Re-imagining EPCOT's Entrance
The redesign of the main entrance area of EPCOT was announced at the D23 expo in 2017. Now, we are seeing the related construction and closures.
The Leave a Legacy monoliths that were installed to celebrate the millennium back in 1999 will be removed. The new vision looks a lot like what the entrance looked like before 1999, and this excites us!
This is all part of an EPCOT makeover that will last well into 2021. The makeover also includes a redesign of the main corridor between Futureworld and World Showcase.
What that means is for now, there are some closures to be aware of. Basically the stores, services, and fountains in the entrance plaza and behind the geosphere along the main corridor leading to World Showcase will be temporarily closed beginning in September 2019.
However, not only do we gain a greener, wider entrance plaza, but there are also some other amazing plans that are part of this makeover:
A Ratatouille themed ride in the France pavilion (like the one at Disneyland)
A Beauty and the Beast sing-along, also in the France pavilion
A Guardians of the Galaxy ride that is being billed as a "storytelling rollercoaster" in the old Energy pavilion
The old Wonders of Life pavilion will be re-opened as a Play pavilion which is being described as an interactive city of games, hands on experiences, and character greetings
Redo of the O'Canada circlevision video
Is EPCOT losing its original vision? The original concept... well, actually the second original concept and the one that was originally built... was that it would be like a World's Fair. So it made sense to the left side of the geosphere to have pavilions about sciences such as the Energy pavilion, the Wonders of Life Pavilion, the World of Motion, etc. To the right we had the pavilions about the Seas, the Land, and Imagination.
Now it seems while the Seas and the Land are going strong, other pavilions have moved away from that concept and more toward what rides are going to be popular and what intellectual property does Disney own that will draw big crowds. On the other hand, these things draw crowds for a reason so while I might think Guardians of the Galaxy has no rightful place in EPCOT, the concept art is making me very excited. And yes, I'm going to ride it when it opens.
The above picture is the concept art for the Guardians ride vehicle. I am excited about this. I'm excited for the soundtrack. I'm excited to learn what a "storytelling coaster" is.
And even the Play pavilion, which I have trouble imagining as anything other than another Innoventions looks really cool in concept.
(I love how the kid in the middle is going bonanza)
So I approach this redo with tentative excitement. I'm ready for the monoliths to be gone, that's for sure. I hated them when they were installed. We'll just have to see how commercial the rest of EPCOT feels when these other updates take place. I hope it never loses its sense as a place of education and science.
What do you think about the EPCOT re-imagining? What are you excited for and what are you not so excited about? Share in the comments or on our Facebook page. And if you like us, share our site with a friend.
