tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post5104154291137556302..comments2023-11-05T00:52:41.562-07:00Comments on EPCOT Central: A Fresh StartEpcot82http://www.blogger.com/profile/14763893513279437902noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-44321527657747868412007-05-20T09:51:00.000-07:002007-05-20T09:51:00.000-07:00Great comments, everyone, and thanks for all of th...Great comments, everyone, and thanks for all of them. I was out of the country unexpectedly for about 12 days and had no chance to write. Thanks for continuing to read.<BR/><BR/>E83 -- great observations on the changing demographic at WDW. I think you hit it spot on, though I'd personally argue that makes a more thoughtful, more compelling EPCOT all the more necessary. Perhaps Disney should consider adding a Personal Finance pavilion, too? ;-) If someone takes out a 401(k) loan to take a 4-year-old to Disney World, they get what's coming to 'em.Epcot82https://www.blogger.com/profile/14763893513279437902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-61346893831069668472007-05-17T00:02:00.000-07:002007-05-17T00:02:00.000-07:00It is about time that EPCOT got a new start. Hope...It is about time that EPCOT got a new start. Hopefully this new leader will finally lead EPCOT into a future worthy of EPCOT's original inseption, and vision. <BR/><BR/>I have been away for quite awhile, I am mainly tied up in work, hopefully in a few weeks I will be able to travel down to EPCOT and enjoy it once again, as well as experience some of the new changes that have been made to EPCOT.Geoffreyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18309262307456071620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-15845309124203784652007-05-15T18:52:00.000-07:002007-05-15T18:52:00.000-07:00Although Jeff's posting at his website was more a ...Although Jeff's posting at his website was more a nostalgic appreciation of the early EPCOT Center characters, it's goes a long way to illustrate that original characters can be created for Disney parks that can be just as fun and engaging as the all-time popular ones. Although some characters such as Figment were meant to be the stars of their attractions, there were many who provided a good supporting cast in the park -- a cast that was intended to compliment the offerings of the park and provide a softer, friendlier approach to the technical themes presented. In other words, there was a sensible approach to their use and it's a shame that many are now gone.<BR/><BR/>I'm personally not against the use of such characters in Epcot, but what does bother me is the way that some are currently being introduced. With regards to the Nemo characters being introduced into the Seas pavilion, I realize that they provide a friendlier and more engaging presentation on a daunting vast subject such as the seas. I really felt that a wonderful ride-thru attraction could have been built that took us on an amazing journey through our planet's oceans, all under the comforting guidance of Mr. Ray and accompanied by the incredible musical score of Finding Nemo. Instead we have been given a Fantasyland-style rehash of the story only worthy of a child's peak-a-boo book. Other offerings such as Princess Breakfast's in Norway and a Mickey Mouse theme to the central store in the park are just outright bad decisions placed there purely for market-driven reasons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-4078906500628123942007-05-15T08:22:00.000-07:002007-05-15T08:22:00.000-07:00Just thought I’d throw a theory out.I reasoned in ...Just thought I’d throw a theory out.<BR/><BR/>I reasoned in my last post that Epcot has changed to vary the experiences from mostly dark rides. The fact that most of these changes strayed from optimistic futurism and the spirit of Epcot, is unfortunate and a poor implementation on WDI’s part. <BR/><BR/>I also thought the changes were a nod to demographics (coasters and characters), but I did not explain this fully: I BELIVE THE AVERAGE VISITOR IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN IN 1982.<BR/><BR/>Here are a few anecdotes:<BR/><BR/>1. The “credit card generation” I know a family that took out a 401K loan to take their 4 year old to WDW. My parent’s generation would not take that trip, period. Back then you saved multiple years for WDW. Maybe you would only go one time, so why waste thousands for a toddler that won’t remember the trip.