Epcot (General Discussion)

[Nick]

The other interesting part is what to do with MouseGears and Electric Umbrella. It seems like they will stay put for now, but where do they go long term? And BTW, where is Art of Disney going?

@Marni1971 has said that Electric Umbrella will be moved. I can't remember what he said about Mouse Gears, but i'm pretty sure he said that there would be changes, if not a complete closure and building a new location.

 

[Alicia]

@Marni1971 has said that Electric Umbrella will be moved. I can't remember what he said about Mouse Gears, but i'm pretty sure he said that there would be changes, if not a complete closure and building a new location.

My guess was keep but refresh MouseGear, (or rebuild it in the same spot,) and tear everything down on the other side and build a stand alone Starbucks. That way it's gift shop, fountain, coffee from left to right... and nothing but open pretty green park space everywhere else in the middle now.

 

[Cheezbat]

Oh how I would love to see every Starbucks removed from the Orlando theme parks.

Super overpriced coffee is not ‘magical.’ Sad how many people are addicts to that coffee garbage.

 

[belloq87]

Oh how I would love to see every Starbucks removed from the Orlando theme parks.

Super overpriced coffee is not ‘magical.’ Sad how many people are addicts to that coffee garbage.

I'm a Joffrey's person when I'm in the parks, myself. The only Starbucks location I'll go into is the Trolley Car Cafe in Hollywood Studios, and even then it's for the non-coffee items.

 

[RevFreako]

Oh how I would love to see every Starbucks removed from the Orlando theme parks.

Super overpriced coffee is not ‘magical.’ Sad how many people are addicts to that coffee garbage.

I prefer Joffreys, but there's nothing wrong with starbucks. It's a fricksight better than what the parks had before.

 

[belloq87]

On the latest episode of The Disney Dish podcast, Jim Hill offers a few pieces of commentary about Epcot. How much of this is based on things he's actually been told, and how much of it is purely his own opinions and speculation is unclear.

- Disney's "vision" for Epcot is a place that "celebrates the human experience." (Sure it is. )
- Disney sees the Festivals as the most important component of the park's identity, not just something they need to lean on to prop it up for attendance purposes. They want the Festivals to be park-wide experiences, not primarily confined to World Showcase.
- Bob Chapek thinks the "edutainment" elements of the park have held it back. (That sounds like exactly the sort of thing I can imagine Chapek believing.)

 

[tankart150]

Just tweaking the ride's storyline so the FINDING NEMO characters are giving us - the guests - a tour of the undersea world, culminating in traveling through the real aquarium, would be a big step in the right direction.



I think there's a way to use both INSIDE OUT and WRECK-IT RALPH in the context of a larger, Figment & Dreamfinder-led Imagination ride that's more a throwback to the original incarnation. The IO characters could be used in a scene to visualize the makeup and organization of the human mind, from which imagination springs, while WIR could be used in a scene about how imagination is applied to creative endeavors like video games.
I love this idea!


One of the insiders on Magic said there will be a "significant entertainment offering" inside there, while @Marni1971 has said we shouldn't expect anything that could be qualified as an "attraction."

So I really don't know what it's all going to be. I'd expect there'd have to be something behind that city facade.

An arcade?

 

[RevFreako]

On the latest episode of The Disney Dish podcast, Jim Hill offers a few pieces of commentary about Epcot. How much of this is based on things he's actually been told, and how much of it is purely his own opinions and speculation is unclear.

- Disney's "vision" for Epcot is a place that "celebrates the human experience." (Sure it is. )
- Disney sees the Festivals as the most important component of the park's identity, not just something they need to lean on to prop it up for attendance purposes. They want the Festivals to be park-wide experiences, not primarily confined to World Showcase.
- Bob Chapek thinks the "edutainment" elements of the park have held it back. (That sounds like exactly the sort of thing I can imagine Chapek believing.)

I agree worth Chapel on the last point. In today's society, where all the world's knowledge lives in my pocket, edutainment is not the best use of Epcot anymore.

 

[JungleSkip]

I agree worth Chapel on the last point. In today's society, where all the world's knowledge lives in my pocket, edutainment is not the best use of Epcot anymore.

I think that's a myopic way of looking at things, personally. Just because people have information in their pocket it doesn't mean they seek it out.

What's held Epcot back is a lack of investment and vision.

 

[OrlLover]

I think that's a myopic way of looking at things, personally. Just because people have information in their pocket it doesn't mean they seek it out.

What's held Epcot back is a lack of investment and vision.

Yep I agree with lack of investment and even vision somewhat but you have to stay with the times or be left behind.

 

[Alicia]

On the latest episode of The Disney Dish podcast, Jim Hill offers a few pieces of commentary about Epcot. How much of this is based on things he's actually been told, and how much of it is purely his own opinions and speculation is unclear.

- Disney's "vision" for Epcot is a place that "celebrates the human experience." (Sure it is. )
- Disney sees the Festivals as the most important component of the park's identity, not just something they need to lean on to prop it up for attendance purposes. They want the Festivals to be park-wide experiences, not primarily confined to World Showcase.
- Bob Chapek thinks the "edutainment" elements of the park have held it back. (That sounds like exactly the sort of thing I can imagine Chapek believing.)

