Showcasing EPCOT’s Past, Present & Future
When it comes to Walt Disney World, EPCOT is the park receiving all of the attention at the 2019 D23 Expo. The Disney Parks Pavilion, “Imagining Tomorrow, Today” revolves around EPCOT, with gorgeous new attraction posters for past, present, and future Epcot attractions. In this post, we’ll take a look at those 38 posters, plus new concept art and other stuff.
In essence, there are two halves of the Disney Parks & Resorts booth on the show floor at the 2019 D23 Expo. The larger area is devoted to EPCOT (with a few props and other models, including the Tokyo Disneyland expansion and ‘bigified’ Hong Kong Disneyland castle). The other side is dedicated to the Avengers Campus Marvel Land that we covered here yesterday.
On our first day at the D23 Expo, we spent way more time in the Epcot area than anywhere else, poring over the model, watching the new concept art video loop, and taking photos of the 38 EPCOT attraction posters. I’ll admit, the booth filled me with a sense of optimism and hope about the future of EPCOT. I really must be a sucker…
If we’re all being honest with ourselves, anyone who knew EPCOT Center until the mid to late 1990s and remains a fan of the current park is a sucker to one degree or another. The original EPCOT Center imbued in us all such a sense of optimism that we clutch what remains of that incarnation of the park, and stay steadfast in a hope that it’ll return to its former glory.
It should be patently obvious at this point that beloved attractions like Horizons, World of Motion, Universe of Energy, Kitchen Kabaret, etc. are never coming back. Disney character infusions will not cease. EPCOT will continue to change in ways that have little to do with its original mission statement.
I realize I was won over by those attraction posters and a presentation that had been engineered to stir my emotions and nostalgia. Taking a step back, I realize it’s all style and no substance; retro-inspired logos and pretty new posters for a lot of extinct attractions. Nothing that reflects the current–or even future–reality of EPCOT.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but be heartened by the EPCOT booth. First, because I am a sucker (see above). Second, because in talking to people working the booth and seeing the art and designs they’ve put together, it also becomes patently obvious that there are still people working at Disney that hold the same reverence for EPCOT as I do, and some of them are putting that passion into a better future for the park.
Of course, this doesn’t mean the transformed Future World will be exactly what longtime EPCOT fans have been pining for. I don’t think it’s really a secret that EPCOT has people who “get it” working on its projects, and loyal fans even within the company (including a couple of really big names in powerful roles).
There are also plenty of people within Disney who don’t “get” EPCOT, and that’s why the park has ended up where it is today. Passion, caring, and getting it only matters to the extent that it influences or guides important decisions and the substantive future of the park.
All of this is a topic well beyond the scope of this post, which is basically just intended to be some photos of the cool EPCOT displays and attraction posters.
I’ll quit (most of) the commentary and just let these gorgeous posters speak for themselves…
I think there’s about at least a 75% chance the “Revealing Sunday” poster above is for the long-rumored Brazil pavilion, which ranks highly in our 2019 D23 Expo Predictions for Walt Disney World and Beyond.
This pavilion is expected to be built between Germany and Italy (where the model train currently operates).
I’m far less confident about the “Revealing Sunday” poster on the other side. As covered in that predictions post, I really want it to be Figment and Dreamfinder, and I think that would make a lot of sense.
However, Figment and Dreamfinder already have a poster up here, and other reimagined attractions (like Test Track) don’t have multiple posters on display. This could simply be for dramatic effect (and truly, Figment & Dreamfinder deserve two posters), or it could be because the Imagination pavilion is getting a totally new concept. Or it could be for something totally different entirely, like the big reveal of that crepe stand’s poster.
Here is how much of a sucker I am: that Millennium Celebration poster in the upper left? I actually like that!
I hated the wand and was incredibly glad to (finally) see it go, but that celebration also gave EPCOT some cool things.
The Land’s poster is my personal favorite.
I’m biased towards the Imagination one, but I just think the Land’s design is better. There are so many details, layers, and clever nods here–and yet, it’s still a fairly elegant, beautifully composed, and clean poster. I love it.
The Imagination poster is likewise gorgeous, perfectly capturing the whimsy and sense of discovery of the original Journey into Imagination.
In addition to these posters, there’s a video loop of animated concept art that plays at the back of the EPCOT booth. There’s actually a lot of new art in this, which I assume will be released on Sunday. Nevertheless, here are a few photos of the art I found most interesting:
Overall, the booth is quite effective in getting guests hyped up for the past and future of EPCOT. It certainly worked on me; I even knew exactly the aim, and still couldn’t resist its siren song. I just really hope that what we hear announced on Sunday vindicates all of this hope and excitement, rather than letting us down (again). When it comes to EPCOT, Disney has toyed with fan emotions for too long–it’s time to finally deliver.
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of these EPCOT attraction posters and new concept art? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? 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!
I love the posters. I hope they decide to sell them by the time we get there in January 2020.
Tom, You don’t really know if these old attractions would never come back. There is no obviousness. They might so come back. It’s either might or not. There is no never. Captain EO was living proof of that when it came back a few years ago. And for the record, all the posters in display were addressed as new Epcot attractions. When something is addressed as a new attraction, it usually hints they are coming soon. that includes the old ones that are addressed as new.
