10 Things Disney World Needs to Finally Fix Before EPCOT’s 50th Anniversary
EPCOT Center’s 50th Anniversary is October 1, 2032. Mark your calendars, and book your Walt Disney World resort reservations now…or in ~5 years, when they actually open. Although the company hasn’t officially acknowledged the occasion, we strongly believe plans are already underway internally to prepare for the milestone with an 18-month celebration.
Although history is not on our side when it comes to the company celebrating EPCOT milestones with more than merchandise, we firmly believe this time will be different (famous last words). After fumbling Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary due to the one-two punch of COVID and Chapek (which was worse?!), leadership will be looking for a mulligan.
Enter EPCOT’s 50th. Not only is it a major milestone that’ll draw diehard fans planning homecoming trips, but it also presents an opportunity to complete phase 2 of the EPCOT overhaul. An overhaul on which they’ve currently hung up the ole “mission accomplished” banner. Not because the work was finished and the fruits of it were fantastic, but because over a billion dollars had been blown and it was time to move on.
As you’re undoubtedly aware, there was a lot that was “temporarily” shelved or announced and put on hold back in 2020, resulting in the first phase not being as big or bold as originally planned. As a result, EPCOT still needs updates and additions to truly live up to its legacy and be Walt Disney World’s sterling second gate.
With around $17 billion earmarked for Walt Disney World during the next decade of expansion, it stands to reason that all 4 parks will see investments of varying degrees. Thus far, the only park that hasn’t received any meaningful announcements is EPCOT, leading us to believe its projects are a mix of ‘singles and doubles’ and backloaded closer to the 50th.
One thing to note here is that, despite the timing of this post, these are not 2026 D23 Expo predictions. My hope and expectation is that Disney will mention EPCOT Center’s 50th Anniversary when announcing the Spaceship Earth reimagining (a prediction I will be making in my upcoming list for Walt Disney World), with a “stay tuned” tease.
Accordingly, I wanted to get ahead of that with my own wish list and even more forward-looking predictions, which could be made at the 2027 Destination D23 at Walt Disney World or 2028 D23 Expo in Anaheim.
Here’s what EPCOT needs to fix, bring back, reimagine, or otherwise change the most before the 50th. A mixture of postponed projects, rumors that have never come to fruition, and our original ‘wish list’ of improvements…
Fix Future World
The first step to fixing a mistake is admitting you’ve made one. Historically, this has not been something that Disney has done. That’s precisely why so many longtime fans were taken aback with Bob Iger’s approach to the DCA overhaul. And then the HKDL expansion. Followed by fixing WDSP. Okay, by this point, it’s practically commonplace.
Like the Iger of old, new Walt Disney World, Parks & Resorts, and Imagineering leadership benefits from one simple fact: World Celebration is someone else’s mistake. It was the COVID era, Bob Chapek was CEO, Imagineering had been furloughed into oblivion. The only executive who remains from that era, ironically enough, is Josh D’Amaro. But he can just as easily claim his hands were tied (because they were).
The good news is that the former Future World isn’t actively bad like those other parks that needed fixing. It’s perfectly satisfactory by Irvine office park standards. It’s just bland, boring, forgettable, and utterly uninspired. Not exactly words you want associated with EPCOT, but that should mean it’s easier to fix. The foundation is mostly fine.
What the central spine of EPCOT needs is a marquee dancing fountain, eye-catching interactive features, lighting that actually works, and other memorable features. The good news is that some of the broken features are seemingly starting to (finally) be fixed. That’s a start, but that’s all it is.
At least 75% of what’s there is fine to remain as is; plus the remaining 25% and this area will once again inspire and captivate guests. And when all is said and done, pull a page from the CommuniCore Hall playbook and re-rename it Future World.
Living Seas Revitalization
I hate to say this, but the Living Seas feels like it’s on borrowed time. Last year, we covered the sweeping changes to the Seas’ pavilion’s animal programs. That basically amounted to infrastructure work on the 5.7 million gallon aquarium and making changes that require “careful thought, prioritizing the wellbeing of these sensitive marine mammals.”
Between maintenance costs for the colossal aquarium, evolving guest expectations, and the fading popularity of the pavilion, something needs to be done. Personally, I don’t see how the Living Seas pavilion exists without the aquarium. That means the only real options are improving the offerings to increase its drawing power or closing the pavilion completely.
My hope is that Walt Disney World chooses to update the Living Seas. Turtle Talk is timeless (yes, really), but the Finding Nemo dark ride could absolutely use an update. Bring out Scuba Mickey more. Reimagine Coral Reef completely instead of letting it limp along with seasonal status, turning it into destination-worthy fine dining or a character dining experience, or something.
The Living Seas is a serene escape from the Florida heat, and there’s something special about spending some time with its majestic aquatic life. Walt Disney World just needs to do a better job of getting guests there in the first place.
