Things We’re Left Wondering After D23

Finally, Disney just hosted a D23 Expo parks panel that provided answers!

That’s in stark contrast to the events of the past few years, each of which has done little other than raise more questions.

Photo: Disney

Still, there are a few things we’re left wondering after D23. Here are a few of the big ones.

What’s the Deal at EPCOT?

EPCOT was the source of five (!) of the things I was left wondering after D23 ended.

I’ll put three of them in standalone sections and slot the other two here, but it all speaks to a larger point.

Spaceship Earth

Disney largely left EPCOT untouched during the D23 Expo, which was…a choice.

I realize that park officials have stated the overhaul has ended. However, that’s really more up to the fans, and we disagree.

Spaceship Earth

During previous D23 Expo park panels, Disney announced projects that we still haven’t gotten.

For example, what’s happening with Spaceship Earth? It’s literally, not figuratively, my favorite ride on the planet.

However, even I am aware of the fact that some aspects of the current attraction have grown long in the tooth.

Disney had suggested that a new iteration of the attraction would come soon, only for the pandemic to detonate those plans.

Since then, Disney hasn’t committed either way about Spaceship Earth’s future. Really, we’d all just like some clarity here.

Is Disney leaving Spaceship Earth as it currently is or modernizing it at some point?

Photo: Disney

Similarly, what’s happening with the PLAY! pavilion’s space? I think we’ve all accepted that Disney isn’t building that pavilion.

Disney still shouldn’t waste that space. Something should go there. In fact, the PLAY! pavilion should go there.

Concept art for the Play! pavilion

With the Disney/Fortnite tie-in, it’s a natural evolution at this point. I’m just waiting for park officials to connect the dots.

What’s Happening at Stitch’s Great Escape?

D23

I cannot help but view theme parks the same way I evaluate real estate. Some locations provide better value than others.

At Walt Disney World, the prime real estate is anything in the heart of Magic Kingdom, the world’s most popular theme park.

Disney

Somehow, an already operational building at Tomorrowland remains unused after several years, which mystifies me.

Disney officially closed Stitch’s Great Escape in January 2018. That’s six-and-a-half years ago!

(David Roark, photographer)

Since then, other than the occasional character greeting, Disney has done nothing with this space. What a waste.

Disney, how are you not doing anything here? It makes no sense to me.

What’s Happening with Journey into Imagination?

Photo: Disney

This topic is one of my personal buttons.

I’m one of the fans who remember the good version of Journey into Imagination.

Disney’s short-sighted decision to replace the ride with a millennial update remains regrettable.

I’d list it among my greatest theme park disappointments, as would many of those same park officials.

Photo:imagineeringdisney.com

Almost immediately, everyone realized they’d made a dramatic miscalculation and tried to fix it.

So, Disney introduced Journey into Imagination with Figment, which is…fine.

Figment

Yes, I know that some of you love it because it gives you warm fuzzies from childhood memories.

I can assure you that it’s the inferior version of the ride, though. And Disney knows it.

Test Track Reimagination in EPCOT

That’s why rumors repeatedly bubble beneath the surface that EPCOT will reimagine the ride. And they should.

By this time next year, Test Track will have had three versions since the start of 2012.

Photo: Disneywiki

We’ve been stuck with the same mediocre version of Journey into Imagination since 2002. It’s time to correct the 1990s mistake, Disney.

Will Soarin’ Update the Ride Video?

By now, all of you are intimately familiar with the “flaw” of Soarin’ around the World.

While the new version of the attraction is an unquestioned masterpiece, it does suffer from a technical issue.

When Disney filmed the video for places like the Eiffel Tower, it misjudged how the format would work in the Soarin’ theater.

So, guests on the far left and far right sides of Soarin’s seating experience a tilting effect.

Photo: Guide to the Magic

The Eiffel Tower looks more like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Fans have loudly, repeatedly complained about this snafu since the opening of Soarin’ II.

Photo: Disney

At some point, the expectation is that Disney will create a new video to correct the flaw or develop tech to fix it internally.

Oddly, the former is night and day easier than the latter, at least generally speaking.

Credit: Disney

Disney’s problem is that the footage in Soarin’ Around the World is otherworldly brilliant. So, nobody is ready to throw that out.

Thus, Soarin’ has become a mini-Yeti discussion among fans. It needs fixing, but the how of it isn’t easily resolved.

Will World Showcase ever be expanded?

China Pavilion Gardens EPCOT

Finally, we have the question that remains at the forefront of my thoughts anytime Disney announces anything at EPCOT.

You may not believe me, but I’ve even poisoned my wife into doing this.

During the parks panel, she suddenly started counting out loud.

I realized that she had taken notice of a new EPCOT World Showcase graphic.

Photo: resortgal.com

She was counting to see whether Disney was about to reveal new international pavilions at the World Showcase.

We talk about the stagnancy of this area so often that I’ve got somebody else counting down the days until Disney does something!

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure

Now, don’t get me wrong. We’re both acutely aware of exceptional World Showcase additions like Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.

I could even include lesser ones like the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along film at EPCOT. Anything is good, and I’ll take it!

Photo: wanderdisney.com

Still, what the World Showcase needs more than anything else is a new international pavilion or two.

We haven’t had one of those since the 1980s! Like, if you’re 36 or younger, you’ve never been alive for a new World Showcase pavilion.

Photo: wdw magazine

That’s unconscionable to me, and I keep waiting for Disney to do something about it.

Over the years, we’ve had several rumors like India and Brazil pavilions, but here we are.

Another parks panel has ended without a World Showcase announcement.

Come on, Disney! Ronald Reagan was President the last time you did one of these! You’re looooong overdue to add a new one.

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