Epcot (General Discussion)

[belloq87]

Disney shared this look at the inner mechanics of The American Adventure, and it just underscores how much of a remarkable achievement of engineering it is:


Top to bottom, I think the show is one of Imagineering's greatest accomplishments.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Disney shared this look at the inner mechanics of The American Adventure, and it just underscores how much of a remarkable achievement of engineering it is:


Top to bottom, I think the show is one of Imagineering's greatest accomplishments.

I'm honestly surprised there are still people who know how these old animatronics work given all the institutional knowledge loss that happened in the post-COVID layoffs.

Also I'm glad Disney is less averse to posting behind the scenes content that actually acknowledges the mundane details of how park operations work. They recently posted a video where two engineers (one Gen Z and one Gen X) were doing final adjustments on the ride profile, and there's an absolutely ghastly array of cables they pull from the ride vehicle and plug into their computer. Any previous regime would have incorrectly seen that as disrupting someone's perception of the park rather than enhancing it.

 

[Timchat2]

While it's awesome to see the old-school EPCOT Center tech highlighted, and perhaps more importantly those still working every single day to keep it all running, the video mostly makes me sad because we're so far from ever doing this kind of thing in a Disney Park again.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

While it's awesome to see the old-school EPCOT Center tech highlighted, and perhaps more importantly those still working every single day to keep it all running, the video mostly makes me sad because we're so far from ever doing this kind of thing in a Disney Park again.

The fact that they're making a new Carousel of Progress gives me some hope.

 

[OrlLover]

While it's awesome to see the old-school EPCOT Center tech highlighted, and perhaps more importantly those still working every single day to keep it all running, the video mostly makes me sad because we're so far from ever doing this kind of thing in a Disney Park again.

We will have to see what Abu Dhabi holds for new tech at Disney parks if it ever gets built.

 

[MAC]

I'm honestly surprised there are still people who know how these old animatronics work given all the institutional knowledge loss that happened in the post-COVID layoffs.

Also I'm glad Disney is less averse to posting behind the scenes content that actually acknowledges the mundane details of how park operations work. They recently posted a video where two engineers (one Gen Z and one Gen X) were doing final adjustments on the ride profile, and there's an absolutely ghastly array of cables they pull from the ride vehicle and plug into their computer. Any previous regime would have incorrectly seen that as disrupting someone's perception of the park rather than enhancing it.

I imagine it's very much like software/computer engineers who work on Mainframe or COBALT... systems/languages that are no longer actively maintained/updated, but because there are some critical systems they have a job forever. Of course the concern becomes... what happens when they're no longer doing that job and there's no one to fill in for them.

I'm sure it's similar with the old animatronics. Not sure what they have in ways of new animatronics, but it's something that could quickly go away if they're not funding the training and knowledge behind it.

 

[belloq87]

 

[cdogsumo]

We have been bait-and-switched (many times) before, but it does seem to make sense that the two domestic parks with no active projects (Epcot and DL) would get announcements at D23 (Imagination and Matterhorn redos, respectively).

 

[rhino4evr]

They certainly love to announce stuff for EPCOT and not build it.

 

[OrlLover]

They certainly love to announce stuff for EPCOT and not build it.

That was the two C’s unfortunately Chapek and Covid.

 

[rhino4evr]

That was the two C’s unfortunately Chapek and Covid.

Was the PLAY pavilion under Chapek too ?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Was the PLAY pavilion under Chapek too ?

The cancellation was. So was the decision to make Harmonious into the mess it was.

 

[TheUniC6]

 

[belloq87]

Hopefully that involves addressing the ride system.

 

[Cwoolboy]

Gosh, I hope not. The ride system is iconic. Leave it alone.

 

[Tobias]

Hopefully that involves addressing the ride system.

Gosh, I hope not. The ride system is iconic. Leave it alone.

I don't think Belloq87 means changing the ride system, but actually fixing it top to bottom because lord, it needs help.

 

[belloq87]

Correct, rebuild/re-track it. Smoother and quieter.

So, interesting semantics debate to drill down into about what was said re: this update. On stage, the verbiage used was "Every scene will get new magic." So that says to me the structure of what's there should be remaining, because if they were going with entirely new scenes, I think they'd have just said new magic. "Every scene" implies the existing scenes.

Right?

 

[Touchdown]

Also, the presentation ended with the announcement that the Imagination Pavilion will be getting a new ride with Figment’s hirsute creator, Dreamfinder, returning. So long Dr Channing!

 

[rhino4evr]

I’m really curious what they do with Journey. Will it be a complete gut re-do, or will they go on the cheap and keep the same track layout and just add new scenes? Given how limited the info was on this, I could see this being a long ways off.

As mediocre as the current ride is, I’m willing to bet there is a generation of fans that will miss what’s currently there. I remember the original attraction fondly , but it was soooo long ago.

In order to do it right… i would demolish the interior , including the old theater. The building itself is still iconic.

 

[Touchdown]

Given SSE was more flushed out I expect that to go down first with Imagination next and the goal to have both done by 2031 (Epcot’s 50th)