Today at D23, at 1:30PM, there’s going to be a major Disney Parks Presentation. The headlining part of this Presentation is meant to be the future of EPCOT. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this — while I do enjoy revitalizing old areas of the park that don’t get much traffic (Energy, Innoventions), and I enjoy many of the attraction concepts in a vacuum (Guardians coaster, Ratatouille ride), I’m still not entirely pleased that what was once a very unique park concept devoted to education has become another IP showcase for Disney.
That being said, here’s a quick rundown of EPCOT as it exists today and where I think it’s likely to be going…
- Spaceship Earth is a classic and still draws major crowds. There have been plans to replace it in the past, but given how much money they’re pouring into other areas of the park I doubt they’d bother touching this any time soon — at most I could see them redoing the awful and outdated ending.
- Guardians of the Galaxy is a roller coaster that replaced the Universe of Energy. This is currently well under construction.
- Play Pavilion is the new replacement for the Festival Center, which was in itself a cheap repurpose of Wonders of Life. I can’t say I’m sad to see the husk of Wonders of Life go away, but this Play Pavilion looks like generic, unthemed crap right down to the name. We’re likely to see this appear in the presentation so I hope there’s something more substantial here.
- Mission: Space never became quite the e-ticket draw that Disney hoped, but it cost a massive amount of money and still draws a crowd so it’s not going anywhere. They’re adding a brand new space-themed restaurant here, which is likely to be in the upcoming presentation.
- Test Track remains very popular in its current incarnation.
- Imagination hasn’t been a crowd-pleaser since the early 90s and the first version of the ride. The later versions of the dark ride have never been popular and have been outright reviled by the usual Disney parks crowd, the interactive exhibit is lame, and the 3D theater is currently showing an assortment of Pixar shorts you can buy on DVD. Imagination was the ride that got me into theme park fandom as a child, so it really pains me to say this, but it’s a zombie now and it needs to be shot. If they replace this with the long-rumored Inside Out attraction, I think that’d be for the best.
- The Land – There are persistent rumors that they’re going to be replacing The Land with a new pavilion. I would assume any new pavilion plans will leave Soarin’, one of the most popular rides in the park, untouched — they just poured money into adding a third theater. I also find it a bit hard to understand why they’d rip out the Living with the Land ride. Yes, it’s outdated, but it still attracts long lines and eats crowds, and the Greenhouse tour pulls in extra money every day. If they’re going to keep the greenhouse, which seems like the correct decision, I’m not sure what else they could do with it apart from the current ride. The restaurants, while popular (Sunshine Seasons especially) could simply have replacements in the new pavilion, and the Circle of Life theater is totally unused. It’ll be interesting to see what happens here.
- The Seas – The Nemo overlay of the Seas is very popular and fairly recent, and the aquariums would be a massive undertaking to remove, so I don’t see this going anywhere. I would assume that the Moana attraction going in front of the Seas is an attempt to freshen up this part of the park without actually having to alter the Seas.
- World Showcase – Here’s where we’re getting the most exciting news — they’re extremely likely to announce the long-awaited Brazil pavilion. Unlike the other changes to EPCOT that I have mixed feelings about, I wholeheartedly endorse this idea and look forward to it. Apart from Brazil, there’s the Ratatouille ride and the new entrance at International Gateway.
- Odyssey – The former Odyssey space is turning into an EPCOT showcase, and I’m guessing that a number of the old Festival Center things are going in there.
Apart from EPCOT, here’s some other things I expect we may see…
- Rise of the Resistance at Galaxy’s Edge
- Avengers Campus at California Adventure
- Galactic Starcruiser – the new, immersive, ridiculously expensive Star Wars hotel
- Riviera Resort
- Sky Buckets (aka the Skyliner)