Epcot

The genesis for Epcot was originally conceived as a utopian city of the future by Walt Disney in the 1960s. The concept was an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, often interchanging "city" and "community."[9] In Walt Disney's words in 1966: "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 new systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world of the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise."

Walt Disney's original vision was for a model community that would have been home to twenty thousand residents and a test bed for city planning as well as organization. It was to have been built in the shape of a circle with businesses and commercial areas at its center with community buildings, schools, and recreational complexes around it while residential neighborhoods would line the perimeter. This radial plan concept is strongly influenced by British planner Ebenezer Howard and his Garden Cities of To-morrow. Transportation would have been provided by monorails and PeopleMovers (like those in Tomorrowland). Automobile traffic would be kept underground, leaving pedestrians safe above ground. Walt Disney was not able to obtain funding and permission to start work on his Florida property until he agreed to first build Magic Kingdom. He died nearly five years before Magic Kingdom opened.[10]

After Walt Disney's death, Walt Disney Productions decided that it did not want to be in the business of running a city without Walt's guidance. 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 (RCID) and the cities of Bay Lake and Reedy Creek (now Lake Buena Vista), a legislative mechanism, enshrined in laws like the Reedy Creek Improvement Act, allowing Disney 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, Disney 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 further cemented this control by deannexing Celebration from the RCID.

The original plans for the park showed indecision over the park's purpose. Some Imagineers wanted it to represent the cutting edge of emerging technologies, 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 a World's Fair international theme, and the two were combined. The park was originally named EPCOT Center to reflect the ideals and values of the city. It was constructed for an estimated $800 million to $1.4 billion and took three years to build, at the time the largest construction project on Earth.[11] The parking lot serving the park is 141 acres (57 ha) (including bus area) and can accommodate 11,211 vehicles (grass areas hold additional 500+ vehicles). Before it opened on October 1, 1982, Walt Disney World Ambassador Genie Field introduced E. Cardon Walker, Disney's chairman and CEO, who dedicated EPCOT Center. Walker also presented a family with lifetime passes for the two Walt Disney World theme parks. His remarks were followed by Florida Governor Bob Graham and William Ellinghaus, president of AT&T.

As part of the opening-day ceremony, dancers and band members performed "We've Just Begun to Dream".[12] The Sherman Brothers wrote a song especially for the occasion entitled "The World Showcase March".[13] During the finale, doves and many sets of balloons were released. Performing groups representing countries from all over the world performed in World Showcase. Water was gathered from major rivers across the globe and emptied into the park's Fountain of Nations with ceremonial containers to mark the opening. The theme park opened on October 1, 1982.[14]

The entrance plaza to Epcot in 2000.

Despite its initial success, Epcot was constantly faced with the challenges of evolving with worldwide progress, an issue that caused the park to lose relevance and become outdated in the 1990s.[15] To maintain attendance levels, Disney introduced seasonal events such as the International Flower & Garden Festival and the International Food & Wine Festival in 1994 and 1995, respectively.[16][17] In the mid-1990s, Disney also began to gradually phase out the park's edutainment attractions in favor of more modern and thrilling attractions.[18] As a result, many of the attractions within the Future World pavilions, were either overhauled or replaced entirely; Universe of Energy was reconfigured as Ellen's Energy Adventure in 1996, World of Motion was replaced with Test Track, and Horizons was demolished in 1999 and replaced with Mission: Space.[19][20] Walt Disney World held the Millennium Celebration with the central focus of the event at Epcot. The Living Seas was closed in 2005, and rethemed with the introduction of characters from Finding Nemo, as The Seas with Nemo & Friends, which is the attraction are became part of The Seas Pavilion. That same year, Soarin', a flight simulator ride originally developed for Disney's California Adventure (DCA) theme park in Anaheim, was added to The Land following its massive popularity at DCA. Wonders of Life closed in 2007, with the pavilion being occasionally used for the park's annual festivals until permanent closure.

In November 2016, Disney revealed that Epcot would be receiving “a major transformation” that would help transition the park into being “more Disney, timeless, relevant, family-friendly”, while keeping the original vision alive. No further details were mentioned.[21] In July 2017, The Walt Disney Company formally announced that Epcot would undergo a multi-year, redesign and expansion plan that would introduce Guardians of the Galaxy and Ratatouille attractions to Future World and World Showcase, respectively, as well as maintaining the original vision and spirit for the park.[22] As part of the announcement, Ellen's Energy Adventure closed the following month, and the pavilion's show building was reused for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.[23] That same year, the park reported the first drop in overall attendance ranking among the four Walt Disney World Resort parks, dropping from second to third place, the first in its history.[24]

On August 25, 2019, at the 2019 D23 Expo, Disney expanded on the plans for the improvements to Epcot.[25] One of the most significant changes announced was the creation of four distinct "neighborhoods", with the subdivision of Future World into three areas (World Celebration, World Discovery, and World Nature) and World Showcase remaining as the fourth one.[25] Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana, a walkthrough attraction, was also announced.[26] The Walt Disney Company began to stylize the name as "EPCOT" as an homage to both the park's original name and Walt Disney's original concept, although the name is no longer an acronym.[18] In late 2019, EPCOT announced that a new directory signage was installed in Seabase Alpha, restoring the former Living Seas logo, as the pavilions are now renamed The Seas Pavilion.[27]

The park was closed from March 16 to July 15, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida.[28][29] Modified operations were established, including a pause on concerts and fireworks, in order to promote sufficient physical distancing.

