STRATEGY 3: Try something else entirely

Image: Disney / Marvel

On July 15, 2017 at the semi-annual D23 conference, Imagineers made it official: the Universe of Energy pavilion at Epcot would power-down for good that August. Its replacement would be a brand new attraction based on Marvel's sleeper hit superhero film, Guardians of the Galaxy. At least so far, we honestly don’t know much about the Guardians of the Galaxy themed attraction replacing Ellen's Energy Adventure (except, of course, that the future of the film series it’s based on is in jeopardy – pun intended – thanks to a controversial firing decision made by Disney… oops.)

What we do know is that the ride will indeed be a high-speed roller coaster, and that the absolutely gargantuan 100,000 square foot showbuilding leftover from Universe of Energy isn’t large enough to hold it all, requiring the construction of a towering, outrageously-large connected showbuilding to the east.

Image: Disney / Marvel

What we don’t know is if the ride will – for lack of a better way to put it – have anything at all to do with being at Epcot. In other words, will this roller coaster / dark ride through the Marvel universe have anything to do with energy, or any scientific topic that would make it a fit for Future World? Surely Disney’s designer could send us on a chase through the universe alongside the superhero team in search of energy sources throughout the galaxy, still retaining this as an "Energy" pavilion, albeit using characters to tell the tale...

But in the absence of knowing, further questions have been raised about where Epcot is headed… And for us, there’s one problem at the root of Future World today…

Sum of their parts

Image: Disney / Marvel

At its core, EPCOT Center needed to change. If today, in 2018, the park offered World of Motion, Universe of Energy, and Horizons – all beloved, phenomenal masterpieces of their time – Epcot would be a laughing stock in the eyes of the public and of its most devoted fans. Despite thinking they want Journey into Imagination – untouched and unedited – to return, that’s not really want fans want.

They want those epic, smart, stylish dark rides of Epcot’s earliest days reborn with 21st century sensibilities, storytelling, and special effects. They want what Journey into Imagination  (or Horizons or Universe of Energy or Wonders of Life) would look like if born of the same minds but with today’s technology, today’s storytelling, and today’s budget. 

Horizons, The Land, Communicore, Imagination, The Living Seas, Universe of Energy, Spaceship Earth, World of Motion, and Wonders of Life. Image: Disney

But more than making each individual pavilion great, they want a day when those circular icons – or new ones – would yet again apply. They want Future World to have a thesis again; a connection; a point. They want to return to the simplicity of Energy, Life, Horizons, Motion, Imagination, Land, Seas, Communication, or something resembling it, each reimagined to be compelling and thoughtful and adventurous and grand and optimistic like in the old days… And that’s a wonderful thing to want, and it could have been the perfect path for Epcot.

But that’s not what Disney chose.

Disharmony

During the ‘80s, ‘90s, and 2000s, Epcot and Future World bowed to the whims of pop culture, sponsorship, and changing leadership.

Some pavilions – like The Seas and now Guardians of the Galaxy – brought in characters to draw the public.

Some pavilions – like The Land, World of Motion, and Horizons – outright decided to overlook their own “thesis” statements in favor of thrill rides.

Some pavilions – like Wonders of Life, Imagination, and Innoventions – practically or even literally faded away from view.

The result was the snipping of the thread that connected the pavilions of Future World; each was overhauled with a piecemeal solution devised in very particular circumstances. One-by-one – but never altogether – they were reimagined.

Click and expand for larger. Image: Disney

Sure, Disney announced that Future World would soon undergo a radical, physical re-imagining (above), doing what that long-lost Project: GEMINI was supposed to do a decade ago – replacing the open, cold, concrete plazas of a dystopian, 80s-born future into a rich, earthy, forested future of water, light, dynamic shapes, and kinetic energy. 

But it's just not the physical Future World that needs adjusted; it's the foundation. The thing Future World needs – more than any single new ride or attraction – is a new point; something to connect the pavilions even in their differences; a thread to unite them. As it is, the mis-matched buildings have nothing in common; no central message; no central identity. Beautifying Future World won't solve the core of the issue: the pavilions aren't connected anymore.

So my argument is simple: setting the best work of “armchair Imagineering” aside (though many – including myself – have engaged in plenty), we have to face the reality that characters should come to Epcot. On the last page, we’ll take a stab at what that could look like…