Quick Epcot Update: The Great Wall of Innoventions
Hello, and welcome to a new photo-update of one of the best theme parks in Central Florida: Epcot.
We have a few new things to share with you, so let's start right away our virtual tour of the theme park:
Welcome to the future:
Some nice flower creations were placed near the Fountain of Nations plaza:
A look inside Innoventions West reveals that nothing new has happened in the past month:
Something new is going on inside Innoventions East, though. Take a look:
This new, incredibly long walls covers the entire "Environmental Corner" (which is now closed), the "House of Innoventions," as well as the future home of "Habit Hero":
The wall has really overtaken almost the entire Innoventions East pavilion:
Many new things to look forward to. Hopefully:
A look at the few exhibits that are still open:
A look at the rarely-seen Living with the Land FastPass Machines:
Notice the original attraction's logo on the side:
The logos on the sides of the Universe of Energy are still missing:
One of the many park maps located in the park hints to a new lagoon show:
Coming late 2012 - Stormstruck Hero: The Show (it was just a sticker attached by a guest, of course):
One of the many Disney Vacation Club booths received the new, official logo:
Here it is:
Different logo, same "best-kept Disney secret":
A few new directional signs have appeared near the main entrance to World Showcase:
They definitely have a futuristic look, and a sleek design. Not everyone likes them, though, as we have heard quite a few different comments about these new signs:
The Odyssey pavilion, as empty as it can get:
Beautiful Canada:
The reproduction of the Canadian Hotel is now once again completely tarp-free:
Let's take a look around:
Unfortunately, nothing new has opened back there:
The theming of the area is wonderful, though:
The stage where the perform has finally received a new sign:
It is now "The Mill Stage":
This is all for now. Have a great day, and thank you for following Orlando Theme Park News!
I love Epcot, although they really need a new ride. not a show a new RIDE!
ReplyDeleteYes they need some new E-Tocket ride, so people have the drive to go to Epcot, coming from a cast-memeber who works here!
ReplyDeleteYeah, instead of trying to add a new country add something in Future World.
ReplyDeleteWe agree that Epcot is in dire need of a new attraction, but we would personally be MUCH happier if Disney would announce a complete refurbishment of the "Journey Into Imagination with Figment" ride or of the "Wonders of Life" pavilion.
ReplyDeleteOr how about rebuilding the best ride EPCOT Center (err.. Epcot) has ever had? I am pretty certain rebuilding Horizons would bring many Epcot-goers. I know it is referred to by many as the best ride there ever was in ANY theme park. Rebuilding Horizons would be really smart for Disney. They can fix this mistake.
ReplyDeleteTrue i don't picture Epcot ever putting in another coaster.
ReplyDeleteEpcot needs a ride like Dinosaur at Animal kingdom, it could go back in time or something
ReplyDeleteEpcot just needs more, rides. Lets not be picky!
ReplyDeleteI can see one of those Robot arm coasters going into Epcot.
ReplyDeleteI think Epcot should be the only park not realted to anything Disney. By that i mean the movies.
ReplyDeleteLori, I think what you said is really stupid.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right, Lori. I hate the Nemo overlay on The Living Seas. It needed an update but Nemo shouldn´t be there all the way into the aquarium. The same with the Lion King in The Land. What Epcot needs is originality like figment.
ReplyDeleteA refurbishment of the "Journey Into Imagination" attraction and the "Wonders of Life" pavilion is a priority. Then they should do something about the horribly boring World of Energie.
In the lands they should build attractions and get away with most of the movies. One attraction each year would do wonders. A small London Eye in England, an eiffel tower drop ride, the originally proposed German boat ride, a Mount Fuji coaster, a Moroccon flying carpet ride and a Chines themed cirque du soleil kind of show and in Canada an awesome inside/outside rapid river attraction.
Those ideas for the attractions in each of the World Showcase countries are really great OT! Thanks for sharing that.
ReplyDeleteA thank you also to everybody that posted a comment.
Thanks for the update! So is Environmentality Corner closed forever or just for a refurb?
ReplyDeleteIs all that is left:
Sum of All Thrills
Test the Limits
and Storm Struck?
I would like to see some rides in world showcase. Indiana Jones in Mexico or Morocco would be awesome. Maybe some dark rides like the ones in fantasy land in the different countries where the story took place. Beauty and the Beast in France, Mulan in China, Alice in wonderland in the UK. I would also like to see Horizons come back(maybe where wonders of life was), a complete Imagination Pavilion rehab, and some other type of thrill thrown in somewhere.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm in the minority, but I'm not a proponent of adding a big E-Ticket ride in World Showcase. Don't get me wrong, the area could use a few more B or C-ticket attractions (i.e. the Germany boat ride or the Japanese bullet train) but World Showcase is so peaceful, beautiful, and well-themed that a large E-Ticket ride with a large building and large crowds may disrupt that peace. As I've grown older World Showcase has become my favorite Disney area outside of Liberty Square and Caribbean Plaza.
