Visited Disney World a few times over the years. Gotta say that I am sad the parks are becoming more Disney centric. magic kingdom is cool cause it's all Disney. The other parks are awesome cause they are something else with a touch of Disney.
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Epcot Replacing IllumiNations with more Disney Bullshit
- Thread starter AndreGX
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Exactly. They're Disney-caliber without being inundated with Disney characters and kidified concepts.
Or used to be, anyway
That's the reason why it is the worst part of the park. They don't invest into it.
California Adventure's getting that way too. It slowly became less about California over time, and now at least 1/3-1/2 of the park is Pixar, and now that lost some ground to Marvel.
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Indeed, Cars Land doesn't even take place in California (though I guess it has the route 66 connection at least?). But the more recent changes have been a clear step back from the enhancements they made just a few years ago to strengthen the park and the theme, such as Buena Vista Blvd.
I go to Disneyland in California every week.
Going again on Monday.
I recently saw it for the first time, at least that I remember. The globe on the water was cool but I wasn't as impressed as I was with other Disney firework/parades at the other parks.
I can see how purists would get upset about not keeping with the one strong theme at the park, but it could definitely do more with the big lake and floating floats.
I can see how purists would get upset about not keeping with the one strong theme at the park, but it could definitely do more with the big lake and floating floats.
When I lived in Florida my family spent a week there every Christmas. And when my Mom started working for them we'd go two or three times every month. Hell, she'd let me ditch school and bring a friend with me to the Parks.
Yeah but they also rethemed Tower of Terror from the Hollywood Tower Hotel to Guardians of the Galaxy, generalized Soarin' over California to the whole world, and rethemed the entirety of Paradise Pier to Pixar
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Yep, that's exactly what I mean. They went through all the effort to strengthen the park's theme, only then to immediately undermine it with the changes you mentioned.
I do find it funny that in "upgrading" Sorain, they made it a far better fit at Epcot, while a far worse fit at DCA.
Ah okay, misread that. DCA feels more like a dumping ground for anything they couldn't fit to theme in Disneyland these days. There's even some Brother Bear stuff in there.
I think they're referring to attractions becoming character themed rather than generalized, like the Norway ride becoming Frozen
As much as I like Disney properties, I think I appreciate their originals a lot more.
DCA has been a lesser park with no clear cohesion from basically the beginning. The general "California" theme has always been pretty vague and not all encompassing. The park has also increased in size since its inception and added a higher number of attractions, which I think is an overall good thing. I do think they have gone overboard on Pixar stuff, but that is already starting to be eroded with the new Marvel land in development... And I have a feeling it will continue now that Lasseter is out.
Overall the park has a lot of areas that are completely wasteful of the space they take up (like the area around the Monsters Inc ride, or the massive "Redwood trail" that barely gets any traffic) and frankly the park should be intentionally transformed to no longer be "themed" to California... as it already barely is.
What they need to do is find innovation while sticking to their roots for their next attraction.
It's time for a suspended Terracotta Army coaster.
I went on vacation there over the summer. We did all parks, and Epcot was a joke compared to the rest. We all wished we didn't even go and just did magic kingdom or something else again that day. Animal kingdom was the most impressive Disney park to me.
Still baffled that Dinosaur of all things got a ride. Really should've just been another Indiana Jones, especially with the similarities between ride vehicles. That'd be like when they announced that the submarines were getting rethemed to Finding Nemo, Disney went, "Nah, Orlando, y'all are getting Atlantis: The Lost Empire" (I'd actually be pissed if we got Finding Nemo and they got Atlantis because I like Atlantis more). I get that there were already dinosaurs in there so it was easier, but still.
Outside of eating in one of the country restaurants, there isnt much there worth doing, test track is cool but its line is huge and it cant run in the rain. Mission mars is so unpleasant. Its impressive too, but its physically brutal.
The rest of it it like an homage to what people thought the future would be 30 years ago and now its all so outdated.
But drinking your way around the globe is fun lol
The rest of it it like an homage to what people thought the future would be 30 years ago and now its all so outdated.
