Editing Epcot (section)

=== 1990s–2000s: Change in vision ===
[[File:Epcot1996.jpg|thumb|EPCOT in 1996]]
Despite its initial success, EPCOT was constantly faced with the challenges of evolving with worldwide progress, an issue that caused the park to lose relevance and become outdated in the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2019-08-25/disney-theme-parks-marvel-star-wars-epcot|title=D23 Expo: Is Disney's intellectual property squeezing the theme out of our theme parks?|last=Martens|first=Todd|date=August 25, 2019|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=September 5, 2019}}</ref> To maintain attendance levels, Disney introduced seasonal events such as the [[Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival|International Flower & Garden Festival]] and the [[Epcot International Food & Wine Festival|International Food & Wine Festival]] in 1994 and 1995, respectively.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Craig |first1=Dezern |title=DISNEY FLOWER POWER |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1994-04-23-9404261039-story.html |access-date=May 12, 2020 |work=orlandosentinel.com |date=April 23, 1994}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Friend |first1=Samantha |title=Photos of People Getting Happily Drunk in Disney World |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/disneys-food-and-wine-fetival/ |website=vice.com |date=December 6, 2016 |publisher=Vice |access-date=May 12, 2020}}</ref> 

It was during this era that Disney sought to differentiate the EPCOT theme park from Walt Disney's EPCOT concept by making the park's name a word rather than a acronym—spelling it in lowercase as a proper noun: "Epcot". Walt Disney World then added the current year to the park's name, emulating the naming scheme for expos and world's fairs like [[Expo 67]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-28 |title=A Look Back at the EPCOT '94 Guidemap |url=https://touringplans.com/blog/a-look-back-at-the-epcot-94-guidemap/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=TouringPlans.com Blog |language=en-US}}</ref> The park became Epcot '94 and Epcot '95 before Disney quietly abandoned the naming concept in 1996 and the park simply became Epcot.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Figueroa |first=Jessica |date=2020-02-20 |title=Walt Disney World Officially Confirms Epcot Name Change to EPCOT as Part of Park's Transformation |url=https://wdwnt.com/2020/02/walt-disney-world-officially-confirms-epcot-name-change-to-epcot-as-part-of-parks-transformation/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=WDW News Today |language=en-US}}</ref>

In the mid-1990s, Disney also began to gradually phase out the park's [[Educational entertainment|edutainment]] attractions in favor of more modern and thrilling attractions.<ref name="Martin 2019">{{Cite news|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/08/epcot-changes.html|title=Epcot's Midlife Crisis: Disney Reveals a Huge Makeover for the Park's 40th Birthday|last=Martin|first=Garrett|date=August 29, 2019|work=Paste Magazine|access-date=September 9, 2019}}</ref> As a result, many of the attractions within the Future World pavilions, were either overhauled or replaced entirely. [[The Land (Epcot)|The Land]] pavilion saw its attractions replaced under new sponsor [[Nestlé]] between late 1993 and January 1995, and Spaceship Earth was updated with music by Edo Guidotti and narration from [[Jeremy Irons]] in 1994. [[Universe of Energy]] was reconfigured as [[Universe of Energy|Ellen's Energy Adventure]] in 1996. [[Journey into Imagination with Figment#Journey into Imagination|Journey Into Imagination]] closed in 1998 and was replaced with [[Journey into Imagination with Figment#Journey into YOUR Imagination|Journey into YOUR Imagination]] the following year, [[World of Motion]] was replaced with [[Test Track]], and [[Horizons (Epcot)|Horizons]] was demolished in 1999 and replaced with [[Mission: Space|Mission: SPACE]] in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Epcot's World of Motion Became Test Track |date=March 16, 2018 |url=https://thenewswheel.com/how-epcots-world-of-motion-became-test-track/ |website=The News Wheel |access-date=May 11, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Horizons |url=https://www.extinctdisney.com/horizons/ |website=extinctdisney.com |date=January 6, 2020 |access-date=May 11, 2020}}</ref> 

In 2000, Walt Disney World held the [[Walt Disney World Millennium Celebration|Millennium Celebration]] with the central focus of the event at EPCOT, and a 25-story "magic wand" structure was built next to Spaceship Earth. [[Millennium Village]] was closed on January 1, 2001, and was turned into the World Showplace festival center, which is frequently used for EPCOT festivals. 

Attraction changes continued into the new millennium. Journey into YOUR Imagination closed in 2001 due to strong negative reception and was replaced with [[Journey into Imagination with Figment]] in 2002. The Living Seas was closed in 2005, and rethemed with the introduction of characters from ''[[Finding Nemo (franchise)|Finding Nemo]]'', as [[The Seas with Nemo & Friends]]. That same year, [[Soarin']], a flight simulator ride originally developed for [[Disney California Adventure|Disney California Adventure Park]], was added to [[The Land (Epcot)|The Land]] (replacing [[Food Rocks]]) following its massive popularity in California. The [[Wonders of Life]] pavilion closed in 2007, with the pavilion being occasionally used for the park's annual festivals until permanent closure. The Mexico pavilion's [[El Rio del Tiempo]] attraction closed on January 2, and [[Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros]] opened in its space a few months later. After the "magic wand" structure was removed from Spaceship Earth, the attraction's fourth version, narrated by [[Judi Dench]], soft-opened on December 8. ''Kim Possible'' World Showcase Adventure, an interactive scavenger hunt, opened at EPCOT in 2009.