Captain EO Comeback
I was not a fan of Captain EO making an extended 5-year tribute run following Michael Jackson’s death. I was against its return because it was dated and not befitting of contemporary Future World, concern that now seems so quaint a little over a decade later.
For one thing, its replacement has limped along for a decade, and is a glorified Disney+ content that has no business being showcased at Walt Disney World. It is filler, plain and simple, and in a park with plenty of nearby air-conditioned reprieves from the Florida weather, it’s unnecessary even from that perspective.
For another thing, Michael Jackson is more popular than ever, with the passage of time since his death making him less polarizing. “Michael” has surpassed $1 billion in global ticket sales, becoming the first biopic to achieve the coveted box office milestone. Disney seemingly recognizes that, as this is one of the hot pieces of merchandise at the D23 Expo:
We want to be clear that we don’t have rose-colored 3D glasses on when it comes to Captain EO. It’s undeniably dated. But it’s also original and ambitious; an exemplar of campy Disney fun. It was never “good” in the traditional sense of the word. Even in the 1980s, I suspect people saw through its overwrought style and just laughed at the movie or had fun with it. There’s nothing wrong with that!
At its core, this was a film about Michael Jackson and a motley crew of space Muppets delivering the gift of music and provocative dancing to the surly Supreme Leader as a peace offering. MJ’s music transforms all around him, and in so doing, the world. Tale as old as time, right? The utter preposterousness of it all is part of the allure, as are the attempts to instill the story with a sense of (unearned) gravitas.
Captain EO would not be a billion-dollar draw for Walt Disney World, but it could boost bookings among diehard fans and outperform the current programming in the theater. Perhaps most importantly, it could anchor the Imagination pavilion when the inevitable happens and Journey Into Imagination finally goes down for a much-needed multi-year reimagining.
Wonders of Life/Play Pavilion Replacement
Originally intended as debuting in time for the 50th Anniversary in 2021, the Play Pavilion was paused and Walt Disney World has since been “re-evaluating the original concept that was planned.” It’s been a while since a substantive update was shared, so it’s safe to assume it’s game over for the Play Pavilion.
Play Pavilion was planned for the old Wonders of Life pavilion, which was subsequently a festival center. Walt Disney World already did a lot of work fixing the roof and other infrastructure issues with the pavilion and this is a prime piece of real estate now that Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is drawing people to this corner of the park. So it probably won’t sit empty forever.
For our part, we’d love for this to be an interactive kid-friendly offering. My dream is for a revival of the ‘Health Pavilion’ concept featuring Baymax and an assortment of other characters (a Big Hero 6 simulator ride could be awesome), though such a concept is probably fraught with controversy.
Another option would be to leverage Disney’s partnership with Epic Games and planned partnership for Fortnite Universe for Disney IP. Yet another would be some sort of Marvel pavilion; there were rumors of a Wakanda Tech Expo even before Play Pavilion, and that could be good while also expanding Marvel’s footprint in this corner of the park. I also wouldn’t mind seeing this once again become the festival center, leaving CommuniCore Hall permanently in GoofyCore mode.
Coco Boat Ride
We’ve been over this before. Gran Fiesta Tour is a very minor attraction. It’s tucked away into the Mexico pavilion and the biggest criticism of it is exactly that–that it’s a minor attraction. The wait time reflects that, though, as does just about everything associated with the ride.
That includes the physical footprint for the queue. Shortly after the original film came out, Disney did feasibility testing to determine what would be necessary to accommodate Coco inside the Mexico pavilion. It wasn’t. Not even with removing retail space and replacing those shops with overflow queue. Concerns already existed about congestion in and around the Mexico pavilion, making a Coco boat ride a non-starter.
However, we now know that the Coco boat ride at Disney California Adventure has a compact footprint. So much so that it might just be possible to squeeze the Coco boat ride between the existing Mexico and Norway pavilions. (See Is a Coco Boat Ride Coming to EPCOT? for more.)
Mary Poppins Ride
Disney announced the first-ever Mary Poppins attraction for EPCOT’s United Kingdom pavilion that would allow guests to “step in time down Cherry Tree Lane past Admiral Boom’s house, then enter Number 17, home of the Banks family, where their adventure will begin.”
Walt Disney World never announced what this ride would be, but leaks point to an indoor teacups-style flat ride. It would’ve featured multiple pre-show rooms leading up to the ride itself, similar to Enchanted Tales with Belle with effects and reveals. As for the ride, think Mad Tea Party but with Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway style “2.5D” scenic visuals mixed with projection mapping effects.
While I’d personally prefer an Alice in Wonderland dark ride, space constraints probably make that a non-starter. Given that, I’m fine with a flat ride, but my personal preference would be something simple and straightforward.
Ditch the elaborate (and expensive) pre-shows, allocate that space to doubling the capacity, and just let this be something like Raiponce Tangled Spin at Disney Adventure World. World Showcase could use another attraction, and flat rides are good role-fillers. The Cherry Tree Lane expansion could be lovely; just don’t overhype or overthink it, Disney.