<BR/><BR/>2.”The new Grandparent vacation”. Travel Chanel interviewed a VP from Royal Caribbean who said their demographics have changed dramatically. Cruising was a “no kids” experience that was dominated by older couples. Now those couples are bringing the whole family. Check out the DVC video and you’ll see this phenomenon applies to WDW. <BR/><BR/>3. “The young shall inherit the earth”. And they will get it younger these days it seems. I’m not going to make a right or wrong editorial about this. I’m just saying that parents seem to spend more and more on their kids. In a world were 7 year olds travel the State for baseball games, is taking a 3 year old to the Princess breakfast indulgent anymore? <BR/><BR/>4. “Don’t Miss out on the Year of a Million Dreams”, and the other celebrations they have been running for about 7 years now. The message is clear in the land of the Jones, “everyone is going, aren’t you?” An equally important message is that each of these celebrations is a limited time event. WDW used to be a park that was there and would be there 5 years later. Now you only have one year (actually it’s an 18 month celebration) to experience all the special events with Epcot’s 25…..what?…that’s not a celebration? Son of a ………. <BR/><BR/>So my theory is that WDW is catering to a younger family, which is no longer waiting for their youngest to hit a certain age. When mostly ages 8-16 roamed WDW, Epcot version 82 was fine. Now, the kids need Nemo.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-68118570335582894462007-05-15T00:02:00.000-07:002007-05-15T00:02:00.000-07:00Ah, OK...sorry about that. Score another one for ...Ah, OK...sorry about that. Score another one for the anonymice rabblerousers. My buttons were quite successfully pushed.Captain Schnemohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15112333068173312142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-79626777295123745632007-05-14T15:22:00.000-07:002007-05-14T15:22:00.000-07:00With all do respect Captain, I didn't "miss" anyth...With all do respect Captain, I didn't "miss" anything. When reprinting my words, anonymous failed to include the final paragraph of the article:<BR/><BR/>"And please folks, this post was not meant to re-engage the Epcot character debate. My intention was solely to revisit some earlier EPCOT nostalgia and continue our celebration of EPCOT's 25th."<BR/><BR/>While I did open the article with a reference to the character debate, it was meant purely as tongue-in-cheek introduction to the subject.Jeffrey Pepperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00990997892044489714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-55262275206661889102007-05-14T14:28:00.000-07:002007-05-14T14:28:00.000-07:00It's a real shame that it's come down to the custo...It's a real shame that it's come down to the customers coming up with their own lists of fixes, especially when some of them shouldn't even have to be mentioned (eg, clean this, repair that). It all comes back to the same problem of Disney refusing to take themselves seriously or pay any respect to the founding principles of their parks.<BR/><BR/>Also, anonymous, no one said Epcot never had characters, but the obvious point the original author of that article missed is that the characters were not previously existing movie tie-ins, but original creations that helped make Epcot a truly unique park.<BR/><BR/>For example, in what way is the Nemo ride different from something you'd expect to see in Fantasyland? When there's no difference between Fantasyland and Future World, something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.Captain Schnemohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15112333068173312142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-29362529154725569782007-05-13T14:51:00.000-07:002007-05-13T14:51:00.000-07:00capt. schnemo: I listed the big fixes at fixepcot....capt. schnemo: I listed the big fixes at fixepcot.com, too. :)<BR/><BR/>I think the analysis & commentary is very useful - what exactly are we trying to fix anyhow? But my gut feeling is that a passing Disney Exec would be more interested in short, sweet, executive-level summaries of things that need to be fixed - Epcot82 has done that a few times; I'm trying to carry that theme over to the fixepcot site.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15901254954146927255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-12965864197989338392007-05-13T05:35:00.000-07:002007-05-13T05:35:00.000-07:00This was posted on Mr. Jeff Pepper's site 2719 Hyp...This was posted on Mr. Jeff Pepper's site 2719 Hyperion:<BR/><BR/>The Original EPCOT Character Connections<BR/> <BR/>Ah, characters in Epcot; the debate rages on . . . <BR/><BR/>Despite being initially and intentionally void of traditional Disney personalities when it opened in 1982, EPCOT Center was in fact never without characters. While most folks are quick to associate Figment (pictured above with pal Dreamfinder in an early postcard illustration) with Disney World’s second gate, there have certainly been a number of other animated characters, both traditional and animatronic (and sometimes even both) who over the years have called Epcot home.