Future World: Lost And Abandoned

We've all seen it, we all share the same sense of grief and pain at the sight of it, and we all know the tragic loss of something we all hold dear to our hearts.  It is the death of a Disney World attraction.  No one wants to see an attraction demolished, as many of them are dear to our hearts, and mean so much to so many people from all over the world.

This being the notable exception.

As we tour EPCOT Center, we can see that very few of the attractions have remained untouched since their opening.  You can literally count them on your fingers: Impressions De France, Maelstrom, and that's about it.  Reflections Of China had a minor tweak, and O Canada had a major reworking of the show, and the less we can talk about the boat ride in Mexico, the better.  Although you can't blame them for changing it, since it was always a little weird in El Rio De Tiempo when it abruptly switched from projected dancing and worship rituals of the indigenous people of Mexico to a "It's A Small World" style happy celebration of life, equivalent of saying, "Yeah, nothing happened here."

Trying to erase the shitty past between the Mayans and the Spaniards

While buildings and pavilion facades haven't changed on the whole (most notably in the World Showcase), there has been many facelifts and new paint jobs and downright destruction of entire buildings.  Everything in Future World has been re-themed, re-done, and re-Disney-ized (a word that I tried to make up, but failed).  EPCOT Center was destined to become showcase of new ideas and technologies of the future, and then we slowly saw it degenerate into a big commercial tie-in for the Disney Channel and Walt Disney Pictures.

The future site of nothing.

That image is the all-too-familiar setting of what EPCOT has become: a giant, empty nothing.  The Image Works, Wonders Of Life, the Odyssey Restaurants, they are all abandoned attractions and pavilions and restaurants, respectively.  I remember a time when you could enter Communicore from the side, right behind the Centorium.  Now it's closed off, and when I peeked inside, nothing but Moue Gear overstock of Vinylmation dolls and other assorted garbage.

It's not pictured, but it's to the right.

There is something off about the amount of apathy the Disney Parks have about just having abandoned pavilions, and even more pavilions that abandoned but are still operating somehow...

Like this.

Any company would be the same, in that often times it can be cheaper to just abandon a ride or pavilion, as the cost of labor to operate the rides would be far too much than the ride is worth, or too expensive to have the ride refurbished.  A lot of it also comes down to the corporate sponsors, who probably want to abandon their child, as opposed to taking care of it if there is a problem.  I've heard the stories of "why" when it comes to pavilions being abandoned, or demolished.

Although this was unacceptable.

Wonders Of Life:
The talk of the town (and by town, I mean unsubstantiated rumor mill known as the Internet) is lighting up about the Wonders Of Life.  We've all seen the progress unfold before our eyes, and our eyes did not deceive us when we saw it happen.  The drop of MetLife as a sponsor in 2001 made us question the future of the pavilion, as Horizons showed us that without a sponsor, there is no obligation to anyone else, so Disney can do with it what they please.  2004 led to seasonal operation, but Carousel Of Progress has season operation, and it's still running whether or not there are people in the theater.  But the coup de grâce came in 2007 when the pavilion just shut down.  Then it was used for special events, private functions, and the Food & Wine Festival, and at that point, we knew it was gone for good.  In 2012 it was on schedule for a selective demolition, but nothing has been demolished.

I have yet to see any demolition take place.

By definition (an Internet based one at that) it would seem that this selective demolition would have them gutting the insides of the pavilion and re-purposing it for something entirely new.  What will become of it, no one knows until Disney holds a press conference.  The intriguing part of it all, of course, is the speculation of what will become of it when it's all said and done.  For the EPCOT obsessed, we would love it to be re-purposed as a showcase of the old EPCOT Center that we all know and love.  Props from fallen rides, recreations of old rides, projected films that are no longer, these are all the impractical things we wish would happen.  It seems more likely that it will become a themed attraction featuring some Disney character to appeal to the broad spectrum of tourists, and will undoubtedly have the best AC system in the world.  It could very well become an updated carnival type multi-exhibit pavilion a la Wonders Of Life, although it wouldn't make sense to re-do Wonders Of Life if they are demolishing it... but whatever the pavilion becomes, PLEASE do not let it become a giant character meet-and-greet.

