The Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival located in the Imagination Pavilion at Epcot will closed for a one week refurbishment next week.
The attraction will be closed starting June 12th and will re-open on June 19, 2017. It is unclear if the films offered will be finally rotated out or if this is just a general refurbishment of the theater.
The films currently offered as part of the attraction include Get a Horse, La Luna, and For the Birds.
General park surveys at Walt Disney World aren’t uncommon, in fact, you’ll see Disney research cast members out and about on the daily recruiting guests to take these upon their return home. Interestingly enough, the general surveys about Epcot that guests are receiving now include a questionnaire about the park’s mascot, Figment.
Figment is a character who dates back to the earliest days of the park and the original Journey Into Imagination attraction, which operated from 1983 until 1998. When the replacement attraction opened in 1999 with little to no Figment (and was also the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life), thousands of guests complained that he was gone (and that the ride was a piece of garbage). The requests were so numerous that Disney was forced to close the attraction only 2 years later and overhaul it to add Figment back in 2002. Sadly, this wasn’t a vast improvement, and now Journey Into Imagination with Figment is just months away from somehow outliving the 15.5 year run of the original attraction, which was often considered the by fans to be the greatest theme park ride ever built.
Of course, Bob Chapek officially announced that Disney Imagineers are hard at work at a plan to conduct a massive overhaul of the park, one that would likely include a replacement or update of the current Imagination pavilion, home to Figment. Sadly, it seems as though Figment could find himself without an attraction again if he doesn’t prove that he is still relevant to most park guests. Rumors have persisted that an IP-based attraction will replace the Imagination pavilion, but we won’t know for sure until Disney makes some sort of announcement, possibly at the D23 Expo in July.
What do you think? Does Figment need to have a ride at Epcot, or can he just be the park’s mascot?
Our latest photo report brings us to Epcot between events, as the Festival of the Arts moves out for the topiaries and food booths of the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival 2017…
The security procedures here were improved, adding a second metal detector, so now there is one for each line.
A monorail ride in shows the departure of the Festival of the Arts and the arrival of the Flower and Garden Festival.
A moral stand just above the flower beds, marking the quick transition between the two seasonal events.
It also isn’t often that you see one hour lines for the attraction…
MouseGear
A lot of merchandise in MouseGear has moved around again. Candy and snacks have mostly moved to the Innoventions side of the store.
Some new summer housewares.
Some new mugs for sale inside MouseGear.
These gian Winnie the Pooh character mugs retail at $19.99 each.
Candy Peal Pinwheels can now be found for sale at most locations. Several different versions are available including Toy Story, Dumbo, Cars, and Mickey Mouse.
Our latest photo report brings us to Epcot for the Festival of the Arts, new merchandise, and more!
It’s a Zoo Out There
A slew of new open edition pins were released recently, including Zootopia and compact mirror designs.
There is no actual mirror in these pins, but the silver works sort of like one. I don’t know, these seem kind of dumb to me…
This one actually has a mirror, which makes sense.
The last piece of history pin for 2016 was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, so I had to have it.
It has been out for a few weeks now, but the new Mickey Mouse Bubble Glow Wand is proving popular with guests.
And now, some ducks.
Security at the Speed of a Sloth
Since December, the security screening at Epcot has been a disaster, with everyone going through the metal detectors. Guests with bags now have their bag inspected while they go through the detector, which is some cases takes 1-2 minutes per guest. I hate to say this, but the Universal Orlando process where bags go through a screening machine (I believe Disneyland Paris has this as well) works a million times better than this. Safety is obviously important, but it shouldn’t take anyone 30 minutes to get into a park.
Epcot turnstiles are often mess as well, as never quite enough seem to be open at peak times. The annual pass holder entry lines are a mixed bag, more often than not being longer that the regular lines, especially in January.
Here is the line for guests with bags to go through security from another day.
And here is an annual pass holder entry line on a Festival of the Arts weekend…
Around Our World
Work continues on Choza Tequila outside of the Mexico pavilion, which will open sometime this year.
A new group called Wies N Buam is now performing in the Germany pavilion at Epcot.
The new Dixie napkin holders are suddenly appearing everywhere around the resort.
I finally decided to try to the flavored popcorn at the cart by Imagination! on a recent visit to the park.
I ordered the Buffalo Bleu Cheese…
It was really great, I will be back for more!
