Why Can’t We Let EPCOT Go?
EPCOT Center has been dead for 23 years. Arguably, the original concept started disappearing with the name change, and has been gone 20 years ago, give or take. The current, disjointed incarnation of the park has now existed for longer than EPCOT Center did. Let that sink in for a second.
Despite this, so many Disney fans cannot let EPCOT Center go. I’m among this group, and I still hold a sliver of hope that Epcot will be restored to its former glory. I find it interesting that despite being a less-distant memory, very few fans harbor similar sentiment towards the Disney-MGM Studios. Sure, we might still call it “MGM” but I think most people have accepted–and even embraced–the new direction of that park.
So, what makes Epcot different? Why are we still clutching the past, even as the “new” Epcot is hardly new anymore? There are a few reasons why so many Disney fans cannot let EPCOT Center go. I think the biggest reason is because it’s the only theme park that has ever aspired to be more than a theme park…
“May EPCOT Center entertain, inform and inspire.” That’s the last line of the park’s lofty mission statement, and I think the emphasis should be placed on the inform and inspire portion of that goal. While other theme parks may inform and inspire in their own ways, this is incidental to their core goal of entertaining.
That was not the case with EPCOT Center. It put education (or “edutainment”) and inspiration front and center. What was built was not Walt Disney’s vision of E.P.C.O.T., but it was ambitious in its own right. It was a different breed of theme park, and one that perhaps defies categorization as a theme park.
I often liken Tokyo DisneySea to EPCOT Center, but even that comparison can only go so far. For all of its many, many strengths, Tokyo DisneySea does not purport to be anything more than a theme park built around the concept of “the water planet.” Even though Tokyo DisneySea is Disney’s best park, its purpose is still “only” to entertain. Just like every other theme park ever, EPCOT Center aside.
EPCOT Center’s aspirations were admirable, but I don’t think the park’s mission alone would have created generations of EPCOT Center diehard fans. Rather, it’s the consummation of that mission statement that has made the fans. The actual inspiration, rather than the aspiration, that has left an indelible mark on so many guests and forged a lifelong bond with the park that once was.
As a child, Epcot sparked my imagination. I know that’s incredibly corny and cliche, but it’s also true. Figment and Dreamfinder consciously inspired me, but also subconsciously did so, as I was rapt with my Figment toys, taking them on imaginary adventures.
Other Future World pavilions made an impact, too. I “discovered” manatees thanks to the Living Seas, and an ‘adopted’ manatee was a yearly Christmas gift I received for most of my childhood as a result. Wonders of Life and Kitchen Kabaret piqued my curiosity about health and diet, albeit to a far lesser extent.
I also loved dinosaurs as a kid, but I’m not sure whether that’s attributable to Universe of Energy, or just the unassailable truth that dinosaurs are awesome. Perhaps surprisingly, Horizons, Spaceship Earth, and the entirety of World Showcase had zero impact on me as a kid. I barely recall any of them. I guess that’s part of the beauty of EPCOT Center–different people took different things away from it.
As an adult, it was World Showcase–still mostly intact from the heyday of EPCOT Center–that influenced me. My family traveled a lot when I was young, and I’m incredibly thankful to my parents for taking me camping, exposing me to National Parks, and visiting so many states. That no doubt impacted me, as I enjoy all of those same things today.
With that said, I grew up in a rural town in the Midwest. My worldview, even through college, was embarrassingly Amerocentric. International travel was not something I had done or even figured I’d ever do. (Heck, I didn’t have a passport until 2012!)
It’d be wildly inaccurate to say that Epcot alone is what changed this (in addition to Epcot, I’d also credit our first visit to Disneyland, Before Sunrise, and who knows what else), but it certainly played a huge part.
The Canada pavilion put the Canadian Rockies on my radar as a logical extension of my U.S. National Park trips, Morocco taught me that there’s more to international cuisine than Italian food, and Reflections of China romanticized a place that otherwise had negative stereotypes.
However, it was Impressions de France that made the real impact. This film made me fall in love with Paris before ever visiting, and made me back off my wildly uninformed perspective that no country could match America’s beauty.
This film coupled with a desire to see Disney’s other parks paved the way for our first international trip.
