Welcome to part two of my reactions on all of the big changes that are making their way to EPCOT! So far I have been pretty excited about all of the changes and mildly disappointed that none of them seem to involve Figment at all. Lets continue cause there is still plenty more to look at and react to.
EPCOT is being divided into four neighborhoods, officially marking the end of future world. The area that will be formerly known as future world will be divided into three of the four neighborhoods. The lone neighborhood that will not envelop the former future world is the World Showcase, which itself will be seeing some changes. The other neighborhoods will be World Nature, World Celebration, and World Discovery. I'm going to break down each of them as to what will be in each area.
World Showcase
The World Showcase will not see the major overhaul that the future world area will be seeing, but it is still getting new things. As I mentioned in my last blog, Epcot Forever, HarmonioUS, as well as a new Mary Poppins ride will be joining the World Showcase. In addition to those will be a new restaurant, the Ratatouille ride, new movies for China and Canada, and also a Beauty and the Beast sing-a-long. The area will continue to focus on various cultures of the world throughout the day and culminate in a celebration of music during HarmonioUS. World Showcase has always been an incredible journey to walk through. With these new additions I expect the appeal for kids to rise. I also don't expect to see the appeal in the area for adults to drop. I am happy to see that none of these new experiences are going to be overtaking existing educational experiences in World Showcase (the movies in China and Canada sound like good updates to the existing films). The real big changes can be found in the other neighborhoods.
World Nature
World Nature will encompass the new Journey of Water attraction, The Land Pavilion, and The Seas with Nemo and Friends. I talked a bit about the Journey of Water in my last blog, but I want to touch on it again here. World Nature is a celebration of the natural world. Living with the Land has always been a great place to learn all about the importance of well, the land. The Seas with Nemo and Friends is still a great little aquarium and a place to learn about the sea. Journey of Water will bring the area together really nicely as both the land and the sea participate in the water cycle which Journey of Water will be educating people about. Other than Journey of Water, there will be a new movie debuting in the Land Pavilion that will tell the story of our planet. The Land Pavilion and The Seas with Nemo and Friends are already popular locations within EPCOT so I'm not shocked we aren't seeing too much more done to the area, but I remain very excited for Journey of Water. For what it's worth it also appears on maps that the Imagination Pavilion could be in the area of World Nature as well?
World Discovery
World Discovery will encompass both Mission: Space and Test Track. In addition the area will be getting Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, the new PLAY! Pavilion, and the Space 220 restaurant. The focus of this neighborhood will be on science, technology, and well, space. The new PLAY! Pavilion is going to be somewhat of a technological spectacle. I touched lightly on this in my last blog, but it sounds like it is going to be quite the interactive experience. You will get to enter to what looks like a digital world and connect with both real and digital Disney characters in a variety of different experiences. For example, you'll be able to help Edna Mode get rid of uninspired fashion. Knowing Edna, it's going to be a hilariously good time. Other attractions withing the pavilion include Zootopia, Wreck-it-Ralph, Big Hero 6, and Inside Out. Some of these attractions will be digital, and others meet and greets.
The Space 220 restaurant is well under construction already next to Mission: Space. As you may have guessed the idea is you are eating on a space station in well... Space. The restaurant is slated to open this upcoming winter and promises to deliver an out of this world experience. As you dine you will see what Earth looks like from 220 miles up. The windows will all basically be ultra high definition screens showing Earth from space and surely some other things thrown in as well. Disney has confirmed that there will be day and night cycles as well, so it should look really awesome. My only question is with Test Track so close by, what is the plan to both not hear those roaring cars going by or the shaking that they can cause? I'm sure they have it all figured out, but I want to know!
While Mission: Space itself and Test Track are not seeing any changes, the only Ellen's Energy Adventure is certainly seeing changes as it continues to morph into Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. This ride sounds pretty crazy. It is a roller coaster that will feature state of the art technology, the first backwards launch on Disney property, and tell a story. The ride will begin with the telling of the story of the formation of both Earth and Xander. Soon after the Guardians of the Galaxy show up and well, things get a bit crazy. The coaster looks like it will have screens throughout and the trains themselves will be able to rotate to keep you directly in the action. We have already seen how effective Disney can be utilizing screens on rides like Na'vi River Journey and Shanghai's Pirates of the Caribbean, so I expect this will be on that level as well. I do have to say I am so glad that they are going to have some educational stuff in this ride with the formation of planet Earth. Makes my nerves both about Marvel and the wave of IPs in EPCOT ease greatly.
