Epcot loses yet another sponsor

[Later]

(thanks to steve at ukdish)
In a shocking bit of news, we've heard that AT&T is going to be dropping their longtime sponsorship of Spaceship Earth, leaving yet another Epcot pavilion without a sponsor. (I believe The Living Seas and Wonders of Life are also currently without sponsors after their previous ones failed to renew. GE also dropped their sponsorship of Horizons a couple of years before it closed.) Spaceship Earth isn?t going anywhere however, and there are already wild rumors about who might take over, with the popular 'story' pointing to Microsoft.
Elsewhere in management it seems they are thinking up a lot of wild ideas to help bring up attendance at Epcot. One idea is to try and bring more people into World Showcase in the evening by either offering a discount or even free entry into the WS area of the park and the installation of some kind of gate between WS & FW to keep everyone else out. Though I fear that the current trend of just closing down all the Future World attractions (which is just wrong!) hours before the rest of the park closes to funnel everyone into WS will be a cheaper solution to keep any discount or free-guests from getting on any rides. A friend did point out to me that awhile back they did offer a seriously cheap After 4pm Annual Pass into Epcot... so perhaps they could start to offer the same thing for one-day guests. I recall can't see them letting the masses into World Showcase for free however because that would seriously bother the paying guests who spent the day in the park by overcrowding their nighttime experience and viewing of Reflections of Earth.
I've got one item of advice. You want to bring people back into Epcot? Then start building the park up. I had much more fun in Epcot ten years ago than I do now. It?s time to start building up the park and stop replacing thing. Add StormRider in between the Land & Sea pavilions. Replace Innoventions with something really fun and please fix or replace the Sea Cabs with SOMETHING. Maybe the 20,000 Leagues ride from DisneySea? Lets stop this vicious cycle of everything in Epcot being dependent on Sponsorship and start expanding the World Showcase by adding actual rides and attractions to the countries as well as adding some new countries! Put that Sinbad themed ride from DisneySea into Morocco, add something themed to Hercules in Italy, dig out the plans for Mt. Fuji and that River Flume ride for the African area. What ever happened to the Russian Pavilion and the fairy tale dark ride and Olympic Bobsled coaster that you had plans for? Add new counties that could be fun like Egypt and the Pyramids? Sign a deal with Lego to put add Denmark with Lego themed attractions. Some good money in the right direction would fix this park in 5-6 years, but you?ve got to start now. Fortunately, there may be some good things coming down from corporate. Word is going around that some major capital that was once reserved for a future 5th park will be dropped into fixing Epcot.

[ August 29, 2002, 02:56 PM: Message edited by: JohnY ]

[DisneyWizard]

This doesn't look good for the future of Epcot, does it?

Since this relates directly to Walt Disney World I'm going to go ahead and move it over to our Disney News, Rumors, and Imagineering. [img]smile.gif[/img] Hold on tight...

[PawleyPlatoon]

Is this for real? If AT&T withdraws, will SE be forever changed? Will a new sponsor re-do the entire concept? Is my life changed forever????

[DisneyFanaticDargon]

Hey, it might be a good thing if they decide to get rid of those monitors in the ascent...

[AndrewJackson]

That is not all bad news. I would hate to see a new sponsor for SE, as new sponsorship usually means changes in the ride. Please leave the last original FW ride alone!

However, it might be good news that Disney is looking at dropping plans for a 5th theme park, and using that money for building up the current parks.

One idea to help the Epcot attendance would be to allow one day park passes to hop to Epcot and one other park only. So lets say you go to MK for the morning, the one day pass would also allow you to hop to Epcot, but not the other parks.

[GrandFlo]

What is happening to EPCOT?

When we first started visiting Disney, it was only the MK and EPCOT. So we got to spend a lot of time at EPCOT, and I loved ALL of EPCOT! There was a certain feel I always got while in the park and now it's gone. Don't laugh, but I almost cried. On our last trip back in March, after an hour at EPCOT, my DH turned and said "what is wrong with this place, it seems lifeless".

Hopefully Mission Space will perk things up, but I think Disney really should pay more attention to FW.

[DisneyFanaticDargon]

I think the biggest problem is that when it comes to Epcot, many people are uneducated on all there is (or in some cases WAS) to do. You mention Epcot to the average Joe Schmoe and you get one of two responses:

1. "Wha...?"
2. "Oh you mean that place with that Test Track ride!"