On September 29, 2021, the new nighttime spectacular, Harmonious, made its debut as part of the "World's Most Magical Celebration".[30] The show ended its run on March 31, 2023, in preparation for a new nighttime spectacular, Luminous: The Symphony of Us, which celebrating the centennial of The Walt Disney Company.

Remy's Ratatouille Adventure opened in the France pavilion on October 1, 2021, as part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations.[31] The attraction is a copy of the Disneyland Paris version. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, part of the Wonders of Xandar Pavilion, would open on May 27, 2022, in the World Discovery section of the park. The opening of this attraction was also an addition for the 50th anniversary.[32]

World Celebration serves as the park's main entrance and as the home of "new experiences that connect us to one another and the world around us".[36] The neighborhood honors global human interaction and connection, including communication, imagination, and the visual and culinary arts.

• Spaceship Earth, an eighteen-story-tall geodesic sphere structure and the anchor pavilion, which also houses an eponymous dark ride attraction that depicts the history of communication.[37]
  • Project Tomorrow: Inventing the Wonders of the Future is an interactive post show following Spaceship Earth showcasing many "virtual reality" games.
• Imagination!, a pavilion containing attractions that highlights human imagination, creativity, and the arts.
  • Journey into Imagination with Figment, a dark ride featuring Figment that explores the senses and imagination.
  • ImageWorks: The What-If Labs, an interactive post show following Journey into Imagination.
  • Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival, a 3-D show composed of three animated shorts from both Walt Disney and Pixar animation studios.
• Club Cool, an attraction and gift shop, featuring complimentary samples of Coca-Cola soft drinks from around the world.
• Creations Shop, the park's main gift shop.
• Connections Eatery & Cafe, a quick service restaurant themed to global food history featuring the park's Starbucks.
• The Odyssey Events Pavilion, an exhibition space used for the park's annual festivals.

Future additions will include Dreamer's Point, which will include a new statue of Walt Disney, and CommuniCore Hall which will act as a multi-use festival pavilion which will be used for exhibitions, gallery space, live music, demonstration kitchen and more. CommuniCore Plaza will be able to host large-scale concerts as well as smaller musical performances.[38]

World Discovery centers on "stories about space, science, technology and intergalactic adventure comes to life". Future attractions include the Play! Pavilion.

• The Wonders of Xandar, an "other-world" showcase pavilion containing Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, an enclosed roller coaster featuring the Marvel Comics superhero team.
• Mission: Space, centered on space exploration, is a centrifugal motion simulator thrill ride that replicates a space flight experience to Mars and a low orbit tour over the surface of Earth.
  • Space 220, a themed restaurant simulating dining aboard a space station located 220 miles above Earth.[25][39]
• Test Track, a thrill ride inspired by the rigorous automobile testing procedures that Chevrolet uses to evaluate concept cars.

World Nature focuses on "understanding and preserving the beauty, awe and balance of the natural world".[25]

• The Land depicts human interaction with the Earth, focusing on agriculture, ecology, and travel. The pavilion contains three attractions:
  • Soarin' Around the World, an attraction that simulates a hang gliding flight over various regions of the world.
  • Living with the Land, a narrated boat tour through Audio-Animatronics scenes, a greenhouse and hydroponics lab.
  • Awesome Planet, a short documentary film presented in the pavilion's Harvest Theater about the Earth's biomes and the perils of climate change.
• The Seas is based on ocean exploration and features an aquarium with marine life exhibits, an Omnimover attraction inspired by Finding Nemo, Turtle Talk with Crush, and the Coral Reef Restaurant.
• Journey of Water is a walkthrough water attraction depicting the Earth's water cycle, inspired by the 2016 animated feature film Moana.[38]

World Showcase is the park's largest neighborhood, reminiscent of a permanent world's fair dedicated to representing the culture, cuisine, architecture, and traditions of 11 nations. The nation pavilions surround the World Showcase Lagoon, a man-made lake located in the center of World Showcase with a perimeter of 1.2 miles (1.9 km), which is the site of the park's nighttime fireworks displays. In counter-clockwise order, the 11 pavilions are:

There is a small pavilion between China and Germany called the Outpost, not included as one of the official World Showcase pavilions.[40]

Of the 11 pavilions, only Morocco and Norway were not present at the park's opening, as they were added in 1984 and 1988, respectively.[41] Each pavilion contains themed architecture, landscapes, streetscapes, attractions, shops and restaurants representing the respective country's culture and cuisine. In an effort to maintain the authenticity of the represented countries, the pavilions are primarily staffed by citizens of the respective countries as part of the Cultural Representative Program through Q1 visa agreements. Some pavilions also contain themed rides, shows, and live entertainment representative of the respective country. The Morocco pavilion was directly sponsored by the Moroccan government until 2020, when Disney took ownership of the pavilion.[42] The remaining pavilions are primarily sponsored by private companies with affiliations to the represented countries.