World Discovery is going to be bringing in a lot of new and holding onto two classic attractions. It's going to be interesting to see how popular the neighborhood becomes once Guardians of the Galaxy opens. You'll have all three of the parks most intense rides all in one place. Right now anytime I go over by Test Track there's a bunch of people on line for Test Track, but otherwise the area is pretty quiet and I feel like it was that way when Ellen's Energy Adventure was open as well.
World Celebration
The final neighborhood will be from the main park entrance right down the middle of the park to World Showcase. Spaceship Earth is included in this neighborhood and the neighborhood itself will focus on connecting us to the world around us. Makes sense as World Showcase, World Nature, and World Discovery will all connect to World Celebration. As mentioned in my previous blog, Spaceship Earth will be undergoing a big refurbishment that will see the ride get new scenes, an updated narration that will focus on storytelling and an all new exit area, Dreamers Point. In addition to the big changes to Spaceship Earth, the entrance itself will be getting an overhaul. This has already started with the removal of the Leave a Legacy stones. The new entrance will feature all kinds of greenery, new paths, and a new fountain as well. With the PLAY! Pavilion taking over the current festival center, World Celebration will play host to a brilliant new pavilion. This three level pavilion will be the new festival center and also feature a park situated on it's roof that will give guests an incredible view of the park and HarmonioUS. Surely more details will eventually be coming out as to how all of that will work, but the pavilion itself looks incredible!
World Celebration looks like it is going to be the perfect introduction to EPCOT. Spaceship Earth will tell us the history of storytelling. From there we will branch out to discover World Nature which will tell the story of the land and water (cannot just say sea anymore). World Discovery will tell the story of science and technology. Of course, World Showcase will continue to tell the story of the cultures of the world. All of this will link back to World Celebration. Personally I love it. I love the new idea. I love the new design. While it is no longer about the future and moving forward, the park's importance I feel went up significantly. It sounds like it is going to be a place that connects us all as people with the entire world around us.
Final Thoughts
Originally I was against many of these changes as rumors swirled. Guardians of the Galaxy especially I was concerned about. As more details emerge it seems like Disney continues to try and keep Epcot as a place where we can learn about the world around us, even with these new attractions being linked to IPs. While this overhaul may be disappointing to some. I feel it is a great way to move the park into the future. No, there are no new lands being added like Hollywood Studios and no, the Imagination Pavilion is currently not slated to be touched, but really EPCOT doesn't need that to happen. It needed an update. It needed a face lift, not a complete re-do. The problem is with all the technology we have now, how do you remake a future world? Do you throw a bunch of Star Wars things in there and say here is our future now? The technology currently displayed in future world is our reality and from the time EPCOT opened until now it served its purpose to showcase what was coming.
Until I'm proven otherwise, I do not believe that these changes and additions are going to change EPCOT's message. Illuminations: Reflections of Earth is all about us uniting as individuals and as nations. That show's message resonates the message of EPCOT and though the show is departing, that message is going to now ring louder and clearer than ever. It is still possible that things could change and I could be completely off the mark here and EPCOT could turn into Magic Kingdom II. As of right now though I don't see that as the case and I for one am beyond hyped to see all of these new ideas and attractions up and running.
Thank you for reading all of this. I'm sorry there are no pictures to go along with any of it. For full coverage on the D23 convention check out Disney Parks Blog WDW News Today and Chip and Co. At all three of these websites you can see all of the concepts for the new attractions coming to EPCOT and so much more. While I may be done reacting to EPCOT at D23, there are still some loose ends I'd like to tie up from the convention, so that will be my next blog. There I will take a look at some of the other announcements from D23! Thanks again as always for reading!
Monday, August 26, 2019
Sunday, August 25, 2019
D23 EPCOT Reaction Part 1
Well here we are as expected. Today was the D23 Parks Panel and wow is there a lot to digest with everything that was announced. Some things were certainly answered, new questions have popped up, and one thing became clear. EPCOT is going to be a completely different park than it is today. So lets get right into it shall we?
