Tag: name change

  • New Documents Raise Questions About A Possible Name Change For Epcot

    New Documents Raise Questions About A Possible Name Change For Epcot

    With the massive changes and reimagining of Disney’s Epcot, could the park also be getting a new name? Recently some official documents have come to light that show a new name for the park.

    In the documents, the park is referred to as “Epcot World Center.”  This is just pure speculation at this point, but it’s based in some pretty sound reasoning. These are official documents and for legal reasons names are usually extremely accurate.

    Paperwork to alter Epcot’s parking lot was filed by Disney earlier this month.  The plans shift parking to the east making room on the west side for new buildings and an 84-acre lake. It is suspected that these new buildings are the rumored Epcot entrance resort and it looks like the company has settled on area behind Living Seas pavilion for the resort.

    epcot-world-center-permit
    Source: Blog Mickey

    There is no official word on the possible resort, but an equally interesting fact is the possible new name found on these documents first reported by Blog Mickey.  They saw the name after they zoomed in on the images and it certainly begs the question… Does Disney have some sort of name change in mind?

    On the documents, the name is located in Future World right over spaceship earth, so it would seem it refers to the entire park and not just the World Showcase. It’s really a small change and Epcot is still in the name, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first name change for the park.

    When the park first opened in 1982 it was known as “EPCOT Center”. Then in 1994 and 1995 the parks name was changed to “Epcot ’94” and “Epcot ’95” respectively. The annual name change didn’t last long and since that time the park has been known simply as “Epcot”.

    It’s not immediately clear how “Epcot World Center” as a name, would tie into Future World, but perhaps with the addition of The Guardians of the Galaxy Roller Coaster and the rest of the changes coming to the park, it will make more sense once the entire park has gone though its full reimagination.

    It’s kind of nice to see “Center” back in the name and it’s a far better name than some of the recent names that had been thrown around for a possible Hollywood Studios name change.  Disney has since put the rumor to bed stating that “Disney’s Hollywood Studios name will remain the same for the foreseeable future“.

    Though the name on the documents hardly seems an accident we will still have to wait and see if there is any official word from Disney about a name change.

  • Rumor: New Name For Hollywood Studios Has Been Decided

    Rumor: New Name For Hollywood Studios Has Been Decided

    Disney may have finally settled on a new name for Disney Hollywood Studios.  Several “Disney insiders” have reported that Disney has chosen “Disney Cinemagine Park” as the new name for the park. The possible new name isn’t one of the more popular choices, but here’s what we know so far.

    Rumors of a name change for Disney’s Hollywood studios have been swirling around since Disney CEO Bob Iger, not so subtly, hinted about it at a shareholder meeting back in 2015.

    “It’s not announced. We used to be MGM Studios, we changed to Hollywood Studios and we’re doing some significant work there right now that I guess will result in a name change,” Iger said at the meeting. “We’ll announce that we’re changing the name, but we won’t announce what we’re changing it to. How’s that?” he continued.

    With the new direction the park is heading the idea of a name change wasn’t that far-fetched. There wasn’t really any more news on the topic until reports surfaced back in August that several Disney fans had received a survey asking their opinions of several potential new names for the park. Here is a list of the names they had to ponder:

    • Disney Kaleidoscope Park
    • Disney Storyverse Park
    • Disney Hyperia Park
    • Disney Beyond Park
    • Disney Cinemagic Park
    • Disney Legends Park
    • Disney XL Park
    • Disney Cinemagine Park

    Now the rumor mills are in full swing again with reports that the company has decided on “Disney Cinemagine Park” as the new name for Disney-MGM 3.0. Co Author of the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World Len Testa, posted on the WDWMagic forums about the change. “I also hear that Disney has settled on ‘Disney Cinemagine Park’ for the DHS rename.”

    We should point out that Len Testa and his podcast co-host Jim Hill both were among those who said Disney had decided on “Hollywood Adventure” as the name before the surveys were passed out. Quite frankly I still hope that is true.  Too bad it wasn’t on the survey.

    Already many fans are not happy with the new possibility, and are complaining that its hard to pronounce and to spell. There are just as many changes happening at Hollywood Studios as there are rumors, and nothing is official until Disney says it is. So like all rumors, take it for what it’s worth.

    For now we’ll hope it’s just a rumor, but a name change is most certainly coming.  Many speculating that change will come before the opening of Galaxy’s Edge or at least right after. Regardless, we should see the name change within the next three years.