Innoventions
Epcot
NameInnoventions East
AreaFuture World
Coordinates28°22′27.44″N 81°32′59.51″W / 28.3742889°N 81.5498639°W / 28.3742889; -81.5498639
StatusRemoved
Opening dateJuly 1, 1994 (1994-07-01)
Closing dateSeptember 7, 2019[1]
ReplacedCommuniCore
Replaced byConnections Eatery
(World Celebration)
Epcot
NameInnoventions West
AreaFuture World
StatusRemoved
Opening dateJuly 1, 1994 (1994-07-01)
Closing dateMay 19, 2015[2]
ReplacedCommuniCore
Replaced byJourney of Water
(World Nature)
Ride statistics
Attraction typeMuseum
DesignerWalt Disney Imagineering
HostTom Morrow 2.0 (former)
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata
Assistive listening available

Innoventions was an ever-changing collection of exhibits at the EPCOT theme park in Walt Disney World, Florida. It focused on technological advancements and their practical applications in everyday life. Innoventions is a portmanteau of the words "innovation" and "invention".

History

Innoventions first opened on July 1, 1994, replacing Communicore in EPCOT. When the attraction opened, it prominently displayed games from various Sega consoles in an arcade style. The exhibit also featured virtual reality systems that used head-mounted displays. Innoventions is divided into two buildings known as Innoventions East and Innoventions West. In 1999, Innoventions had a major renovation for the park's Millennium Celebration, and added the subtitle "The Road to Tomorrow". In 2007–2008, Innoventions underwent another major renovation, dropped the subtitle "Road to Tomorrow," and changed its general aesthetic again while also launching the companion website innoventions.disney.com.

Closure and demolition

An entrance to the Innoventions pavilion, as it appeared in February 2005. Since this photo was taken, the sign tower in front of the building has been removed, as well as the Mickey wand on Spaceship Earth in the upper right.

On May 19, 2015, Innoventions West closed with the promise of a major overhaul, which ultimately never happened.

On September 7, 2019, the original version of Club Cool (Coca-Cola) and the Fountain View (Starbucks) in the south portion of Innoventions West permanently closed ahead of demolition.

Demolition of Innoventions West began in Fall 2019. The Southwest Quadrant was reduced to a structural frame in December 2019.

Helicopter view of phase 1 demolition of Innoventions West on December 14, 2019. Portion south of the breezeway has been reduced to structural frame.
Monorail view looking through the structural frame remaining in the south portion of Innoventions West. Seen on December 14, 2019.

Today, the building that formerly housed Innoventions East has reopened as Connections Eatery, the main quick service restaurant for the front of EPCOT in World Celebration. The building that formerly housed Innoventions West has been completely demolished to make way for the Journey of Water attraction in World Nature, the future CommuniCore Hall, and the future CommuniCore Plaza.

Exhibits and sponsors

Previous logo of Innoventions used from 1994-2007.

Innoventions East

Innoventions West

Tom Morrow 2.0

Tom Morrow 2.0, singing and talking about the various areas of Innoventions.

Epcot's Innoventions' mascot for 2000-2007 was a small Audio-Animatronic character named Tom Morrow 2.0 (voiced by Max Casella), the former host of Disney Channel's "Imagineer That!" shorts. He was removed in the 2007-2008 renovation.

Area music

The Innoventions Area Loop is roughly 20 minutes long and begins with a musical piece by David Arkenstone entitled "Papillon (On The Wings Of The Butterfly)" from his album In the Wake of the Wind. The rest of the music was composed by Russell Brower for Walt Disney Imagineering and is not commercially available. Brower, along with Arkenstone, would then compose the music for the World of Warcraft games.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Club Cool, Electric Umbrella, MouseGear and more closing soon at Epcot". July 2, 2019.
  2. ^ "Epcot's Innoventions West to close at Disney World for overhaul".
  3. ^ Pointon, Geoffrey. "Add a Splash of Color to Your Epcot Visit with Colortopia Presented by Glidden". disneyparks.disney.go.com. Disney Parks. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "Epcot: Sum of All Thrills, StormStruck and Colortopia? closed". Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Richardson, Savannah (January 13, 2015). "4 Notable Refurbishments Coming at Walt Disney World's Theme Parks". themeparktourist.com. Theme Park Tourist. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  6. ^ "IBM THINK Exhibit Opens at INNOVENTIONS at Epcot". IBM.com. IBM. Retrieved January 16, 2015.