Written by Scott Smith
By now everyone has heard the news (at least everyone who reads WDWNT) — Universe of Energy, a pavilion that has long stood in Epcot, is going to be replaced. Guardians of the Galaxy is moving in to what I feel was one of the integral pillars of what Epcot was. The admittedly-aging attraction, home to Ellen Degeneres and Bill Nye, is to be replaced by an E-Ticket attraction starring Groot and Rocket. What are we to make of this? Are we going to praise Disney for giving us (and Epcot) a sorely-needed new ride, or are we going to be upset that some random IP-du-jour is taking up residence in a pavilion wherein the new attraction will have no relation to the pavilion’s original intent? Well…it’s a complicated issue. And honestly, I don’t know how to feel.
I’m not going to laugh at anyone who’s upset. I fully understand their thinking. Nor am I going to say anyone who’s excited is “stupid” or “a problem”, but this is a big deal. It’s a fundamental shift from what Epcot is, was, and has been. Not simply because it’s an Intellectual Property of the Walt Disney Company does it represent a fundamental shift. That’s because the IP in the form of Finding Nemo over at the Seas, or The Lion King at The Land, were changes that fit the mold of the pavilions and preserved their original conceptual spirit. Guardians, on the other hand, is a property that has nothing to do with Energy, will not have anything to do with Energy, and will completely encompass and erase everything was there before (with the exception, possibly, of the show building itself – but this is likely for cost reasons and nothing else).
Let’s start at the beginning. What WAS Epcot? What is it NOW? Back in the day, young Scott was a small, bullied nerd. Being very timid, he didn’t love thrill rides, but loved the immersion and escapism that Walt Disney World offered. Epcot was an amazing place. The attractions were perfect for me. They were creative, imaginative, and immersive, and the thrill was in the design and theme, not in speed or drops (I have since learned to love roller coasters and other rides of the sort, I’m just recounting my history here). I quickly fell in love with Epcot, as many others did. What I may not have realized at the time, was that there was something underneath it all, a whole other level, that made Epcot greater than just its collection of attractions and pavilions. What Epcot was, at its core, was a bold statement about a future, a really-for-real future, that we actually could achieve, for the betterment of society. Transportation, energy, the land, the sea, the power of our own imaginations — all of this would be harnessed to make an optimistic future become reality. As I said before, I was extremely timid and scared as a young boy, and even to this day I suffer from anxiety and depression. While I was there, Epcot had an amazing effect on me: it made me not afraid. It made me feel like tomorrow was going to be ok, that the future would be great, and that I didn’t need to be afraid of what was to come. Whether it was Figment, or Horizons, or “Tomorrow’s Child,” Epcot allowed me to escape the anxiety and depression of my everyday existence and for once I could be happy, and not afraid.
Unfortunately, as we have seen, it didn’t stay that way. As the future was born each day, Epcot had trouble keeping up. There are plenty of places to lay the blame, but that’s not what this article is about. As time went on, missteps happened, some larger than others, and Epcot fell behind. Wonders of Life became not so wonderful after it was essentially abandoned, Mission Space never landed (pardon the pun), and Imagination was one disaster after another. Innovations had dozens of changes of various quality, like a rudderless ship trying to find its way. The amazing layout of the park made it ideal for various seasonal festivals, and thus the Food & Wine Festival in the fall and the Flower & Garden Festival in the spring became the main driving force of the park (and a huge cash cow for the Parks and Resorts division), so much so that they’ve been replicated in DCA and extended to additional seasons at Epcot. The culmination of all of this was an Epcot that struggled to stay relevant, as questionable management decisions and changing tides of society came and went.
In the beginning, Epcot was an amazing achievement that inspired almost all who visited, but as Epcot approaches its 35th birthday, what is it now? In my opinion, it’s merely just a theme park with several fun experiences, no longer inspiring guests, but more likely disappointing them, due to the lack of spirit resulting from the lack of a cohesive vision for the park. So, what’s the solution?