Someone I was meeting up with said they would be there in 45 minutes, so I wanted to waste 45 minutes…
WHAT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES, BOB?
It was about 30 degrees outside and these were on…
The Epcot International Festival of the Arts is home to two art exhibits that celebrate two of the most famous and influential Disney artists of all-time, Mary Blair and Herbert Ryman.
The festival certainly has a lot of offerings which I would consider to be pandering to Disney fans, and art exhibits featuring these two artists certainly fit that bill. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am overjoyed to see the work of Blair and Ryman on display, but it almost feels like a desperate attempt to draw in more annual passholders at the inaugural Festival of the Arts, especially after seeing just how small the two exhibits are.
For as small as they are, I appreciate the effort, but I hope (should the festival return in 2018) that these types of exhibits will be expanded into a larger space next year. For now, they are relegated to rather small areas of the Odyssey Festival Showplace, on the left and right sides of the seminar area.
The exhibits are open Friday-Monday now through February 20th, 2017 as part of the Epcot International Festival of the Arts.
The Future Worlds of Herbert Ryman
The Future Worlds of Herbert Ryman – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
The Future Worlds of Herbert Ryman – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
The Future Worlds of Herbert Ryman – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
The Future Worlds of Herbert Ryman – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
The Future Worlds of Herbert Ryman – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
The Future Worlds of Herbert Ryman – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
The Future Worlds of Herbert Ryman – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
The Future Worlds of Herbert Ryman – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
South of the Border with Mary Blair
South of the Border with Mary Blair – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
South of the Border with Mary Blair – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
South of the Border with Mary Blair – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
South of the Border with Mary Blair – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
South of the Border with Mary Blair – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
South of the Border with Mary Blair – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
South of the Border with Mary Blair – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
South of the Border with Mary Blair – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
South of the Border with Mary Blair – Epcot International Festival of the Arts
While it was open during the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, The Odyssey at Epcot will now be open during the holiday season selling a variety of craft beers from around the world.
The location will be open select days between now and December 30, 2016. The Odyssey will not be open on November 24, December 1st, 2nd, 8th, and 29th.
I don’t often freak out about tiny new meet and greet experiences at the park, but the new Disney VISA Cardholder exclusive spot at Epcot is pretty sweet.
The new location under wraps a few weeks ago.
The space once occupied by “Figment’s Place” some years ago is now the home for the spot, with the Innoventions location closing forever last Thursday. With the closure, guests can no longer enter what was Innoventions West, other than the Baymax and Inside Out meet and greet experiences that are considered part of the Epcot Character Spot.
The former Disney VISA meet and greet location, now shuttered.
The new locations is nestled on the patio of the Imagination pavilion, just behind the waterfall and jumping fountains, right next door to the entrance of the Disney & PIXAR Short Film Festival.
Some helpful planning information: don’t visit this early. The meet and greet is open only to Disney VISA card members from 1PM to 7PM daily. When we first went at 2pm, there was a 30 minute wait to meet Mickey and Goofy. When we returned at 5:30PM, we were the only people other than the cast members and characters in the building.
The interior is gorgeous. If you have time, please check out the video walkthrough below (featuring a pretty cute interaction with Mickey and Goofy):
While the space isn’t very big, the queue utilizes what little space it has quite well. It may be a character experience, but it is one of the things that in the park that most embodies what Future World is (as far as design goes).
These colorful Spaceship Earth panels will play music when you hold your hand to them. It’s very subtle, but similarly to the Stepping Tones inside of the ImageWorks, another instrument will kick-in as you touch them.
These mirror effects are simple, but very effective and fit the theme nicely.
Icons of Future World decorate the flat walls in the experience.
Guests then wait here until they are taken to meet Mickey and Goofy.
The new Disney VISA card member meet at greet at Epcot is a vast improvement over the original space and is sure to bring a smile to average guests and hardcore EPCOT Center fans alike.
The plot is thickening for the rumored Epcot “Guardians of the Galaxy” attraction. Long time Disney roller coaster manufacturer Vekoma is now building a test track that may be the earliest version of a new coaster ride system that would replace the Universe of Energy.
A Guardians of the Galaxy themed roller coaster ride is rumored to replace Epcot’s Universe of Energy.
Vekoma has in many ways been the coaster manufacturer of choice for the Walt Disney Company over the last 25 years, producing the ride systems for The Barnstormer, Big Grizzly Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, and many more.
