Please help me to not hate Disney!

[disneysteve]

Also from a Disney Nut coworker of mine saw that Siemens lost their sponsorship with Epcot so they are redoing a lot of Epcot.

The Land is getting a renovation, innovations will be gone, Fragment is gone. The energy ride will be converted to Guardians of the Galaxy. Lots of change coming!

Siemens did recently announce they were ending their sponsorship. At this point, there are only internet rumors of what that will mean. They sponsor Spaceship Earth (SE) and Illuminations. When AT&T ended their sponsorship of SE, there was no sponsor for a few years before Siemens came in and other than updating the narration, there weren't any dramatic changes to the attraction.

Innoventions has been gone for some time. It's almost completely a vacant shell at this point except for a couple of character meet and greets.

What will happen to Universe of Energy is another rumor mill. We've heard a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction. We've heard the Tron coaster from Shanghai. Nobody really knows. Nothing official has been announced.

But Epcot is the park that has been neglected the longest. MK got New Fantasyland. AK got Pandora. DHS is getting Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land. So it's no surprise that Epcot would be the next to get an overhaul.

[Like2Plan]

The rumor about Universe of Energy being converted to the Guardians of the Galaxy themed ride is interesting.

I just returned from the CA parks last week and had an opportunity to ride on the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride that was converted from tower of terror ride. Personally, I liked the new theming better. And, they had Groot outside the ride to pose with. ( Groot was awesome! )

[Singuy]

The rumor about Universe of Energy being converted to the Guardians of the Galaxy themed ride is interesting.

I just returned from the CA parks last week and had an opportunity to ride on the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride that was converted from tower of terror ride. Personally, I liked the new theming better. And, they had Groot outside the ride to pose with. ( Groot was awesome! )

I watched some online videos of the ride. I probably would like it more if it was a complete overhaul vs a reskin. The ride seems a little simple for such a huge theme like guardians. I do like it more than tower of terror but I think the elevator going up and down made more sense with that theme.

[Singuy]

Siemens did recently announce they were ending their sponsorship. At this point, there are only internet rumors of what that will mean. They sponsor Spaceship Earth (SE) and Illuminations. When AT&T ended their sponsorship of SE, there was no sponsor for a few years before Siemens came in and other than updating the narration, there weren't any dramatic changes to the attraction.

Innoventions has been gone for some time. It's almost completely a vacant shell at this point except for a couple of character meet and greets.

What will happen to Universe of Energy is another rumor mill. We've heard a Guardians of the Gingalaxy attraction. We've heard the Tron coaster from Shanghai. Nobody really knows. Nothing official has been announced.

But Epcot is the park that has been neglected the longest. MK got New Fantasyland. AK got Pandora. DHS is getting Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land. So it's no surprise that Epcot would be the next to get an overhaul.

I find that they did everything in epcot to make it worst. Test track with the dummies were perfect. They should of gotten rid of Universe of Energy for Mission space vs Horizons. And I miss Wonders of Life. Even though it wasn't the best thing in the world, it was miles better than whatever the heck it is now..looks like Home Depot's garden section now.

Lets not even mention the abomination they created with Spaceship Earth.

[Like2Plan]

I watched some online videos of the ride. I probably would like it more if it was a complete overhaul vs a reskin. The ride seems a little simple for such a huge theme like guardians. I do like it more than tower of terror but I think the elevator going up and down made more sense with that theme.

I was dubious at first, but I have to admit the zero G aspect of it (going along with the Guardians theme) is pretty cool.

[disneysteve]

I find that they did everything in epcot to make it worst. Test track with the dummies were perfect. They should of gotten rid of Universe of Energy for Mission space vs Horizons. And I miss Wonders of Life. Even though it wasn't the best thing in the world, it was miles better than whatever the heck it is now..looks like Home Depot's garden section now.

Lets not even mention the abomination they created with Spaceship Earth.

I agree about Test Track. Unfortunately, there has been a trend at Disney to move away from attractions telling a story, which is what always made Disney stand out. The original Test Track had a clear storyline. The new ride just doesn't, especially if you bypass the whole "make a car thing" as we always do.

