Motley Fool: Epcot will be Disney's Least Visited Park by 2020

[John]

Interesting article in the Motley Fool:

Below is an excerpt...

As bad as the situation may be at Animal Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios, Epcot is the one that has struggled the most. Every other Disney World park -- and Comcast's two Universal Orlando theme parks -- is growing in the double digits.

Epcot has an identity problem. The park traces its roots to Walt Disney's vision of a planned community, but that is not what the park turned out to be. It's a park that's always trying to manage the delicate balance between edutainment in the front of the park and foodie-centric country pavilions in the back. It's a beautiful park, but it's lacking in the personality department. There's no shortage of people who love the park, but the attendance numbers don't lie.


The near-term plan to spruce up Epcot isn't very exciting. It's adding a new theater to expand the capacity of its popular Soarin' attraction, and it's changing up the video to feature the entire world instead of just California. There's also a Frozen boat ride opening next year, but let's face it: Even your Anna- and Elsa-loving daughter has been over Frozen for a few months now.

This echoes my commentary here on the boards and in our INTERCOT Insider Podcast - that Epcot is in dire need of a rethinking and can't just be the food and wine, flower and garden park.

Thoughts? I could go attraction by attraction but that would just be depressing.

[Dulcee]

I agree EPCOT needs a facelift and another major attraction. We still spend equal time there compared to Magic kingdom though.

And,
I am faaaaar from a frozen fan but I can tell you just based on trick or treaters alone no one's kids are over their frozen fever yet, nor do I think they will be anytime soon. My hunch is Epcot is going to be crowded big time when the frozen ride finally debuts.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I love Epcot, but it is so lacking. It needs some love, and I'm hopeful that once DHS is up and running, they will turn attention (and money) to Epcot. There is so much space, and so many empty buildings, so much could be done.

[dnickels]

If it wasn't for the Food & Wine or Flower & Garden (which has become a mini Food & Wine) festivals, Epcot would already be a ghost town.

Frozen will help bring in crowds.... to that one ride, but I can't foresee that being a long-term solution to attendance at the park. I go to Epcot frequently because I have friends who work there, and there are parts of it I still really enjoy but I just don't know where the park is going to be in another 5 or 10 or 20 years. I doubt we'll see a return to a science / education / technology oriented Future World because your average tourist wants to be entertained, not educated.

[PopPhan]

Future World is in dire need of some Imaginearing love. Consider, Odyssey sits empty 90% of the time; Wonders of Life pavilion empty 75% of the time (at least); Universe of Energy and Imagination pavilions need to be brought up into the 21st century; Mission Space is nowhere near the draw it was expected to be -- to intense for a lot of people, not intense enough for the thrill seekers -- and is not one that you want/need to ride multiple times in a visit; Land pavilion: Circle of Life needs updated; Living With the Land could do with an update to the first part and some better, more upbeat banter to the second part; The Seas pavilion: Nemo ride is a one and done, and I'm not talkling per visit; Turtle Time w/Crush is cute and I will do this on every visit; The rest of the pavilion needs something to draw people in; Spaceship Earth needs to have the second half finished -- Replace the black walls with "infinity lights" to represent the things that you are picking on the vehicle screens, just to add a little interest.

I am sure that this is much more to touch on, but those are what scream at me on every visit.

I won't even get more than started with World Showcase, other than to say that a lot of updates could/should be made -- and NOT along the lines of Frozen, Aladdin, or any other Disney or Pixar property.

[BrerGnat]

I doubt we'll see a return to a science / education / technology oriented Future World because your average tourist wants to be entertained, not educated.

I hear what you are saying, but I think now is the perfect time for Epcot to go back to its "roots." With the heavy focus on STEM education right now, it is a great time for Epcot to showcase emerging technologies. There is SO much going on with science and technology that impacts our daily lives...Epcot needs to refocus on THAT aspect of it...people actually instinctively seek to learn throughout their lives. If it is presented in an engaging way, and in a way that shows why it is important to us every day, it can be very successful.

[Speedy1998]

IMHO, they should start by adding new countries.