I wanted a return to the optimism, a return to the time when Epcot made me feel better, and brave enough to look forward to tomorrow. As Imagineering has shown us in some of its greatest creations, whether it be Pirates 50 years ago or Soarin’ more recently, IPs are not a pre-requisite for an attraction to be “fun” and well-liked by guests. And let’s not lie, “fun” is first and foremost what the “average” park visitor seeks. It wouldn’t have been difficult for the company to keep Epcot updated and relevant, while keeping each pavilion alive in spirit and continuing to make people feel good about the future. If IPs were a mandate, Disney could have followed the example of The Seas and The Land with tie-ins that made sense. We could have had Hiro and Baymax teach people about energy (Big Hero 6 was a wonderful supporter of science). The emotions of Inside Out had the perfect seat from which to teach us about the body in Wonders of Life. Figment and Imagination had literally endless possibilities.
But Disney decided not to go this route. I’m not going to argue the fact that the Guardians of the Galaxy have become very popular. No question, they sell merchandise, but instead of holding true to Epcot’s ideals, the bean-counters are only concerned with what sells. You cannot tell me it “fits” or whatever line Bob Chapek is feeding us. A fake Polaroid of some kid posing as Peter Quill, who supposedly visited Epcot, is ludicrous. This attraction will have nothing to do with energy, so the pavilion is completely sacked. It certainly doesn’t fit with any sort of optimistic future, since it has nothing to do with Earth or our everyday lives at all. Yes, they’re relatable characters, but so what? Epcot was about improving our OWN lives, making OUR future better. This is science fantasy, something that would be awesome in the Studios but something never done in Epcot. Every single attraction in Future World — even something as detached as Soarin’ — had to do with OUR lives and OUR world. Guardians of the Galaxy is nothing of the sort. By putting this in Future World, management and the bean counters are opening a Pandora’s box, heading full steam ahead down a slippery slope of removing something and putting literally anything in it’s place. Who needs a transportation pavilion? Just put in Cars and sell toys. Animals live on “The Land” so just put some live-action Lion King characters in the boat ride. I might be exaggerating here, but those make as much sense if not more that what Disney is planning. With this addition, there is no more optimistic future; it is gone, given away to the bean counters. Chapek can give whatever lip service he wants, but Guardians does NOT fit with Epcot’s founding ideals, and anyone who says it does is simply feeding us a line of bull. No more will Epcot entertain us while teaching us we can be better. It may entertain us, but certainly not the way it did before. Future World will not be a beacon of hope for a better society. Sure, some of that will remain, but the resulting disjointedness from this random placement will stick out like a sore thumb, and only pave the way for each part of Epcot to be replaced with whatever movie is popular. Epcot, as so many of us knew it and loved it, is gone. It sucks.
Not to leave everyone depressed, let’s look at what we are getting in exchange for our beloved Epcot. We’re getting a brand new, multi-layered, E-Ticket experience. Let’s also not forget that the Guardians of the Galaxy are some awesome characters, and both movies were excellent. They brought back the fun of the rag-tag science fantasy movie, something that was lost in the Star Wars prequels. The characters, no matter what “species” they are, were human in their emotions and experiences. Frankly, I love them. As a theme park fan, how can I be upset about this? Just think about this: Disney took Avatar, a really overrated, boring movie, and created an attraction worthy of praise. Imagine what they could do with GOOD movies! They did their best overlaying Tower of Terror in DCA, and the results are fun. So think about combining those characters with a BRAND NEW ride — it’s exciting! With a new project of this caliber being added to Epcot, it very well could bring in a whole new generation of children, who will then about Epcot as I did as a child. What if this project remains a one-off, and with the increased popularity and concomitant attendance increase, Disney decides to fork over the money for a high-tech Figment ride? Unlikely, but possible.
