Orlando Sentinel reports on Epcot’s 25th
The Orlando Sentinel has a story this morning from the ever-present Scott Powers about the upcoming 25th Anniversary of Epcot, which happens October 1. The story talks about Disney’s plans to celebrate the theme park’s milestone, but also the “unofficial” celebrations going on that were put together by fans from all over the Disney internet community.
Many Epcot fans used various Internet forums to criticize Disney for not planning a public marking of the Epcot milestone. The fans also used the Internet to organize private celebrations. As their private arrangements picked up steam this summer, Disney apparently reconsidered its plans.
I think there is a good and bad side to this conclusion. The good side is that Disney may actually be listening to the will of the fans. I understand that a very few select people would actually travel to Epcot for such an occasion, but those select people need to be respected as well. It seems, to some extent, Disney has done that.
The bad side is that one needs to wonder exactly what happened here. Was Disney so blind to their audience’s wishes that they could not recognize the possibility of angering them as much as they did by ignoring the anniversary? Disney does exhaustive market research, but it seems to have failed them miserably in this instance. So now they need to scramble to put together something to save face.
Disney is now planning a public “rededication ceremony” inside Epcot that day that will echo much of the original 1982 dedication. It also will have an exhibit hall dedicated to the park’s first 25 years; a special “IlluminNations” light show at the close of the day; and retro guide maps, restaurant menus and other souvenirs.
But let’s be honest, shall we? I think it is safe to say that if all Disney World official do for the 25th Anniversary of Epcot is take down the infamous wand, the purists would consider it an enormous success.
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