What I would change... in Epcot
Here we are with part 2 of this long 'update' that is about what I would like to change or add in our theme parks. Of course, these are not real projects!!! It all comes from my IMAGINATION!
here's Epcot today (simply one of the greatest park ever):
There are though some changes I would do:
First of all, I would remove all those 'Leave a legacy' things, that make the entrance of the park look like a graveyard.. I would put all those on separate walls:
Next to the Seas, i would put a new, improved and bigger version of 'World of motion':
In the Land pavilion, I would make the dark ride part f "Living with the Land" bigger, making it a sort of "Pirates of the Caribbean", and I would put a new show in the "Circle of Life" theater:
Next to Soarin', I would build a new kiddie ride based on how to plant seeds (sorry, i have no other idea on what to put in a "land-focused" pavilion), and I would also make a much bigger and better Journey into Imagination with Figment and Dreamfinder. A new 3D film and a bigger two-story Imageworks would complete the offer.
New "Energy Adventure with only a short movie as a pre-show, and then all audio-animatronics.
A new rollercoaster would be great for the Wonders of Life pavilion:
Horizon would return better than ever, getting rid of MISSION:Space :
New live show in the almost-abandoned Odyssey building:
A bigger maelstrom (and maybe a bigger "Gran Fiesta Tour") would be awesome:
A new country, of course (like Russia, Switzerland, etc...):
This is actually happening:
Aladdin's Adventures dark ride in Morocco:
New film in France with Ratatouille explaining all the beautiful things to see in France:
Maybe a Mary Poppins dark ride would be good too:
And finally, a permanent location of Illumination's fireworks barges, so that they don't have to move them every day:
Well, that's all. What do you think? Of course, all these new rides would cost a fortune... but, how much does it cost... to DREAM? Please, tell us what you would put in Epcot!
Get rid of Mission: Space? What's wrong with it? Not a big fan of centrifugal rides?
ReplyDeleteYep! I know that some will disagree with me, but I never liked that ride, because IMHO it only makes people sick and it was also involved in a few death-cases...
ReplyDeleteThe ride isn't really a safety problem as long as people who should ride it don't ride it and people follow the instructions. But Mission Space and test Track are my favorite rides at Epcot. I even rode mission space three times in 30 minutes as there was no long and i never got sick once. But it is a nightmare when you have three other people that all they do is scream and tell everyone else whats happening to them.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I enjoyed Mission: Space. It was a lot of fun when I finally went on it last year. So, yeah, gonna have to agree to disagree with you, Sam, but I understand where you're coming from.
ReplyDeleteYou know Samuele that they're never going to get rid of Mission Space.(Or at least for other 10 to 15 years) I hate it too. I don't like one bit and not cause it's scary or anything cause it isn't. I'm not one of those people who gets scared by rides or anything. My opinion is that Disney rides in general are too mild. (family oriented)But that one i hate. Not cause it's scary it just that that spinning does something to some people. (Like me).Is like getting really drunk, is not that bad, I'm not scared or anything but after you do it just feel bad and you tell to yourself i won't do it again.
ReplyDeleteActually i would like to see the test track road, expanded make it longer and even faster. Samuele and whats up with all that character theming at your Epcot? Aladdin? I know they got Nemo and stuff but doesn't Epcot sort of stands alone with the little character's theming, amongst Disney. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, cause it isn't. Is just kind of odd.
Yes, you're right Francisco.. it's a bit odd that I put Mary Poppins and Aladdin, but you know, I would love to see a dark ride that represents its own country with a Disney feeling..
ReplyDeleteAs many times as you mention not being scared of Mission: Space, Fransisco, I think that's exactly the reason you don't like it. ;)
ReplyDeleteUh... the Illuminations barges need to be refitted with pyro every day. Also, can we keep coasters out of Epcot? And what would the point of a new World of Motion be? Why not come up with something new, and thematically accurate (what about Storm Chasers from TDS... that could thematically go between The Land and Living Seas). Plus, hey, before you go around "fixing" Epcot rides that aren't broken, why don't you look at fixing up Innoventions? That's generally a disappointment, and would be a good place to start, not tearing down Mission: Space to go back to Horizons.
ReplyDeleteThere's an awful lot of misplaced nostalgia online over Disney. Yes, things may have seemed better when you were younger, but the reality is, change happens. Epcot has sponsorships to look after, and ridership figures to look at. When it comes to Walt Disney Attractions, the _only_ attraction brought back from the dead was Captain EO, and even that's for a limited time (mostly for marketing... and don't use the Nemo subs at Disneyland as an example, too much has changed for that ride). Let the past be the past.. retired rides are retired for a reason, and while we may not always agree with it, it's foolish to sit here and say "Man, they should progress backwards." And, of course, Disney himself said Disneyland is not a museum, and that should be applied at all the parks.
Finally, I love coasters as much as the next person, but really, there's a whole three other parks where they could be adding coasters (not to mention all the other parks in Orlando with coasters). How would a coaster work at Epcot? I mean, maybe in World Showcase...
