Epcotification

Basics

• EPCOT is a great example of a phenomenon that can thus be know as “Epcot-ification” (Can also be stylized as EPCOTification, although even Disney doesn’t use the ALL CAPS style much anymore, so for ease of typing, non-caps, non hyphen will probably be used in most cases). Is epcotification a thing? Yes. [1]
• TLDR: Essentially when a revolutionary idea, or some large scale project is Diluted and/or Scaled Back in order to be Marketable to the Masses/Acheivable so much so that it no longer is what was originally wanted
  • A Mix of almost Reverse Scope Creep and Greenwashing (or more aptly Revolution-washing by whatever powers that be)

Backround

• The idea for EPCOT or as what the original ‘’acronym’’ was meant to be “ Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow”
  • This kind of ties into Walt Disney’s Intentional Community plans, much of which ended up much more as Company Towns and are such an Engineered Environment that to all but the most devoted borderline cult members the communities feel artificial. HOWEVER personal belief in the concept notwithstanding there absolutely was a Revolutionary Design/Intent
• This was described as a “Permanent World’s Fair “
• It is now essentially a Tourist Trap where you get Disneyified tours of “countries”
  • Not HORRIBLE, don’t take this as some propaganda slam against having fun there, ride all the rides you want or go to their concert series etc, but it is ‘’’VASTLY’’’ different than the original vision yet still called the same thing
    • THAT change is the core of what Epcotification is

Why it Matters

• So…if this isn’t a Disney Hate Piece…why does it matter?
• Outreach.
• On one hand is some closed off work site noone ever sees. Productive maybe, but no outreach/little transparency ‘’’will’’’ harm the vision
• So maybe you create tours, or have Open House Days, maybe you decorate the place more etc
• The key is to find the proper balance, but ‘’’Avoid Turning Your Project into a Theme Park’’’
  • Unless we are talking about plans for an Open Source Amusement Park in which case ‘’’Open Source Cedar Point Here We Gooooooooo’’’ :3

Internal Links

• Epcot
  • As of now it’s User: Marcin touching on similar points, bit of See Also/Merge With but ALSO having a page laying out the history of EPCOT / anything nest to draw from it may be worth it
• The Mcdonaldsization of Everything (Book) (Where User: Eric got the idea for the name/rant

External Links

• (need to look into if there is any prior art on this concept by the types that do this thinking for a living)
• A Blog Post/Op-Ed by Alexis Dees Titled “ The IP-ification of Epcot: When Did Disney Stop Dreaming? - Welcome to Disney's Intellectual Property Community of Tomorrow!”
  • Not directly what User: Eric was thinking, moreso puppeteering the corpse of the idea, rather than the initial fumbling of the idea, but great points regardless
  • ”Epcot used to embody and encourage, “We can do this!” Nowadays, it just shrugs and says, “Now streaming on Disney+.”
  • ”Today, walking through Epcot feels like getting caught between a D23 keynote and a marketing deck. Instead of showcasing the boundless possibility of human innovation, we’re handed a tasting flight of Intellectual Properties. The future is now… brought to you by Marvel, Pixar, and the ghost of Bob Iger’s second tenure.”
  • ” Now, all that to say, I’m not against IP based attractions. Not in the slightest. But when it comes at the cost of creativity — no, originality — and the unique identity of the park, then yes. I question what Donald Duck’s doing running manically about a boat ride dedicated to Mexican culture.”