A lot of the Walt Disney World parks have either undergone expansions, currently undergoing expansion or rumored to be expanded.  The one park that is always lost in the shuffle is EPCOT.  Magic Kingdom has its New Fantasyland, Animal Kingdom will have it’s Avatarland, Hollywood Studios potentially could have a Star Wars and/or Pixar Place expansion.  But over at EPCOT, nothing.  Future World is slowly evolving into “the Past thoughts of Future” World.  With the park’s 40th anniversary and Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary coming up in a few short years, here are some ways that EPCOT’s future world can be brought Back to the Future.

1) Maintain the “tentpole” attractions

In my mind, EPCOT’s Future World has four tentpole attractions: Spaceship Earth, Test Track, Soarin’, and Mission Space.  Three of these attractions have had or will have a refurb.  Soarin’ is slated to add a third theater and undergo some queue enhancements.  Test Track got “a new coat of paint” when Imagineers went in and put neon on the interior section of the Test Track course.  Spaceship Earth brought in Dame Judy Dench as narrator.

Mission Space could use a destination upgrade.  Shoot for something BIGGER than Mars.  The Sun is a great source of energy and our survival depends on the sun.  Re-route Mission Space as a journey to the sun.  Give people an understanding of how much power the sun has and what we can do to harness the sun’s power here on Earth.

2) Many secondary attractions need a refurb

While the tentpoles are in good shape, what’s under the tent is starting to look old and dated.  Ellen’s Universe of Energy and The Circle of Life movie inside The Land pavilion are both relics from the 70’s and 80’s conservation movement.  Let’s update these attractions into the 21st century.

For The Circle of Life movie, what are some new efforts that regions and people are exploring to maintain and replenish our resources.  Talk about Earth’s biggest resource, water.  What can be done to bring fresh, drinkable water to locations where that resource is scarce?  How can the United States lead the way in this field using the desert southwest and California as examples.

Bring Ellen’s Universe of Energy into the 21st century by discussing new type of clean energy (sun, fusion, magnetic power, etc.).  How can these types of energy be used to power cities in the future?  Yes, some of the cleaner energy types are risky (fusion and nuclear) but talk about what safeguards can mitigate these risks and make it safe for everyday use.  Remember, the lightbulb was once viewed as a risky alternative to kerosene powered lamps.

The Seas pavilion with Finding Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush is the easiest to solve.  Turtle Talk is an attraction in high demand still while Finding Nemo can easily be converted into Finding Dory once that movie comes out next year.

3) Innoventions and the Captain EO Theater are blank slates

With Captain EO ending another run in the Captain EO Theater, the space is now being used to show previews of upcoming Disney movies.  That’s an inefficient use of space, in my opinion.  It’s a blank slate.  Use it for anything.  Piggy back off of the movie, Inside Out, and turn it into an area which show how the mind and body work and interact together.  Fill it with interactive games and activities to exercise the mind and the body.  Think of it as Body Wars 2.0 but with more doing and less simulation.

The Innoventions East and West can be converted into an areas where guests can learn about great inventors of the past and how their inventions paved the way for today’s way of life.  You could put the ancient of renaissance era inventors in one of the Innoventions pavilion while the more modern great inventors like Tesla, Edison, and Benjamin Franklin in the other pavilion.

Future World has a lot of good things and good attractions with in it.  But the potential is there for so much more, these changes could help fulfill that potential.  But again, this is just my opinion.  What changes would you like to see in Future World?

Thanks for reading!