Rumor? Seas and The Land closing?

[paradesintherain]

I have wondered about the sustainability of The Seas... an aquarium of that size must be outrageously expensive and then there’s the question of “should dolphins and other marine mammals be in captivity at all?” I could see, and would not be too devastated by some big changes coming to The Seas.

But if anything happens to Living with the Land....

 

[tlmadden73]

Sadly, that's exactly how I summed it up during my 2017 50th birthday trip (my first visit since 1986 when it was still relatively new). I was shocked by the decline of what had once been my favorite park. It was depressing walking through the first half of this giant park, past so many closed and empty buildings or ones cheaply repurposed as character meet & greets. I struggle to understand how the Disney leaders let it get this bad in the first place.

Especially since Epcot is SOOO spread out -- it feels even more of a ghost town when it takes 5-10 minutes to get from one attraction to the next while passing by empty buildings.

They let it get this bad because the festivals were drawing in crowds AND making money. I mean . it is a corporate dream to charge people a $100 cover charge to come in and then PAY to eat/drink. Festivals like this (though much shorter) are popular all across the world. This one just happens to be in a theme park.

Rides dont make them short-term sales like putting up a new food booth.

The festivals (as much as a lot of people like them) ... killed any need for innovation at Epcot until recently when they felt the need to capitalize on the Frozen fever.

This makes ALL the changes they have announced very exciting for the park, though it will take a LONG time to get there.

 

[sachilles]

I feel like this is one of the ones with just a little bit of truth in it.
I'm guessing we'll see fully renovated and partially modified pavilions.
Certainly is a good argument to move the live creatures to Animal Kingdom, possibly rafiki's area.
That being said didn't the ecpot announcement suggest some sort of water trail to that pavilion?

 

[umichigan10]

Sadly, that's exactly how I summed it up during my 2017 50th birthday trip (my first visit since 1986 when it was still relatively new). I was shocked by the decline of what had once been my favorite park. It was depressing walking through the first half of this giant park, past so many closed and empty buildings or ones cheaply repurposed as character meet & greets. I struggle to understand how the Disney leaders let it get this bad in the first place.

It’s gotten to this point due to simple neglect and lack of vision. And as another poster said, distracting people with festivals and such.

It was a property wide issue though that’s now being addressed with all these additions. I mean, up until 5 or so years ago people were riding the backlot tour through an abandoned movie studio. And animal kingdom was closing daily at 5 o’clock

 

[AggieDizzer]

I used to love The Land, it was my favorite pavilion back in the day - but now it's pretty sad IMO. The balloons don't work (anyone else remember when they would go up & down?), the carpet is threadbare, and the place just reeks of 1988. It always seems dirty to me. Even Living With The Land, while a great way to get out of the heat, seems pretty dirty and dingy these days. The Seas is OK but hardly a draw. I do like the aquarium. I will miss these pavilions but, much like Horizons, Universe of Energy, the OG Journey Into Imagination, and Wonders of Life Pavilion, they're relics of a bygone Epcot era. If they can't fix them, they should rebuild.

I hope they keep the environmental/educational focus though and don't beat us over the head with a bombastic new E-ticket Marvel ride....

 

[JimmyBean42]

I'd be okay with some refurbishment / blow-up to the Land if it means a more easily accessible entrance to Soarin'.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Ohhhhh no, I hope this doesn’t happen. I love Living with the Land.

And, I have also grown to love Nemo’s presence at The Seas (even though I still miss the hydrolators!) Nemo is so cute, and my kids just love it. In January, we rode it 3 times in a row with my 2 year old. We’d walk off and he’d say “Again! Again!” He walked around the rest of the day saying “Neeeeemo, where are you?” Now I have an emotional attachment to it.

I am not opposed to change. I loved Maelstrom and cried actual tears when it closed. I wasn’t looking forward to the Frozen replacement, but tried to keep an open mind. I actually really like FEA and it’s a must do for us. In the back of my mind, I still miss Maelstrom, but I really enjoy FEA.

I’m just afraid of what they’d do here and I hate to see more of classic Epcot bite the dust.

Can we just get get a mega Epcot throwback pavilion already? Horizons, World of Motion, Cranium Command, etc.? No? Is this asking too much?

 

[hertamaniac]

It is long overdue. One of the most disappointing meals I've had on property was at Seas. Now, I wonder if this latest rumor will be adjoined with the resort on that side of the park.

 

[jbish]

Count me in the category of "Love Living with the Land." I hope the long-term plans for Epcot maintains the "edutainment" aspect that used to define this park. Otherwise, if we're just going to throw out the old attractions and replace them with more IP fun rides, then it's just DHS with festivals. I really think that having a distinct identity for each of the four main parks is important and sets WDW apart from a random amusement park.

