Epcot

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Epcot is a theme park located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, USA. It is dedicated to international culture and technological innovation. It opened on October 1, 1982, and was originally named EPCOT Center.

Contents 1 History 1.1 The planned community 1.2 The theme park 2 Opening Day 3 Facts and Figures 4 Park layout 4.1 Future World 4.2 World Showcase 4.2.1 Pavilions in the World Showcase 5 Timeline 6 External links

History

The planned community

The name Epcot derives from the acronym EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), a utopian city of the future planned by Walt Disney. (He sometimes used the word 'City' instead of 'Community' when expanding the acronym.) In Walt Disney's words: "EPCOT ... will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise."

Walt Disney's original vision of EPCOT was for a model community, home to twenty thousand residents, which would be a test bed for city planning and organization. The community was to have been built in the shape of a circle, with businesses and commercial areas at its center, community buildings and schools and recreational complexes around it, and residential neighborhoods along the perimeter. Transportation would have been provided by monorails and PeopleMovers (like the one in the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland). Automobile traffic would be kept underground, leaving pedestrians safe above-ground. A giant dome was to have covered the community, so as to regulate its climate. Walt Disney said, "It will be a planned, controlled community, a showcase for American industry and research, schools, cultural and educational opportunities. In EPCOT there will be no slum areas because we won't let them develop. There will be no landowners and therefore no voting control. People will rent houses instead of buying them, and at modest rentals. There will be no retirees; everyone must be employed." The original model of this original vision of EPCOT can still be seen by passengers riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority attraction in the Magic Kingdom park; when the PeopleMover enters the showhouse for Stitch's Great Escape, the model is visible on the left behind glass.

This vision was not realized. Walt Disney wasn't able to obtain funding and permission to start work on his Florida property until he agreed to build the Magic Kingdom first, and he passed away before its opening day. The Walt Disney Company later decided that it didn't want to be in the business of running a town. (The model community of Celebration, Florida has been mentioned as a realization of Disney's original vision, but Celebration is based on concepts of new urbanism which is radically different from Disney's modernist and futurist visions.) However, the idea of EPCOT was instrumental in prompting the state of Florida to create the Reedy Creek Improvement District and the Cities of Bay Lake and Reedy Creek (soon renamed Lake Buena Vista), a legislative mechanism which allows the Walt Disney Company to exercise governmental powers over Walt Disney World. Control over the RCID is vested in the landowners of the district, and the promise of an actual city in the district would have meant that the powers of the RCID would have been distributed among the landowners in EPCOT. Because the idea of EPCOT was never implemented, the Disney Corporation remained almost the sole landowner in the district allowing it to maintain control of the RCID and the cities of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista. Disney's intent appears to be that it wishes to keep the RCID as an instrument of the company, as witnessed by the method by which the RCID redrew its boundaries to exclude Celebration rather than allow Celebration's resident landowners to dilute Disney's control over the RCID.

The theme park

The Epcot theme park was originally known as EPCOT Center to reflect the fact that the park was built to embody the ideals and values of EPCOT the city. In 1994, the name was changed to Epcot '94 and subsequently Epcot '95 a year later. By 1996, the park was known simply as Epcot, a non-acronym, mixed-case word, as the park no longer reflected Walt Disney's plans for a futuristic city.

The original plans for the park showed indecision over what the park's purpose was to be: some Imagineers wanted it to represent the cutting edge of technology, while others wanted it to showcase international cultures and customs. At one point a model of the futuristic park was pushed together against a model of the international park, and EPCOT Center was born.

Epcot is generally regarded as more "learning-oriented" than other theme parks. It has only three thrill rides (Test Track, Mission: SPACE, and Soarin'); the rest of its attractions are dark rides, shows, or walkthrough exhibits. Epcot's Future World is showing its age; the exhibits there no longer represent the most modern advances in technology. A plan code-named "Project Gemini" is rumored to exist which would change Future World into "Discoveryland," change its theme to the idea of discovery, reduce the pressure to keep everything cutting-edge, and add a few more thrill rides.