Like I said, the Epcot of our nostalgic memories won’t be coming back. It’s easy to be upset by this news. It is inevitable that something new will take its place. Personally, I don’t think Disney is gave even a shred of consideration to Epcot’s theme or optimistic message about the future when they decided to put Marvel in the park. The best we can do at this point is hope that it has a positive effect on the rest of the park. If the Seas pavilion stays on-message (as it is currently doing, even with Nemo there), the kids who come to ride Guardians might also visit that pavilion and discover more about our oceans. If Spaceship Earth continues to champion communication (and hopefully get a bit of love to make its message even more clear), perhaps those who stop to ride it on their way to Guardians next door will be inspired, just as the Irons version did for me. I’m not trying to sound like an apologist, and am certainly not making excuses for Disney’s attempts to make it fit, but… as a theme park fan, a lover of rides that take me out of the real world… how can I be mad at this? What if instead decided to keep the theme of Energy, but simply removed all the dinosaur animatronics and replaced them with screens? That would be far worse the scrapping the whole thing for a new E-Ticke. There could be dozens of Imagineers working hard to take those children with Groot lunch boxes, and fans who follow the comic books, and even those who’ve never seen the Guardians films, out of the real world and on a fantastic journey. That’s… well, that’s pretty darn exciting.
What’s my point? I guess, writing it out like this, my point is that there are both upsides and downsides, that those who are mad and those who are excited are both right, and there’s not really much we can do at this point anyway. This marks an end of an era for Epcot, full stop. A lot of us are losing something we treasured. New stuff is coming though, and hopefully it will be really fantastic. As opinions flare, whether on social media or face to face, the situation is more complicated than one side being right or wrong. Don’t laugh at people that are upset, because you don’t know what Epcot meant to them. If you’re happy that this brand new attraction is coming, just remember this changes a huge dynamic that has been in place for 35 years — even when Epcot wasn’t that great. New stuff is awesome but there is often a trade-off, and that can hurt. Likewise, if you’re feeling sad about what has been lost, please understand that unfortunately these things must happen. While we’d all love an Epcot museum, Epcot the theme park can’t be it. In the end, if these rides are well done, they’ll make lots of magic for a new generation, and thatt could inspire them to do great things. New projects are exciting, but just because someone’s cheering doesn’t mean that they’re happy at the demise of old Epcot. It’s a complicated scenario, but we’re all on this Spaceship Earth together.
I love Guardians of the Galaxy ride in Epcot! Because it’s awesome! I wanted to say is that Guardians of the Galaxy is perfect for Epcot! Ellen goodbye!
Yes, good riddance to Ellen and Bill Nye! They have no business being in any theme park.
Not very bright, are you?
Well said. I remember early 1983 walking into the building to see the kinetic mosaic pre-show with movable tiles as a projection screen then walking into the massive moving theater powered by the Sun that spun on giant turntables, the smellitzers, the giant movie screens showing lift off of a space shuttle from what seemed to be only a few yards away. I will miss this great ride but it’s nice to know that others share in what will soon be Justin what will soon be just a memory.
Ellen’s Energy Adventure was an imaginative and fun attraction that was in need of updates. The Imagineers would have been up to that task, had they been given the chance. The attraction was in tune with the original primary purpose of Epcot. I’ll really miss this multi-media ride that had some fun personalities in it. Also, given the massive amount of space that Disney World covers, it seems a shame that sometimes good attractions are destroyed in favor of new attractions, rather than making use of some of that space.
The Tron ride should be at Epcot and the GotG one at MK. This IP seems much more relevant to Tomorrowland, and the theming and aesthetic of Tron would match Future World much better.
Yes, this!! I thought the same thing.
I loved the EPCOT Center when I was a kid, (i still stare at Spaceship Earth like i did back then whenever we go) but now being 45, with a family of 5 in 2017 and the world being different, I am glad they are making the change. It costs a lot of money to go to these parks and I can’t justify the spending so my kids can learn about oil drilling techniques or telephone switching systems. Their vacations need to be fun, they can Google oil and dinosaurs back at the hotel.
What they need to do is bring back Dreamfinder and Figment in a big way and give them a show on a Disney channel and make them the face of the park, bring back the original ride and pair it with a great Pixar made Inside Out 3D movie if they want that IP there.
The tech exists to re-make the human body pavilion great and they can put Baymax there since in the movie he was a medical robot of some kind. The potential is there for all of this.
Agree with you!
How do we know it wont be about energy? There are lot of energy elements to Guardians/Marvel. They could very well have a ride based on some new form of energy Rocket has found. There could be an exhibit on saving energy by Groot. The bottom line is we don’t know and its hard to tell based off of 2 pictures and what little information has been given out to date.
