Originally Posted By Memory There's quite simply a lot of little things that can be done for epcot fairly quickly without having to spend a lot of money. There's another thread here that mentions PUSH the talking trashcan and it is that kind of thing which could make a huge difference in Epcot. The little things. The jamitors, the living statues, etc. Heck I remember that at one time the water fountains that hopped across the sidewalks outside of HISTA were a huge hit. Still are I think, but instead of putting in more original things that no one had seen before like those waterfountains they simply put in ... MORE WATERFOUNTAINS. Thereby completely missing the point. I agree they need to take more time with the little things. I'm not sure it even needs to be something high tech. One thing it can not be is something we've already seen meaning, no character greeting areas or dancing fountains. I'm sure there are things that WDIs got that could be implemented tomorrow for comparitively little cost that will really give an overall boost to the ENVIRONMENT of Epcot rather than spending it all on a 30 second attraction that although fun makes the park AS A WHOLE seem incomplete.
Originally Posted By DisneyLogic I listened to a video presentation today by Michael Eskew, speaking as CEO of United Parcel Service. (See <a href="http://mitworld.mit.edu/play/54/" target="_blank">http://mitworld.mit.edu/play/5 4/</a> to view the free link.) Eskew reported that UPS "became a technology company" in the 1980s even while their core business is supply chain vitalization and customer fulfillment. Today they spend $16 billion a *year* on technology, more, he said, than they spend on trucks, including fuel and maintenance. They also support programs at places like MIT which are going to let them implement the self-location radio frequency tagging system and save them a bundle on labor hours and accuracy of routing, not to mention feedback on how different routes and portions of UPS are performing. They do much of their development in-house, relying on procurements for narrow specialties or products they need. Why can't Disney become a technology company?
Originally Posted By Hurry2ThePast Ok, maybe this is a crazy thought, and maybe it isn't an original one, but why not build a Lost Kingdom park, which would feature all of the rides that have perished? Yeah, sure, some will argue that they deserved to go away. Well, I (and many others) don't agree that Test Track or the "new and improved" Journey To Imagination are improvements, amongst others. But look at it this way- these rides have already been designed, so the cost to develope them is greatly minimized... there may even still be many of the components left. The people who built/operated them are still around. In the coming years as the first Disney theme park visitor generations grow older I think they would like to relive these rides AND share them with the next generation. Besides, they are getting too old for rides like Mission Space (let 'em enjoy one more Delta Dreamflight!) Not that the new rides shouldn't be built, but it's a shame that we have to lose something in it's wake... this is a part of American history, not just Disney. By the way, EXCELLENT article. Thank you very much, the points and the pictures are excellent.
Originally Posted By DisneyLogic Neat idea, Hurry2ThePast. If nothing else nearly all of these rides deserve some historical preservation as phenomena and ideas.
Originally Posted By Hurry2ThePast Thanks Logic... I'd like to throw a couple of cents into the debate over the use of AAs. I think they are important in that on a strange level they are a comfort. When you go on a ride with AAs, you step into a world that you have grown comfortable with, and it is a world apart from reality. Yes, this is probably a concept that would leave many psychiatrists cringing, but it's just escapism, and only momentary... if you for instance ask the ticket booth girl at the theatre on Spaceship Earth for a date, well, that's going a bit too far. But she's always smiling, always there, always reliable...and the real world isn't like that. People have bad days, people have moods. Which is EXACTLY why it is so unfair to expect CM's to act like AA's. If you can dream it you can do it, but you have to believe in the dream. To believe in the dream you need to buy into it, and not be simply bought. It is amazing to me how much the magic of Disney can seem to appear like fireworks to some people, yet it is an odorless, colorless, noiseless and tasteless gas to Michael Eisner. It seems to drift right past him when it's all around. It's about an emotional attachment... people will pay to satisfy an emotion. All the surveys, studies, eggheads, bean counters and rocket scientists are missing the point entirely. Beam up Spock- new red blood is needed, out with the old green...
