LP Lotion: Epcot's Great Piggy Bank Adventure Grand Opening
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May 19th marked the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Epcot attraction, The Great Piggy Bank Adventure. This new exhibit is housed in Innoventions East.
The Great Piggy Bank Adventure is a venture between Disney and T. Rowe Price, a partnership that began when Disney approached the investment company 4 years ago with the idea of bringing guests an edutainment experience teaching fiscal responsibility.
Epcot Vice President Dan Cockerell told me that Disney wanted an experience that the whole family could enjoy together, a theme I heard often as I talked with Imagineers and executives. Dan continued that “conversations about money can be hard to have as a family”, and that The Great Piggy Bank Adventure can be the catalyst to getting families to finally have that talk. The attraction is geared more towards tweens (8 and 14), but it can easily be enjoyed by all ages.
The Great Piggy Bank Adventure is nothing if not timely. Edward C. Bernard, vice chairman of the T. Rowe Price Group said that there was one lasting lesson from the current financial climate, and that is “the importance of saving”.
I had the opportunity to try my hand at the The Great Piggy Bank Adventure during the soft opening. It is a fun, interactive game that really can be a shared experience with friends and family. The idea of the attraction is to set a goal - there are 4 goals to choose from: retirement, a new bedroom, education goals or a vacation. Once a goal is chosen, the guest receives a piggy bank to carry from game to game, learning about saving, investment, and diversifying. My favorite of the computer generated games consists of moving coins around various areas of a bedroom to hide them. Each of these areas (one is under a bed, another would be in a drawer) has a multiplier saying how much that area is worth (like 2x or 5x the money). Naturally one would rather have 5x the money than 2x, but that is the point of diversifying. The trick here is that the wolf (who is in all of the games) comes and will take money from a couple of the areas. If you put all of your coins in one place and the wolf finds it, you’d be out of luck - and money.
Today’s ceremony included a variety of T-Rowe Price executives, Disney executives (Al Weiss was there, but did not speak), as well as Imagineers. It also included some of the design team for the Great Piggy Bank Adventure online version. When the game is finished, there is a space to add your email address. I gave mine, unsure of what would be done with it. I was told a certificate would be mailed, and an invitation (not needed, one just needs to go to thegreatpiggybankadventure.com) to join in the online game. I was very impressed with what I’ve seen of the online version, designed by the same team that did VMK. Jeff Voris, Director of Advanced Projects at Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts Online was very enthusiastic in showing me what the team had accomplished. There was also a video showing how the online game was created, which included the construction of a 12 foot model! Jeff reiterated how they wanted a “multigenerational experience”, just as the Innovations version is.
Disney and T-Rowe Price have a winner with The Great Piggy Bank Adventure. Timely, educational, and fun - both in the parks and at home. And everyone loves carrying the pig!
Videos
The three videos below together make up the entire ribbon cutting ceremony. Click below to play.
Dan Cockerell, Vice President of Epcot greeted everyone for the opening of the Great Piggy Bank Adventure.
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Dan Cockerell is escorted off the stage by Mickey.
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Edward Bernard, Vice Chairman of the T-Rowe Price Group looks at the camera while speaking with Dan Cockerell and Brian C. Rogers, T-Rowe Price Chief Investment Officer.
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Al Weiss.
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