If you’re at all familiar with our adventures since then, I think the rest is history, so to speak. For that, I’ll forever feel indebted to EPCOT Center and its creators, and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
I don’t think my story is unique. When talking to other EPCOT Center fans, similar stories abound about how the park had a profound influence on them.
Epcot’s “special place” is not just in my heart, though. It’s something I’m still reminded of with regularity when visiting Epcot. While the original mission of Epcot and the park’s concept are arguably dead, they’re also arguably alive. There are more than a few aspects of EPCOT Center that remain.
Of course there’s Spaceship Earth, the park’s icon that remains a beacon of inspiration in Future World. It may sound crazy, but simply seeing Spaceship Earth, and all that it represents, puts a smile on my face. (Does that sound crazy?) I love just being around Spaceship Earth.
Elsewhere in Future World, these are mostly just vestiges of EPCOT Center. In the Seas pavilion, the non-Nemo areas still are familiar of what they once were, and the atmosphere is wonderful. I don’t doubt that this pavilion still plants the idea of becoming a marine biologist in the minds of kids who visit.
Living with the Land is an attraction that likewise stirs the mind, and gives rise to a sense of optimism about the future of eco-agriculture. The dinosaurs of Ellen’s Energy Adventure are not necessarily educational, but they are still awesome, and fond reminders of Epcot’s past.
The Imagination pavilion is a bit of a sore spot for me, but I’m glad Figment still has a home in the park even if his attraction provokes mixed emotions. The Fountain of Nations, Innoventions background music, fiber optic pavement, and dancing fountains are other spots that remind me of the past–and that I continue to enjoy.
Other fans will find their own ‘flashes’ of EPCOT Center that rekindle fond memories throughout various corners of Future World.
Moving to World Showcase, virtually everything is still reminiscent of EPCOT Center. You can complain about aspects that have changed for the worse over the years or that it’s a near-perpetual drinking festival, but I think it’s fair to say that the core of World Showcase is what it was in the 1980s.
Even in pavilions like Norway, which now is also home to a fictional kingdom, the vibe is still largely the same when meandering through. In terms of atmospheric strolls and a slice of culture, World Showcase today largely reminds me of what it did back in the day.
This is one of the reasons I heaped praise upon the Epcot International Festival of the Arts. If anything, it enhanced World Showcase more than I’ve ever seen, and sidestepped the complaints that could be levied against the Epcot Food & Wine Festival.
I’ve said it a few times, but it bears repeating: EPCOT Center fans owe it to themselves to schedule a trip around the 2018 Epcot International Festival of the Arts. That’s probably as close as we’ll ever be to getting the “old” EPCOT Center back.
My point with all of this is that, even as it seems Epcot has mostly abandoned its original mission (and recent additions have demonstrated no real mission), there is still plenty of EPCOT Center DNA in the park. In some cases, these are fond reminders of the past. In other cases, it’s actual substance, attractions or pavilions that retain their old quality.
I think this is where Epcot differs from Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Aspects of that park’s past remain, but its original premise of taking guests behind the scenes of working studio and putting them in the midst of the action died sort of all at once–and there was no chance of that ever returning. Most fans realized this.
Even though Disney’s Hollywood Studios was in need of an identity for too long, its loss of identity occurred rather swiftly…like ripping off a band-aid. Now, the park has a new direction, and one that’s exciting for a lot of people. I think these are a couple of points that have enabled fans to move on with regard to DHS.
As long as these aspects of EPCOT Center remain, fans are not going to want to move on. We want to cling to them, point to them, and hope they are indicative of the future. At the very least, we want to savor what aspects of the past remain. I highly doubt EPCOT Center is ever coming back, but no amount of rational counterpoints can sway me away from this sense of optimism.
So long as Epcot has no real vision or clear direction, my inclination is towards hope. Hope that its original vision will be the direction the park goes once its “big fix” inevitably occurs. My optimism might be misguided given which direction Epcot is actually likely to go, but I think a little optimism is exactly what Epcot needs. Not among fans, but the park itself. The optimism of the original EPCOT Center is something Americans need now more than ever, and I still firmly believe the lofty goals and aim of EPCOT Center could resonate with guests. It’s just a matter of Disney having the ambition to choose that path, rather than the easy one.