<BR/><BR/>Just for fun, a quick roll call of some of Epcot’s other animated denizens, both past and present:<BR/><BR/>The cast of Kitchen Kaberet, the Land pavilion’s audio-animatronic floor show that debuted with the park in 1982. It evolved into Food Rocks in 1994, but was then removed completely to make room for Soarin’ in 2005. It’s stars included host Bonnie Appetit who was joined by fellow performers Mr. Dairy Good and the Stars of the Milky Way, the Boogie Woogie Bak’ry Boy, the Cereal Sisters (Mairzy Oats, Rennie Rice, and Connie Corn), the Fiesta Fruit, and Mr. Hamm and Mr. Eggz. Among the Food Rocks incarnations were Fud Rapper, the Peach Boys, Neil Moussaka, Chubby Cheddar and the Get-the-Point Sisters. <BR/><BR/>Not quite gone and certainly not forgotten are the characters featured in Cranium Command. The Wonders of Life pavilion currently sits sadly without activity behind a row of potted plants, denying access to the broad and colorful characters of General Knowledge and Buzzy. Like Figment, Buzzy was also brought to life in both cartoon and animatronic representations.<BR/><BR/>While not as readily apparent as other early Future World characters, there were a few animated characters that resided in the Seas pavilion long before Nemo and friends swam in and took up residence. The talking submersible Jason existed in animatronic form, while mythological character Atlas starred in the 7 ½ minute cartoon The Animated Atlas of the World. In another cartoon film, Suited for the Sea, two unnamed fish explained the history of the diving suit.<BR/><BR/>Scattered across other Future World post-shows and exhibits were the likes of Bird and Robot at World of Motion’s Transcenter, SMRT-1 at Communicore, I/O from Backstage Magic and mini-robot Tom Morrow at Innoventions.<BR/><BR/>There have ALWAYS been characters at EPCOT. The ones we have now are just different characters trying to do the same thing: entertain and educate.<BR/><BR/>-MickeyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-70187829648699642442007-05-13T01:54:00.000-07:002007-05-13T01:54:00.000-07:00bp: ...reading through Captain Schnemo's arguments...bp: <I>...reading through Captain Schnemo's arguments in particular yields a lot of assumptions about "what people like."</I><BR/><BR/>I'm only tangentially discussing "what people like". I try to keep my arguments objective by basing them on the founding principles of Epcot, not what you might get from exit poll.<BR/><BR/>(Although it certainly seems like the vision thing has been replaced by exit polls. "Hulk want go fast!")<BR/><BR/>It is the default assumption of this site that the original Epcot was "better", so all discussion takes place within that context. From my point of view, this blog is more about identifying what went wrong as opposed to making the case that something has gone wrong.<BR/><BR/>It's easy to make the subjective statement that Epcot is now "worse", but explaining exactly what that means is the task at hand. Sure, singing fish don't feel right in Future World, but what's <I>really</I> wrong with them? How are they different from a singing Figment? What does the change from futuristic sea base to haven for cartoon fish say about the decisions being made?<BR/><BR/>It's more about analysis than anything else. You have to come to terms with what you believe went wrong before you can intelligently discuss the situation and make suggestions for improvements.<BR/><BR/>In my opinion, anyway.<BR/><BR/>The reality of the situation, of course, is that if profits are up, Disney couldn't give a damn about anything said here. They aren't really interested in "what people like" either, they simply want to maximize profit.<BR/><BR/>The great hurdle is translating our suggestions into a language the corporation will listen to, and I don't think we've gotten any closer to that. Still, if you don't identify the problem, you won't have anything to say in the extremely unlikely event that you ever get the ear of someone willing to listen.<BR/><BR/>I'm only slightly interested in "little fixes". Nothing little can fix singing fish. The problems, as I see them, with Epcot are too fundamental to be fixed by changing names, fonts, and icons, or removing the wand. Although all those things would certainly be nice.Captain Schnemohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15112333068173312142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-14347962749833484932007-05-12T17:01:00.000-07:002007-05-12T17:01:00.000-07:00Just the sales kiosks (the one under SSE around th...Just the sales kiosks (the one under SSE around the mirrored column and the one off to the right of the entrance as you walk in.) It's a start though.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15901254954146927255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-7339173752414087972007-05-12T16:42:00.000-07:002007-05-12T16:42:00.000-07:00Leave A Legacy is scheduled for demolition!http://...Leave A Legacy is scheduled for demolition!