Disney markets Epcot for Test Track and only Test Track these days. Maybe if they marketed some of their other attractions and such, they might get more customers.

[TinkRocks]

I agree that more attention needs to be focused on Epcot. There is a lot of room to make additions to the park, but rides are being replaced instead of being built into areas between exisiting rides / attractions.

I loved Horizons and World of Motion, but they were replaced. Disney could have quite easily built Test Track and Mission: Space in the available space in Future World. The older rides could have absorbed some of the time people will no doubt spend waiting for the new rides, assuming that the Fast Pass system will be used.

I agree that Epcot has a lot of ground to cover, but for the veteran WDW guest - no more than a day is needed (usually only a few hours if the WDW guest knows what rides/attractions they want to visit). I like Epcot and would spend more time in the park if there were some more 'WOW' rides/attractions available.

With AT&T not renewing their sponsorship, I think Spaceship Earth should still focus on 'communications' and get an appropriate sponsor. I could see Microsoft or IBM sponsoring Innoventions, but maybe another company should sponsor SE. I'm sure the Disney Company has enough money that they don't have to rely on sponsors, but I would have thought that companies would jump at the chance to have their name/logo in one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Talk about brand awareness!! I'm sure Coca Cola and Kodak aren't complaining...

[img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img] How about adding a new country and/or conducting an overhaul/rehab of countries to World Showcase every 5th anniversary of Epcot?

[Crow]

Epcot is my favorite cause of the different things...diff lands, food (ate most meals here last trip), beer...
I hope it doesnt go downhill & more things close.
Ill b checking the new Figment ride mayb in Sept.
Theres so much to do. yes I think people dont realize all the things. Hopefully a new country & sponsors that dont mess things up.
while a 5th park would be cool, maybe the money should b spent on existing parks..new rides that emphasize theming.

[d_dub_dad]

EPCOT is great for locals. The Food and Wine Festival comes around when the weather starts to cool off a bit and you can eat and drink all the way around the world. We do it several times a year EVERY year.

I do miss the classic EPCOT rides though....

[Art Guy]

I think a big part of the problem is guests who don't know what to expect from EPCOT. It's NOT a typical thrill-ride amusement park... it's much more like a World's Fair. Lot's of things to see and do, but not all midway, so to speak. What's happened is with the heavy marketing of Test Track, expectations are built up in the wrong direction. Folks heading to EPCOT expecting a day of thrill rides and attractions are going to be disappointed... that's not what the park is (was?) about.

And yes, EPCOT seems a bit neglected these days... Wonders of Life seemed tired and forgotten when we were last there; Living Seas has that shrinking atrophy thing going on; even "The Land" seemed worn out. Spaceship Earth sounded like it was going to rattle itself apart (though I hear that's being addressed?). But I digress.

Disney has always struggled with how to position EPCOT, and they're clearly still struggling (get the "backstory" right!). Position it correctly, so guests have a realistic idea of what the park experience is, and that'll solve the problem of disappointed visitors who come expecting a day of Test Track-like thrills. But they'll also have to breath some life back into the tired pavillions of Future World. If that means adding a few more thrill rides (Mission: Space seems to qualify), that's fine; but it will also tend to aggravate the expectation problem.

[ August 19, 2002, 11:54 AM: Message edited by: Art Guy ]

[scooterca42]

Awful news! Not only because that was the only ride we ever had a chance of getting into the sponsers lounge of.
I think the whole problem stems from the fact - as mentioned before - Disney has no idea where to position this. It's not the kiddy thing, it's not the movie thing. It reminds me of nothing so much as a REALLY big science center, with a cultural festival attached. Which is fine as far as it goes.
Truly, though, it's like two parks in one space, and what appeals about one may not be there in the other.
I think I'll take my courage in my hands here... [img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img] and suggest that maybe the free admission isn't such a bad idea - in fact (growing bolder) why not grow Epcot out sideways by adding rides and stuff and turn World Showcase into a really neat FREE ADMISSION shopping area? Take it out of the park entirely. (That's what I go there for anyway, shopping. [img]graemlins/blush.gif[/img] )
And I really miss the Seacabs, too.