Food & Wine already has 10 booths in Future World. I mean I could see them adding more in the center of the area, but we’ve already had festival booths in future world for two years now.

 

[belloq87]

Food & Wine already has 10 booths in Future World. I mean I could see them adding more in the center of the area, but we’ve already had festival booths in future world for two years now.

Per Jim, Disney wants the new spine area to be a major focus of (basically year-round) Festival activity.

And I feel like I have to add a disclaimer in every comment in which Hill features that I'm not saying I believe him. At all. Just conveying what was said by him.

 

[RevFreako]

I think that's a myopic way of looking at things, personally. Just because people have information in their pocket it doesn't mean they seek it out.

What's held Epcot back is a lack of investment and vision.

If they don't seek it out where it's easy, they're not going to travel across a country or further for it. I'll grant you lack of investment and vision, but a vision towards edutainment ain't it chief.

 

[JungleSkip]

If they don't seek it out where it's easy, they're not going to travel across a country or further for it. I'll grant you lack of investment and vision, but a vision towards edutainment ain't it chief.

Again, I think that's awfully closed minded.

 

[RevFreako]

Again, I think that's awfully closed minded.

It's not closed-minded, it's reality. If people aren't interested in something when it's easily obtained, they're not going to be more interested the harder you make it. This isn't rocket science.

 

[NuteGunrayWasFramed]

Again, I think that's awfully closed minded.

Edutainment has moved away from themed experiences, hence why museums aren't built or presented the same as they were 20-30 years ago. Look at it this way, have you seen a museum built in the last 10 years, that immerses you into the environment it's attempting to educate you on? The answer should be: no. This has been seen to be too costly with little actual resonating engagement. The logic here is this: I may be immersed in what I should be learning about, but it's passive learning, so there is less marketable return on investment. Learning (both in corporate training and in public schools) have shifted to active learning models, which often utilizes digital media as a tool that requires tactile feedback for engagement, thus active learning. Children's museums (Science Centers, later, less traditional natural history museums) have always been "hands-on" when it comes to learning, but now tablets, phones, laptops, are all hands-on. The thought process that I'm sure Disney is using is, they (guests) can receive that "hands-on" experience from their phones, why would they need a theme park for that experience anymore?

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just the trend for edutainment.

 

[RevFreako]

Edutainment has moved away from themed experiences, hence why museums aren't built or presented the same as they were 20-30 years ago. Look at it this way, have you seen a museum built in the last 10 years, that immerses you into the environment it's attempting to educate you on? The answer should be: no. This has been seen to be too costly with little actual resonating engagement. The logic here is this: I may be immersed in what I should be learning about, but it's passive learning, so there is less marketable return on investment. Learning (both in corporate training and in public schools) have shifted to active learning models, which often utilizes digital media as a tool that requires tactile feedback for engagement, thus active learning. Children's museums (Science Centers, later, less traditional natural history museums) have always been "hands-on" when it comes to learning, but now tablets, phones, laptops, are all hands-on. The thought process that I'm sure Disney is using is, they (guests) can receive that "hands-on" experience from their phones, why would they need a theme park for that experience anymore?

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just the trend for edutainment.

This exactly.

 

[Alicia]

Per Jim, Disney wants the new spine area to be a major focus of (basically year-round) Festival activity.

Agreed, and I listened to the episode this morning as well. The way he said it it was if adding festival booths to Future World would be a *new* idea, but it has become common now in Future World West and to a lesser extent in Future World East with Taste Track offering a specialty dessert for each festival. I wouldn't be surprised to see new booths or booth-like things in the middle after the changes, but it most certainly wouldn't be the first time in Future World

Heck, even Light Lab was literally inside the communicore building for the last two years, essentially the same spot he was talking about after they bulldoze the structure.

And I feel like I have to add a disclaimer in every comment in which Hill features that I'm not saying I believe him. At all. Just conveying what was said by him.

Heh heh... no comment.

 

[Disneyhead]

There is no reason to travel to foreign countries when I can learn everything I want to know about them from Wikipedia?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Edutainment has moved away from themed experiences, hence why museums aren't built or presented the same as they were 20-30 years ago. Look at it this way, have you seen a museum built in the last 10 years, that immerses you into the environment it's attempting to educate you on? The answer should be: no. This has been seen to be too costly with little actual resonating engagement. The logic here is this: I may be immersed in what I should be learning about, but it's passive learning, so there is less marketable return on investment. Learning (both in corporate training and in public schools) have shifted to active learning models, which often utilizes digital media as a tool that requires tactile feedback for engagement, thus active learning. Children's museums (Science Centers, later, less traditional natural history museums) have always been "hands-on" when it comes to learning, but now tablets, phones, laptops, are all hands-on. The thought process that I'm sure Disney is using is, they (guests) can receive that "hands-on" experience from their phones, why would they need a theme park for that experience anymore?

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, it's just the trend for edutainment.

They're still building museums and creating new exhibits. This is totally insane.

Wanna know the REAL reason? How many pavilions in Epcot have sponsorships still? That's why.