<BR/>http://officialrecords.occompt.com/wb_or1/details.asp?doc_id=28928473&file_num=20070305165&doc_status=SAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-28671516504601564492007-05-12T08:06:00.000-07:002007-05-12T08:06:00.000-07:00bluesky: I started a pet project called 'Fixepcot....bluesky: I started a pet project called 'Fixepcot.com' that is more focused on corrective measures for the current state of Epcot - you might take a quick look at it.<BR/><BR/>all: I keep coming back to this blog for the passionate arguments. I would like to point out that just because you have what look to be well-reasoned arguments on the surface does not make them correct; reading through Captain Schnemo's arguments in particular yields a lot of assumptions about "what people like." I don't know that we have that information here in any form of metric that is useful; I'd venture to say that Epcot is far more crowded in 2007 than it was in 1996 because of many of the "backwards" changes that were implemented. Just because we like & miss those attractions doesn't mean it even registers with the public. And at the root of this all is how well Epcot makes money.<BR/><BR/>Yes, you can talk about long-term good will and attractions that stand the test of time - but most executives don't stick around long enough for things to be proven true one way or another. How much money can we make NOW?<BR/><BR/>This is the unfortunate reality of the situation. Even so, we can attempt to put our ideas up there (as Epcot82 has done) and see if anyone bites. I put a list of "easy" things to fix and a list of "harder" things to fix on my website that'll help repair some of the "damage."Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15901254954146927255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-79239107797154305682007-05-10T23:31:00.000-07:002007-05-10T23:31:00.000-07:00I love the dialog on this site. I have a question ...I love the dialog on this site. I have a question for EPCOT82 and anyone else who is interested. Could you name 15 things that you would do to bring EPCOT back to its glory or even beyond? If so what would they be? I just bet that if you were to poll most of us geeks, we would all have very similar answers. I also bet that most of the changes would be low cost, high reward solutions. Making Horizons 2.0 and bringing Dreamfinder back won't be cheap, but Disney could please the majority of die hards without breaking the bank. Just a thought, perhaps for a future topic. P.S. Thanks for the link and keep up the good work!blueskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481663761338257429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-53053478582689235332007-05-09T16:17:00.000-07:002007-05-09T16:17:00.000-07:00Rough & Tumble -- Isn't the Grand Canyon SO BORING...Rough & Tumble -- Isn't the Grand Canyon SO BORING? All you do is LOOK AT IT! Man, that's prime real estate for a roller coaster. ;-)<BR/><BR/>E83 ... please, please, please don't even SAY the words "ball pit." That's just going to give someone an idea. "Hey! You know what the kids would REALLY love ... ?!" Heh.Epcot82https://www.blogger.com/profile/14763893513279437902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-43019200644283499242007-05-09T13:50:00.000-07:002007-05-09T13:50:00.000-07:00Hey I love dark rides. Spaceship Earth is freaking...Hey I love dark rides. Spaceship Earth is freaking classic, and I mourn the loss of Horizons. <BR/><BR/>You are right that Haunted Mansion and Peter pan are classics, but that is part of my point. The most attended park in the whole planet has many dark rides. It also has characters and roller coasters. <BR/><BR/>Why do I drop thousands on an annual WDW trip? To deepen family memories of the past, and to continue to add more of them now and for the future. Those memories include things I enjoy though the eyes of my kids (figment, peter pan ride) and things they have varying levels of appreciation for (like I once did) such as Spaceship Earth and Wheel of Progress. <BR/><BR/>All the WDW parks are supposed to enable that continuum. A good attraction like Soaring can be experienced by a 7 and 70 year old.<BR/><BR/>The challenge of Epcot is as they rebalance the park is not to turn it into a place with only extreme mission space for teens and mission space slides and ball pit for 5 year olds. That path leads to the dark side. Of course the other challenge is in creating attractions like that they loose the soul of Epcot (optimistic futurism edutainment).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-19128311848598162722007-05-09T11:49:00.000-07:002007-05-09T11:49:00.000-07:00To me, [Horizons] IS sort of a "thrill" rideI neve...