The Odyssey Restaurant
This anomaly of an abandoned structure boggles even my mind.  Closed for 20 years, except for random private events and the like, it stands among the ruins of Future World.  I peeked inside it from the still accessible restrooms in 2012, and believe me when I say, there is NOTHING that is going to happen to this place.  Just more empty space for storage.

Just think how many WorldKey kiosks you could fit in here.

Back in 2000 I talked with a guest relations employee about the state of EPCOT Center, as it was a tumultuous time due to the constant changes and construction being done to all the rides.  We all knew that there were structural issues with Horizons, sinkholes and such, and she said the same thing about the Odyssey Restaurant.  30 years and it's still standing.  It doesn't look like it's sinking.  It's holding its own.  But what to do with it?  Eateries in EPCOT, especially Future World, are overshadowed by their World Showcase counterparts.  Why have hamburger when you can have steak?  Literally.  The Land makes sense to have food (despite its ever declining quality) and it would make sense to have a place to eat on the other side of Future World for those hungry guests, but what food?  The Electric Umbrella has the standard quick service fare, and since they took out the Sunshine Terrace Restaurant, there aren't that many places to eat in Future World.  And the Coral Reef Restaurant is in the most obscure place, I don't think anyone knows it still exists.

A sign that no one cares.

A neat idea (because speculation is more fun than doing actual research) is to make the Odyssey a table service restaurant and have a unique futuristic theme, as in create interesting dishes based on using new technology and innovation, and have it be New American cuisine.  Or just make it a healthy food quick service counter, as Pure And Simple is no more.

The Image Works.
One of the most controversial decisions made by Disney, the shutting down and total abandonment of the Image Works.  Once a thriving interactive playground where exhausted parents could let their kids run around unsupervised as you tried to gain a moment's respite, is now a dumping ground for old props and the decay of a once glorious legacy of imagination.  Rumor mills have been lighting up about what is to become of this interactive exhibit.  The name(s) of Phineas & Ferb have been mentioned.  Well that seemed to be the extent of the rumors, but it was a pretty big one.  Truth be told, no official reason has been given, and it just seems that Disney needs more space to store more things.

A glimpse into my broken soul.

Now without the sponsorship of Kodak, it can be hard to fully operate an attraction in the same way it did 30 years ago.  Money is the bottom line in all of this, and cutting corners is the American way.  And Disney is about as American as it gets.  Park attendance plays a factor, too, since no one is visiting these attractions, why keep them open?  Once again, labor and money.  Innoventions is where they want to keep the kids busy, and when you do a major overhaul of an attraction (possibly for consistency) you want to do away with the old style.  Another reason that may have some insight on these changes could be (once again, not grounded in any concrete fact) that Kodak owned the rights to Figment And Dreamfinder.  And while Figment is now fully Disney, I guess there was some legal issues with using the image and likeness of Dreamfinder.

Kodak owns his ass.

That idea seems like it is not grounded too well in truth, as the Dreamfinder has made several appearances at D23 expos and Disney & Marvel have printed a series of comics about the Dreamfinder and Figment, although maybe it was legally distinct enough for Kodak to do anything about, as they are in a weird financial situation, filing for bankruptcy and then sort of coming back to life.  Whatever the reason, the point is, whether you own the rights to these characters or not, to at least have the Image Works opened to the public, even if it has nothing in it.  It's not so much there needs to be something there, but that we are paying guests to the park, and to see things closed for no reason, upsets us.  More often than not, people need a stopping point in the park to rest and relax.  Image Works was prime real estate for that.  And it was peaceful (in certain areas).  And most of all, the glass pyramids provided for a calming, beautiful, serene setting.  And that's what we need after all the craziness and over stimulation of Test Track and Innoventions.

Discovery Island.
This place was a hassle to get to, there were never any cool animals to see, and you'd get decimated by the mosquitoes and gnats.  No thank you, keep this one abandoned.