[xipetotec]

I quite disagree about Microsoft not being a good choice for a new sponsor for SE. I mean AT&T was a good choice too. But considering that SE seems to be the progress of man, but MORE SPECIFICALLY, the progress of man in the are aof communications, Microsoft is perfectly placed to emphasize this. They may not be a telephone company, but their whole direction in recent years has been to push forward telecommunications to their limits! Including use of the Internet for Video communications, data transfer and telecommuting around the world. Seems like a perfect fit to push the concept of how far we've come in the realm of communications to me!

[Clay Ransone]

I would really like to see some of the money that was put aside for a 5th park pumped into EPCOT(I would like to see some go into Beastly Kingdom at AK also). If AT&T does pull out I wonder if Verizon would be interested in going in? They are a national company now between the land lines and wireless divisions and long distance service is coming from Verizion. The communications theme of Spaceship Earth would work well with a growing telecom like Verizion...

[NYdaily]

microsoft? will that mean the ride will freeze halfway through and we'll all have to get out and restart?

actually, maybe new sponsorship is a good thing. it could freshen up the park a bit. (and at least get rid of that deafening 'att GLOBAL COMMUNITY' voice shouting at you at the end of the ride.)

i wonder why epcot is so sponsor laden to begin with. i know that dinosaur in AK is sponsored by McDonalds -- but are there any other attractions with sponsors outside of epcot?

[kansasteen13]

most of Animal Kingdom is sponsored by Mcdonald's.also Space Mt. is sponsored( I think) I know Legend of the Lion King was sponsored by Kodak,That's all i can think of now.you know what Epcot could very well be called the Sponsored theme park of tommorrow.

[longlivethepumpkins]

Art Guy and GrandFl pretty much posted what I was going to say (well said!), so I'll just expand briefly on what Art Guy was saying (actually I'll just repeat most of it, putting it in different words). Epcot needs the classic omnimover rides and no thrill rides. Adding thrill rides to a world's fair changes people's mindsets. If the public understands what they will be seeing in the park, 90% of them would accept it and enjoy it. People have changed, but everyone is still fundamentally the same person. Its true that our society might be used to instant gratification and thrills, but once they start riding these dark rides, I honestly believe most people would get into it. The only two reasons Epcot is struggling is (a) they seriously added nothing to the park for a decade besides Maelstrom, and then took the lack of attendance as people not understanding the park, and (b) they tried and are trying to change the entire feel and meaning of a park by destroying classic attractions (Horizons, WoM, and JII were to EPCOT as Potc and HM are to the MK) and replacing them with Test Track and Mission: Space. Mission: Space is going to be, what, a four minute ride? So what happens after people ride Test Track and Mission: Space? Their adrenaline will be up, but the rest of the park is designed to excite the mind. So what happens is they leave the park, completely annoyed because they do not understand what the park is...

Ironically, with WoM and Horizons, we had almost a half hour of attractions, instead of the eight minutes we will have now of mismatched entertainment.

I guess I should never say the word brief right before I start talking about Epcot. [img]smile.gif[/img]

One last thing...I used to feel inspired after visiting Epcot. I used to want to get back into the world and see how amazing it really is, and invest my time in making it a great big beautiful tomorrow. Now goodness knows what it is about. That's why Epcot feels "lifeless" now. Its soul was removed (forgive me for being so melodramatic).

Oh yeah, and i'll miss AT&T. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Roland]

Wow, kind of makes you wonder why corporations are pulling out of sponsoring Disney. Maybe these companies are just cutting back on expenses like everyone else.

I have a question that is related to the original topic but not just for Disney.

Do Six Flags, Busch Gardens and Universal have sponsors also or do they pay for their attractions themselves?

[ August 20, 2002, 06:36 PM: Message edited by: Roland ]

[Jasper]

I am certain that the primary reason for companies leaving is financial. In the current economy and concern over the books being right, companies are looking hard at every venture they are in to be sure there is value to the investment and that it makes sense on the bottom line. If it fails to pass those tests, it is dumped. So, I don't believe anyone should equate a corporate sponser pullout with anything Disney is doing wrong. Although I do agree with many of the comments made in this thread.

[vsiv1695]

Actually, if I was a potential sponser, I sure wouldn't want to spend any money on Disney right now.

I look at the way Eisner's company relates to other companies, and it's not good. I look at the way Pressler's parks are managed, I see nothing but excuses and cannibalization.

Sponsership might be a good idea if the business of Disney was done responsibly by those in charge