<I>To me, [Horizons] IS sort of a "thrill" ride</I><BR/><BR/>I never thought of it that way before, but you are absolutely right, epcot82! It was thrilling in it's own way, like the Grand Canyon. It took my breath away because of its scope and execution. It's the same thrill I feel in Spaceship Earth or when the Universe of Energy theater cars separate or Journey Into Imagination's original turntable/opening scene. Those things were/are thrilling to me (even back when I was a hormonal teenager). AND the whole family could enjoy them. I don't think my grandma is getting on Mission: Space any time soon...Rough and Tumble Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07966292545934240872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-54247127260203269342007-05-07T20:06:00.000-07:002007-05-07T20:06:00.000-07:00Very good point, Jeff, and I guess I'd say that it...Very good point, Jeff, and I guess I'd say that it seems that if a ride has a great story hook (i.e., journey into deep space, sail with pirates, visit ghosts), it has a good chance to withstand the test of time.<BR/><BR/>Maelstrom, while incredibly creaky and in need of a good overhaul, does that. I don't think Body Wars ever really did, and found it didn't have nearly the repeatability (for me, at least) as Star Tours. I still haven't made up my mind about Soarin'. It's great for a rush, but it's the same scenes every time you ride, basically the exact same experience with very little new to discover, very few new sensations to have other than the rush. In that regard, I'm not 100% sure it will live on in 25 years.<BR/><BR/>We all seem to love Horizons (I don't know anyone who has said anything bad about it!), and that seems to be the perfect example of a "Disney experience" -- an attraction with great things to see, new things to discover every time, some real "heft" to it (in terms of scope and length) and the Disney storytelling expertise. To me, that actually IS sort of a "thrill" ride -- maybe not a white-knuckler, but nonetheless ...<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I'm rambling. Thanks for the thoughts.Epcot82https://www.blogger.com/profile/14763893513279437902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-35150463407854454982007-05-07T18:49:00.000-07:002007-05-07T18:49:00.000-07:00e82: Wow, Schnemo ... I don't know what to say! So...e82: <I>Wow, Schnemo ... I don't know what to say! So, just, thanks!</I><BR/><BR/>No problem. I don't want Mr. Anonymous to feel like we're trying to shut him up or blow him off because he disagrees, I just want to him to clearly express his argument. It feels good (to me anyway) to be swayed by a previously unconsidered argument. It gives the brain some exercise, which is always a good thing. But there needs to be some meat on the bones.<BR/><BR/>As for the other issue, I agree that a little bit of thrill can perk up a good dark ride (even Pirates has a fun little waterfall). And it is true that Horizons, Spaceship Earth and World of Motion all took a similar take on different topics. Most original Future World pavilions followed the same basic pattern (start with the past, move on to the present, then offer a glimpse of the future), but those three presented a perhaps too-similar experience.<BR/><BR/>Test Track and Mission: Space are certainly different, but they go too far in the other direction and diminish the impact of Future World as a whole, by not providing much food for thought.<BR/><BR/>It will be interesting to see what they do with Spaceship Earth. I think that Epcot should have been "plussing" attractions all along, punching them up with new gimmicks and technology. If Horizons had been given periodic makeovers, it could have still been great attraction today.<BR/><BR/>Of course, there'd need to be some decent thought put into the changes, or we'd just get more singing birds and fish and whatnot.Captain Schnemohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15112333068173312142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-67546940533106825162007-05-07T17:40:00.000-07:002007-05-07T17:40:00.000-07:00Epcot82--While I agree with you that a Six Flags c...Epcot82--<BR/><BR/>While I agree with you that a Six Flags coaster is quick to lose its appeal, I think the same can't be said for certain Disney thrill rides. Attractions such as Big Thunder and Space Mountain certainly are not diminishing in their appeal and Tower of Terror will likely remain a perennial favorite for years to come.<BR/><BR/>I think a balance can be met at Epcot between thrill and dark rides. Body Wars and Maelstrom worked well back in 1989 and neither came at the expense of an established dark ride.<BR/><BR/>Likewise, Soarin' is an attraction that will likely remain undiminished for quite some time; it's just unfortunate that its placement/theme was so poorly thought out and eexecuted.Jeffrey Pepperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00990997892044489714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-52627280713108116282007-05-07T16:57:00.000-07:002007-05-07T16:57:00.000-07:00Wow, Schnemo ... I don't know what to say! So, ju...Wow, Schnemo ... I don't know what to say! So, just, thanks!