3 Reasons Why Captain EO WON’T Return To Epcot

Years passed, time went by, then came the year 1994. In ’94, 3D attractions were still considered “advanced”, but Michael Jackson didn’t have the best reputation. Captain EO was still quite popular among park goers, but due to certain incidents, it was better for Disney to close the attraction. The show closed at all of Disney’s properties.

In 2010, Michael unexpectedly passed away, and his popularity sky rocketed, Captain EO was back! The show replaced its replacement (how ironic!) Honey I Shrunk the audience closed, and EO was to return temporarily. Disney isn’t good with temporary, the show stayed for 5 years and temporarily closed in 2015 (we’ll see how “temporary” that is)

In this post, I’ll be telling you 3 reasons why Captain EO will most likely NOT return to Epcot. I am a EO fan, but in this post I’ll be examining some facts.

#1 THE SHOW IS OLD

Plain and simple, the show is EXTREMELY outdated. Many people would consider it to be an embarrassment to Disney. All the footage is unchanged from 1986, you can really tell. Along with old footage, due to lack of maintenance by Disney, hardly any of the in-theater special effects actually worked.

#2 THE PROJECTOR GOT REPLACED

For the Tomorrowland preview, a digital projector was put in place to show the film. Captain EO used an old school, film projector. These digital projectors aren’t cheap, so do we really think Disney purchased one just to remove it a month later?

#3 THE THEMING WAS REMOVED

Every single on-stage reference to Captain EO and his ragtag crew have been removed. All of the theming in the lobby, pre-show and exit theater are gone. Along with this, the water nozzles that were used as effects during the show have also been removed.

Likewise with those three reasons, the show is also closed at every Disney Park that operated it. Would I like to see Captain EO return? Sure. I loved the show, but it is very likely that this closure isn’t temporary, but permanent. I highly doubt that Captain EO will actually come back to Epcot.

(NOTE- The Disney Parks Blog “expects” Captain EO to return at a later date)