ReplyDeleteFuture World, on the other hand, could use an in-depth rehab. Energy, Imagination, Wonders of Life, and especially Innoventions are long overdue for rehabs. But not everything has to be an E-ticket; I've always said the Carousel of Progress and a PeopleMover (space for this actually does exist) should have been installed in Innoventions.
Didn't each country of World showcase partially fund their pavilion? If so, Disney would be looking for additional funding for any new attraction within that pavilion.
ReplyDeleteIn the current economic climate, its unlikely that ANY country is willing to fund any changes to their pavilion, never mind funding a completely new one.
I read somewhere that Disney were actively looking for countries to fund a new pavilion several years ago (Brazil was heavily touted) but nothing ever came of it and i doubt we will see many changes in the near future
I agree that World Showcase needs a new ride. the UK could indeed do with a "London Eye" or even a dark ride like the small London Taxi ride found inside Madame Tussauds in London.
ReplyDeleteProblem is, both attractions are owned by Merlin Entertainment who are already involved in attractions in Florida, in competition with Disney (Legoland and the forthcoming I-Drive Live) so I doubt a partnership with Disney will ever come
@fatdonut: I think only Morocco is funded by the host country. All others are paid for by Disney. This is one of the reasons why Morocco does not light up during Illuminations.
ReplyDeleteAs for new rides, I agree with Sam on this one. Re-imagine Journey in Imagination and the Wonders of Life pavilions. Plenty of space for C, D, or E ticket rides. Unfortunately, Horizons will never come back.
Canada looks fresh. I love it. I also love the sleep new signs in Future World. Everything was looking so icky and 1990s in there. The new Test Track will also help give that futuristic edge. (Not to mention, it will give more relevance to the park's theme.) Now we need to kick Ellen out of Energy and get an epic show that we can actually take seriously!
ReplyDeletesleek*
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the Moroccan Government would love an Indiana Jones ride in Morocco. rofl!!! World Showcase isn't fantasyland. Please keep franchises out of it. It needs rides, but not Magic Kingdom rides!
ReplyDelete@Hunt The movies you mention are lovely Disney movies but aren´t faithfull reprecentations of the countries where they play. Thats why they should be banned from Epcot. I also don´t want the attractions take over the theming. I think Mexico and Norway are doing a wondefull job to inetergrate original attractions and make you part of theire countrie without (mostly) known Disney caracters. The Disney imagineers can do wonderfull story telling with new, loveble caracters like dreamfinder.
ReplyDelete@fatdonut I don´t think doing a wheel in England needs the approval of Merlin entertainment. And maybe like Walter said it´s to big of a intrusion but the London cab ride is a great idea and means more wonderfull english buildings to hide the showbuilding.
Yeah sorry an Eiffel Tower drop ride is about the last thing I would want to see added to World Showcase.
ReplyDeleteYes, there should be a new version of the Indiana Jones Adventure in World Showcase. It would be perfect.
ReplyDelete@Jason: You are right that Morocco is the only country that paid for it's own pavilion, but the others weren't originally paid for by Disney. Private companies from other countries paid for the pavilions. For example, Mitsukoshi pays for the Japanese pavilion. The sponsors aren't usually prevalent, but you can usually figure it out in the shops of the pavilion (Germany, for instance).
ReplyDeleteI think Norway's tourism board was involved with that pavilion, and naturally the U.S. government was not involved with the American pavilion, which is why it was publicly sponsored by Coca-Cola and American Express up until a few years ago.
Lots of people are saying no Disney movie based rides in World Showcase and I see all your points but I still think its a great idea if it is done correctly. Look at the boat ride in the mexico Pavilion. It has the three caballeros in it and it is a great ride that fits in nicely with the themeing. I even think that in some of the original plans for Epcot dark rides from different movies were included. But if they decide to stay away from the Disney movies they could still do a Indiana Jones ride, the Mt Fuji coaster, or even do a Swiss pavilion with a Matterhorn similar to whats at Disneyland. I think World showcase could use a nice mountain range, and Indiana Jones.
ReplyDeleteDisney movie should not go into Epcot. If you think of this Walt Disney wanted Epcot to be a city. It wasn't suppose to be themed by Disney movies. So the idea i heard if the Pixar rat ride going into France won't happen.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Indian Jones ride would be greta for Disney Hollywood studios and take out the show, but i think what OT said about a rapid ride would be cool. WDI needs to make up there own ides like the Imagneers did way back when. Although World Showcase needs a new ride. And don't be picky about what ticket it is. We should be lucky to have a new ride.