I'd like to start where I ended my last blog, with the nighttime show Illuminations: Reflections of Earth coming to an end. Replacing it will be EPCOT Forever which will celebrate the history of EPCOT through the years. It sounds like the show is going to be great. Disney has said that they are going to have some pretty awesome effects going on in this limited time show and the music? Well it's music from EPCOT so it should be pretty amazing. After that will come HarmonioUS. HarmonioUS is the new name for A Celebration of Disney Music, and what a better name it is. The show is going to feature popular Disney music reinterpreted by artists from around the world. What exactly does that mean? I have no idea at all. I'm still hoping for less popular Disney music to take hold in this show over Under the Sea, Be Our Guest, etc, but those tunes done differently would sure be interesting as well. We now also know that this show is going to be the largest nighttime spectacular in the world. I'm pretty excited about the show still. We didn't get a ton of new details, but it's nice to have a better name equipped to it and I am certainly eager to hear the soundtrack.
Well it was inevitable. The wave of Disney IPs into EPCOT has officially washed over the park. In addition to the already announced Guardians of the Galaxy, Ratatouille, and Moana(????) attractions, Mary Poppins will be getting a ride in the UK pavilion. The France pavilion will see the addition of a Beauty and the Beast sing-a-long and a new restaurant (not Beauty and the Beast themed). China and Canada are getting their movies updated, originally I heard rumors of Mulan being in the China one, but that may not be the case? In the new PLAY! Pavilion guests will be able to interact with characters from Wreck it Ralph, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, and Edna Mode. Some of the characters will be virtual while others will be real. The rush of IPs at this convention isn't the least bit surprising, but one character is sitting on the sidelines, Figment.
Figment is so popular that I am shocked that nothing is coming for the little dragon. There were no announcements regarding the much dated Journey Into Imagination or the Imagination pavilion as a whole. All these IPs moving in will surely have kids wanting to visit EPCOT more, but what about everyone's favorite purple dragon? I hope they at least give his pavilion a new paint job. EPCOT is going to look so beautiful, but that area is in serious need of a little love. Time will tell, but overall with all these IP and character related announcements, I'm surprised the one character that many refer to as EPCOT's mascot was seemingly forgotten.
Speaking of popular and synonymous with EPCOT, Spaceship Earth's overhaul was also officially confirmed. The ride will be receiving an all new soundtrack and narration. While it will remain a trip through time, but will now focus on storytelling and it's importance in uniting us as people. The ride will also be getting new scenes installed and an incredible sounding new exit. The new exit area, Dreamers Point will feature a statue of the original dreamer, Walt Disney, and offer an incredible view of the World Showcase. Dreamers Point sounds like it is going to be an incredible area and I can't wait to learn more about it as time goes on. I was so worried about the shape of Spaceship Earth, but now I couldn't be more excited for this ride. Storytelling is something that has been around forever and it's great that we are going to see it's importance showcased. Speaking of importance...
To wrap up part 1 of this blog, some more details came out about the Journey of Water attraction. The attraction will be inspired by the hit animated film, Moana, but as far as characters go, the only one will be water itself. In the movie, the Ocean is basically a character itself and that is what they are going for here. The attraction will be a walk-through and feature meeting and playing with magical water! It will also serve as an education tool explaining the importance of water and the natural water cycle. To me, this is beautiful. Moana is an absolutely beautiful movie and I am hyped to see this trail open mixing fun with water and education about water. I feel like the importance of water gets overlooked so much when discussing nature and even us as humans. This attraction will bring some awareness to that an I couldn't be happier now knowing that it's not going to be a movie based ride or completely character focused.... Well except for water apparently.
Wow there is still so much more to react to about all the changes coming to EPCOT. Stay tuned for that as I throw my feeling out these on the all new layout for the park and the end of the park as well all know it! Thanks for reading!
