The State of Epcot

[SkiBum]

I mean face it, Epcot has basically become a Pub Crawl with rides.

Very few rides.

 

[belloq87]

Very few rides.

I count 10 rides. More than Animal Kingdom will have once Pandora is open, and more than Hollywood Studios will have once its two new lands open.

All the parks not named "Magic Kingdom" have this issue, not just Epcot. They're all underbuilt in terms of rides.

 

[epcyclopedia]

More negativity, who would have ever guessed? The festival did seem like a cool concept.

I'm not sorry if making fun of hipsters personally offended you.

 

[SkiBum]

I count 10 rides. More than Animal Kingdom will have once Pandora is open, and more than Hollywood Studios will have once its two new lands open.

All the parks not named "Magic Kingdom" have this issue, not just Epcot. They're all underbuilt in terms of rides.

Agreed. I love the parks, don't get me wrong. However, I would like a few more rides. Maybe, they should start building rides and not spend so much on creating the full immersion. You would think that some of the Imagineers double as defense contractors with the cost overruns.

Yeah, that last comment is going to cost me, I know.

 

[bob albert]

I judge most parks based on number of rides/ attractions I consider world class that would most influence me to buy a ticket. Epcot has Illuminations, test track, food, and festivals right now. Epcot is probably ranks middle of the pack for me. There are better or as good collections of world class attractions for less money. Nothing beats the bang for buck and world class attractions of Knoebels in PA honestly.

 

[GAcoaster]

Every time I see this thread title I just think "Florida"

EPCOT was one of those things that Disney did where they risked the entire future of the company on it and they came up short of funds and time. If they had been able to build it all out the way it was planned it would be as good a park as any Disney ever built. It's just missing the attractions to make it everything it could be. Had they actually put an attraction in each of the WS pavilions it would have made it so much better. It's not too late to do that, but they won't unless they can get financing from the country or have an IP to sell something in a shop/restaurant at this point.

EPCOT: Twice the size of Magic Kingdom with half as many attractions!

 

[Nick]

Every time I see this thread title I just think "Florida"

EPCOT was one of those things that Disney did where they risked the entire future of the company on it and they came up short of funds and time. If they had been able to build it all out the way it was planned it would be as good a park as any Disney ever built. It's just missing the attractions to make it everything it could be. Had they actually put an attraction in each of the WS pavilions it would have made it so much better. It's not too late to do that, but they won't unless they can get financing from the country or have an IP to sell something in a shop/restaurant at this point.

EPCOT: Twice the size of Magic Kingdom with half as many attractions!

By all accounts, there's a ton of things on the table for Epcot (France expansion, Energy and WoL replacement, Innoventions replacement, Entry way overhaul, New WS pavillion), it just comes down to how much Disney is willing to spend. They do seem to realize the park needs help at the very least, which is a step in the right direction.

 

[UNIrd]

It also doesn't help that Epcot has never truly expanded. They've only replaced rides or closed them altogether. Horizons for Mission: Space, World of Motion for Test Track, Seacabs for Nemo, Maelstrom for Frozen, Wonders of Life for nothing. Soarin' may be the only true addition in the park's history, and even then, that opened just a few years before Body Wars closed.

 

[Nick]

It also doesn't help that Epcot has never truly expanded. They've only replaced rides or closed them altogether. Horizons for Mission: Space, World of Motion for Test Track, Seacabs for Nemo, Maelstrom for Frozen, Wonders of Life for nothing. Soarin' may be the only true addition in the park's history, and even then, that opened just a few years before Body Wars closed.

Wonders of Life and the Norway Pavillions were both expansions.

Of course with WoL closed and the people-eating attractions of 1982 Epcot gone, capacity is down A LOT from it's 1989 peak when both WoL and Norway opened.

 

[SkiBum]

Wonders of Life and the Norway Pavillions were both expansions.

Of course with WoL closed and the people-eating attractions of 1982 Epcot gone, capacity is down A LOT from it's 1989 peak when both WoL and Norway opened.

I guess that the main point is that, since WoL, there haven't been any new attractions that didn't come at the cost of closing an old one. I could be dead wrong but it seems that Disney has forgotten that people like rides about the future or of transportation. Horizons was great but just needed some refurbishment. I would add a new World of Motion ride themed to "Highways of the Future", with a fun twist on the old Tex Avery cartoons (yes, I've mentioned that before). There are so many ways to make Futureworld work. Worried about theme/immersion? Go contemporary or use water fountains, trees, and settings to what we think it could be like. Either use flashback to what people thought the future would be like or set the entire land to what we want to see in the future (ex. Clean, natural, etc..)

Yes, add a few rides to the World Showcase as well. Not every pavilion needs one but throw a few in there for Italy, Germany, and Canada. Basically, create rides at periodic spots to give the crowds something to move through.

 

[Nick]

I guess that the main point is that, since WoL, there haven't been any new attractions that didn't come at the cost of closing an old one. I could be dead wrong but it seems that Disney has forgotten that people like rides about the future or of transportation. Horizons was great but just needed some refurbishment. I would add a new World of Motion ride themed to "Highways of the Future", with a fun twist on the old Tex Avery cartoons (yes, I've mentioned that before). There are so many ways to make Futureworld work. Worried about theme/immersion? Go contemporary or use water fountains, trees, and settings to what we think it could be like. Either use flashback to what people thought the future would be like or set the entire land to what we want to see in the future (ex. Clean, natural, etc..)

Yes, add a few rides to the World Showcase as well. Not every pavilion needs one but throw a few in there for Italy, Germany, and Canada. Basically, create rides at periodic spots to give the crowds something to move through.

I think that WS has 2-3 countries that could expand for rides and about 2 plots for expanded countries.