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Your Thoughts
Are you an old school EPCOT Center fan? How did EPCOT Center make an impact on you? Do you actually have hope the park will be ‘restored’ in the future? Do you agree or disagree with my assessment of EPCOT Center fandom and nostalgia? Any other thoughts to add? Hearing your feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!
I think a few things are at work here:
1. Epcot was a combination of design and execution that was far ahead of anything else, especially in the United States.
2. #1 had huge influence on the younger generation that experienced Epcot during its first decade or so, creating a powerful nostalgia.
3. The park has both gotten worse over the years (either through benign neglect or notable cheapening), strengthening our desire for the old days.
4. People these days need a more direct experience these days to have fun. The resulting loss of subtlety hurts experiences like Epcot that worked on multiple levels.
Well, we officially have our answer as of today: the easy path
Simply gutted. The dream is officially over, the only bright side is that I no longer have to keep worrying. It was great while it lasted. Goodbye dear friend. Miley
I can’t tell you how many times (at St. Mark’s Square in Venice and in Rothenburg, Germany, to name a couple) I’ve thought, “This reminds me of EPCOT.” Attention to detail and its ability to capture the essence of a place are among my favorite aspects of Disney, be it theme parks or even movies. So it was fun to learn of the influence “Impressions de France” had in sending you abroad. World Showcase is truly that, for all the reasons you and your readers have mentioned.
However, chiming in with David Z and Jim, I empathize with how tough it has become for Future World to stay “futuristic” when technology updates at such lightning speed. One of my most-missed attractions is World of Motion, because looking back is a different way of considering the future–and less likely to become outdated before even making it off the drawing board. With cutting-edge stuff relegated to easy-to-update footage or a sponsored display at the end, an attraction becomes more timeless, and still in keeping with the original goal of this unique park . . . which I still love, even after experiencing the wonders of Tokyo DisneySea. 🙂
Here’s hoping the park can go forward without losing what most charms and intrigues us about it. Thanks for being passionate about it!
I think you nailed it! Good to know I am not alone in my opinion.
I still love Figment. The original ride left the biggest impact on me. I just loved it. I can still hear Figment sing imagination at the end of the ride.
Change happens but EPCOT will always stay close to my heart. I spent NYE 1999 there with my mom when I was 28. A memory I hold very dear.
Change is hard, no matter what. For every fan of Epcot, there is someone like me who struggles to enjoy the World Showcase with their kids. They are too young to soak in the cultural details. I personally like the idea of a few non-educational fun attractions. I love the Frozen ride. I only visited Epcot a few times as a child so I had no attachment to the prior versions of the park. And I can’t see how adding a few rides will hurt the experience for die-hard EPCOT fans. Most of the park will still be the same.
Most of the park will still be the same? If you pull up a attractions guide map you will see how many different attractions have changed and more changes are under the way.
World of motion changed into test track, horizons was changed into mission space, the land has added soarin, the sea pavilion ride has changed into nemo, communicate was changed into innoventions which is now closing, world of energy added Ellen DeGeneres and now looks to be changing altogether, the Riodel tiempo has cchanged it’s ride, frozen has taken over Norway, there are rumors of rats running wild in France, England looks to be changing. I can understand how someone that doesn’t go that often to not know. Just trying to get the facts out there
Personally, I think the original version of Epcot was perfect. With an educational theme park, you literally have the chance of sowing seeds of future academic explorations within millions of people. But now that chance is squandered. It saddened me greatly when I realized that there were whole hunks of it either outdated, re-purposed, abandoned or demolished all together. To me it was unforgivable that a corporate entity as big as Disney could not find the imaginative and monetary means to update the park as the years went along. #shortsighted
I recently abandoned my long-held belief that EPCOT is the best park (it seems Tokyo Disney Sea does that to people). I liked EPCOT as a kid because 1) Figment and 2) World Showcase is a permanent, daily, Disney-fied Thinking Day, which is a Girl Scout event where you learn about different countries. EPCOT inspired me to travel and enjoy being a life-long learner. No other theme park could have such an influence. So maybe EPCOT isn’t as action-packed or glamorous as other parks, but it makes its guests better people. Anything that continues that tradition as the park evolves is fine with me.