Various satirical expansions of the acronym EPCOT have emerged over time, such as "Every Person Comes Out Tired" (because of the amount of walking required in the park), "Every Pocketbook Comes Out Thinner," "Evil Polyester Costumes Of Torture," "Every Paycheck Comes On Thursday" (the pay day for Disney Cast Members), "Eisner Puts Cash On Table" (in light of the high admission price to the Disney parks, and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner's reported 40 million dollar bonuses in the 1990s), and "Eisner's Personal Coin-Operated Toy."

Opening Day

October 1st, 1982 was a grand opening day celebration with international performing groups representing countries from all over the world with and without pavilions in World Showcase. Water was gathered from major rivers all over the world and emptied into the lagoon from ceremonial containers to mark the opening. Located at the front of the park is a plaque bearing its opening-day dedication: "To all who come to this Place of Joy, Hope and Friendship, Welcome. EPCOT is inspired by Walt Disney's creative vision. Here, human achievements are celebrated through imagination, wonders of enterprise and concepts of a future that promises new and exciting benefits for all. May EPCOT Center entertain, inform and inspire, and above all, may it instill a new sense of belief and pride in man's ability to shape a world that offers hope to people everywhere." - E. Cardon Walker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Walt Disney Productions.

Facts and Figures

• Total Cost, estimated: $1.4 billion
• Construction time: three years (at the time the largest construction project on Earth)
• Park Size: over 300 acres (1.2 km²)
• Parking Lot: 141 acres (including bus area); Parking for 11,211 vehicles (grass areas hold additional 500+ vehicles)
• The pavement at EPCOT was engineered by Disney and Kodak photography to be painted a specific custom color of pink that makes the grass look greener and pictures look brighter. In addition, the colored sidewalks give an overall cleaner look to the park.

Park layout

The park consists of two sections: Future World and World Showcase. Both are patterned after the kinds of exhibits which were popular at World's Fairs in the first half of the 20th century.

Future World

Future World consists of a variety of pavilions that explore innovative aspects and applications of technology.

• Spaceship Earth, the eighteen-story-tall geodesic sphere covered in 11,324 triangular silver panels made of alucobond, is the gateway to Future World. Inside is a slow-moving dark ride through the history of communication, with a focus on the development of cultures and the future of technologies. In 1999, the Sorceror Mickey hand and wand was constructed next to the geosphere to commemorate the turn of the millennium. Originally reading 2000, the text following the wand was changed to Epcot in 2001 in lieu of its destruction. At 256 feet (78 m) high, the hand and wand is the tallest structure at any Walt Disney World park.

• Innoventions, located in two pavilions (aptly named Innoventions East and Innoventions West), houses hands-on exhibitions from various science-and-technology oriented companies such as IBM and Segway. When EPCOT was first opened, Innoventions was called CommuniCore, as it was a communications-themed exhibit and housed the mainframe for the park.

• Innoventions Plaza is the location of the "Fountain of Nations," a large choreographed musical fountain which performs every fifteen minutes. During Epcot's opening ceremonies in 1982, water from 22 nations was poured into the fountain. Kristos, a circus-act of group strength and flexibility, performs daily near the fountain. The three performers are from Bulgaria; they include a mother and her two sons. Nearby are MouseGear, Epcot's largest store offering a wealth of Disney related merchandise; the Fountain View Espresso and Bakery, a coffee shop; and the Electric Umbrella, Future World's main counter-service restaurant with typical theme-park-style fast food.

• Inside the Universe of Energy is Ellen's Energy Adventure, a show starring Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Nye, Jamie Lee Curtis, Alex Trebek, and (an actor playing) Albert Einstein in an episode of Jeopardy!. The categories are about energy and how people generate and harvest it. (Michael Richards, "Kramer" from Seinfeld, has a brief cameo in the show as a caveman who discovers fire.) The audience's seats are actually large vehicles which move slowly through the attraction and are powered by solar cells on the building's roof. Visitors travel through the primeval world of dinosaurs to teach you that they will become the fossil fuels in your gas tank. Guests also learn how shale, "the rock that burns" will be used as fuel (a "bridge to the future") when all the fossil fuels run out.