I am Groot!
I agree, they will incorporate the “galaxy of energy” into this ride some how. It may not be as educational as before but I think they will attempt it in the queue or pre-show and during the ride. Science centers are all across the country now partly because EPCOT was so popular. But in this age of information you go to a theme park for an experience you can’t get locally.
Just hoping they have a way to work in the dino AA’s. I feel the Gaurdians’ universe is big enough to have them there…
I’m in the same boat as you, Scott. I’m not a huge fan of Universe of Energy (it was getting pretty outdated), but I love what Epcot was, and I’m enamored with Walt’s original idea for Epcot. Flip side, I love Guardians, I love Marvel in general, and Epcot desperately needs more rides, and I’m excited at the prospect of a new E-ticket attraction. Maybe they’ll surprise us and the ride will feature the guardians seeking to solve an energy crisis with a new alternative fuel source. Fingers crossed.
The upside is it’s still an optimistic park without the corporate and government sponsorships. There are still product placements, but Disney will be the primary corporate sponsor with scattered diversified products like Coca Cola.
Actually, you should be glad that Guardians of the Galaxy is coming to Epcot and not to Hollywood Studios by re-theming an existing ride like RnRC or TZToT. Imagine the outcry. Not only will Guardians be a grander ride, they have the room to create the biggest and baddest Guardians attraction.
It’s odd to see you write “Who needs a transportation pavilion?” without acknowledging Test Track replaced it, and Space replaced Horizons. Test Track has only a passing resemblance to the previous pavilion. It was long gone before I had a change to see the original World of Motion pavilion. I’ve seen Horizons, but still haven’t seen Mission Space due to it’s bad reputation.
I think it’s first world wasted indulgence to be crying about attractions that hardly anyone sees anymore like Energy, Imagination, and plenty of closed ones. Guardians have a place in Epcot regardless if it fits in as edutainment. It is certainly time to close the door on edutainment as well. It just doesn’t work in theme parks. The market for Science Centers is under 12 year olds age bracket. And I am not convince more people go into STEM due to the lack of educational exhibits when they are kids. The lack of engineering and science graduates are due to laziness of the students and the parents that don’t motivate them.
Like Alex alluded to with his last bit, I’m trying to remain optimistic. Until I see what Disney puts together, I’m not going to assume it’s just another “ride the movies” type of ride. At D23 there seemed to be a lot of emphasis put on returning Epcot to its roots, and I think this ride could very well still bring an educational component to it, and not just be all whiz-bang fun and chaos.
I actually think it’s interesting that Peter Quill visited Epcot as a child – it means he saw Epcot as it was back then, and not what it’s become over the past few years. Why would Disney establish that narrative? My hope is that this ride really surprises us and ends up being a classic EPCOT Center ride, even with the possibly-shoe-horned-in Guardians aspect.
Yes they need to make the ultimate meta ride and have the Guardians save Epcot from Robo Chapek and bring it back to it’s original glory. The end can just be the final scenes of Horizons, World of Motion, and Imagination.
I hate to sound stupid, but what is an E ticket?
It goes back to the original MK days when rides had a la carte pricing based on a ticket book. Various rides cost different ticket types, with E ticket rides being the biggest attractions. The term still is often used for big attractions that are considered draws that pull in people to the parks, like a Soarin.
What is IP? Intellectual Property?
Yes
This was a great editorial, thank you posting and being honest. I agree with everythjng you said about the direction of Epcot.
My question, however is this: can someone write anything about the Great Movie Ride closing?!? That news is so devestating and such a travesty, I would like to hear what people have to say about that. That ride has been a staple in the Studios for almost 30 years and boom, Disney gives it no more chances and gives beloved riders no time to say goodbye. Unfathomable and just downright disregarded in my opinion. The Studios will never be the same.
Totally agree with you. Would have loved to had time to ride it one last time.
I’m actually ok with Great Movie Ride being replaced by the Mickey ride. I didn’t find Great Movie Ride educational…or even fun. I felt it was lacking considering the potential of what I imagine the original idea to have been and always felt like the Imagineers had fantastic concepts that would’ve blown everyone away…only to see copyright lawyers and cost-control personnel trim back and trim back until the ride was only a glimmer of the original exciting concept.
