Epcot Central weighs in on Park VP Brad Rex’s announcement that there will be no 25th Anniversary Celebration for Epcot.
Given the direct ties between Epcot (née EPCOT Center) to Walt Disney,
given that the welcome announcement that played every day for years at
EPCOT Center directly acknowledge the important role that EPCOT played in the company’ referred to Walt Disney, given that every
paycheck these executives cash has their founder’s name on it …
wouldn’t it be possible at least to acknowledge the important role that EPCOT played in the company’s history?
Or
is it just too embarrassing to admit that today’s thrill-driven,
hyperactive, cartoon-filled Epcot bears less and less resemblance with
each passing day to anything even close to what Walt had dreamed?
Epcot celebrated it’s 10th Anniversary and had a great Millennial Celebration. I really think Disney’s stock holders need to question the company’s decision not to capitalize on the EPCOT brand.
Sounds to me like the Epcot Central people need to get lives.
And a lot of the things that said are MAJOR over-exaggerations.
For example: “Or is it just too embarrassing to admit that today’s thrill-driven, hyperactive, cartoon-filled Epcot bears less and less resemblance with each passing day to anything even close to what Walt had dreamed?”
The so-called thrills, hyperactivity and cartoon character-driven things DO NOT go against Walt’s vision. In fact, those elements actually started coming into Epcot long before these folks started all this whining.
Besides, today’s Epcot is not really what Walt envisioned anyway. It’s a theme park, not the actual working city that he wanted to build.
And by saying that they don’t want the thrills or Disney characters to be in Epcot, it’s like saying that Disney should get rid of their characters altogether and that the park should remain boring to the average guests.
Those fans are being quite selfish and self-centered, if you ask me.
So, to all you fanboys out there, lighten up!
Regardless of the validity of their suppositions, the Epcot “fanboys” are dead-on to be astounded that Disney isn’t celebrating the 25th anniversary of *any* of their properties. That certainly says a lot about the company’s feelings about the park, or the general public’s ability to comprehend and enjoy a park that tried to educate as well as entertain. Folks who don’t enjoy learning new things about the amazing world around them can always go fritter away a day at Unversal or Six Flags. But Epcot was the one place that edified the mind too, within the context of Disney magic. I lament the dumbing-down of Epcot and sorely regret not being able to visit it during its heyday.
Maybe those “selfish” fans are just sore at the loss of a park that used to celebrate learning and science and a great big beautiful tomorrow.
Well, IMO, Epcot is STILL celebrating learning, science and great big beautiful tomorrows.
Some of you don’t see it, but those factors ARE still there.
And Epcot is NOT being dumbed down either. It’s still good. It has flaws like any other theme park, but Epcot is still wonderful.
Besides, times changes and even theme parks have to change.
I doubt that Epcot’s 25th will get ignored in any way. Of course, they won’t do a big worldwide celebration of it (it wouldn’t be feasible), but there’s always chances that Epcot’s 25th will be celebrated only within the confines of WDW–it’ll be for the best that way.
Philip — It’s amusing to me to be called a “fanboy” and to have someone tell me to “get a life,” since I’m pretty much the opposite of a fanboy and I have a very satisfying life and career. I started EPCOT Central a year ago (there are no “people” behind the site, other than the thousands of people who have come to visit and who have posted their comments) because I was sorely disappointed at what EPCOT has become.
I spent much of my pre-teen years being excited by what Disney was doing with EPCOT Center, and much of my teens and 20s being amazed at what they had pulled off. (I was fortunate enough to live in Florida for a while, so I was able to visit EPCOT often.)
I’ve been a shareholder of The Walt Disney Company for more than 25 years, and I’ve seen the company go through enormous changes. However, I am someone who believes the most recent changes to the company are not for the better, that despite its fiscal success, Disney has lost its creative spirit. To me, EPCOT is the most visible sign of this. It is a park whose designers and creators prided themselves on creating something that was wholly different than any other park within the Disney canon, one that would serve a DIFFERENT function than the type of theme park that Disney had already perfected. EPCOT was intended to be different, and for much of its life Disney at least tried to capture the spirit of EPCOT in its expansions and changes.
But a few years ago, Disney management seemed to grow weary of trying. EPCOT was so different that no one knew what it was anymore. Rather than trying to understand it and build on the legacy that EPCOT had created, they decided EPCOT was better off if, slowly, it became like every other theme park.
From the standpoint of a Disney enthusiast and a Disney shareholder, I believe that by throwing in the towel on EPCOT and bringing in all sorts of elements that are appropriate at, say, the Magic Kingdom, but don’t fit in to EPCOT’s unique theme without being forced, Disney has undermined one of its potentially most lucrative brands. Rather than nurturing EPCOT — in much the way the company managed to nurture its television network (priorities, priorities!) — they’ve come perilously close to damaging the very core of EPCOT Center … and that worries me.
As for the lack of a celebration, sorry to say, it’s not looking good for any sort of public observation. Your doubt that Disney will do the wrong thing is exactly what I used to feel … certainty that the company would never intentionally screw up. Over time, looking at the decisions that have been made (not just about EPCOT but about many other things), I’ve become aware how often this happens. No, Philip, it doesn’t appear that there will be any sort of 25th anniversary celebration, and that’s a real shame.
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