I miss Horizons. I like Mission:Space but they really had plenty of room to just build an additional attraction rather than taking one away.

Wonders of Life was just sadly abandoned when they lost the sponsor (Met Life). They only use the building as a festival center now but Body Wars, Cranium Command, and the rest are distant memories.

Universe of Energy is still a fun ride but badly needs an update and most guests just don't want to commit 45+ minutes to one attraction anymore. People are in too much of a hurry for that. It's like when MGM first opened and the backlot tour was 2 hours long. That didn't last too long before they split it up so you didn't have to do it all at once.

[Singuy]

I spent hours yesterday watching POV Epcot rides of the yesteryears. It saddens me that my daughter will not be inspired the same way I was in the 90s-2000s with Epcot.

By the time she's more aware, Illuminations will be gone too. Hopefully they replace it with something better and not worst (aka something not super disney classic inspired like a Frozen themed firework show or something).

Epcot is suppose to inspire children to be bigger than themselves. Sadly they are stripping all of these characteristics away and turning it into another Island of Adventure or Magic Kingdom. The ending to Jeremy Irons' Spaceship Earth used to bring me to tears..now it's ..lets play on a touch screen....

[disneysteve]

Epcot is suppose to inspire children to be bigger than themselves. Sadly they are stripping all of these characteristics away and turning it into another Island of Adventure or Magic Kingdom.

Unfortunately, they're only doing what the public demands. Epcot was originally all about education, learning about other parts of the world, learning about new technologies, etc. MGM was about seeing how movies and TV shows are filmed and watching it happen. AK was about care for and conservation of animals.

But the public wants THRILLS and Disney characters. That's what they are coming for. They don't want to learn anything. They don't want to have to think. They just want to be entertained.

So instead of Maelstrom, we get Frozen Ever After.
Instead of Horizons, we get Mission: Space.
Instead of movie magic, we get Rockin' Rollercoaster.
Instead of Kitchen Kabaret, we get Soarin'.
Instead of The Living Seas, we get the Seas with Nemo and Friends.

Those are all great attractions. They're just different than what was originally intended for the parks, but they've got to do what sells tickets.

[Like2Plan]

The ending to Jeremy Irons' Spaceship Earth used to bring me to tears..now it's ..lets play on a touch screen....

LOL- I still miss Walter Cronkite ...

[FLA]

now I've got the Epcot Blues

I always liked Horizons and loved Wonders of Life as a kid

[bennkar]

I didn't realize how much had changed. Now I will need to look online for these videos of the way it used to be.

[scfr]

Disney World and Disneyland are both building Star Wars lands slated to open probably in 2019. We should get more details at the D23 Expo this month.

I'm not a huge Star Wars fan but I'm excited anytime they add new stuff to the parks. As I said, we loved Pandora even though we didn't really care for the Avatar movie.

From what I've been able to find on-line, we're talking about a couple of rides. For me it's not be worth a trip just for that, but possibly combined with a trip to the planned Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in LA.

[disneysteve]

From what I've been able to find on-line, we're talking about a couple of rides

That's true, but those rides are part of a large new section of the park with a fully immersive experience including the shops and restaurants that will be there. It's similar to Pandora which opened at Animal Kingdom in May or Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal. Heck, that only had 2 rides and one of them wasn't even new. The roller coaster was already there and just got re-themed but the new section still attracted massive crowds, as I'm sure Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge will at Disney. Plus, once the new Star Wars hotel opens, the draw will be even greater.

[Like2Plan]

Here is a link to the announcements made at D23

https://d23.com/11-amazing-announcements-from-the-walt-disney-parks-and-resorts-presentation-at-d23-expo/

I'm looking forward to seeing the new the Disney Skyliner.

[disneysteve]

I'm looking forward to seeing the new the Disney Skyliner.

It's hard to say which of the announcements I'm most excited about. The Tron coaster, for sure. And Ratatouille definitely. I'll want to see the Star Wars hotel though wouldn't ever stay there. And we almost never do table service meals at Disney but I might make an exception to see the new place they're building by Mission:Space.

All I know for sure is that we will plan to be at WDW for the 50th anniversary, and I'll probably really splurge and stay at the Poly so we have easy access to Magic Kingdom.