What I find interesting is that these parks were built with a certain purpose, in a different era. Those era’s no longer exist today. As Disney the brand expands and becomes more broad in it’s properties, i.e. Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, those are brands they want to capitalize on now while they are relevant. As much as I love those brands, I’m less inclined to see them take over in certain areas of the parks. What purpose does a Frozen show have in Epicot and not in a place like DHS? I can’t say I have the fondest of memories of Epicot, most of my childhood visits were in the early 90’s up until 2000 and as a child I favored “MGM” and Magic Kingdom, but still didn’t dislike Epicot. I find what they’ve done, since the vast majority of guests are families with small children, was to add things from their movie properties in order to draw more crowds to Epicot. I find that they will never be able to equalize attendance to all the parks, they have their own uniqueness that everyone has their own emotional attachments for. But as I’ve grown older and despite that I haven’t been in 10 years, I find Epicot, for what it is, could be more geared to an older crowd, and Disney’s poor attempt at making it more kid friendly, didn’t work out. I, myself have a dear attachment to MK and find certain attractions took a bit hit when they tried assimilating some to make them more relevant to the current generation. What exactly was so wrong with pirates before the movies? Why did they have to add Jack Sparrow to it? To me that ruined the experience. For those who saw the movies and generally liked them, riding that could show you what influenced the movies to be made. Same can be said about TOT in DL, I find what they did to be atrocious. TOT is one of my favorites, not for the ride, but the lead up to the ride. TOT at DW at least will stay, for now and if it does, I’ll always get to enjoy it the same as I did when it first opened. How relevant will Guardian’s be in 10-15 years? It’s big now, but it may not be soon when they stop making movies. TOT will always be the same because it’s not based on some intellectual property. Updating rides by adding either better effects or to be more relevant to today’s technology is fine, but butchering them with things that may not matter to anyone in the near future will make the rides/attractions less appealing. But thank you for the interesting post Tom, your opinions are always awesome!
I miss the old ending to spaceship earth, with the teachers/student scene and city scene.
I know some people might not agree with me on this but Spaceship Earth had such a big impact on my life. Matter of fact, it helped me pass one of my college courses and subconsciously guided me towards my career path (working in Communications).
I was discussing Spaceship Earth’s story with my aunt while on the attraction a few days ago and she stated that it would need to be updated at some point. Which I agreed with to an extent. I don’t think it needs to be “updated” as it needs to be wiped and something new added. SE is the history of communications, as they time goes I do believe eventually they will need to add in more about current technology. Although I think leaving it in the garage saying thats where the first personal computer was created is just fine. Yes communications has changed a lot since then with the creation of cell phones and smart phones and laptops, but I don’t think enough has changed to warrant an update to the attraction.
I love this post! I was a deprived child who only visited WDW a few times as a kid (yes that’s tongue in cheek!), EPCOT was always my favorite park. The whole part that is now Future World was just the Land of Awesome to me. It is interesting what memories stick out to different people. My strongest memories were of choosing the landscape to go through at the end on Spaceship Earth and the roller coaster design/simulator activity in Innovations. I also had a Figment t-shirt that I basically wore every day of the summer of 1986.
The only memory I have from MGM was the giant bee in the Honey I Shrunk The Kids blue screen attraction.
Fantastic write-up. I was born in 1984, visited the parks almost every year up until i was 10 then sporadically after that, totaling about 26 trips to date. With that said I tend to describe myself as a Disney nostalgic, and with that in mind I hold onto Epcot and its original feel the most. I feel that the vibe and energy of that park resonates most with me because of the original mission of the park, which was to help one find themselves, may it be through education and learning, visiting new cultures or even a few rides. The park was exciting because it was an adventure you wanted to cling to while you were there, even if the most exciting things didnt happen in the traditional sense. It was a way to see the world in some great detail all in one day. To this day I still very much feel at home in Epcot and hope that the energy of that place, or at least whats left of it, doesnt disappear with inevitable news coming at D23.
We visited Epcot last week. I have not been there since the early 1980’s. Because it was raining heavily, we spent a lot of time in Future World, especially the “Nemo” and “Living with the Land” areas, both of which were extremely interesting to the 4 adults in our group, but not so much the two kids. Personally I found that concrete area around Spaceship Earth to be very unattractive…just lots of concrete, which makes it look dated. Even Spaceship Earth looks dated. Disney must have imagined the future to be cold and sparse, We only went to Epcot for “Frozen Ever After,” which I was also not very impressed with after all the hype. However, World Showcase was just as I remembered. If it hadn’t been raining so hard, we would have spent more time admiring the architecture and beautiful landscaping.