First you have to look at how WS is currently set up with attractions. Mexico, Norway and America have major attractions, so the left side is fairly covered. If there's any rides on the left side that could use a ride it would be Germany obviously. Looking to the right, Japan, France and United Kingdom (Just imagine them bringing back Mr. Toad!) could stand to add a ride.

As for countries, Brazil and Spain are the two most obvious countries that come to mind. Australia needs a presence at WDW, but it's more fit for DAK than Epcot.

 

[SkiBum]

I think that WS has 2-3 countries that could expand for rides and about 2 plots for expanded countries.

First you have to look at how WS is currently set up with attractions. Mexico, Norway and America have major attractions, so the left side is fairly covered. If there's any rides on the left side that could use a ride it would be Germany obviously. Looking to the right, Japan, France and United Kingdom (Just imagine them bringing back Mr. Toad!) could stand to add a ride.

As for countries, Brazil and Spain are the two most obvious countries that come to mind. Australia needs a presence at WDW, but it's more fit for DAK than Epcot.

Out of curiosity, is there a way for them to create expansion plots further from the park? I was thinking about how the Indy ride in Disneyland utilizes a queue to maneuver guests to a ride building set outside of the normal area.

 

[Nick]

Out of curiosity, is there a way for them to create expansion plots further from the park? I was thinking about how the Indy ride in Disneyland utilizes a queue to maneuver guests to a ride building set outside of the normal area.

Not really. There's a perimeter road that runs all around Future World and then all the way around World Showcase. There's also a marina where they store all the explosives for illuminations, so one of the expansion pads in the park would literally need to be secured like a bomb shelter if they ever built on it.

 

[epcyclopedia]

Test Track goes over the road and the canal to the Boardwalk resorts was not a day 1 feature. It was added and goes over the road as well (or rather the road dives under it.)

In fact - future world east has labeled expansion plots out behind the current existing pavilions.

And the fireworks stuff is behind the China pavilion. It's already a bomb shelter.

The only pavilion that is really adjacent to a road or anything is America and it's up against the Fire Station on Buena Vista Drive.

Epcot's next obvious moves are to reclaim WOL, expand in World Showcase, redo Innoventions, and add the next section of the parking lot (a lot in front of Wonders.)

 

[Nick]

The only pavilion that is really adjacent to a road or anything is America and it's up against the Fire Station on Buena Vista Drive.

When I say up against a road, I don't mean a guest road, I mean backstage perimeter road.

 

[s8film40]

I think the real answer is they don't need to get creative to add space, there's plenty of space already not being utilized. If they did they certainly could move some roads and canals around.

 

[Nick]

I think the real answer is they don't need to get creative to add space, there's plenty of space already not being utilized. If they did they certainly could move some roads and canals around.

Exactly.

Epcot is a park that is certainly not lacking expansion space.

 

[mainejeff]

It's been a rough few days at EPCOT ....at least the days that I've been. Frozen has broken down both times that I had FPs for it and Test Track broke down today while I rode it with my FP. In addition, the Monorail to EPCOT "broke down". It was closed at 6:00pm with a 9:00pm closing. We had to board the dreaded bus. I agree with many that have said that EPCOT has become a Pub Crawl with rides.....very few rides. The "Art Festival" is a joke....mostly the same crap you can find in the shops and most of it hideous. Guess that it plays well with the Des Moines crowd.

Overall, it was a day that I should have stayed in Bay Lake Tower, mixed drinks and laid by the pool. Got 1 ride in at Magic Kingdom after dealng with hideous Super Bowl Parade crowds and then the EPCOT debacle. Is it usually this busy already???

 

[snayberry]

It's been a rough few days at EPCOT ....at least the days that I've been. Frozen has broken down both times that I had FPs for it and Test Track broke down today while I rode it with my FP. In addition, the Monorail to EPCOT "broke down". It was closed at 6:00pm with a 9:00pm closing. We had to board the dreaded bus. I agree with many that have said that EPCOT has become a Pub Crawl with rides.....very few rides. The "Art Festival" is a joke....mostly the same crap you can find in the shops and most of it hideous. Guess that it plays well with the Des Moines crowd.

Overall, it was a day that I should have stayed in Bay Lake Tower, mixed drinks and laid by the pool. Got 1 ride in at Magic Kingdom after dealng with hideous Super Bowl Parade crowds and then the EPCOT debacle. Is it usually this busy already???

That must have sucked hard, I'm going this Friday, hopefully Epcot is running smoothly. I went two months ago and had a fun time at there.

 

[rhino4evr]

It's been a rough few days at EPCOT ....at least the days that I've been. Frozen has broken down both times that I had FPs for it and Test Track broke down today while I rode it with my FP. In addition, the Monorail to EPCOT "broke down". It was closed at 6:00pm with a 9:00pm closing. We had to board the dreaded bus. I agree with many that have said that EPCOT has become a Pub Crawl with rides.....very few rides. The "Art Festival" is a joke....mostly the same crap you can find in the shops and most of it hideous. Guess that it plays well with the Des Moines crowd.

Overall, it was a day that I should have stayed in Bay Lake Tower, mixed drinks and laid by the pool. Got 1 ride in at Magic Kingdom after dealng with hideous Super Bowl Parade crowds and then the EPCOT debacle. Is it usually this busy already???

We went super bowl weekend last year and found the crowds to be dead....during the super bowl. I'd never seen the park so empty at night. Of course that's also because their wasn't a parade in Orlando last year.

That stinks that nothing was working, not surprised though. I hope you didn't spend too much on your pub crawl. Most of these "exotic" import drinks, can be found easily at Total Wine at retail prices, not too far away.