Mission: Space Modernization
Often overlooked in conversations like this since it’s a “new” pavilion, having replaced the OG Horizons in the early aughts. However, Mission: Space is now over 20 years old, and looks every bit of that. The attraction was last refreshed in 2017 as an early phase of the EPCOT overhaul, but it needs more.
Mission: Space will not be replaced outright. So fans holding out hope for Horizons 2.0 shouldn’t hold their breath. Even an update of this pavilion–as badly needed as it might be–feels like a longshot. There are just other, more pressing priorities among the legacy pavilions.
However, it is worth pointing out that there’s a lot of money out there in the space startup industry. One of those might be willing to throw a fat stack of cash at Walt Disney World for a sponsorship in order to improve their name recognition. If one of those big fish is interested, a massive investment here isn’t outside the realm of possibility.
Wondrous China
You may have forgotten, but Disney announced a new Circle-Vision 360 movie for the China Pavilion titled ‘Wondrous China.’ Nothing was revealed about it, aside from that it would be presented in a new seamless digital 360 degree format, and feature new scenes, music and locations.
There were also a few rumors about it. Supposedly, the new format was developed in partnership with Panasonic; it may or may not have run into issues with the “seamless” projection. It was also expected to be created for both EPCOT and Shanghai Disneyland.
Awesome Planet and Canada Far & Wide are also almost due for updates. Having this trio debut for EPCOT’s 50th Anniversary would be a smart move.
New World Showcase Pavilion
Walt Disney World has a long and rich history of unbuilt World Showcase pavilions that came so close to happening. Most notable are Equatorial Africa, Spain, and Israel, all of which were actually announced by Disney. (There’s a lot about them in Walt Disney’s Epcot Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow, as they were on the horizon when that was published.)
Fast-forward to the 2010s, and the big rumor was Brazil. This really gained momentum from 2017 to 2019, to the point that an announcement during the latter year’s D23 Expo was believed to be a done deal. We’ll never know what happened for sure, but rumors afterwards suggested it was a timing issue and Disney not wanting to announce during the 2019 Amazon rainforest fires. Then, of course, 2020 happened.
Then the Tropical Americas announcement happened. Obviously they’re not the same thing, but there’s enough overlap in both theme and drawing power, perhaps to a sufficient degree that Disney wouldn’t want to do both. Having the fictionalized version of the Tropical Americas might be more politically palatable, too.
Personally, I wouldn’t be averse to Brazil joining World Showcase in addition to Tropical Americas. Guest demographics support both. Alternatively, we’d love to see the Spain pavilion plans dusted off. Other top options would include Greece, India, Thailand, Egypt, Turkey, Argentina, and South Korea.
Although my ultimate wish list entries are Russia, Iran, Israel, and Saudi Arabia (wish list entries based almost entirely on architecture and cuisine; not endorsements of any regime). All of those except the last seem pretty unlikely for the next decade or two given the current sociopolitical environment.
Fix Figment, Finally.
There have been rumors of a Journey into Imagination redo since I entered the fandom as an adult, nearly two decades ago. This time is different. Or, it should be. In addition to a reimagining of Spaceship Earth, this is the one project that needs to happen to define EPCOT’s 50th.
It just makes sense to reimagine Journey into Imagination. It would generate goodwill among WDW diehards and forge new fans in the process. There is arguably no higher impact ride reimagining that Disney could do, given that the current ride is often a walk-on and a big example of underutilized capacity.
A redone JII would be something that would anchor EPCOT Center’s 50th Anniversary, tying it together into a more cohesive project. Figment would become the face and mascot of the what’s old is new again EPCOT, elevating the 50-year-old park in the process.
The original Journey into Imagination was mesmerizing. Unlike the current attraction, it was actually imaginative. There’s a reason Figment still has so many fans and enduring popularity, despite the beloved version of his attraction now being gone longer than it existed. As a young child, I was spellbound by the original, its characters, and the evocative scenes they inhabited. It was a timeless attraction that captivated guests, sparked their imaginations, and forged lifelong Walt Disney World fans.
Recapturing that lost magic and spirit of imagination would have the same impact today, proving that rides don’t need movie IP to be massive successes. That the theme parks, themselves, are a form of intellectual property. Suffice to say, fixing the Journey Into Imagination pavilion should be the #1 priority for Walt Disney World in the lead-up to EPCOT Center’s 50th Anniversary. Restoring Figment and Dreamfinder to their former glory would move the needle for the park far more than anything else on this list. It’s time for new CEO Josh D’Amaro to do what should’ve been done over a decade ago: finally fix Figment.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What would you like to see added or updated at EPCOT during the lead-up to the 50th Anniversary? Do you think the park will see significant investment and retro-inspired reimaginations and enhancements ahead of the EPCOT Center 50th Anniversary celebration? Anything you think our list “snubbed” that should be slated for replacement or at least an update? Do you agree or disagree with our choices? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