After they get a new countries in there I think they should look at updating what they have. Use, update or replace the Odyssey, Wonders of life, etc. Also go back and revisit the current countries. In the original plans both Germany and Japan were supposed to have attractions, it would be great if they actually built those attractions (well updated versions of the ones in the original plans).

[Tekneek]

I have been saying this for some time. No matter how much people may love Frozen, it seems unlikely that will be a huge draw in 4 1/2 years, especially if the rest of the park continues to wither away. If they wanted to do this right, they'd have Future World in the hands of people with connections to the leading edge of technology and futurists. They'd place World Showcase in the hands of people with connections to global culture and business leaders from around the world. It doesn't necessarily have to require a lot of money, but it does require that they stop trying to run it like a second Magic Kingdom.

[DonaldDuck1117]

What they should do is drop the whole education theme. It wasn't popular back when it opened and it's not popular now. They should shift the theme of Future World to invention and creativity, wonder, and inspiration. That would open up a whole new path of attractions (Soarin is already a great example of this).

Scrap Universe of Energy and Wonders of Life and put in attractions that showcase/celebrate the Earth, or the society around us.

World of showcase keep the characters coming. Add The Remy ride from Disneyland Paris to the France Pavilion. If there is room (I haven't looked at the google map in a while) add an Aladdin attraction to Morocco. Add a whole new country over where the Africa outpost is. Australia would be great. Add a game restaurant and add another E-Ticket ride. Finally add a Spider Man like attraction from Universal to Disney property.

I'm hoping the Frozen ride is bonkers popular (which it will be) and that will lead Disney management to make similar changes to Epcot.

[Dulcee]

What they should do is drop the whole education theme. It wasn't popular back when it opened and it's not popular now. They should shift the theme of Future World to invention and creativity, wonder, and inspiration. That would open up a whole new path of attractions (Soarin is already a great example of this).

I would be so sad to see them do that. One thing that makes EPCOT unique is its focus on education. I think there are still many innovative ways to integrate education and entertainment.

[Tekneek]

I would be so sad to see them do that. One thing that makes EPCOT unique is its focus on education. I think there are still many innovative ways to integrate education and entertainment.

Although doing that would be in line with the way current management thinks and operates. I've felt like they have dumbed down the products/services and been extremely predictable in recent years, to the apparently great delight of many people. Some people have found success by giving people what they did not know they wanted, but apparently there is still a lot of money to be made by giving them exactly what they expect and not challenging them in any meaningful way.

[John]

Future World is in dire need of some Imaginearing love. Consider, Odyssey sits empty 90% of the time; Wonders of Life pavilion empty 75% of the time (at least); Universe of Energy and Imagination pavilions need to be brought up into the 21st century; Mission Space is nowhere near the draw it was expected to be -- to intense for a lot of people, not intense enough for the thrill seekers -- and is not one that you want/need to ride multiple times in a visit; Land pavilion: Circle of Life needs updated; Living With the Land could do with an update to the first part and some better, more upbeat banter to the second part; The Seas pavilion: Nemo ride is a one and done, and I'm not talkling per visit; Turtle Time w/Crush is cute and I will do this on every visit; The rest of the pavilion needs something to draw people in; Spaceship Earth needs to have the second half finished -- Replace the black walls with "infinity lights" to represent the things that you are picking on the vehicle screens, just to add a little interest.

I am sure that this is much more to touch on, but those are what scream at me on every visit.

I won't even get more than started with World Showcase, other than to say that a lot of updates could/should be made -- and NOT along the lines of Frozen, Aladdin, or any other Disney or Pixar property.

I'm quite certain you either channeled me or cut and paste one of my previous posts. Feel like I could have written this - or did write this. Bravo

[PopPhan]

I certainly hope that I did not plagiarize your work, John. If I did, it was purely inadvertent.

[Terra]

Meh, I guess I'm one of those sell out, Disney does not wrong "dumbed-down" peeps. I very much STILL enjoy EPCOT after going for the last 16 years [at least once a month!].
Sure it could use a few things, but I still love it and just get lost in the magic every time I'm there!
To each their own I suppose And if it's going to be the least visited park eventually then hey, shorter lines for me!
We also adore AK ourselves. So much to do there! We can never fit it all in. I think we're going in the next couple of weeks for my oldest son's 9th birthday! It's a great park for him because of his bleeding disorder and inability to ride any "thrill" rides. So he loves the animal/nature part of it all.