So True. I loved Figment as a child probably because it was the only “childish” character of EP at that time. Journey to Imagination is not good and I think many of us can agree on that but there is still that nostalgic feeling and love towards Figment or EP. I can’t let go of EP either!
Epcot remains my husband’s and my favorite park. We love strolling through it, hand in hand and deciding on a whim what to do or maybe nothing. One way I had for the current attractions is Ellen’s Energy World…I do forget its actual name since I haven’t ridden it in over 3 years, wish they would update the entire show, keeping elements that are relevant and changing out of date conversations. Looking forward to new countries coming into the World Showcase, HI or Jamaica even.
Yes Tom! Hope is what the park and Americans need. We need it in the 80’s when the EPCOT opened as well. My first EPCOT visit was the summer of 1984. I was 11 years old and the entire park blew my mind. I had been going to Magic Kingdom about once every 2 years since I was a toddler. EPCOT made me feel like people cared about the world. Futureworld gave me that hopeful feeling. Fear of nuclear war was all over the media and technological advancement was met with polarizing reactions. Futureworld made me feel like there were people who were gonna do this whole future thing right. World Showcase opened my mind. I was interacting with people from other countries! From across the globe! My pre internet mind was exploding. As many have said int his thread and many other forums, EPCOT shaped who I am today. And I am hopeful that the park keeps at least 50% of it’s original spirit/mission. I’d even settle for 30%. I believe there is a way to provide edutainment while integrating more of the characters and stuff. My finger and toes are crossed and I’m hoping and hoping snd hoping for EPCOT and beyond.
I sometimes wonder if part of the problem with EPCOT was that it was too influential. I was blown away by the concept of hydroponics when I went on “Living with the Land.” When I took my wife on it, her response was, “Yeah, hydroponics. You didn’t already know about this?” Same could be said for the design of the Land pavilion itself. It’s an ingenious use of space but you walk up that grand entry, walk through the doors and it looks like you’ve stumbled into a mall food court. The park’s influence on museums around the world is also felt. It takes away some of the wonder for some.
None of that is said to knock EPCOT/Center/Epcot. There’s still so much to love there – the design of World Showcase overrides the thematic incoherence, the Sistine Chapel scene in Spaceship Earth still gets me emotional, Illuminations remains perfect. But, in very strange ways, it’s been TOO influential. I believe in EPCOT so much it hurts but if it’s too retain the wonderful and grandiose feeling it had 30+ years ago, it’s got to be committed to setting and then resetting trends in edutainment.
We need EPCOT more than ever. Disney has the opportunity to tell 10’s of thousands of people a day that the future will be great if we make it so. To abandon that message for an extension of Fantasyland feels utterly hopeless to me.
One of the miracles of Spaceship Earth is that a structure that could be so intensely “of a time” (the 80s) and hopelessly dated can still be so thoroughly timeless. I hope whatever changes may or may not play out continue to showcase it properly.
Epcot is my favorite park to just walk around and look around and take photos and listen to the park audio. I don’t need to go on any rides. I just love the atmosphere of Epcot, both in Future World and World Showcase. I don’t get that feeling when walking around Animal Kingdom or DHS, especially at night. Those parks do not have the “it” factor of Magic Kingdom or Epcot. There’s a vibe/energy missing from those other two parks. The original Epcot vibe is still there, despite the fact that Horizons, Wonders of Life, and World of Motion are gone, and Journey Into Imagination is different. Disney imagineers have lost their magic in my opinion. Nothing they make that is new has the same magical feel as the original parks and rides.
I appreciate the thoughtful post. EPCOT was my favorite park as a kid. Unlike you, Horizons was my favorite (perhaps because I’m older) but Imagination was a close second. And I still think that Spaceship Earth might be my favorite dark ride in WDW.
I think that one of my favorite things about world showcase and the reason it still works is the cast members. When my daughter is coloring at the kidcot station in Norway, the CM I’m chatting with is actually form Oslo. My waiter at Via Napoli is from Florence. Those CM’s give a realism to the countries in the World Showcase that I think help to expand our horizons as much as the attractions.