Thousands of props should be given to Eric Tan (@erictanart) and Stacey Aoyama (@bluemt23) for the creation of those beautiful posters. The artists have stated that the posters will be on sale eventually, but they just aren’t sure when or where yet!
Hi Melody!
It’s Howard from The Friends Of FIGMENT!
Thanks for the props to the artists. I fell in love with them.
You don’t really know if these old attractions would never come back. There is no obviousness. They either might or not. There is no never. Captain EO was living proof of that when it came back a few years ago.
Love Love love those posters! Wish there was a way to get them (I’m in Australia so will be even harder 🙁 )
What we’re the two posters that were revealed today? Brazil? And ?
NOOOooo, not the model train. My kids love it so much. Oof, change is hard.
Could the missing posters be Brazil and the Floating Forest or what ever that new building in the concept art is called?
Points for half right?
On the Moana angle, i just thought about it and as long as they have a SPAM-themed restaurant, i’m in. The SPAM hash is and has been the best thing at Food & Wine…
We first visited EPCOT in August 1984. That and through the 90’s is the EPCOT we remember and keeps us coming back, ever hopeful. In fact just the other night my daughter was watching gymnastics on TV and the music the young girl was performing to was Finiculi, finicula and all of a sudden her husband and daughter came dancing through the room waving their napkins in the air above their heads. Remembering dining At Alfredo’s in Italy pavilion which was a must every visit, she had them do it again and sent us the video. Daphne is only 6 and Alfredo’s was long gone before her first visit in 2014. It made me sad knowing she’d never have that experience her mommy did her first visit there at 6 years old. I know change is inevitable but it makes me long for the Disney Parks of those days.
Hey, is there any possibility you might be convinced to post high res (well, 1920×1080) versions of a few of your poster pictures? I have a Meural in my office at work and I’d absolutely love to have a few of these in my Disney attractions poster playlist.
At least until I can buy the poster set that they’d better be selling on Oct 1 when I’m there; it might soften the mourning of the loss of Illuminations.
If Disney doesn’t release them in October, I’ll post higher resolution ones then (just remind me).
I don’t want to get into territory where people are downloading and making their own prints rather than just buying the posters.
Hope you understand!
Totally fair, thanks! No need for print quality to prevent poster pirating — if I remember correctly 1080 at 300 dpi won’t print much bigger than a postcard, and I’m (selfishly) only looking for enough pixels to fill the screen of my Meural
Update on this — the posters are proudly on display at the Odyssey today but sadly they have not made them available for sale :(. One of the cast members said just about everyone has been asking, though, so there’s hope for the future!
I share your feeling about these Epcot announcements. I love these posters especially the former EPCOT Center attraction ones like World of Motion, Horizons, and Kitchen Kabaret. My favorite of the current attraction posters are Gran Fiesta Tour and the Land (I love the reference to my Live with/Listen to the Land scene: the American prairie). I liked the Imagination poster but I wish Dreamfinder had a bigger presence on the poster rather than microscopic appearance. I will definitely purchase any posters which include the former EPCOT Center attractions.
I like the image of what looks like a walk under platform that has escalator and stairs to a viewing level with trees and plants. Look like the future.
As for some of the other stuff Hope Brazil is the new land! Man would love a Fogo De Chao style restaurant in the land!!!!
It looks to me the strait walkway from the ball to the lake will not be strait any longer will have a curve in it unless I am looking at the picture wrong. I am not a fan of this as I have always loved the view of the ball strait ahead after the fireworks walking out and having an uninstructed view of the ball ahead.
The Moana thing is not something I am exciting about. Epcot is supposed to be world of the future yet we are putting stuff in from a movie Where transportation was by canoes.
Feels out of place to me! AK wouldn’t be a better fit in my opinion for the Moana character.
Also any word of them doing anything with the concrete building between test track and Mexico?
Has been empty for long time. At least was till my last trip. Mainly went by only for bathrooms is it.
I believe Odyssey Center is going to be home for the permanent display of Epcot’s rebuild/reimagination. Meaning that many things on display Epcot-wise at D23 will be moving there and set up with a permanent display. Given that we’re looking at years of construction ahead for Epcot, it makes sense to provide a preview of better days ahead, and, of course, to get return visits when construction ends.
I agree with you that the Moana theme would be a better fit at AK. Hopefully, we’ll find out how this fits in as more is revealed over the weekend. However, there is a natural fit for it at Epcot: The Land. One could even see a tie-in to the Living Seas, given that Moana is set on Pacific Islands. It all depends on how they use it. As someone who visited when Epcot was being built, and in the relatively early 1980s after it opened, I also miss that massive optimism and excitement for Future World being FUTURE World. But while I miss that, I’ll take a wait and see attitude on how this unfolds.
#savethetainset
Okay, so when are they shipping my set of the posters?
Seriously. If they don’t sell these at the EPCOT Experience starting October 1, they are leaving a tremendous amount of money on the table. That’s not the Disney I know!
Yes, agreed! They’re so gorgeous…I want them aaaaallll!
I don’t just want these, I NEED them. I will go to great lengths to get them. And, I didn’t see one here, but I’m assuming there was also a Horizons poster?
Nevermind, I just found Horizons in the corner. Nice.