• Mission: SPACE is a ride which simulates the training required to be member of the space program. Gary Sinise is the guide through a simulated mission to Mars in a spinning centrifuge gravity-simulator, which lets guests feel what it's like to blast off in a rocket. (This attraction is built on the former site of Horizons, a ride which compared science fiction of the past with what life might be like in the future.)

• In Test Track, guests sit in six-seater cars and experience the wide range of testing that automobiles must go through before they are approved for mass production. Cars in the ride pass through extreme temperatures, over rough surfaces, and around high-speed turns. (This pavilion formerly housed World of Motion, a slow-moving ride past scenes depicting the past and the future of transportation. It was replaced in 1996.)

• The Living Seas is one of the largest indoor aquariums in the world, designed to appear as deep-sea research station (complete with "Hydrolator" elevators for traveling to and from the ocean floor). Guests can view many different aquatic animals such as manatees while learning about the preservation of the oceans. Scuba divers appear occasionally to maintain the aquarium and educate visitors; for a fee, guests with certified diving credentials can join a group dive in the aquarium itself.

• The Land pavilion contains various attractions dealing with human interaction with the natural environment. Living with the Land takes visitors on a boat tour through a working greenhouse. The Garden Grill Restaurant slowly rotates, offering views of the Living with the Land ride, and serves food grown in The Land. Soarin', a copy of Soarin' Over California from Disney's California Adventure, opened here in May 2005, along with a remodeled pavilion. (The new attraction's queue area replaced the Food Rocks attraction, which itself replaced the earlier Kitchen Kabaret.) Also showing is a movie called The Circle Of Life, starring the characters from The Lion King.

• Imagination! contains Journey Into Imagination, a lighthearted ride starring Eric Idle and the Epcot mascot Figment. It encourages guests to use their senses and their imagination. This attraction is currently in its third incarnation: a refurbishment in 1998 removed the little purple dragon Figment and his creator/father figure Dreamfinder and featured Idle instead, but there were so many complaints over the disappearance of Figment that a 2002 refurbishment added him back; Dreamfinder is still absent, except for a cameo in the queue area (look for a door reading "Dean Finder"). Imagination! also contains Honey, I Shrunk The Audience; in this 3-D short film featuring Eric Idle, Rick Moranis, and the rest of the cast of the film Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, a demonstration of a new invention inadvertently shrinks the entire theater. (From May 1986 until April 1994, this theater had shown the film Captain Eo, which starred Michael Jackson, was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and was produced by George Lucas. Before that, the theater had shown a film titled Magic Journeys, which featured a collection of children and their fantasies.

• Wonders of Life contained several small attractions (such as Body Wars, a motion simulator ride through the human body) about the human body and how to keep it in good health. Though the building still stands, this pavilion closed permanently in 2005.

Each Future World pavilion was initially sponsored by a corporation who helped fund its construction and maintenance in return for the corporation's logos appearing prominently throughout the pavilion. For example, Universe of Energy was sponsored by Exxon, and The Land was sponsored by Kraft, then Nestlé. Each pavilion contains a posh "VIP area" for its sponsor with offices, lounges, and reception areas hidden away from regular park guests. In the years since the park's opening, however, some sponsors have decided that the branding wasn't worth the cost of sponsorship and have pulled out, leaving some of the pavilions without sponsors. Disney prefers to have sponsors helping to pay the bills, so pavilions without sponsors have an uncertain future. After General Electric left Horizons in 1993, it closed for several years, operating only on rare occasions. It was ultimately demolished in 2000 to make room for Mission: SPACE. After MetLife abandoned Wonders of Life in 2001 that area was closed during off-seasons, and is now permanently closed.

World Showcase

World Showcase is made up of eleven pavilions: in clockwise order, Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, United States of America, Japan, Morocco, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Each of these contains representative shops and restaurants and is staffed by citizens of these countries. Some also contain rides and shows. Each pavilion is sponsored (and paid for) by the country it represents, so tourism brochures are readily available. The sponsorship also explains why pavilions for Russia, Spain, and Israel never made it past the planning phase: these countries declined to fund pavilions. An Equatorial Africa pavilion was planned and part of it was built. It is now known as Outpost. After Animal Kingdom, an African themed animal preserve and park opened, any plans for an African Pavillion were dropped.