<BR/><BR/>E83, you mention "they have a law of diminishing returns" for dark rides. Actually, it's THRILL rides that have the diminishing returns; visit any Six Flags and go on a four-year-old roller coaster and you'll see what I mean. Switchbacks are rarely as exasperating as when no one is queuing in them!<BR/><BR/>Dark rides, on the other hand, hold their appeal like nothing else. Look at Peter Pan's Flight or the Haunted Mansion, look at Journey Into Imagination or Spaceship Earth. It may be true that they rarely have visible queues -- but, then, EPCOT Center was designed to swallow huge groups of guests in one gulp, so the lack of queues should not indicate a lack of popularity.Epcot82https://www.blogger.com/profile/14763893513279437902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-10178344828510020082007-05-07T15:23:00.000-07:002007-05-07T15:23:00.000-07:00I don't care if you worked for the company for 5 o...<I>I don't care if you worked for the company for 5 or 10 years. You are wrong and you know it!</I><BR/><BR/>...just because it's worth pointing out that mind-bending kernel of wisdom again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-44569164812056003102007-05-07T12:36:00.000-07:002007-05-07T12:36:00.000-07:00This would all be a lot easier if the anonymice wo...This would all be a lot easier if the anonymice would choose names when they post.<BR/><BR/><I>I do not have a "school kid analogy that's nonsensical and doesn't apply".</I><BR/><BR/>Assuming you are the same anonymous, you said this: <I>To mock [new Epcot attractions] is like making fun of the new kid at school or picking on the new guy at work...</I><BR/><BR/>People typically make fun of the new kid to maintain or advance their status within a group by picking on a person because of a characteristic they cannot control. Whether this is done out of simple fear or mean-spiritedness or for political reasons, none of these things apply to epcot82, who has a philosophical agenda, but nothing to gain from criticizing things unworthy of criticism. That would actually be counterproductive, since his goal is to encourage positive change.<BR/><BR/><I>Responses like that make the Disney online community come off as a dictatorship...</I><BR/><BR/>I am happy to entertain any opinion, but there must be have an explicable rationale behind it. You (or at least one anonymous guy) chose to be condescending ("maybe someday you'll understand that") without presenting an actual argument.<BR/><BR/>When you boil down the post, the points made were:<BR/>1. Some people disagree with epcot82.<BR/>2. One shouldn't make fun of new things.<BR/>3. Things are done for reasons.<BR/><BR/>#1 and #3 are self-evident and the only explanation for #2 is an inapplicable analogy.<BR/><BR/>If you aren't going to share with us the <I>reasons</I> for your opinions, they are hardly worth sharing. "I disagree" doesn't add anything to the conversation.<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure what you expect epcot82 to do. For example, one of the basic (and not unreasonably demanding) principles of this blog is that things in Future World should be futuristic, or at least in some way related to the progress of civilization. Singing fish don't fit the bill, so obviously he is going to voice his disapproval.<BR/><BR/>Is your argument against this really that he shouldn't do so because the fish are new?Captain Schnemohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15112333068173312142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-12969628245678330462007-05-07T08:18:00.000-07:002007-05-07T08:18:00.000-07:00I’ve written about this before, maybe this time it...I’ve written about this before, maybe this time it will come out right. Give me a time machine and I can’t think of a better way to spend one day than enjoying the original Future World attractions.<BR/><BR/>However, the seeds of Epcot’s refurbs were planted in those attractions. I don’t have attendance statistics, and more importantly I don’t know the frequency of those attending. Of the ~10 million visitors how many are first timers, how many are yearly visitors, how many are annual pass Floridians? <BR/><BR/>My point is there were too many of the same “dark rides”, and they have a law of diminishing returns for returning guests. It was inevitable attendance would slide, and changes would be made. The challenge is to understand and keep what was special about the park (I believe it was optimistic futurism with edutainment) while adding more thrill rides and kid oriented attractions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23143199.post-18105385182688421932007-05-07T07:04:00.000-07:002007-05-07T07:04:00.000-07:00Thanks, everyone. Appreciate the thoughtful words...Thanks, everyone. Appreciate the thoughtful words and feedback!Epcot82https://www.blogger.com/profile/14763893513279437902noreply@blogger.com