in a few hours, a website even faster. But an entire EPCOT pavilion, that takes years of planning and months...if not years of construction. Where is the incentive for sponsors? The entire system needs to be reevaluated.

EPCOT definitely has its share of problems. However, that doesn't mean that the entire park needs to be leveled and replaced with Toy Story World. EPCOTs future depends on Disney's ability to rethink their traditional business model regarding Future World pavilions. The imagineers wanted Future World to be a permanent World's Fair. It's still possible, but it will require a little extra Imagination.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I'm confused how a park with attractions with 45 or 90 or more waits on busy days needs to be "put out of its misery". It seems to be doing just fine, thankyouvertmuch.

Personally I wouldn't cross the street to visit Harry Potter. Neither the books nor the park hold any interest for me. The movies, either. And Mission: Space has never made me vomit... but WDW did install a mild option for people like the OP who can't deal with the extreme version.

So they ARE trying to cater to a wider variety of tastes/guests - but it's hard when you get reactions like this thread.

 

[maxiesmom]

Nope, just the fact that Epcot is falling behind everything else. Epcot used to be a highlight. Now we blow through it on our way to World Showcase. We too, love Maelstrom and can waste hours at WS and still not see everything. It just seems like other parks, both in and out of WDW, are progressing and Epcot is still stuck in the 80's wearing its leg warmers listening to Duran Duran

Sorry, but I think your family misses a lot! My family loves Epcot, and not just the World Showcase.

You seem to forget that Soarin is a fairly recent (and huge) addition to Epcot. Spaceship Earth was recently redone, and Nemo was added to the Seas ride. Plus they are updating TestTrack (hence the singers). Do they need to do more? YES! But they haven't been ignoring Epcot. Far from it.

 

[Art 1]

I know maybe 10 people or so that go to WDW almost every weekend for lunch or dinner and to just hang out, take in a show, myself included. The park they/us choose most of the time is EPCOT.

 

[fla4fun]

Mission Space, was really cool in the 80's. Not so much any more, but I'm ambivalent on that one, lots more to address prior to that.

Considering Mission Space wasn't even open in the 80's, how cool could it have been? Are you thinking about the Horizons attraction that was on that site prior to Mission Space? Horizons was cool! Mission Space, not so much. In fact, I have been visiting Epcot since it opened, and really, the FW of the late 80's was a much superior experience to the FW of today. If I could get in a time machine and go back to, say, 1988 Epcot, I would do it in a minute!

I agree that there is a lot of unrealized potential in Future World. With all the technological advances these days, there should be some really great attractions and there just aren't. My only "must see" in FW is SSE. Occasionally I will do Soarin or LWTL. But I probably spend more time in Mouse Gear shopping than in any other part of FW. WS is the better part of the park by far, right now.

I say this while admitting that Epcot is my favorite park - but that is in large part due to WS. I am glad to see they are doing some work on TT, but they need to do some work on the Energy and Imagination pavilions as well to bring FW back up to standard.

 

[cah5525]

I love Epcot but have to agree. More countries represented would be nice. 90 minute waits? That's because when families go, that have been more than once, you ask the kids...what do you want to ride? There are only 2 rides they care to go on and then they're done for the day. World showcase...yes, you used to be able to spread it out over 2 days but now that we've all seen everything there is to see...we cut our park day short and go back to swim at the resort. If they can't fit in more countries...how about international kiosks with food samplers, like during F&W and rotate them so frequent visitors have something new to look forward to. And yes, a new ride for the kids would be nice, too. A new movie OR...rotate the movies shown at OH! Canada - We don't sit for that old Norway movie anymore, either.

 

[pampam]

The problem with Future World, is that the future has caught up with it. They had the same problem with Tomorrowland in MK, and redid it quite a few years ago. They made it more cartoonish, which is ok, since it will probably be a while till it is redone again. But it is difficult to do this when you are showing technology to people who always want what is really current. Things change as time marches on. Remember Xanadu, home of the future, on Highway 192 in Kissimmee? It had microwave ovens, and all sorts of wonders. It eventully was torn down when the future caught up with it. It's part of the problem when we deal with the future. I wouldn't want to see Future World torn down, but they may have to rethink how they will use it.