I'd like to start where I ended my last blog, with the nighttime show Illuminations: Reflections of Earth coming to an end. Replacing it will be EPCOT Forever which will celebrate the history of EPCOT through the years. It sounds like the show is going to be great. Disney has said that they are going to have some pretty awesome effects going on in this limited time show and the music? Well it's music from EPCOT so it should be pretty amazing. After that will come HarmonioUS. HarmonioUS is the new name for A Celebration of Disney Music, and what a better name it is. The show is going to feature popular Disney music reinterpreted by artists from around the world. What exactly does that mean? I have no idea at all. I'm still hoping for less popular Disney music to take hold in this show over Under the Sea, Be Our Guest, etc, but those tunes done differently would sure be interesting as well. We now also know that this show is going to be the largest nighttime spectacular in the world. I'm pretty excited about the show still. We didn't get a ton of new details, but it's nice to have a better name equipped to it and I am certainly eager to hear the soundtrack.
Well it was inevitable. The wave of Disney IPs into EPCOT has officially washed over the park. In addition to the already announced Guardians of the Galaxy, Ratatouille, and Moana(????) attractions, Mary Poppins will be getting a ride in the UK pavilion. The France pavilion will see the addition of a Beauty and the Beast sing-a-long and a new restaurant (not Beauty and the Beast themed). China and Canada are getting their movies updated, originally I heard rumors of Mulan being in the China one, but that may not be the case? In the new PLAY! Pavilion guests will be able to interact with characters from Wreck it Ralph, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, and Edna Mode. Some of the characters will be virtual while others will be real. The rush of IPs at this convention isn't the least bit surprising, but one character is sitting on the sidelines, Figment.
Figment is so popular that I am shocked that nothing is coming for the little dragon. There were no announcements regarding the much dated Journey Into Imagination or the Imagination pavilion as a whole. All these IPs moving in will surely have kids wanting to visit EPCOT more, but what about everyone's favorite purple dragon? I hope they at least give his pavilion a new paint job. EPCOT is going to look so beautiful, but that area is in serious need of a little love. Time will tell, but overall with all these IP and character related announcements, I'm surprised the one character that many refer to as EPCOT's mascot was seemingly forgotten.
Speaking of popular and synonymous with EPCOT, Spaceship Earth's overhaul was also officially confirmed. The ride will be receiving an all new soundtrack and narration. While it will remain a trip through time, but will now focus on storytelling and it's importance in uniting us as people. The ride will also be getting new scenes installed and an incredible sounding new exit. The new exit area, Dreamers Point will feature a statue of the original dreamer, Walt Disney, and offer an incredible view of the World Showcase. Dreamers Point sounds like it is going to be an incredible area and I can't wait to learn more about it as time goes on. I was so worried about the shape of Spaceship Earth, but now I couldn't be more excited for this ride. Storytelling is something that has been around forever and it's great that we are going to see it's importance showcased. Speaking of importance...
To wrap up part 1 of this blog, some more details came out about the Journey of Water attraction. The attraction will be inspired by the hit animated film, Moana, but as far as characters go, the only one will be water itself. In the movie, the Ocean is basically a character itself and that is what they are going for here. The attraction will be a walk-through and feature meeting and playing with magical water! It will also serve as an education tool explaining the importance of water and the natural water cycle. To me, this is beautiful. Moana is an absolutely beautiful movie and I am hyped to see this trail open mixing fun with water and education about water. I feel like the importance of water gets overlooked so much when discussing nature and even us as humans. This attraction will bring some awareness to that an I couldn't be happier now knowing that it's not going to be a movie based ride or completely character focused.... Well except for water apparently.
Wow there is still so much more to react to about all the changes coming to EPCOT. Stay tuned for that as I throw my feeling out these on the all new layout for the park and the end of the park as well all know it! Thanks for reading!
Friday, August 23, 2019
EPCOT Evolution
What a time it is to talk a little bit about EPCOT. With D23 about to kick off I just wanted to share a few of my thoughts on the re-imagining of EPCOT's future world area. Unfortunately I will not be including any new EPCOT concept pictures, but those can easily be found at https://wdwnt.com/ or https://chipandco.com/. Some of these feelings I've had for a bit of time now and some are new. The fun is these are my thoughts and it is totally okay if they differ from yours!
