Originally Posted By magnet Yes, Epcot 3.0 -- Epcot at 30 years old. What kind of park will Epcot be upon entering it's fourth decade? Where are things headed and who's in the driver's seat? When the celebration of a park's 25th anniversary takes a back seat to the promotion of a marketing campaign that will be gone and forgotten in a short time, one wonders if focus has been lost and priorities have gotten out of line. I wasn't at the 25th anniversary celebration, but from what I've read - where were the promises that Epcot would continue to be a place that sparks imagination and offers fun with a purpose? When did anyone profess a vision for the park's future? I think what makes me the most upset over this whole affair is that Disney has made me nostalgic for the Epcot that was. To be nostalgic for a park that's themed around life in the future is ridiculous! But I think the gathering for the 25th anniversary was more about remembering what has been rather than celebrating what's to come. I want that to change. I don't want to be longing for the park that I remember from the '80s. What I want is not the '80s park, but rather the vision that produced it. So, I don't care about the name above the gate, but I do care about the park behind it. Some good things are happening, but let's not stop there. If we could only have that life-giving imagination breathed back into the park, then anniversaries would be times to celebrate how far we've come and how glad we are that things are no longer the way they were. Looking back to celebrate the past is important, but the past should never be brighter than the future. Sometimes I think Disney just doesn't know what to do with Future World. Don't get me wrong -- I love Future World...but it does have problems, and I'll be the first to admit that I don't know how to fix them. However, I do know that there are many inspiring aspects of technology and science that could make Future World and Innoventions one of the most exciting places you have ever seen. Yet, it seems than no one can latch into the correct slipstream of ideas. I like fantasizing about living in space probably just as much as anyone else, but I also find exciting a future that's less distant, more likely, and of greater impact to our understanding of the world. I don't know how to make that accessible to a theme park audience, but I'd love to see someone try. I'd respect and support that. I don't want to see Epcot become a science museum, but at the end of the day I want to be exhilirated by getting a glimpse of the amazing things that people are working on today. I want to imagine a future different from the one where I live in a space station or in a Mars colony. I want to wonder what life would be like on Earth with room temperature superconductors. I want to imagine life after Moore's law fails. I want someone to blow me away by telling me what it means that the universe is expanding ever faster. But don't lecture me -- just plant the seed and water it. What falls in good soil will grow. In short, blow me away with the mysteries that we face and inpsire me to take up the challenge of understanding them. Maybe one of those inspired will dream about Epcot 6.0.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Future World suffers from the same problems as Tomorrowland, because they are really the same thing. With technology changing faster than ever, it has to be _really_ difficult to imagineer something in concrete, steel, and everything else that makes up theme park attractions, that won't be outdated in a few years.
Originally Posted By magnet That's a common sentiment, which is typically offered with a polite shoulder shrug. It enables a fatalist and apathetic view about the park's future, which may be part of the reason we've arrived at the place we are now. It also has just enough truth in it to prick open a bubble of enthusiasm and deflate it. It says, "Don't take that bold step, just hedge with what you've got now." No offense, my argument is with the attitude, not with the person. It's an attitude I've heard many times and one which I've decided not to adopt. No particular view of the future will be permanent, but certain ways of presenting those views may lend them greater permanence. No one said that Epcot should chase every technological whim, but it's still wrong that people leave the park without being exposed to more of the important scientific and technological challenges of the current times.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss The thing is, I don't know what their attitude is; I have no idea what the Imagineers have on the drawing boards. They could be floating all kinds of ideas, none of which quite work. I can understand being frustrated, but I just have to trust they are trying. What more can I say or do? It's like being a fan of a sports team. Everyone has an opinion, but it's one thing being a monday morning quarterback, and another actually being the coaches and players.
Originally Posted By magnet So true. And I would never claim that I could do better. But I'm still going to cheer for someone to go for it. So guys, if you're out there -- keep at it!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I think what makes me the most upset over this whole affair is that Disney has made me nostalgic for the Epcot that was. To be nostalgic for a park that's themed around life in the future is ridiculous! But I think the gathering for the 25th anniversary was more about remembering what has been rather than celebrating what's to come.>> For someone who wasn't at EC on 10/01 you have a remarkable sense of what the vibe/mood/'tude of the day was. I guess you were there in spirit! As to the future having Jim MacPhee as a strong VP is a great first step ... but he still has to get past folks like Erin Wallace, Al Weiss and Jay Rasulo (and his marketing minions and clueless consultants) to accomplish dramatic change. In other words, both Parks and Resorts and WDI still have a lot of deadwood that needs to be removed and replaced with visionary types ... they do still exist. Folks like John Lasseter and George Lucas and Steve Jobs are often regarded as simply successful geeks ... but you don't amass the kind of fortunes they have by not being incredibly savvy businessmen. Do you think the folks behind YoaMD are of that caliber? What about the guys behind such wonders as the new Canada movie, Monsters Laugh Club and Stitch's Great Disaster? You need substanitive change and it must start from the top.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 I do think what does work however - are attractions that show the past - then show what the future might be - because then only the ending needs ot be updated - i.e. SSE. If the whole attraction is based on the future - then could be obsolete before it gets built
Originally Posted By magnet I'm really looking forward to seeing the SSE refurb! I hope it doesn't disappoint.