At any rate, with Hollywood Studios moving away from being a studio or even the edutainment of how movie magic is made, I am really excited about the Mickey ride. My understanding is it will be like the new “Get a Horse” short, but instead of the toons getting into our world, we enter their world. Get a Horse represents the future of animation (a pavilion Hollywood Studios literally deleted) — something we’ve never seen before…the essence of movie magic. The new Mickey attraction will bring that back.
Stepping away from the original “theme” seems to be what’s trending with Walt Disney World. Look at Hollywood Studios. By taking out The Great Movie Ride, all that’s left of the “Hollywood” theme are the names of the streets and restaurants. I don’t know what the solution is for the choking Uneverse of Energy, but I know it is not the Guardians of the Galaxy. Through all the changes to EPCOT over the years, they have never gone away from the theme of the pavilion being enhanced. This change, though offering what will be a great ride I’m sure, will make that area of the park irrelevant to the theme of the rest of EPCOT. What’s next? An Avengers ride in Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom? I guess the decision makers at Disney don’t understand that there is a difference between a “theme” park and an “amusement” park. Such a shame.
I have always loved disneyworld. I was there the day space mountain opened. Two of my favorite things about the magic kingdom were the magic shop and Main Street arcade. Bit replaced by generic Disney swag stores. Bummer, yes. But there is still a lot to love. I understand the points above but Epcot died a long time ago. These parks need to make money to stay alive. Is it a bummer that a great educational attraction is being replaced? Yes. Am I excited about a new e-ticket ride replacing it? Very much so. Disneyworld, as a whole, is still a wonderful place for me and my family. Whatever they need to do to thrive and make it more fun is a good thing IMO.
Scott, I am a huge fan of the original Epcot Center and like you, would love to see the park updated and restored to its former glory. It is interesting to note , that regardless of what IP is used, a new space themed attraction will be going into the Universe of Energy. And along with the announced space themed restaurant and the refurbished Mission Space, Future World will be getting an entire area devoted just to space travel and exploration. And that reminds me of the plans for the unbuilt Westcot Center that was intended to go beside Disneyland. I am in no way an expert on this project, but I have collected a great deal of information on it. Westcot was to have differed greatly from Epcot. For one thing they had less land at their disposal. They were also trying to correct what they perceived as Epcot’s many flaws. Westcot, their new and improved version of the old Epcot Center concept. was originally to have only three Future Wold style pavilions and these were to be themed to the topics of Living, Space and Nature. Later the three pavilions were condensed into one large building containing three sections that were dedicated to Nature, Living and Science. These areas would have little, if anything, to do with building a ‘Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow,’ but were more about exploring the wonders of the world around us. For example, the Nature section was to have featured ‘greenhouses’ and aquariums, where guests could see and experience different earth environments. It seems Disney was creating their own version of a science center. I cannot help wonder if Epcot is heading in that same direction. Only time will tell.
Let’s just change the name of the park already. It’ll no longer be EPCOT but IPCOT
Gave yourself a high five for that medicore bon mot, didn’t ya Petey?
You know you liked it, Disney intern.
BEST COMMENT OF THE DAY (& frighteningly accurate). Well done Pete! :D
I doubt that they’ll do it, but I hope that they have the Guardians ride as the lure, then an offload/waiting area where they focus on edutainment about deep space. Split space so that Mission Space does solar system, and let the Guardians have the galaxy. Is it still energy related? No, but space is a big topic that’s always popular.
Thank you for this thoughtful commentary. Excellent issues to ponder. Yes, I remember the original EPCOT feeling (even the original Future World music soundtrack!). Thanks for reminding us.
The Disney interns have ruined another park! I certainly won’t stand for this. I will now only devote “most” of my time to obsessing over the parks. This is a travesty!!!
Kurt touched on a thought I had last night — with Guardians of the Galaxy, the northeast quadrant of Future World will be almost entirely space themed. It makes me wonder what we might hear about the futures for the Wonders of Life & Test Track pavilions at D23 next year.