Ellen's Energy Adventure closed just over two years ago (already!). Replacing the long standing EPCOT attraction is an all new Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster that will feature some really awesome state of the art technology. The old Universe of Energy building is being transformed into a queue area as well as the station for the coaster. Personally, I never experienced Ellen's Energy Adventure. As I learned about EPCOT, the attraction just sounded incredibly dated. With that in mind I spent my time in EPCOT doing other things. I know the attraction had its fans and have some pretty cool scenes and what not, but I wasn't heartbroken at all to hear it was being replaced. What is replacing it though had me mildly concerned.
When the Guardians of the Galaxy Roller Coaster was announced I had a few fears. One has not been realized, one kind of has. Even back in 2017 rumors were flying all over that all of future world was going to be getting an overhaul. With Guardians of the Galaxy being announced I was honestly afraid that future world would be transformed into more of a Marvel themed land. I know that Universal has the rights to use the Marvel characters at their Florida park, but still I was nervous about it. That nervousness was also fueled by an internet rumor that Universal was considering ending their hold on the now Disney owned characters. As it turns out, Guardians of the Galaxy looks like it will be the only Marvel property in EPCOT.
My other fear was that following Frozen Ever After that a new trend would start at EPCOT. That being a wave of IPs flooding the park's attractions. Frozen Ever After replaced Malestrom at EPCOT's Norway pavilion and while it has proven to be very popular, the ride seemed out of place at EPCOT. Since then we have had multiple IP attraction announcements. Remy from Ratatouille is getting his own ride, Guardians of the Galaxy is getting a ride, Illuminations: Reflections of Earth is being replaced with a show that will apparently feature various Disney characters, while not confirmed to be Wreck it Ralph themed, the new play pavilion's concept art looks like it is nearly ripped right from that movie. Other smaller attractions such as Reflections of China are slated to be updated with Disney character involvement as well. As of yesterday, Moana will be joining in on the fun with an interactive Journey of Water attraction.
I could make a whole blog on this topic alone, but for now I'll just summarize my thoughts because D23 is just getting ready to take off and I'm sure more will come. While I feel that it is great to see many of these attractions appealing more to kids by taking on Disney animated characters, I fear that what EPCOT was is getting lost. The first couple times I visited that park I left with a bunch of knowledge about different countries that I didn't have before going through the gates. Future world's uh... technology of the future??? while dated showed that the area had a history focused on tomorrow. It was fun and educational. I worry that as time passes we will continue to see less and less of that and more and more animated characters moving in. My hope is that Disney is able to find a balance for EPCOT to keep the education and make it more appealing to kids. I am all for adding on to pavilions (France is gaining Ratatouille), I am not all for attractions coming in that take away from knowledge about a country and it's people's legends, etc (Frozen Ever After). More of this stuff in another blog...
With all that said, I am hyped for the new nighttime show that will be replacing Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. Don't get me wrong, I love Illuminations. It is probably one of the most awesome firework shows I've ever seen. That said when you look at the technology that Disney has at their disposal now, the show is in a word, dated. While EPCOT Forever will run for a little bit, the real focus is on A Celebration of Disney Music that will be starting in 2020. This show has unlimited potential and can be something really, really special. Judging by the name we will be taking a trip through some of Disney's biggest musical numbers yet again right? I wonder. While Magic Kingdom (and Fantasmic) is home to the Under The Sea, Be Our Guest, Friend Like Me variety, what if EPCOT goes a different direction. What if this show features music from Coco, Moana, Mulan, etc? In other words, focusing on different musical styles from around the world as opposed to the safe zone of Disney songs.
That plus the incredible laser, projection, water screen, and other technologies at their disposal, Disney could really be making something magical to replace the crowd favorite Illuminations. Whatever the case I am hyped for the show. Happily Ever After has been showing off what today's technology can do for a firework show and I expect more of the same here. Lastly I just wanna throw this out there. EPCOT's entrance sounds like it is going to be beautiful. While I understood the whole leave a legacy thing, I couldn't help but feel like I was walking through a mess of concrete walls heading into the park. The extra foliage is going to look gorgeous and bring shade to a park that has virtually none.
Well that's all I have for right now. I'm sure by the time D23 is wrapped up I'll have a mess of other things on my mind. Thanks as always for reading. I hope you have a magical day!