 

[AlohaLily]

Living with the Land is a perfectly good ride, in fact I look forward to going there every time we go to Epcot. I guess my opinion comes from me not being bothered by not going on too many rides. I don't want to go on roller coasters that are like 200ft tall that is why I have no interest in anything to do with Universal Studios.

Of course some places need to be updated, but if they put down some of the rides to redo them people would freak out like they are doing with Test Track. I don't go on rides and think, wow this ride is old and needs to be redone. I'm always caught up in the amazement of actually being in Walt Disney World.

But to each their own, I guess that means more room at Epcot.

 

[RMulieri]

I agree that Epcot Futureworld needs some help, do I think it needs to be demolished? no. I wish Disney would make the investment in fixing Epcot and adding to DHS before doing something like Avatarland.

 

[andyman8]

Epcot is, byfar, my least favorite park. In all my visits, I have never been to Imagination or Universe of Energy. I also don't see why they closed WoL and BW. Unlike the other parks, Epcot has not had a major overhaul since its opening.

I have heard that Disney is planning on a "revival" of Future World in the later part of this decade (2016+) after they are done with the FLE and Avatar-land. There plans are, supposedly, going to integrate more Disney characters to the pavilions like The Seas with Nemo. I don't know any specifics, though. Neither does Disney probably.

 

[silverhaze269]

While I agree that FW does need a bit of TLC, I still Epcot.

I think Soarin' is an awesome ride, despite poor quality of the film. All they would have to do is re-shoot the existing film in HD, or create a new film. The ride wouldn't have to be down very long, just long enough to change over the film, and maybe make minor updates to the motion of the ride vehicles if needed.

Mission Space is also an awesome ride. If you know you're prone to motion sickness or if you think it might be a bit too intense on the Orange side, for heaven's sake, choose to do the Green side instead! If you're okay with that and think you can ramp it up to Orange, do it! Although I enjoy this ride, I think it could also use a bit of an update. Say, add more "missions" so that Mars isn't the only place you can go, or, change up what happens a little, so there's a bit more variation. I find that it can get a bit repetitive.

I think the Nemo addition to The Seas was an excellent move. What they had before was a little outdated, and although some people might think it's lame, I think the Nemo ride is kind of cute. If you don't like it, you can always bypass the ride and enter through the exit. I always loved the Seas though. I usually spend a while in there watching the dolphins and such, but I love that kind of thing. It's the closest to an aquarium I'll ever get, aside from visiting Sea World again.

I've never seen Ellen's Energy Adventure, so I can't comment about that one, but Figment could use something to make him more popular again. I thought it was a cute ride, but my last visit was the first time I ever did that one.

Although dated, I think Captain EO is much better than the Honey I Shrunk the Audience that had been there. I really disliked that old ride, so I jumped at the chance to see something new to me last time, and was hesitant, but I actually kind of liked it.

I don't think Epcot needs a complete overhaul, I just think it needs a little TLC to get it back up to speed.

 

[MoonFaerie]

Awww, we love Epcot! (Me - soil & environmental science major, DH - bioennergy major, entomology minor. DS - loves anything and everything science. We're nerds. )

Test Track is our fave, so I hope it's even more awesome when it reopens.

Soarin is ok, but the kids like it. We FP it, so the lines aren't a huge issue.

Living with the Land and Behind the Seeds are fun and we always learn something.

The Seas - not a fan of the added Nemo, but we enjoy learning something new every time from the CMs.

Ellen - silly, but still a nice break.

Figment - OK, this one is terrible.

Sum of all thrills - another fun one!

Mission Space - It's not my cup of tea, but I'm sure plenty of people love it. I would like to see other missions to change it up. (Personally, the green version isn't intense enough, and the orange version is too intense.)

Captain EO - yes, it's cheesy 80s, but that's exactly why we love it!