Originally, the showcase was to include partnerships with the governments of the different countries. According to Disney's 1975 Annual Report, the Showcase would:

...offer participating countries a permanent installation for such features as themed restaurants and shops, product exhibits, industrial displays, cultural presentations, a trade center, and even special facilities for business meetings.

Major sponsorships for each participating nation will be asked to provide the capital to cover the cost of designing, developing and constructing its attraction and/or ride and all exhibits, as well as the Pavilion itself. It will also have the responsibility for funding the housing for its employees in the International Village. Its land lease will cover the cost of maintaining the attraction for a minimum of ten years.

The Disney organization will be responsible for area development, including the construction of transportation systems and utilities. We will also build and operate the internal people moving system, the Courtyard of Nations and central theater facility.[41]

Pavilions for Brazil, the Philippines, Equatorial Africa, Puerto Rico,[43] Russia,[44] South Korea, Denmark, Poland, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Holland, Costa Rica, Spain, Soviet Union, Australia/New Zealand, Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, and Israel have occasionally been rumored as potential future pavilions but have never made it past the planning phases to date. However, Disney did go as far as announcing three of the pavilions in the 1980s with signage throughout the park.

The Israeli and Spanish pavilions, and an Equatorial Africa pavilion blending elements of the cultures of countries such as Kenya and Zaire, were even announced as coming soon in 1982, and a model of the last was shown on the opening day telecast, but never took off. Instead, a small African themed refreshment shop known as the Outpost currently resides where Equatorial Africa was to be.[41] More than 50 nations, among them Israel, Brazil, Chile, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and 5 African countries (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, and South Africa), took part in the Millennium Village, a project that took place in Epcot during Millennium Celebration (1999–2001) to pay homage to the cultural achievements of these nations.[45]

There are currently eight undeveloped spots for countries around the World Showcase—including the space occupied by the Outpost—in between the locations of the current countries. Two of the potential locations, on either side of the United Kingdom, are currently occupied by World ShowPlace (successor of Millennium Village). Two more lie on either side of the American Adventure, though this pavilion's use of reversed forced perspective may preclude the construction of additional buildings as they would ruin the illusion.[41]

Unlike Magic Kingdom, which up until 2012 did not serve alcohol and now only serves it in all table service locations,[46][47] most stores and restaurants at Epcot, especially in the World Showcase, serve and sell a variety of alcoholic beverages including specialty drinks, craft beers, wines, and spirits reflective of the respective countries. The park also hosts the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, an annual event featuring food and drink samplings from all over the world, along with live entertainment and special exhibits.

Originally based on the Disney Channel animated series Kim Possible, the World Showcase Adventure is an interactive mobile attraction taking place in several pavilions throughout the World Showcase. The attraction is an electronic scavenger hunt that has guests using special "Kimmunicators" (in actuality, customized cell phones) to help teenage crime-fighters Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable solve a "crime" or disrupt an evil-doer's "plans for global domination." The "Kimmunicator" is able to trigger specific events within the pavilion grounds that provide clues to completing the adventure. Launched in January 2009 and presented by Verizon Wireless, the Adventure is included in park admission. It was succeeded by Agent P's World Showcase Adventure, based on Disney's Phineas and Ferb, on June 23, 2012.[48] Agent P's World Showcase Adventure was later closed on February 17, 2020, and was replaced by the DuckTales World Showcase Adventure, based on the 2017 reboot of DuckTales on December 16, 2022, as part of Walt Disney World's 50th Anniversary celebration.[49]

Side 1

1. "Main Entrance Medley (Instrumental)" – 3:29
2. "Golden Dream" – The American Adventure in the World Showcase – 3:27
3. "Energy (You Make the World Go 'Round)" – Universe of Energy – 1:48
4. "The Computer Song" – Epcot Computer Central – 2:32
5. "Magic Journeys" – Journey Into Imagination – 3:36
6. "Canada (You're A Lifetime Journey)" – Canada in the World Showcase – 3:22

Side 2

1. "Universe of Energy" – Universe of Energy – 2:14
2. "Listen to the Land" – The Land – 2:59
3. "One Little Spark" – Journey Into Imagination – 3:40
4. "It's Fun to Be Free" – World of Motion – 2:14
5. "Makin' Memories" – Journey Into Imagination – 3:26
6. "Kitchen Kabaret Medley" – The Land – 2:20
   • Boogie Woogie Bakery Boy
   • Meat Ditties
   • Veggie Veggie Fruit Fruit