Ellen's Energy Adventure closed just over two years ago (already!). Replacing the long standing EPCOT attraction is an all new Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster that will feature some really awesome state of the art technology. The old Universe of Energy building is being transformed into a queue area as well as the station for the coaster. Personally, I never experienced Ellen's Energy Adventure. As I learned about EPCOT, the attraction just sounded incredibly dated. With that in mind I spent my time in EPCOT doing other things. I know the attraction had its fans and have some pretty cool scenes and what not, but I wasn't heartbroken at all to hear it was being replaced. What is replacing it though had me mildly concerned.
When the Guardians of the Galaxy Roller Coaster was announced I had a few fears. One has not been realized, one kind of has. Even back in 2017 rumors were flying all over that all of future world was going to be getting an overhaul. With Guardians of the Galaxy being announced I was honestly afraid that future world would be transformed into more of a Marvel themed land. I know that Universal has the rights to use the Marvel characters at their Florida park, but still I was nervous about it. That nervousness was also fueled by an internet rumor that Universal was considering ending their hold on the now Disney owned characters. As it turns out, Guardians of the Galaxy looks like it will be the only Marvel property in EPCOT.
My other fear was that following Frozen Ever After that a new trend would start at EPCOT. That being a wave of IPs flooding the park's attractions. Frozen Ever After replaced Malestrom at EPCOT's Norway pavilion and while it has proven to be very popular, the ride seemed out of place at EPCOT. Since then we have had multiple IP attraction announcements. Remy from Ratatouille is getting his own ride, Guardians of the Galaxy is getting a ride, Illuminations: Reflections of Earth is being replaced with a show that will apparently feature various Disney characters, while not confirmed to be Wreck it Ralph themed, the new play pavilion's concept art looks like it is nearly ripped right from that movie. Other smaller attractions such as Reflections of China are slated to be updated with Disney character involvement as well. As of yesterday, Moana will be joining in on the fun with an interactive Journey of Water attraction.
I could make a whole blog on this topic alone, but for now I'll just summarize my thoughts because D23 is just getting ready to take off and I'm sure more will come. While I feel that it is great to see many of these attractions appealing more to kids by taking on Disney animated characters, I fear that what EPCOT was is getting lost. The first couple times I visited that park I left with a bunch of knowledge about different countries that I didn't have before going through the gates. Future world's uh... technology of the future??? while dated showed that the area had a history focused on tomorrow. It was fun and educational. I worry that as time passes we will continue to see less and less of that and more and more animated characters moving in. My hope is that Disney is able to find a balance for EPCOT to keep the education and make it more appealing to kids. I am all for adding on to pavilions (France is gaining Ratatouille), I am not all for attractions coming in that take away from knowledge about a country and it's people's legends, etc (Frozen Ever After). More of this stuff in another blog...
With all that said, I am hyped for the new nighttime show that will be replacing Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. Don't get me wrong, I love Illuminations. It is probably one of the most awesome firework shows I've ever seen. That said when you look at the technology that Disney has at their disposal now, the show is in a word, dated. While EPCOT Forever will run for a little bit, the real focus is on A Celebration of Disney Music that will be starting in 2020. This show has unlimited potential and can be something really, really special. Judging by the name we will be taking a trip through some of Disney's biggest musical numbers yet again right? I wonder. While Magic Kingdom (and Fantasmic) is home to the Under The Sea, Be Our Guest, Friend Like Me variety, what if EPCOT goes a different direction. What if this show features music from Coco, Moana, Mulan, etc? In other words, focusing on different musical styles from around the world as opposed to the safe zone of Disney songs.
That plus the incredible laser, projection, water screen, and other technologies at their disposal, Disney could really be making something magical to replace the crowd favorite Illuminations. Whatever the case I am hyped for the show. Happily Ever After has been showing off what today's technology can do for a firework show and I expect more of the same here. Lastly I just wanna throw this out there. EPCOT's entrance sounds like it is going to be beautiful. While I understood the whole leave a legacy thing, I couldn't help but feel like I was walking through a mess of concrete walls heading into the park. The extra foliage is going to look gorgeous and bring shade to a park that has virtually none.
Well that's all I have for right now. I'm sure by the time D23 is wrapped up I'll have a mess of other things on my mind. Thanks as always for reading. I hope you have a magical day!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)