To cut costs, Disney now opens World Showcase late (usually 11:00 AM) and closes Future World early (usually 7:00 PM, except for Test Track and Mission: SPACE which sometimes remain open until park closing). Unlike the Magic Kingdom which has no alcohol, many stores and restaurants in the World Showcase serve or sell alcoholic beverages from their respective countries and beer is sold at refreshment stands throughout the park.

A thirteen-minute fireworks show takes place in the World Showcase Lagoon every night at the park's closing time (usually 9:00 PM). Fireworks and lasers fill the sky above an immense rotating globe whose continents show changing pictures of culture and technology throughout the ages, while a rousing musical score plays over the loudspeakers. The current show is titled IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. It is divided into three movements titled "Chaos," "Order," and "Meaning." The music has an African tribal sound to it, to emphasize the idea of humanity as a single unified tribe on this planet; the lagoon is surrounded by twenty large torches signifying the past twenty centuries, and the show culminates in the globe opening like a lotus blossom to reveal a twenty-first torch, representing the new century.

Pavilions in the World Showcase

• The Mexico Pavilion looks like a Mexican pyramid. Visitors enter through a display of Mexican artwork, the "Animales Fantasticos" art collection. The main room is the home to a twilight-lit Mexican marketplace, Plaza de los Amigos. At the edge of the plaza, a restaurant, San Angel Inn, overlooks an indoor lagoon. To the side of the plaza, a boarding area leads to a boat ride, El Rio del Tiempo (The River of Time), which takes the guest through the lagoon, past a model volcano, and then through Mexico, past and present.

• The Norway Pavilion is designed to look like a Norwegian village. The village includes a detailed stave church. Much of the pavilion is taken up by interconnected shops. These shops are decorated with large wooden trolls and sell assorted Norwegian goods, including clothing, candy, and small troll statues. The courtyard of the pavilion contains the entrance to Maelstrom, a boat ride into Norway's past and present. Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe is a bakery, featuring assorted Norwegian pastries, such as cream horns and open-faced salmon sandwiches. There is a children's play area that looks like a Viking ship. The courtyard contains the entrance to Restaurant Akershus.

• Visitors enter the China Pavilion through a large Chinese gate. The courtyard is dominated by a Chinese temple, the Temple of Heaven, which contains the entrance to Reflections of China, a Circle-Vision 360° movie exploring China's history and scenery. The courtyard is bordered by shops selling Chinese merchandise. The pavilion is decorated with ponds, crossed by bridges. The pavilion also contains a Chinese restaurant, the Nine Dragons Restaurant.

• The Germany Pavilion is designed to look like a German town, but with architecture from different eras and regions. The Platz (plaza) is decorated with a statue of St. George and the Dragon and a clock tower. The Biergarten, at the rear of the courtyard, sells traditional German food. The pavilion also has numerous small shops selling German goods, including dolls and cuckoo clocks. The area near the pavilion is decorated by an extensive model village with working model trains.

• The Italy Pavilion features a piazza surrounded by a collection of buildings evocative of Venetian and Roman architecture, including a functional re-creation of Venice's Campanile (bell tower) of St. Mark's Square. A replica of the Doge's Palace from Venice also figures prominently. The Pavilion is also home to the four-star "L'Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante," which was created by the direct descendants of Alfredo di Lellio, the inventor of Fettuccini Alfredo and features classical Roman decor. The piazza is decorated with statues, such as the Neptune Fountain and the Lion of St. Mark. In the piazza various types of street performers, such as clowns, pantomimes, and the statute act, Imaginum, entertain. There are also small shops selling Italian goods, such as candy and wines.

• The United States Pavilion is a building designed in the Colonial style. It contains The American Adventure, a stage show about American history using audio-animatronic actors and the Hall of Flags exhibit, a display of the different flags throughout U.S. history. It also contains the Liberty Inn restaurant which serves American fare, such as cheeseburgers and hot dogs. There is a small gift shop, Heritage Manor Gifts, selling American items. Across from the pavilion is the American Gardens Theater, an outdoor amphitheater.

