Universe of Energy - Still on the Chopping Block?

[danikoski]

Disney would need sponsors to continue the pavilion themes...At least in Disney's eyes. They don't get those like they did when the park opened, so, hence the idea to move away from themed pavilion.

Disney feels IPs are surer money, whether they are right or wrong on that remains to be seen, but it is what it is right now.

 

[danikoski]

I've posted this on other threads, but I would love to see a robotics pavilion with Big Hero 6 as the IP.

I'm hoping if I say it enough it'll happen

 

[Phicinfan]

Just as a follow up...
Per Martin at WDWMagic.com - UoE is still targeted to get GotG and it will be a roller coaster ride. There was to be some additional edutaitional adds but due to $$$$$ those may go away.

expect this to be pushed out, due to cost, so look for Rat and some other work to start before this does.

 

[George4]

Especially with profits starting to fall in other divisions (ESPN for instance), it seems like they are circling the wagons trying to save money everywhere. The parks themselves are still highly profitable, and if you put 50% of the profits each year back into these parks, they would be amazing. That would be close to half a billion per year. That would be a staggering improvement to what they are doing now. Quit putting IP everywhere and start being a creative engine for entertainment again.

So frustrating to watch most of the WDW parks becoming a shadow of their former selves.

 

[Whatsthegoodword]

They do have a history of cutting their losses so never know.
And even using something here and there for festival overflow doesn't make it well utilized.

Wonders of Life Pavilion

The Odyssey

Innoventions

And the two large buildings that never even opened their attractions sitting in Germany and Japan.

THEY HAVE GOT TO GET GOING WITH FUTURE WORLD! It's unbelievable that they've let it slip to this point. It's nice of you to leave out the wide open spaces in Imagination. They might as well close it too.

 

[HopperFan]

THEY HAVE GOT TO GET GOING WITH FUTURE WORLD! It's unbelievable that they've let it slip to this point. It's nice of you to leave out the wide open spaces in Imagination. They might as well close it too.

"Future" World was dated when it opened. They need to stop trying to embrace the "Future" and completely re-imagine this area - the irony of imagination That building is painful. I don't want band-aids, I want bulldozers and commitment to something with longevity.

The Germany building was supposed to hold the Rhine River Cruise but was cut before the whole park opened.
The Japan building was supposed to hold the attraction "Meet the World" but due to a WWII reference and the feeling of offending vets they scrapped it. It was later supposed to have a bullet train simulator but then I believe it became expanded into the department store there

Japan had several potential plans that changed over the years and sadly none built. One strong one was a Mt. Fuji themed coaster ride similar to the Matterhorn bobsleds with Fuji film willing to sponsor. But at the time Kodak was a major sponsor and would not have it. This is talked about in many locations but I pulled the photos from http://reimaginingdisney.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/epcot-part-5-world-showcase-west.html.

 

[Roxyfire]

"Future" World was dated when it opened. They need to stop trying to embrace the "Future" and completely re-imagine this area - the irony of imagination That building is painful. I don't want band-aids, I want bulldozers and commitment to something with longevity.

Something has to be done for sure. I'm not going to pretend I know what to do. But I'm not going to put any purity tests on it. They need to get a mixture of fun, engaging, and informational attractions in these spaces pronto. With so many pushing STEM for schoolchildren, especially girls, there's no reason not to start small and expand out as they approve other ideas. Stop with all the lame-o meet and greets and actually try something cool.

 

[Phicinfan]

Per Martin - 3 years for GotG in UoE

 

[Whatsthegoodword]

I agree that "the future" will always be slippery and hard to represent, but there's no reason that they can't follow the template of what they did with Test Track. While there are parts of it that are clumsy, the overall idea of "designing your own car" really is great, and still grabs my teenagers' attention. To the previous post's point, they follow a STEM theme there, and that could certainly continue with every pavilion. STEM is EPCOT. It always has been...

 

[loinsley]

So, is Ellen ride closed?

 

[Disneylvr]

I rode it last May thinking it would be my past time. I noticed that the Ellen audioanimatronic fighting the snake was gone. Is it still not in the ride? Also the ride broke down near the end and we had to evacuate. As much as I love it, if they aren't going to update it or even maintain it, it is time for it to go.

 

[rteetz]

So, is Ellen ride closed?

No

 

[Josh Hendy]

Energy - aside from all the other issues as you say, it's way too long, always empty and no way a good investment anymore.
Mission - space program is more commercial and this just isn't relevant
Test Track - a car commercial
Life - DEAD
Seas - what a sad sad place. The glass is all cloudy, fish minimal, reminds me of later 20K Leagues years. Zero future, only old.
Land - Soarin' has nothing to do with the future, the boat shows some modern farming ......
Imagination - sad. Nothing about the future there.
Spaceship earth - love it. Great history lesson.
Innoventions - DEAD
Odyssey - DEAD

I can't even call it FutureWorld without rolling my eyes. It needs a serious round table discussion and a solid cohesive plan going forward.

This is a severe indictment of Iger. It says a lot about the complacency or ignorance of Disney's major shareholders as well.

If any other company had a flagship product worth billions of dollars and management completely ignored its need for regular revision and renewal then there would be a lot of questions and complaints.

But they're OK with everything ... because liquor sales and DVC sales are still brisk?

 

[HopperFan]

This is a severe indictment of Iger. It says a lot about the complacency or ignorance of Disney's major shareholders as well.

If any other company had a flagship product worth billions of dollars and management completely ignored its need for regular revision and renewal then there would be a lot of questions and complaints.

But they're OK with everything ... because liquor sales and DVC sales are still brisk?

True on Iger, but he is not a Parks person.

Major stockholders aren't looking at the details like us lowly stockholders do, they are looking at one thing = the end $$$.

Bottom line, Epcot's FutureWorld was doomed before it was built because nothing about the future has longevity. You can't invest in that kind of product if you can't afford to do major changes every couple years. So after a few years when it was dead they tried to add, but then it became a mishmosh - which it has been ever since as it dies more every day. Bandaids won't do. It needs a total re-imagine and new name.