Originally Posted By demderedoseguys I wish they would dig a huge pit and dump the wand in it...and allow each guest to fill it in with a rock that we receive at the entrance to Epcot, which, I believe, used to be spelled EPCOT.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Therefore, it is not the public demanding the removal, it is one single corporation that somehow thinks that the wand is not appropriate. Why doesn't that scare you? How easy would it have been for Seimans to say, we don't like the show in SSE so if you want our money you need to gut it and put in, oh, I don't know, a pooh playground maybe? < and what corporate money drove that playround monstrosity ? None, that was 'creative' from the group there. It doesn't scare me because there has to be a balance and you are assuming those in the creative team there today somehow like the wand. It may not have been a Sieman's only decision, I doubt it was.
Originally Posted By danyoung >...at the entrance to Epcot, which, I believe, used to be spelled EPCOT.< Y'know, I've never minded this change, from the acronym to the word, as Epcot the park never was the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow. And I really REALLY hate it when the travel shows and guide books talk about Epcot the park as being the realization of Walt's greatest dream. I love Epcot the park, but it is in no way Walt's dream.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA At this stage in the game, there might be people at Seimens who are just as creative as people at Disney.
Originally Posted By Skellington88 Actually the resident expert at WDWMagic is keeping pretty mum on the subject and is just yanking everyones chains but not really saying one way or the other.
Originally Posted By MPierce ^^ That's right, Corrus saids it won't happen, and Lee is standing on the sidelines for now. Both are excellent sources for information. Even Spirit admits he gets .1% wrong. >> wish they would dig a huge pit and dump the wand in it...and allow each guest to fill it in with a rock that we receive at the entrance to Epcot, which, I believe, used to be spelled EPCOT. << I'm afraid there are a lot of people here that would like to fill it in with more than a rock.
Originally Posted By twirlnhurl Someone previously posted about how Spaceship Earth is the only symmetric park icon, but I think it goes further then that. The entire park is symmetrical. As much as Magic Kingdom seems to be from looking at the map, the Rivers of America really breaks this up. Animal Kingdom may have been when it opened, but with Hester and Chester's and Everest, it is no longer symmetrical. But back on the topic, I think that the wand symbolized a certain direction that Disney may have wanted to take the park, but with the new Spaceship Earth, Soarin' and to a lesser extent the Gran Fiesta Tour, it appears that the park may not actually be going in a more traditional theme park's direction.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<The Wand was a HUGE mistake>> I'd say it was successful for what it was designed for, which was the Millenium Celebration. The mistake was changing the 2000 to Epcot, basically ruining the specialness of of a supposedly temporary structure.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA And by the way, the name of the park was EPCOT Center. It never claimed to be 'Walt's Utopian Vision of the Future' -- it was built as a tribute to the dreams and ideals that Walt set out in his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<That's right, Corrus saids it won't happen, and Lee is standing on the sidelines for now. Both are excellent sources for information. Even Spirit admits he gets .1% wrong. >> I actually may get .10 percent wrong ... but not this time ... not unless Al Weiss goes to the top and chains himself to it and says 'You'll have to take me down too!' Nope ... Just like the 14-story DVC tower (with points likely to start at the $150 range or more) at the Contemporary, which is not having site prep work done right now ... or the Star Tours redo, which even some of the film's celebs in town for Star Wars weekends are talking about, isn't happening ... oh, and Disney-Pixar Studios ... nope, not happening either ... and don't even think about real animators (albeit Pixar ones) going to work in Florida (and possibly offering classes a la the Disney Institute) or removing the stunt show for a real Indy-themed attraction because they aren't going to happen either. ... And Disney Cruises to Alaska? Surely, you jest ... and don't even think that WDI is considering a Narnia attraction as the next big thing for the MK (only about 18 years after Splash Mountain). ...And there is no truth to the pirates-themed buffet resturant opening in 2009 where the Adventureland Veranda sits ... nope. Oops, sometimes, the Spirit needs to learn to keep his big yap closed. Oy vey!
Originally Posted By twirlnhurl ^Even if what you're saying is total BS (if it is, you are VERY good), I wouldn't care, because you made me happy thinking about that stuff.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <It never claimed to be 'Walt's Utopian Vision of the Future' -- it was built as a tribute to the dreams and ideals that Walt set out in his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.< I thought that is why they built Celebration
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror >>>Actually the resident expert at WDWMagic is keeping pretty mum on the subject and is just yanking everyones chains but not really saying one way or the other.<<< I said TWO resident experts - and one of them is Corrus, and he's denying it's going to happen. Lee says he's staying mum, but he's also saying there's no indication that this is going to occur, and he's said other things that basically mean the same thing as "it ain't happenin'." And yet, the lemmings will swallow it all up, even AFTER they've made up another lame excuse as to why Disney Management suddenly changed their mind and didn't tell them about it... These guys remind me of the Monarch's Henchmen. They're connected - they live in the cocoon - they might even wear spandex costumes. But they don't really do a whole lot and not even the Monarch really takes 'em seriously.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^Is this Lee the same Lee who's been MIA from the LP pretty much for 2007 or is this some other dude?
Originally Posted By mousermerf "I actually may get .10 percent wrong ... but not this time ... not unless Al Weiss goes to the top and chains himself to it and says 'You'll have to take me down too!'" Oo, if Al Weiss chains himself to it I'll gladly take him down with it.
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror >>>^^Is this Lee the same Lee who's been MIA from the LP pretty much for 2007 or is this some other dude?<<< I don't go there often enough to know if there IS another Lee, but this one chimed in, and everyone seemed to hear his word as gospel.
Originally Posted By danyoung >It never claimed to be 'Walt's Utopian Vision of the Future' -- it was built as a tribute to the dreams and ideals that Walt set out in his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow< Well, two things here. It's the guide books and TV specials that talk about Epcot as being the realization of Walt's greatest dream, which just isn't true. And I don't think there was much of Walt's dreams and ideals in what they came up with. In fact, the designers came up with two totally different parks, and decided at a late date to push them together into one. What became Epcot the park (or EPCOT Center, if you will) has very little to do with the concept of thousands of people living together in a controlled laboratory and enjoying the highest of technology provided by the world's top future-thinking companies. Again, I like the park. But I have my doubts that even Walt could have made the original concept of EPCOT actually work.
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror Well, either way... Just got solid confirmation from an excellent source, not some goober who sneaks into the WDI Florida trailers. The Wand is officially coming down within the next few months. The decision's a done deal.
Originally Posted By BlueOhanaTerror ... and the backpedaling has begun already on WDWMagic by the resident experts...