Photos from a Vekoma fan show a Vekoma test site with a strange coaster test track being erected. The following photos were posted by user MrRC:
But why do we think this could be related to the Epcot Guardians of the Galaxy ride? An interesting Disney patent form a few years back looks like it may tie-in to this very design, featuring a unique load system and track for a suspended, “flying” roller coaster:
A ride system for giving passengers a flying roller coaster experience. The ride system includes a train of vehicles, with each of the vehicles including seat assemblies that each has a seat and seat back for receiving a passenger. The vehicles are supported by the track to roll along a length of the track, and the ride path is adapted for gravity-based movement of the train of vehicles in at least portions of the ride path. The track includes a vertical segment, and the ride system includes a station including a platform assembly with horizontal platforms vertically spaced-apart to provide multi-level loading. The train is positioned on the vertical segment with each of the vehicles proximate to an end of one of the horizontal platforms. The seat backs are substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the track to provide vertical loading and, then, vertical launching from the station.
Does this patent and the Vekoma test track mean anything? That is the real question. Disney seems like a likely customer for an experimental ride system like this, especially considering Vekoma and Disney worked together on building a whole-new sort of vehicle for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train together.
The track in the patent and what is being built at the Vekoma test site are eerily similar. The Disney patent is for a sideways loading roller coaster and Vekoma is building what looks to be a sideways loading flying coaster track. It is an awfully big coincidence if not related.
The Living Seas name may have gone away 10 years ago, but it lives on in a secluded space inside of the Seas with Nemo and Friends pavilion at Epcot. Through a set of nondescript doors near the entrance to the Coral Reef Restaurant, lies the passageway to an exclusive lounge, now only open to private events.
The Living Seas private lounge
The lounge, like many others, was incorporated into the design of the original pavilion to host the sponsor company of the pavilion, which is 1986 was United Technologies.
The Living Seas private lounge
The lounge offers grand views into the main aquarium, possibly my favorite views of the tank I have ever experienced, but the views of the old ride tunnels and the large observation area ccross the way might have something to do with that.
The Living Seas private lounge
The interior of the lounge itself doesn’t scream “The Living Seas” to me, but it is a pleasant atmosphere regardless thanks to the big open windows into the tank.
The Living Seas private lounge
You can see the original windows from the old ride clearly from here. These were of course covered when the ride was converted into the Seas with Nemo and Friends in 2006.
The Living Seas private lounge
The Living Seas private lounge
The clear piano is likely the most memorable piece inside of the lounge, often the subject matter of most guest pictures from inside of the space. The other options are strange metal fish, so this wasn’t much of a competition.
We also have a quick video tour of the space:
I don’t know about you, but this is one of my favorite private event spaces in all of Walt Disney World. If you get the chance to rent this space or attend an event here, do it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go listen to the old Seabase Alpha music loop on repeat…
I wish I had better news, but it seems the replacement of the Universe of Energy at Epcot in favor of a “Guardians of the Galaxy” ride is indeed imminent. Today, we are finding out more about what exactly guests may find instead of a slow-moving ride through Dinosaurs and film clips when the blockbuster MARVEL property breaks into the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (if that even still means that anymore).
Guardians of the Galaxy
Rumor has it that the Guardians of the Galaxy ride at Epcot will be a roller coaster attraction. This attraction would already be historic as it would be the first Future World attraction to break way from the fundamental “edutainment” theme the park has had for nearly 35 years now. However, it could now be an even more profound statement as it would be the very first roller coaster in the park’s history and only the 6th ride that could be categorized under “thrill”.
Apparently the ride would feature both elaborate scenes and a long roller coaster portion, very similar to the rumored plans for a Captain America roller coaster once-slated for the new land at Disney California Adventure. The existing Universe of Energy building and attraction would be demolished.
The one interesting wrinkle is that the words “MARVEL” nor “Guardians of the Galaxy” appear in any renderings of the attraction that exist so far. This is of course a product of the legal restrictions still in place on Walt Disney World by the parameters of the MARVEL/Universal Studios theme park deal.
Sources seem convinced that this attraction will be announced before the end of 2016, possibly by Bob Chapek at the upcoming Destination D event at Walt Disney World. With that being said, it does sound like the project has been approved and will be moving forward barring any unseen problems.
