Changes coming to Epcot...
First-of-its-Kind Play Pavilion, New Park Entrance Part of Epcot’s Historic Transformation
First-of-its-Kind Play Pavilion, New Park Entrance Part of Epcot’s Historic Transformation
Full-size concept art for the renovated entry area:
Thank god the tombstones are gone!
Also, I split the Play Pavilion news off into its own thread so we can dedicate this one to the Future World spine reimagining.
Thank god the tombstones are gone!
Also, I split the Play Pavilion news off into its own thread so we can dedicate this one to the Future World spine reimagining.
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From the concept art, I can see the flags use the EPCOT Center emblem that I don't think has been used since the 90s so that is a nice touch.
Epcot will be divided into four "neighborhoods".
wdwnt.com
BREAKING: Epcot Will Be Divided into Four "Neighborhoods" Through Reimagining; World Discovery, World Showcase, World Celebration, and World Nature - WDW News Today
Epcot will be unified with four neighborhoods that each speak to important aspects of the world and its people: World Showcase, World Celebration, World Nature and World Discovery. These neighborhoods will be filled with new experiences rooted in authenticity and innovation that take you to new...
wdwnt.com
I'm so happy that EPCOT is finally getting the love and attention it has been neglected of for many years. IMO the idea of making the park more "timeless" and having a theme of the "magic of possibility" is a welcome one even though the old "future of technological advances" theme was an interesting idea at first when the park opened in the 80's despite having pavilions/rides of debatable qualities. But I think when the mid 90's rolled around, technology has gone by too fast for the park to catch up to and left mostly to be dated and the changes made to the park may or may not have been what many would consider quality or be enough for the large park. I guess the only thing that remains a mystery here from the announcement is what's going to happen to the Imagination Pavilion, my guess is that since it was displayed on that artistic model at D23, I think the company isn't ignoring it and a much needed update/change may be on the horizon. We just don't know when or if it will happen. But I am very excited for the "new age" of EPCOT, it's about time.
Personally, I would love to see a brand new version of Journey Into Imagination, this time with both Figment and Dreamfinder.
Personally, I would love to see a brand new version of Journey Into Imagination, this time with both Figment and Dreamfinder.
I’m not so jazzed as a local. Epcot has been one of the nicest parks as an adult to casually enjoy. Seeing the park get flooded with major IPs and eliminating some excellent classic attractions(like the maelstrom) is disheartening. It is something that seeems inevitable given the age of some of the attractions and the size of the ips that they want to include, but frankly, many of the ips aren’t for everyone.
At the end of the day you can’t fault Disney world for becoming more Disney centered, but that doesn’t change the fact that old Epcot will always have a special place to me.
At the end of the day you can’t fault Disney world for becoming more Disney centered, but that doesn’t change the fact that old Epcot will always have a special place to me.
While I do agree with much of what you said (especially Maelstrom, IP's shouldn't be in world showcase); the 3 new "neighborhoods" in the front of the park have always been "IP OK" to me. Mostly because the idea of sponsored pavilions were great in the 70's, 80's, even the start of the 90's when it was a great advertising tool for many of the companies. But as their interest in sponsoring fell off, so did Disney's interest in maintaining the pavilions. Keeping it going with IP's, IMO, is a great tradeoff. Especially since the thought of that area was to showcase certain parts of life and living, doing so in this new way, and talking about things like the land, seas, energy, space with IP focused is a good way to 'keep it fresh'. Especially if they keep it educational based.
In addition to not wanting to see EPCOT turned into IPCOT, I am perplexed and a little worried that there was no mention of fixing Imagination. The current iteration is depressing and Figment deserves better. I know they use him in all of their event marketing, but the fact that they didn’t announce an upgrade to his pavilion, coupled with the reality that he has never been ruined in a crappy movie or cartoon (I’m looking at you Haunted Mansion) leaves me concerned that he may either rot with neglect or get pulled, when all of the sparkly new things show up.
And that disingenuous speech about how much they love the old EPCOT and the “little purple dragon” felt like Umbridge’s monologue at the feast at the beginning of the 5th Harry Potter book.
And that disingenuous speech about how much they love the old EPCOT and the “little purple dragon” felt like Umbridge’s monologue at the feast at the beginning of the 5th Harry Potter book.