 

[useakiss]

I remember when "The Seas" first opened and how it blew me away (a dream come true to see tanks that big!). However, now there are cities all across the nation that have better and more modern aquariums (The National Aquarium in Baltimore is a day trip for me) that made the Disney one look outdated and dingy. Also, there's literally nowhere to just sit and enjoy watching them, which is a major flaw, IMO. Yes, there's the restaurant, but even that's got limited good views and expensive and exclusive to boot. I've loved aquariums since I was a child--dreaming of swimming in there with all the fish--and it just didn't feel as good as I remembered it.

 

[jimthedj]

"Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future.” -Walt Disney

As a former cast member and Imagineer in the early '80s, I know first hand about the inner working are of these kinds of things. It's all about who's running the company and their mission.

Back at the opening of Epcot, it was Michael Eisner. He wanted to Attract more adults to Disney. He opened Pleasure Island and because the internet didn't exist and if they wanted to look something up they went to encyclopedias rides were all educational. They were interesting to Adults. And they were popular... then.
Now it's Bob Iger and we have the internet. Don't need to get information because we are deluged with it every day or can just look it up. We want to be entertained, and Bob wants everything to be Kid-friendly, back to Walt's core theme park values. "We believed in our idea - a family park where parents and children could have fun- together" - Walt Disney

So Bob's long term mission is to put Intelectual Property everywhere it can be put and make everything kid-friendly. It's not a secret. And they are doing it. After demoing CommuniCore (which is already confirmed) The Land, The Seas pavilions and Space Ship Earth will the last to get updated/replaced. So this rumor is consistent with the one about the massive Space Ship Earth overhaul that is rumored to happen after the 50th anniversary, with even a possible ride vehicle replacement. The key to the what and when will be how will they modify it or what will they replace it with that is roughly still the same theme to make it BETTER. Until then it will remain the same.

Something that I find really interesting though is those two pavilions are located very close to where the new resort at the entrance of Epcot is supposed to go. I thought it was weird that the placement was by the west side of the main entrance, now it makes sense. (There are already permits and clearing land) May be nothing, but who knows.

The one thing I will say is that again WDI will only replace something with something BETTER. A LOT better. Look at Fantasyland, Wishes, Disney Studios expansion, things going on in Epcot already, all exciting and BETTER changes.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE those rides. I personally worked on all three of them. But to go with the new times and new Epcot theme they are going to have to be significantly updated or even replaced and it is a 100% chance of happening... eventually.

 

[jimthedj]

--dreaming of swimming in there with all the fish.

Live your dream. disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/epcot/epcot-divequest/

 

[OSUZorba]

My reaction would really depend on what they plan on replacing them with... I enjoy The land and sea, but if it's something cool, I'm okay with them going. If it's more marvel, I may riot lol

Mission Space part 2...

 

[Mr. Mickey]

I feel like this is one of the ones with just a little bit of truth in it.
I'm guessing we'll see fully renovated and partially modified pavilions.
Certainly is a good argument to move the live creatures to Animal Kingdom, possibly rafiki's area.
That being said didn't the ecpot announcement suggest some sort of water trail to that pavilion?

Shoe completely impractical for many reasons, I really like the idea of shipping the aquarium and everything to AK and freeing up some new real estate for Epcot.

 

[BorderTenny]

The one thing I will say is that again WDI will only replace something with something BETTER. A LOT better. Look at Fantasyland, Wishes, Disney Studios expansion, things going on in Epcot already, all exciting and BETTER changes.

Well, I look at Future World and find your assertion is false. Horizons was far superior to Mission Space. Test Track took all the fun out of being free. Shoehorning Ellen and Bill Nye into Universe of Energy was just an abomination, so Guardians should be an improvement, although much less family friendly. And let's not even get started on that little ride in the Imagination pavilion.

 

[pahoben]

We are pretty flexible on bulldozing if they bring back Figment!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Well, I look at Future World and find your assertion is false. Horizons was far superior to Mission Space. Test Track took all the fun out of being free. Shoehorning Ellen and Bill Nye into Universe of Energy was just an abomination, so Guardians should be an improvement, although much less family friendly. And let's not even get started on that little ride in the Imagination pavilion.

Plus every time they have touched Imagination it has become worse than the original

I will say it seems like new attrations in the last, say, decade have largely been pretty solid - so I will try to be optimistic but also mindful or past missteps

 

[ChrisFL]

FWIW, I put a 5% chance of this happening.

 

[Fantasia79]

The cultural and educational aspect of EPCOT is what draws me there, really disappointed if this rumor was being considered.

 

[Doug M]

Brazil is still very much active rumor, afterall how else can we get a all you can eat Brazilian Steak House at WDW?

For a low price of $400 pp. I mean our local one can run 100pp but frequent groupons get it to 50pp.