But drinking your way around the globe is fun lol
Even before the addition of Pandora the World of Avatar, DAK was by far the best and most impressive park at WDW. It just feels alive, and a celebration of culture and humanity's connection with the animal world. I would take Kilimanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest, the nature trails, Festival of the Lion King, the Tree of Life awakening, Rivers of Light, Dinosaur (post-refurb), and the Burudika band over anything the other parks offer. And "character creep" has been kept to a minimum compared to the other parks. Pandora has only made the park even better. The theming of the area is insane and completely immersive, and Flight of Passage is the best ride on property. It's set a pretty high bar that I wonder if Galaxy's Edge will be able to match.
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^ This. Animal Kingdom might be Disney's best part in the world (or at the least, right up there with DisneySea), It's been impressively spared of Disney's "put characters everywhere" mandate. And I'm betting this has a lot to do with Joe Rohde, who was the lead Imagineer on both Animal Kingdom and Pandora as well.
God help us once he retires...
They really do need to bulldoze that dinosaur roadside carnival section though...
God help us once he retires...
They really do need to bulldoze that dinosaur roadside carnival section though...
I absolutely hated Epcot when I went as a 15 year old, didn't spend even half a day there and haven't gone back in 13 years to that park.
Im all for changes maybe someday it will entice me enough to return.
As a side note I absolutely hated Animal Kingdom at that time as well, when I returned for Everest is when I found my love for that park*
Im all for changes maybe someday it will entice me enough to return.
As a side note I absolutely hated Animal Kingdom at that time as well, when I returned for Everest is when I found my love for that park*
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I love Epcot and the World Showcase. One of the best times I had there was to go around to every country's pavilion and get just one item to eat or drink. Norway we got a pastry, Mexico we shared tacos, Germany I got a beer, etc. Sad to see Illumations go. I really liked it.
I remember when the wave of Frozen craziness was still fresh the first character interaction with Elsa & Anna was at the Norway pavilion. My daughter was 4 at the time so of course she was obsessed with the movie. So me wanting to be the cool dad got to the park before it opened, dashed through security without a bag to check, power walked to the Norway pavilion to get a place in line so my wife and daughter could meet me there shortly. Welp.... I get there and it's already a 5 hour wait...... WTF the park has only been open for 4 goddamn minutes. Needless to say I'm not wasting 5 hours in this park for a 2 minute character interaction. Of course my daughter was a little disappointed but I made it up to her and made sure we meet Mulan, Jasmine, Snow White & Belle.
I remember when the wave of Frozen craziness was still fresh the first character interaction with Elsa & Anna was at the Norway pavilion. My daughter was 4 at the time so of course she was obsessed with the movie. So me wanting to be the cool dad got to the park before it opened, dashed through security without a bag to check, power walked to the Norway pavilion to get a place in line so my wife and daughter could meet me there shortly. Welp.... I get there and it's already a 5 hour wait...... WTF the park has only been open for 4 goddamn minutes. Needless to say I'm not wasting 5 hours in this park for a 2 minute character interaction. Of course my daughter was a little disappointed but I made it up to her and made sure we meet Mulan, Jasmine, Snow White & Belle.
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It did, it's on the west side of the park, where Camp Minnie Mickey used to be.
Also, echoing that Animal Kingdom love. I went there during spring break last year and it was my favorite of the Disney World parks we went to (we never got around to Hollywood Studios).
For some reason I thought it was in Magic Kingdom. My bad.
Also I don't like hollywood studios. It kinda just makes me wish I was at Universal. Tower of Terror had no line the last time I went though so that was pretty great.
That's the park I am desperate to visit. Everything I've read and seen about it makes it seem like a dream come true. I grew up loving Jules Verne, living on an island, spent every day in the ocean, and 20k Leagues Under the Sea was my favorite Disney movie and ride. I was heart broken when they closed the attraction at Magic Kingdom. But visiting a Disney park that's completely themed around Jules Verne, and has a 20k Leagues ride (albeit different from the one I loved) sounds amazing.
I think we need to see the show before we start hating on it.
Like Rivers of Light is pretty new and manages to have NO Disney elements at all.
Like Rivers of Light is pretty new and manages to have NO Disney elements at all.