[DisneyGiant]

I used to be able to spend a whole day in Innoventions alone. Now it is a sad graveyard of what was.

We only go into Epcot now for these things:

• Soarin'
• Test Track
• Spaceship Earth
• Countries to eat: Via Napoli, Rose & Crown

Sad state of affairs. And FP+ makes me pick three attractions - two of which I don't need a FP for.

It really needs major fixing. But I think the DHS fixes will bring more people in (Star Wars & Toy Story) - so I can see how that park got all the $$$ for the re-imaging.

I can only hope that Epcot is next.

[Dulcee]

Meh, I guess I'm one of those sell out, Disney does not wrong "dumbed-down" peeps. I very much STILL enjoy EPCOT after going for the last 16 years [at least once a month!].
Sure it could use a few things, but I still love it and just get lost in the magic every time I'm there!
To each their own I suppose And if it's going to be the least visited park eventually then hey, shorter lines for me!
We also adore AK ourselves. So much to do there! We can never fit it all in. I think we're going in the next couple of weeks for my oldest son's 9th birthday! It's a great park for him because of his bleeding disorder and inability to ride any "thrill" rides. So he loves the animal/nature part of it all.

We love it too! We easily spend 2 full days there on our trips.

[baldburke]

We tend to go at least two days too on a full week because there is so much land to cover. Future World suffers just like Tomorrow Land in that they are history before they even start and they'll never really be ahead of the curve. With that said I think Tomorrow Land has found a nice balance of kitsch and fun.

Future World has some of the workings of that but still needs a little help. Test Track and Soarin' still draw the crowds. Mission Space and Nemo/Living Seas are a toss up. Not must do attractions, but nice to do every now and again. Ellen's Energy Adventure and Living with the Land are great ways too cool down. We still always find time to do Spaceship Earth every visit.

It would be great to see Apple ante up with a great Disney/Pixar tie in based on their roots and earlier ties with some sort of attraction that people could interact with their iPhones and/or iPads to be part of the experience.

[Crow]

it does need work. i spend a few days here, but all areas need help. more countries,( I was trying to explain to my gf how there was room for so many more but she didnt see how there could be) updated areas..and w Soarin closed for 6 months...there was a rumored rehab for Journey into Imagination but I havent seen that come around. I was just in Odyssey during F&W fest..briefly for a beer. F&W was busy. need more than some shops in some of the countries. Hire me for some ideas....and not Froxen..

[Mendelson]

Like many of you, we spend a lot of time there (and with my son just turning five, I suppose I have a couple years left before he starts to complain about how much time we spend there) but for the average first-time family coming in, it's hard to imagine they'd walk out at the end of the day (or at 3pm) giving it a high rating on the "Wow" scale.

And for the uber-Amurcan folks who have no time for those farners in the World Showcase (my parents fall into this category*) and just want rides, they must be incredibly underwhelmed by this park.


*On our first trip when I was 12 we didn't even venture into the World Showcase. Granted, there was more to do in FW at that time (1986) but years later, on my first trip as an adult, I was stunned at how much we'd missed!

[Hammer]

My sister and I just returned from WDW. We spent 3 days in Epcot (and a quick trip over on Friday to eat lunch at the Rose and Crown), but that was so we could break up our eating/drinking at Food and Wine and enjoy everything, with rides interspersed.

Definitely agree that Future World needs updating. The problem I see is that Disney management thought that they would have stronger corporate sponsorship which would provide the finances to keep the pavilions current. What happened is businesses stop spending large amounts of money on corporate sponsorship or rides/stadiums/etc.

I also think they should find a way to latch on to the STEM wave, but again, that would require a constant flow of funds to keep it relevant. I would love to see additional countries, but in today's global political quagmire, it would be difficult to find a way to work through the bureaucracy.

With all that said, I suspect WDW management will concentrate on Epcot once they fix the mess that is Hollywood Studios. At least, that is my hope.