Innoventions - closed?

[Mary Chase]

I just read on another website that Innoventions was currently closed and the opening date was "unknown". Anyone know what is going on there? My kids actually really like the Great Piggy Bank Adventure and will be bummed if we miss it on the next trip - as it may be our last one for a while. Any info would be very much appreciated!!

[Fangorn]

Yes, Innoventions is closed.

The contracts for most of the companies involved there have expired and not renewed. With no sponsors, Disney has elected to close the pavilion. Disney has not announced what may eventually replace Innoventions (if anything) or any timeline.

Think "Wonders of Life", part 2 (or 3, or 4 depending on how you count things).

Steve

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

We loved the Piggy Bank Adventure too! We are going to miss it, as well as the Fire Safety game. There are hopes that some new things might go in the space, but there are no plans (at least not public plans).

The other side of Innoventions is still open, including Habit Heroes, Stormstruck and the Sum of All Fears. Not the same ... but we're happy something is still there.

[John]

For the life of me - I don't understand the close it with nothing to replace it mentality that seems to be driving WDW. It's a huge area in the front of the park - and for them to simply close it with no plans on what to do with it (Which is exactly what I heard) is poor planning at best. It's not like they didn't know the contracts were coming up end of life....

We've talked about it many times on the podcast - there really needs to be a 2020 plan for Epcot that re-evaluates the park as a whole and what needs to be done to get it back to the greatness it once was...

[AgentC]

We loved the Piggy Bank Adventure too! We are going to miss it, as well as the Fire Safety game. There are hopes that some new things might go in the space, but there are no plans (at least not public plans).

The other side of Innoventions is still open, including Habit Heroes, Stormstruck and the Sum of All Fears. Not the same ... but we're happy something is still there.

I walked through there on Thursday and even the open side is pretty sad. If you walk in from the entrance near The Land you walk into a path with constructions walls.

[WiltonJohn]

I certainly wonder if some of the "issues" with what exactly to do with Epcot are reflections of societal changes. It seems that there is an unfortunate "distancing" that a large portion of the US population is currently taking away from solid science. Hence the recent push for STEM and such in our schools. (And as a professional visual artist and art professor, I'm an advocate of STEAM, not STEM. The "A" there is for Art.)

Seems to me a goodly portion of the earlier Epcot offerings were based in the areas of the sciences and engineering.

Those kinds of things are not "fashionable" (or even believed in) anymore with an awful lot of Americans. So if you stay with that kind of theming in Epcot....... it is not "commercial" and doesn't have as broad appeal.

So do you go the "Frozen" route....... or do you go more 'climate science'? The business-profits side says to go one way.... the underlying theme says the other. Puts management in a bind.

best,

..................john

[MrPeetrie]

My DD12 asked for a microscope for Christmas. She's an "A" student and I am thrilled she likes science. I told her, "There's a whole section in Epcot dedicated to experiments and technology." We never spend much time there (World Showcase dominates much of our time in Epcot,) but on next trip she and I could spend the afternoon "checking things out" while DW & DS5 walk and shop. She is going to be bummed.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

I certainly wonder if some of the "issues" with what exactly to do with Epcot are reflections of societal changes. It seems that there is an unfortunate "distancing" that a large portion of the US population is currently taking away from solid science. Hence the recent push for STEM and such in our schools. (And as a professional visual artist and art professor, I'm an advocate of STEAM, not STEM. The "A" there is for Art.)

Seems to me a goodly portion of the earlier Epcot offerings were based in the areas of the sciences and engineering.

Those kinds of things are not "fashionable" (or even believed in) anymore with an awful lot of Americans. So if you stay with that kind of theming in Epcot....... it is not "commercial" and doesn't have as broad appeal.

So do you go the "Frozen" route....... or do you go more 'climate science'? The business-profits side says to go one way.... the underlying theme says the other. Puts management in a bind.

best,

..................john

I am not familiar with either STEM or STEAM, what do they mean?

[azcavalier]

I am not familiar with either STEM or STEAM, what do they mean?

STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics It is a focus on the education of these fields.

STEAM is the same, but with the addition of Art. Quite frankly, I think that art should be incorporated with any good education, especially when talking about technology and engineering. No one wants ugly bridges.

[WiltonJohn]

It's not only about creating beautiful objects....although that is an important aspect. The integration of the A into STEM is also important because what the arts teach a LOT about is critical thinking, problem solving, risk taking, perseverance, giving and taking constructive criticism, collaboration, and that hard-to-quantify "creativity" term.

All of those concepts are needed in the fields of science and engineering. Many companies today are looking for people outside their normal fields of interest holding MFA degrees ..... because of those very attributes that the arts contribute.

Artists tend to color outside the lines .

What would DISNEY be without art?

best,

............john

[azcavalier]

It's not only about creating beautiful objects....although that is an important aspect. The integration of the A into STEM is also important because what the arts teach a LOT about is critical thinking, problem solving, risk taking, perseverance, giving and taking constructive criticism, collaboration, and that hard-to-quantify "creativity" term.

All of those concepts are needed in the fields of science and engineering. Many companies today are looking for people outside their normal fields of interest holding MFA degrees ..... because of those very attributes that the arts contribute.

Artists tend to color outside the lines .

What would DISNEY be without art?

best,

............john

AMEN. Without art, we'd have no Imagineers.

[crltkcagle]

Couldn't agree more!

For the life of me - I don't understand the close it with nothing to replace it mentality that seems to be driving WDW. It's a huge area in the front of the park - and for them to simply close it with no plans on what to do with it (Which is exactly what I heard) is poor planning at best. It's not like they didn't know the contracts were coming up end of life....

We've talked about it many times on the podcast - there really needs to be a 2020 plan for Epcot that re-evaluates the park as a whole and what needs to be done to get it back to the greatness it once was...

[Kenny1113]

This is so sad. Epcot is our favorite park(all of us, even my kids have loved Epcot since they were little). So sad that they are moving away from the science/learning aspect.

[Lizzy]

A park, even just a section of a park like Future world used to be, dedicated to hands on learning and inventing is exactly what my kids want. They want to get in and play with things. Everything can't be a show or a ride through show. They want to touch and learn.

My DD were there a couple weekends ago and the entrance to Innoventions by the Land has a row of PS3 games set up. It was a nice place to cool off but even a couple of those games were not working right.

[MNNHFLTX]

My son has always loved Innoventions and spent many hours there during our day trips to WDW when we lived in Florida. Even as an adult he wanted to spend some time there on our last trip in March, and now I'm glad we did. I don't know that I think it's lack of appreciation for the sciences that led to Disney not recruiting new exhibits for the West hall. I think it's more likely that they haven't figured out how to utilize the space for maximum profit value (who wants to bet on a Mouse Gear West?) Sorry, I'm a bit jaded about these things. Seems like most "empty" space at Disney World either becomes a gift shop or meet-and-greet these days. I, too, would love for TPTB to re-evaluate the direction that Epcot is going and get back it's original vision.

[ANG]

We are so incredibly bummed they closed it. It was THE best spot in Epcot to cool off with our kids. They could safely run around some. We could bring the strollers in there. And you could eat in there. The Piggy game was also a favorite but we appreciated the actual space more than anything.

[NJGIRL]

I don't care what the reasons are that it has been closed. What I do care about is yet another closing of an attraction in a park that is already on the light side for things to do. The attractions that they do have are so over crowded and wait times are crazy. All this while they take a poll of who is willing to pay more money for park admission.

[VWL Mom]

I don't care what the reasons are that it has been closed. What I do care about is yet another closing of an attraction in a park that is already on the light side for things to do. The attractions that they do have are so over crowded and wait times are crazy. All this while they take a poll of who is willing to pay more money for park admission.

Just returned Tuesday from the most disheartening trip ever

[Melanie]

Just returned Tuesday from the most disheartening trip ever

Are you going to do a trip report, Lynn?

[badwolf]

Does anyone remember what exhibits were in this side of Innovations?