Disney Sea is fantastic as far as themeing goes, but I found the attractions overall to be a bit underwhelming. It's also getting some major additions real soon though that should help it out.
The shoehorning of Disney IP everywhere is incredibly frustrating and having it creep into Epcot ruins what made it so unique.
It's also worth noting that Imagineering no longer make rides based on original IP (and that's been confirmed by insiders on WDWMagic).
It's also worth noting that Imagineering no longer make rides based on original IP (and that's been confirmed by insiders on WDWMagic).
Epcot was a refreshing experience for me when I was all Disney'd out from Magic Kingdom.
And Illuminations was my favorite part.
Really upset to hear about this. Even though it's clearly been neglected, Epcot is still my favorite Disney park. The concept is exactly the kind of shit that the world needs right now, but at this point I think it's naive to expect Disney in its current state to turn it around.
Nah, if I'm gonna be 100% real you're not even wrong, in fact you're exactly right. But not like this, please god not like this.
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Not a hot take, just the truth. Time to get Epcot with the times and make it fun.
Epcot is awesome, just gotta go there during the months of the food and wine festival. My wife and I went in October 2 years in a row and it was our favorite days at the parks.
Epcot has been dead to me since 1999, but it somehow keeps getting worse.
I never properly enjoyed Illuminations. I was typically trying to enjoy attractions have short lines during it and on our last trip I proposed to my wife during it.
I never properly enjoyed Illuminations. I was typically trying to enjoy attractions have short lines during it and on our last trip I proposed to my wife during it.
Because you're wrong and Vol. 3 is still going to make millions upon millions of dollars?
Epcot hasn't been Epcot for me since they closed the Wonders of Life pavilion. Body Wars was the shit. My favorite ride. It's a shame no one has been able to preserve the actual ride film. All I can find on YouTube is POV from peoples home video cameras and of course it's all old VHS rips because the ride was closed well before HD or smart phones. (It literally closed in 2007 before the iPhone was even revealed.)
I'm from Missouri and have seen Illuminations 4 times, across two different trips (most recently last week), in the past month to make up for the pending loss. My girlfriend and I picked up annual passes this year, and ever since I've been almost old enough to drink, EPCOT has been my favorite park. As a kid, I remember not enjoying it much aside from Figment, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Living with the Land, and the Virtua Racing setup at Innoventions, but the relative lack of strollers compared to some of the other parks makes it such a nice getaway.
I'm pretty bummed about the character creep. I trust it will be mostly kept in check throughout world showcase -- Ratattouille, Frozen, 3 Callaberos aside -- and should take place in whatever Future World becomes. I think Epcot is just too big of a park for Disney to want to spend the money on overhauling it in a way that will truly make it feel not like Epcot, which is why they've used comparatively cheap festivals to keep the draw over the years.
I'm pretty bummed about the character creep. I trust it will be mostly kept in check throughout world showcase -- Ratattouille, Frozen, 3 Callaberos aside -- and should take place in whatever Future World becomes. I think Epcot is just too big of a park for Disney to want to spend the money on overhauling it in a way that will truly make it feel not like Epcot, which is why they've used comparatively cheap festivals to keep the draw over the years.
Eh... After California Adventure's World of Color, every other night time show pales in comparison.
I'm okay with the upcoming incoming Epcot IP creep. Although I'm sad the underrated Tomorrowland movie with George Clooney and Britt Robertson kinda bombed. It had the perfect optimistic future setting and tone that matches Epcot's future area.
I'm okay with the upcoming incoming Epcot IP creep. Although I'm sad the underrated Tomorrowland movie with George Clooney and Britt Robertson kinda bombed. It had the perfect optimistic future setting and tone that matches Epcot's future area.
I've been to Disney World dozens of times but I've NEVER gone to Epcot. The premise never really interested me.
But if they transition to a more Disney centered park, then yeah I'd go! Looking forward to more updates :)
But if they transition to a more Disney centered park, then yeah I'd go! Looking forward to more updates :)
I swear, my mind went straight to Innoventions, and I was about to be about "R.I.P. you were the best SEGA arcade."