You did a fantastic job! Can I add a few things? What do you thing about this: BACKDROP MOUNTAINS in World Showcase! In those 2 empty mini pavilions between Germany/Italy and Morocco/France, I would build Backdrop Mountains that featured rides inside. The mountains would slice between the existing pavilions and wrap around in the back to extend slightly behind the pavilions. Over in Canada I would build a mountain that covered the exterior of Soarin, which is visible from Japan.
ReplyDeleteOver by Germany & Italy the mountains would resemble the Alps. I would like to see a ski gondola roller coaster. The cars would be large enclosed gondolas that would seat 12-18 people. the cars would send them up to the top of the mountain on a cable but once they reached the top they would slide off (onto their track) and they would take a wild ride plummeting down the Alps! Spinning out of control!!! (…sorry anonymous, people like coasters, you don’t have to ride them)
The mountains in Morocco/France would be double sided. On the French side they would be the Pyrenees and the view from Morocco would resemble the Atlas Mountains. I am not sure of what ride you could put in here but maybe the Aladdin show could be on the Morocco side and a French dark ride through a Pixar inspired Paris complete with Remy's underworld sewers.
In Canada I would put a River Rafting floom that seats 12-18 people as well. The ride vehicle would resemble a long river raft or maybe even a oversized canoe. You wouldn’t get as wet as Kali but it would be more like a mild coaster with 4 or 5 moderate drops and 1 big finale. Reference: http://www.wdwradio.com/forums/ask-disney-experts/5974-soaring-epcot.html
No mountains here but I would like to see a Mulan show in China. Or that could go in AK I guess. They need more stuff.
My vote for the new country next to Germany would be Argentina. The Germany/Italy Mountain could be extending over to Argentina here too, as a backdrop of course. You could add The Emperor's New Groove themeing. Plus Walt had a fondness for Argentina and South America really needs to be represented.
Since the Pyrenees would be in France, you could always add a small Spanish village on the river banks next to France
What do you think about a Mulan attraction at china and a robin hood attraction at England.
ReplyDeleteGREAT!!!! Thanks to all of you! You have such great ideas! Keep it going!
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous: I agree with you about the return to the past.. It would be better for them to do new things, but I am CRAZY about Epcot's history!!! I never got to see things like World of Motion or the great Horizon, so I would love to see them...
To Jon: I like the idea of mountains as a background, because for example in Morocco they could hide the TOT...
I also like the idea of a raft ride in Canada... Great thinking!
Also, I didn't think about a Mulan attraction in China.. thanks Tim!
No theme park in history has ever been treated as cruelly as epcot. Out of all the original rides only one has been unchanged, Maelstrom.
ReplyDeleteSpaceship earth is an acceptable change to keep up with the times. Horizons could have simply been updated with more modern things like sleek computers with holo displays, video games, more modern space ships, updated videos and fashion, but to me it seems someone said oh epcot is boring so they dumped a lot of half baked thrill rides that you can find at Six flags, and gave everything that "ULTRA EXTREME ACTION EXPLODY BOOM BOOM" feel instead of the worlds fair promise of the future feel that worked so well.
It went from a perfect balence of health, environmental issues, technology, arts, natural wonders, and human history to Dated 90s energy ideas, drinking (wine in the former health place? hmmm), a simulator of a simulator, fast cars, Whatever the new imagination ride could be called, the environment (plus flying!), and Finding nemo.
People may disagree but It seemed much more esoteric, and mysterious before. Now everything is spoon fed and crafted for 13 year old boys rather than the whole family (with the occasional demeaning princess restaurant clone tossed to girls). Im certain walt would be appaled at the "six flagsification" of Epcot. theres a reason six flags isnt doing so well.
I agree with the mission space thing, but Its unlikely. I agree with imagination sounds a perfect idea. the wonders of life has to cease being the attraction corpse hastily redressed for special events that literally made me cry when I saw it. with all the advancements in health and nano technology it seems a big hole. But I'd hate to see a universal studios style no-theme coaster except a paint job and a cool station kinda thing. If it was a rollercoaster through veins or something that would be different. not ideal but different.
I'd love to see an updated universe of energy for the new millenium, especially in this age of global warming, gas price issues, and new energy sources. (keep it neutral though this isnt the place for politics) The land could benefit from losing the paused pictures sections that look both dated and low tech/forced, and maybe having horizons like farms of the future displays, models of farming tools that could be in the future, or even sets of the history of farming.
"No theme park in history has ever been treated as cruelly as epcot. Out of all the original rides only one has been unchanged, Maelstrom."
DeleteNow even that has been been overlayed with "Frozen". It's really too bad that Disney has gone with IP's in a park that originally didn't even want Mickey to be in it. It wanted to be known as the opposite park to Magic Kingdom. With it's own characters and long rides that educated. Someday there will be only rides that are short and overpriced merchandise.