PHOTOS - Construction begins alongside demolition at the center of EPCOT

WoundedDreamer12 hours ago

I finally visited the new Future World area (I can't remember the names of the new "lands" so Future World it is... World Celebration is one I think). The star of the show was Epcot's old Communicore east building. By removing the purple paint and adding transparent windows this building was catapulted decades into the future. Besides Spaceship Earth, I think Communicore may be the most timeless building at Epcot. I would not have made that argument years ago. It was only thanks to the subtle improvements that I was able to really begin to value this building. Lots of buildings conceptualized in the late 1970s are not exactly beloved right now. There's a theory that as buildings age they hit a period where they are neither new or historic. They engender neither excitement for the future nor nostalgia for days gone by. It is in that window when buildings face their staunchest criticism and possible destruction. I believe the Communicore east building should fall right in this time period. And yet, the building feels like one of the most "futuristic" buildings in Future World now. I was stunned at how well this building worked. I had seen it years ago during the renovation, but within the complete context of the new Future World it really shines. There's a tasteful simplicity to the sculpted pillars. Compared to some of the new buildings that are much busier, I think most people would prefer the simplicity of the Communicore east building. The architects/imagineers who developed Communicore should be proud. They made a building that stood the test of time. As for the rest of Future World... It's alright. Navigating through the center of the plaza was a little unsettling. It's not that I hated how things looked, but it felt a little off. Future World and World Showcase are all about the grand walkways linking the pavilions together.* It's their bread and butter. The central plaza subverts Epcot's norms and abandons these big walkways. There are dead ends and winding pathways. I think the architects threw that in as a way to contrast with the rest of Epcot. I can sort of see why they did this, but it ultimately was flawed thinking in my view. The central plaza is the exact place where the efficiency of Epcot's circulation methods are most needed! If you're traversing the heart of the park, you don't want to face dead ends or get disoriented. You want to move from point A to point B. Abandoning Epcot's core design language in the core of the park seems like bad strategy. Again, I don't hate how the individual features look, but within context I don't think it works. I think the criticism about the dearth of water is right. A successor to the Fountain of Nations or a water channel like the one that existed in the park's original iteration would have done wonders for the central plaza. Interesting stuff! *Tokyo Disneyland actually had a similar design language in its original park. I find it to be a little bit of a wonky park, mixing the Magic Kingdom and Epcot into one. Of course, many of those original features are being redeveloped.

Bocabear1 day ago

I think a lot of us feel the same way...Lifelong Disney fan, DVC owner...when you start seeing the bizarre changes and flubbed renovations you start to wonder what is going on....and then Universal builds a new park that looks like they are building on the legacy Disney created.... While Disney seems to be dumbing down and value engineering the experiences while continuing to up-charge for everything.... We have reduced the amount of our visits over the past few years... Just too difficult and filled with planning rather than the fun impromptu trips we used to make up there many times a year.... It is becoming not so much fun...

Chef idea Mickey`=1 day ago

Same!

Agent H4 days ago

We were chasing this toon. He had just robbed a bank. We followed him all the way to Epcot And he pushed the wall on my brother! I couldn’t go to Epcot after that until the walls were completely down. It was simply too painful.

MisterPenguin4 days ago

What's up with him? A wall killed his brother. .

Agent H4 days ago

Please no. I hated the walls.

WorldExplorer4 days ago

They've started putting the dance parties at CommuniCore Hall in ads like it's a draw. You know what? I think I preferred the walls. Can we go back to them?

HauntedPirate8 days ago

FWIW, the temporary F&G additions to LwtL are atrocious. 👎

donaldtoo9 days ago

You’d think the rubber tires would keep it cleaner…!!!!! :hilarious: ;)

JoeCamel9 days ago

Forgot to mention the condition of the monorail beam ;)

DreamfinderGuy9 days ago

On the bright side, the fountain lights that go straight into the air are working again

tparris9 days ago

A bunch of the fountain base lights are completely broken once again, some are just off and others are flickering. Also, did they just give up on fixing these two dead sections of the entrance plaza perimeter ribbon lighting? Also, the spotlights in the west legs of SSE have not turned on in over 6 months, the east restroom ribbon lights have been completely off and the west restroom ribbon lights have been a colorful mess for a few weeks now. Not to mention the incorrect colors on the tall pathway lights on the west side. All of these issues and I haven’t even passed fully under SSE yet (which is itself in awful shape lighting wise too). I don’t even have words at this point. I’ve been documenting this stuff for months for what it’s worth, and pretty much none of it has been fixed. The stuff that was fixed lasted at most 2 months before breaking again. 847715847716847717847719847718

Agent H9 days ago

I don’t know about some “raspy girl” but if they make a custom background track then it will 100 percent be its fun to be free.

MisterPenguin10 days ago

When I was there a few weeks ago, it seemed to me the channels that were popped up were because they weren't glued/mortared in. And I'm guessing the reason they weren't sealed in was for continuing toubleshooting.