PHOTOS - Aerial views of the EPCOT central spine demolition

Nov 13, 2020 in "EPCOT"

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EPCOT Future World core demolition - November 13 2020

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Posted: Friday November 13, 2020 12:18pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Work continues on the demolition of the EPCOT central spine, but at a much slower pace than we saw before the COVID-19 shutdown.

EPCOT Future World core demolition - November 13 2020

A small crew continues to strip the interior of the eastern side, which has now largely been reduced to a shell. Aerial photos for WDWMAGIC by @cchard.

EPCOT Future World core demolition - November 13 2020

On the western side, work is progressing on removing the interior of what remains standing of Innoventions.

EPCOT Future World core demolition - November 13 2020

From ground level, a section of the exterior has been torn out, but the shell of the building remains.

EPCOT Future World core demolition - November 13 2020

The plans for the area remain uncertain, as Disney grapples with reopening the parks amid COVID-19 and balancing expenditure. Our most recent information suggests that the plans for the eastern side, which includes the former Mouse Gear, Electric Umbrella and Innoventions remain unchanged and will go ahead with new merchandise and food & beverage lcoations. However, the western side seems much more uncertain, with Disney already suggesting that the multi level festival building has been abandoned. The fate of the still standing Communicore building remains unclear.

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Sirwalterraleigh1 minute ago

This Again?

SoFloMagic12 minutes ago

Sweat & Sangria fest?

BrianLo26 minutes ago

I think Rise was in that ballpark. Though no, probably nothing major is on their docket to that level quite yet. I’m not sure if they are desperate for any park to have a new ILL quite yet. Though the Avatar ride at DCA may be a candidate.

UNCgolf31 minutes ago

The existence of ILL definitely shifts the accounting, but I still think Disney would prefer to have spent $250m on two E ticket attractions (or $200m for a D and $300m for an E) rather than $500m on one. That would be a much better ROI. Rise of the Resistance is another good counter example -- although I don't think we've ever heard a final cost, the highest estimates have been roughly $450m. Rise feels like it should have cost triple what Cosmic Rewind cost, if not more.

BrianLo33 minutes ago

I don’t ‘like’ how high their budgets have gotten. But I’m just calling into question the standard belief that Cosmic Rewind spent too much money to meet their metrics of success. We’re also overselling how expensive those Hagrid scenes are. It’s a lot of simple props and outhouses. It’s not exactly Pirates of the Caribbean. I agree, Everest was an absolute steal. But Hagrid’s betrays Universal Creative Spending has also escalated. If they tried to pull off Cosmic Rewind, their pricing would largely be in line. Which is fine to think it’s just not worth the money. But the accountants at Disney would disagree, it’s been a great return on investment for them. It’s why they keep leaning into only expensive e tickets all the time mantra. They are easier to get a clear ROI from.

dreamfinding1 hour ago

Maybe a pump room for all of the water features? Maybe a storage closet (but that seems awfully large for that purpose).

vikescaper1 hour ago

I was looking at early construction photos of this section and there doesn’t seem to be access to the utilidors.

Sir_Cliff1 hour ago

Must say, it does look like the new space is at least keeping people entertained.

MaximumEd1 hour ago

I can’t wait until they remove cornhole and connect 4 to install the Rose Walk Cabanas! Just $299 per day!

dreamfinding2 hours ago

I wonder when someone will address the drainage problem in Future World.

ToTBellHop2 hours ago

I think the bigger surprise to me is that they wouldn’t cover enough for this to run during rain. Perhaps they won’t actually use this for the concerts at Festivals since those need to run regardless of weather due to dining packages. So I guess they’ll still use America Gardens for those and have smaller shows here. Like others, I’m struggling to fully comprehend Communicore’s purpose. It seems rather redundant in this park. Epcot has no shortage of huge buildings.

lazyboy97o2 hours ago

Even if there was more cover they’d still be using equipment rated for outdoor use.

dreamfinding2 hours ago

Is it an Epcot utilidor entrance?

dreamfinding2 hours ago

But see - that would be too easy! They have a lot of Epcot pieces. They have animatronic clothes, EPCOT concept art, old Epcot merch, and entire AAs. Having been lucky enough to visit the touring archives when it visited Graceland in 2021 (or maybe it was 2022), it really is amazing what kind of display they can put together.