The Sum of All Thrills?
We were at Epcot in August 2015 and we really enjoyed building our own coaster and then riding it. Did it move or get renamed?
The sponsorship deal ended so it closed. I haven’t been back since but I assume it has been removed. We were so sad, we loved it.
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I miss that attraction. Then again I also miss Alien Encounter so I like my thrills more thrilly than 7DMT I think…
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Like so many good things at Epcot, when corporate sponsorship goes away so to does the attraction. With Mickey, it’s all about the Benjamins, unfortunately.
I never did that attraction but did something similar at the now extinct Disney Quest.
With EVERY business it is all about the Benjamins. Let’s be real. Wanting to turn a profit is not unique to Disney.
This is very true. Sometimes I think we, as Disney fans, somehow have different expectations. Because Disney started out (and, to an extent, still does) placing customer service as a top priority, and creating an outstanding customer experience, people are inclined to think that Disney will do things for the sake of the guest experience at the expense of profit.
Nobody expects WalMart or Target to price items in a manner to benefit the customer at the expense of profit, but a lot of things I have read on this forum, and in other places, lead me to believe that there is an expectation that Disney will do things that benefit the customer at the expense of the business.
Disney World is a really good product. And it is a very expensive product. But it IS all about the Benjamins for them. Every decision is made to maximize profit. Guest experience is definitely part of maximizing profit, but they are a business first and foremost.
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I’m not saying that - of course they are entitled to make a profit. However, it seems that for a lot of things at Epcot there is an expectation from WDW that someone else will foot the bill. Hence when corporate sponsorship for an attraction dries up it disappears or stops being maintained/updated. Because of this I’m afraid that Epcot is becoming like Tomorrowland - not a vision of the future, but rather a vision of what we thought the future would look like.
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Well that is too bad. I guess we will just have to be happy with the other rides there 
Ooo, I did that there too!!! I always thought that’s what a sock in the washer feels like. 
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Sum of All Thrills
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Crash really irritated me… he was so naggy!!
we’d seen that on tv, and as soon as we told the kids we were going for the first time (next month), they asked about this ride. we looked it up and found out it was gone. oh well…
There was a time when the mantra was essentially “Experience first, $$ will follow”. That seems to have been lost somewhere, unfortunately.
Perhaps. I can’t disagree with your statement, but I think the experience must still be there.
Our forum is filled with people that go to WDW year after year precisely because they love the experience. And, while people who have gone to WDW over a long enough series of years may lament the changes they see…include trimming of services and escalating of prices, many people in this very forum, as well as around the world, continue to think that the experience is worth the $$. That is why every year WDW raises ticket prices, and every year the crowds increase. If consumers didn’t think that the experience was worth the cost, they would stop going.
I think that the biggest fundamental change Disney has embarked upon is that it now markets itself more strongly as a luxury destination or to a luxury crowd. Club level rooms, VIP tours, better viewing situations at fireworks for those willing to pay more $$, Minnie van transportation at $25/trip, purchasing additional FPP, etc. And, I guess this is ok. If the world economy fails to provide enough of such customers, then WDW will have to change its tactics.
But my experience, especially in our forum here, is that many people still love the experience enough to go as often as they can afford to do so.
Oh, I won’t disagree with any of that. I think it’s still, hands down, the best theme park experience you can find.
I just think that the idea that the experience is the most important thing, because the $$ will follow, is no longer considered the way to go at TWDC Corporate. Because there’s too much “Show” being lost in the name of either saving $$ or creating something high-end that ultimately makes the “show” less than it could/should be.
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Rides/experiences I miss at Disney:
- Body Wars
- Back Lot tour (the original, not the smaller version it later became)
- Sum of all Thrills
- Soarin’ over California (I just don’t like the revamp nearly as much)
- the original Epcot Figment experience. (The current Figment ride is about the stupidest ride in any amusement park ANYWHERE!)
- the Snow White ride (although, I do enjoy the replacement)
- Alien Extra Terror-estial Encounter (the Stitch dumb-down was just, well, dumb!)
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Totally agree with you on Body Wars and the original Journey into Imagination. I’d like to add the rest of Wonders of Life and the Upstairs image works to those selections, personally.
I also miss The Living Seas in its original incarnation… Hydrolators, SeaCabs, and all.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I miss Horizons.
All of those things made me excited to be at EPCOT Center, and excited for the future.
I, unfortunately, made my first trip to Epcot about a year after they shut down Horizons, so I never experienced it. I have seen it on YouTube. I’ve love to see it reborn in some fashion.
The problem with creating “diorama”-based rides, however, is that they can grow stale very quickly, particularly when trying to portray the future. Technology is changing so fast that it doesn’t take long for ideas to seem dated and quaint.
I miss the Snow White ride sooo much! 
And Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride!
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