Epcot (General Discussion)

[HHN Yeti Lover]

I get Fountain of Nations. That's a real loss. It's one I feel like could've been avoided, too. Just like how they've worked on the fountain in the main entrance plaza, they could've walled off FoN and worked on it, maybe removed the stupid stage. It's a bit puzzling why it got cut.

Why should anyone care about losing InnoWest at this point, though? It was serving no purpose the last 5 years of it's life that couldn't be moved elsewhere. The only things that were there were Character Spot, Starbucks, Art of Disney, and Club Cool. All of those can easily have new homes elsewhere. Everything in Innoventions West as far as exhibits closed in May 2015. I just think it was a lot of wasted space and i'm just glad that they're doing *something*.

exactly this renovation should’ve happened years ago but money and other park renovations happened. Starbucks could easily be placed in various locations, meet and greets had plenty of space at the empty pavilions and could’ve been moved to wonder if life imo.

 

[BigHouseFootball]

Those pictures make me sad. I loved Pin Central and the fountain. And I even loved that bizarre shade contraption...which never provided any shade haha.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I get Fountain of Nations. That's a real loss. It's one I feel like could've been avoided, too. Just like how they've worked on the fountain in the main entrance plaza, they could've walled off FoN and worked on it, maybe removed the stupid stage. It's a bit puzzling why it got cut.

Why should anyone care about losing InnoWest at this point, though? It was serving no purpose the last 5 years of it's life that couldn't be moved elsewhere. The only things that were there were Character Spot, Starbucks, Art of Disney, and Club Cool. All of those can easily have new homes elsewhere. Everything in Innoventions West as far as exhibits closed in May 2015. I just think it was a lot of wasted space and i'm just glad that they're doing *something*.

Yeah I was mostly talking about FoN. The only reason I don't like the removal of Innoventions West is the middle of Epcot is best when it's symmetrical, and now it isn't. Get rid of none or both, not "one"

 

[Nick]

Yeah I was mostly talking about FoN. The only reason I don't like the removal of Innoventions West is the middle of Epcot is best when it's symmetrical, and now it isn't. Get rid of none or both, not "one"

One thought I had would've been to remove the breezeway ceiling on the East side and reconfigure things with Mouse Gears and Electric Umbrella to really make the buildings seem independent from each other. Unfortunately this still wouldn't completely balance things and it would lose a shade structure, so not really worth it.

The crazy thing though is they are basically blowing out Mouse Gear right now and i'm expecting something similar with EU. If they were just gonna be this extensive with it, why not just go a little further and demolish the whole structure and rebuild a F&B location and a main store in purpose built locations in order to match the West side?

 

[shiekra38]

Yeah I was mostly talking about FoN. The only reason I don't like the removal of Innoventions West is the middle of Epcot is best when it's symmetrical, and now it isn't. Get rid of none or both, not "one"

I appreciate the idea of Innoventions and the previous Communicore....I was hoping fore a modernized version of the two buildings

i.e. leveling and rebuilding with the same sort of idea...obviously different uses now

 

[Teebin]

I CANNOT BELIEVE that they CHAINSAWED the two very old Reclinata Palms on the back side of SSE. Specimen palms like these are always dug up and moved.... gobsmacked!

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Disney horticulture just ain't the same anymore.

 

[JoeCamel]

Disney horticulture just ain't the same anymore.

When I visited the greenhouses/tree farm on the tour several years ago it looked like they were running about half capacity. Wonder how much their budget shrunk since then?

 

[Teebin]

When I visited the greenhouses/tree farm on the tour several years ago it looked like they were running about half capacity. Wonder how much their budget shrunk since then?

The fields of that facility have been quite empty for the past 20 years... last time it was filled was when AK was under construction. Even then, I don’t believe it was filled up for long, merely a staging ground like the small area being used by Universal on the south property during VB construction.

 

[Mad Dog]

Disney is not thrifty like Universal.

 

[Nick]

Why even get rid of those palms in the first place? They were perfect in that location.

 

[belloq87]

Isn't that spot supposed to eventually become the new "Dreamer's Point" area with the Walt Disney statue?

 

[Nick]

New Epcot directional signage and font starting to appear. This matches the new signage and font just put in at The Seas.

 

[Nick]

Likely only the beginning of the cuts:

 

[GAcoaster]

Interesting to hear rumors that EPCOT may not re-open with the rest of the parks when all the covid 19 closures pass. It makes a lot of sense with the shortage of staffing (all the CPs and international interns sent home) coupled with the big mess that EPCOT is at the moment. It would also explain the termination of the entertainment contracts.

Chances are crowds will be smaller when things re-open (at least in the short term) and three parks may make more sense than four at least for a short time. This could speed up construction with not having to work around guests all the time.

 

[fryoj]

Interesting to hear rumors that EPCOT may not re-open with the rest of the parks when all the covid 19 closures pass. It makes a lot of sense with the shortage of staffing (all the CPs and international interns sent home) coupled with the big mess that EPCOT is at the moment. It would also explain the termination of the entertainment contracts.

Chances are crowds will be smaller when things re-open (at least in the short term) and three parks may make more sense than four at least for a short time. This could speed up construction with not having to work around guests all the time.

I think it's more likely that they open the park and construction is halted. Construction costs money. Opening the parks makes money. They can run on no entertainment and limited staff. Theres a lot of money to be made at World Showcase.

 

[GAcoaster]

Apparently Disney has halted all construction, so now all work will be (even further) behind when they start back up.

 

[Magic Feather]

Apparently Disney has halted all construction, so now all work will be (even further) behind when they start back up.

Personal guesses for near term projects:
Cirque begins previews a week after the parks reopen.
Rat is pushed into Late June/Early July for opening (still Summer 2020)
Space 220 Opens around the same time as Rat
Galactic Starcruiser pushed to “Spring 2021”
TRON holds onto Summer 2021, while Guardians is pushed into that same season.

 

[bob albert]

Personal guesses for near term projects:
Cirque begins previews a week after the parks reopen.
Rat is pushed into Late June/Early July for opening (still Summer 2020)
Space 220 Opens around the same time as Rat
Galactic Starcruiser pushed to “Spring 2021”
TRON holds onto Summer 2021, while Guardians is pushed into that same season.

Whatever you think will get pushed back is going to be spread out over years at this point. Every other project on top of these likely just got canned.

 

[OLSinFLA]

Whatever you think will get pushed back is going to be spread out over years at this point. Every other project on top of these likely just got canned.

And yet during the great recession, while DIsney slept, Universal opened Disaster, Simpsons, Rip Ride Rocket, and started construction on Harry Potter.
When this ends, the parks are going to want shiny new toys to entice people.