Mouse Extra

As critics hammer away at Disney World’s management with hyperbole about allowing the parks to fall into a decrepit state, we need to take a look at what has been and is going to happen at Epcot.  Recent history is showing us that this park is certainly not wasting away and is getting plenty of attention from Mouse management.

We all know what has already taken place.  In the last few years, Futureworld has been changed.  Wonders of Life has all but closed, and Horizons and The Living Seas have gone for newer and more hip attractions.  But these are the large, high profile changes.  What makes the real difference to addicts are the little things.  If you start putting bits of information together, you’ll start to see that these face-lifts are also the order of the day as the parks 25th anniversary approaches.

The biggest one is currently taking place at the Mexican Pavilion’s El Rio del Tiempo.  As we all know by now, this rehab signals the first official entry of Disney characters to a World Showcase attraction.  Putting aside those ramifications, the attraction was in sore need of a fixing.  The video portions were so old, one half expected an episode of Three’s Company or the Love Boat to flash on the screens next.  Perhaps this rehab will go too far, but I will withhold judgment until I see it for myself.

Turtle Talk has been in need of a bigger facility since the day it opened.  And now it is getting one, but unbelievably people are complaing that it may ruin the “intimate experience” .  How they can know this is beyond me.  More changes to the Seas Pavilion will surely follow the move.  One other change over there is that they have apparently erected a wall between the loading area of the Nemo ride and the rest of the pavilion.  This was a small, but extremely needed fix.  The queue on this ride is one of the finest Imagineering has ever created, but seeing the pavilion right before entering your Clamobile literally wrecked the theme. 

Spaceship Earth is finally getting a new post-show area.  Now, I have no idea if it will be good or not, but just the fact that they are building anything deserves praise.  That area had been left to rot away for years, and Spaceship Earth is one of, if not the most, attended attraction in all of Walt Disney World.  Exiting to a wall was missing a great opportunity to entertain guests.  There has been little information trickling down about what is going here, so keep your eyes peeled.

The film in the Canada pavilion is also scheduled to change this year.  I love this film and will be sad to see it go, but a new Circle-vision production is an exciting prospect.  The Golden Dreams film at the end of the American Adventure show is also scheduled for a short update, and the China pavilion continues to receive exterior upgrades.

Another thing worth noting is that a few World Showcase restaurants are also scheduled to close for some treatment.  Le Cellier, Teppanyaki, and the Rose and Crown are also slated to close for refurbishment.  Le Cellier will only close for a few days, and the Rose and Crown will be closed for couple of weeks.  Teppanyaki, however, is scheduled to be closed for months.  Now these may amount to nothing more than a thorough cleaning, but that is what they all need, and what management has forgotten about for years.

So what does all this mean?  Among other things, it means that time and money is being put into preserving this park and making it look new again.  There is a long way to go, but this is an awful lot going on during one short time frame.  Let’s hope the TLC continues.