When you consider that the west side of the park is almost entirely “Earth” themed, we could be seeing the early stages of Future World fully realigning to overarching Space (east side) and Earth (west side) themes with Spaceship Earth connecting them.
Ooooh! I like this idea! It would certainly help reconcile me to GOTG in Epcot.
perhaps a wall-E ride to replace the body pavillion? that would fit the original edutainment concept of EPCOT with space and conservation as the theme and also add the pixar IP as well
It’s interesting that you said that the EPCOT we are nostalgic for us gone, because in a lot of cases- nostalgia is selling! Companies have brought back Furbies, French Toast Crunch, and heaps of other things because they sell! People will buy things that remind them of the good things they had when they were a kid. So even though a lot of the “nostalgic” items coming out now are for millenials’ sakes, I think that Disney could have really gotten people excited about returning the the golden age of EPCOT, because nostalgia has been proven to sell. I will give them that it probably wouldn’t have sold as well as IP, so I guess that’s fine. I don’t really have a dog in this fight, I just want them to make quality attractions, just wanted to leave my comments.
Obviously the downfall of Future World has been going on for years now and watching it slowly happen completely sucked! I am obviously disappointed that some of the old attractions are being taken away because I LOVED the old Epcot. However, the Universe of Energy, over time, just turned into a really poor attraction.. I love Epcot, but I couldn’t tell you the last time I went to Universe of Energy. I don’t necessarily agree with or like Disney just pumping in IPs all over every park, but this was a much much needed addition and change and I’m excited about it!
Side note: the theme and goal of the original Epcot just could not and would not keep up with progress.. the messages and themes of each ride were very outdated.. they still need to update Spaceship Earth to some degree to keep up.
I appreciate what Epcot stood for however I visit Disney every year and just won’t go to Epcot. I’m sorry but it’s boring. It’s something you do once and never again. It needs to change I’m sure that Walt would agree. Times change you want the Happiest place on Earth to live up to the name.
Ummm….
A key recurring plot device in GUARIDANS 2 revolved around the theft of a key source of ENERGY. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who stayed awake for the whole movie
I don’t know if WDI is planning on even retaining energy as the theme for this attraction, but it would be super-easy to use these characters -in a Galaxy-wide search for the ultimate energy source – as a means of educating and enlightening guests as to potential new sources of energy and how they work.
Can’t they create a park for all their purchased licenses and keep the parks themes in tact. They can update the current parks within their theme.. I agree, TRON shou;d be In future world. And so what if they put a gratuitous nod to energy in guardians, that’s all it will be. They are turning it into universal because they want that market share.. But to keep it true to its legacy.. They need to keep the “Disney ” preserved . They have so much land.. Create a separate park for stArwars, avatar, guardians, marvel and what ever else they didn’t create but aquire. Put the new Mickey ride in the magic kingdom… Create an anamatronic Walt to tell his own story in the new theater on Main Street..if I get accosted by one more dancing storm trooper in the animation courtyard… I’m going to scream…they took out all of the classic animators hand and foot prints from the courtyard… It broke my heart, and it’s breaking my heart to see what they are doing.
Dude they’re not turning into Universal. At least they still care enough to not make everything another screen ride and close every single ride they’ve ever built. (Seriously, have you been to Universal lately? The only opening day attraction left is ET and everything is a screen ride or coaster. (Or is ET and Mummy and MIB and desperately need updates they won’t give.) Hollywood Studios may be becoming closer to Universal than Disney but at least not everything is another 3D Motion simulator.)
Like I get it, you’re sick of the non-Disney original IPs, god knows I’d love to never see anything Star Wars in the parks again, but the addition of these IPs is not making Disney Universal. When they stop caring about quality and just make boring screen ride after boring screen ride then you can make that claim. (And again, Epcot getting one IP, an IP I don’t even want there, isn’t going to make it Universal. I actually hate the idea of Guardians and Marvel in Epcot because it kills the theme a bit, but it and MGM are still leagues better than what Universal is…even if I hate MGM about as much as I hate UO. owo’)
HS was Eisner’s Universal Studios’ clone.