• The Japan pavilion is made up of buildings surrounding a courtyard. The entrance to the courtyard features a Japanese Pagoda. A torii gate decorates the water in front of the pavilion. The area is filled with Japanese pools and gardens. At the end of the courtyard is the gate to a Japanese castle, including a moat, which leads into a display of Japanese culture. The Mitsukoshi department store sells many Japanese items, including clothing, jewelry, and toys. In the Teppan Yaki Dining Room, chefs prepare stir-fried foods right in front of the guests. The attraction Meet the World from Tokyo Disneyland, which explores Japanese history, was planned and the show building built, but the show never opened.

• The Morocco Pavilion is designed to look like a Moroccan city, with a realistic Minaret. It features the Restaurant Marrakesh which serves Moroccan fare, such as roast lamb and shish kebab. It includes the Gallery of Arts and History and the Fez House, an example of a typical Moroccan house. It has many shops with a Moroccan feel, selling such goods as rugs, leather goods, and clothing. The area is decorated with gardens and fountains to give a North African feel.

• The France Pavilion is themed to look like a Paris neighborhood with a pool and fountains and with a view of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Most of the shops on the streets are actual shops selling French goods. The pavilion features Impressions de France a panoramic movie which visits France's cities and historical structures. It also includes two French Restaurants, the Bistro de Paris and Les Chefs de France, and a bakery, the Boulangerie Patisserie.

• The United Kingdom Pavilion is designed to look like an English city. It has English gardens (including a hedge maze). The shops sell British items, such as tea, toys, and clothing. The Rose & Crown Pub and Dining Room serves traditional British food, such as Fish and Chips, as well as beer and ale.

• The Canada Pavilion is designed to remind the guest of the Canadian outdoors. The pavilion is decorated with a canyon, a waterfall, gardens, a pool with fountains, and totem poles. The main attraction at the Canada Pavilion is O Canada!, a Circle-Vision 360° movie of Canada's cities and scenery. The film was made in 1979. This pavilion also includes Le Cellier Steakhouse.

Timeline

• October 1 1978: Card Walker (Pres. of Walt Disney Productions) reveals plans for the theme park.
• October 1 1979: Official Groundbreaking and start of construction.
• October 1, 1982: Epcot opens with World of Motion, Spaceship Earth, The Land, Universe of Energy, CommuniCore, and most of the World Showcase
• October 1, 1983: Horizons opens
• October 1, 1984: Morocco opens
• January 2, 1986: Magic Journeys closes, to reopen at the Magic Kingdom
• January 15, 1986: The Living Seas opens
• May 26, 1986: Spaceship Earth reopens with narrator Walter Cronkite
• September 12, 1986: Captain EO starring Michael Jackson opens
• July 1, 1988: Norway opens
• July 5, 1988: Maelstrom opens at Norway
• October 19, 1989: Wonders of Life opens
• September 30, 1992: Kraft ends sponsorship of The Land
• November 1992: Nestle begins sponsorship of The Land
• September 30, 1993: General Electric ends sponsorship of Horizons
• 1994 Name changed from EPCOT Center to Epcot
• January 30, 1994: CommuniCore closes
• July 1, 1994: Innoventions opens
• July 6, 1994: Captain EO closes
• November 21, 1994: Honey, I Shrunk the Audience opens
• November 23, 1994: Spaceship Earth reopens with narrator Jeremy Irons
• January 2, 1996: World of Motion closes
• September 15, 1996: Universe of Energy reopens, now starring Ellen DeGeneres
• January, 1998: United Technologies ends sponsorship of The Living Seas
• January 9, 1999: Horizons closes
• October 1, 1999: Journey Into Imagination reopens
• March 17, 1999: Test Track opens
• June 1, 2001: MetLife ends sponsorship of Wonders of Life
• June 1, 2002: Journey Into Imagination reopens, this time with Figment
• January 1, 2003: AT&T ends sponsorship of Spaceship Earth
• October 2003: Mission: Space opens
• January 3, 2004: Food Rocks closes
• March 17, 2004: Exxon Mobil ends sponsorship of Universe of Energy
• May 5, 2005: Soarin' opens at The Land Pavilion

External links

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from MapQuest or Google Local
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image from TerraServer-USA
  • Satellite image from Google Local or Microsoft Virtual Earth

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