I am very thankful that Disney is getting rid of Ellen Degenerate and Bill Nye the Fake Science guy and this preachy, outdated, snoozefest. It cannot happen soon enough for me.
Agree 100%. Ellen and Bill are the real deplorables!
It’s becoming more apparent that the governing body of Disney is just money grubbing moguls. They could care less about Walts ideas and the themes of the parks. Magic Kingdom should be as it is…Mickey and Minnie’s place.
Hollywood Studios…Films not 1 or 2 but films that if nothing else is Disney films. They have made and own a tremendous amount. EPCOT…..as it should be the future, they have already reduced many things here, there’s hardly any future world. It’s kind of becoming kind of a joke, let’s just put something here to make more money. I am rethinking my Annual Pass this year, maybe Universal Studios, at least it stay pretty true to form….movie themes.
Yes, please do not ever go again. The money grubbing moguls will not miss you.
Yes we will!
Great piece Scott Now please come back full time to
WDWNT s podcast or radio show!
I would agree with you Tim only if Scott would be able to tone it down some. He tends to over take the segments he is in and hardly allowing others to get much of a word in. This distracts from the direction the segments go and can halt a good smooth running segment. If he can tone that down he would be a great addition to shows that include history segments or segments that include information on Universal Studios.
The EPCOT that the fanboys have grown to love has not been that EPCOT in a while. The park has been without a solid identity for years and I think this is a welcomed change and I cannot wait to see what they do. I however will miss some things but Ellen has been dated for years so, good bye!
Totally random, but today’s Google doodle image made me think of Epcot. https://www.google.com/doodles/marshall-mcluhans-106th-birthday
Not particularly happy about seeing Epcot get Guardians. I don’t really think the IP belongs and even with their justifications I’m hesitant to say it has anything to do with anything. Ride would be better off in Hollywood Studios where they could center the park around a lot of IP based lands since that seems to be the direction they’re overall going with it.
That being said, I’m glad Ellen’s gone. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ellen and Bill Nye, but the ride was…bad. I’ve been on both incarnations (the first when I was three, and the second a couple times now) and I still don’t really have any fond memories. The dinosaurs are cool, but like…I can go on Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom and have more fun. The rest of the ride is boring and to be frank, my friends and I call it naptime for a reason. We only ever hit it up if we need an air conditioned break. I’m going to Great Movie Ride on it’s last day, and I’ve been to a lot of the recent closing attractions (MSEP, Celebrate the Magic, Wishes, DisneyQuest) on their last day or near last day so I could experience them one last time (which I regret not being able to do with Maelstrom or Snow White because I didn’t have a pass.) When it comes to Ellen…I’m going to be at the parks on the day it closes for Great Movie Ride and I’m just not going to bother.
Ellen needed to be replaced. It closing did not represent the loss of Epcot’s meaning (if you really want to get technical the closing of Horizons and World of Motion were it, Test Track, Mission Space, and Soarin’ you really have to stretch to have it keep the theme of Future World.) I do think replacing it with Guardians is a step in the wrong direction since they could’ve realigned with the original theme rather than put in the IP, but at the very least getting rid of Ellen is a step towards revitalizing the park that it desperately needed. (And I’m saying this as somebody who at the current moment considers Epcot second best park in Orlando, losing only to Magic Kingdom.)
Let’s not jump to conclusions, we don’t know the plot of the ride yet. It could very well center around energy/the future. Good riddance Ellen and Bill Nye! Your outdated attractions will not be missed!
I am a DVC member, annual passholder and have visited WDW at least 60 times, DL once. My first visit was DL back in 1975 for my high school graduation. I went to WDW in 1977 for college spring break. Uncle Walt had me hooked way back in the 60’s with wonderful world of color every Sunday night. I went on the Ellen ride only once to cool off… that was back in 1998 when I first took my daughter at age 2 1/2. Never had a desire to ride it since. Bring on the new rides! loved flight of passage! Makes me want to keep going back.
I think that Epcot is still successful today because you are right that people enjoy it and it is different. I will always love Epcot even if it was very different long ago. It is updated more futuristically as I would put it.