EPCOT Opens It’s Doors in 1982
On October 1, 1982, EPCOT opened just next door to Walt Disney World.
As the park turns 38 years old, it is undergoing a massive reimagination.
EPCOT stands for “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow” and was the vision of founder, Walt Disney. The original vision was for EPCOT to be a real city where people would work, live and play. After Disney’s death the project was abandoned but then was given new life during an expansion in the ’80s. The new park was to feature two sections, Future World and World Showcase.
15th November 1978: Disney World, Epcot Centre, Florida, as it was expected to look in 1982. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
I remember going to the park when I was a little girl and waiting in line to watch Captain EO, starring Micahel Jackson. It was a theater attraction with 3D special effects. The short movie was written by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The attraction returned to Disney parks to commemorate Michael Jackson’s death in 2010 and was shown for the last time at EPCOT in 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znJvyrxflH8
Now EPCOT is home to many popular seasonal festivals, one of the most popular being the Food & Wine Festival. The kids who grew up visiting EPCOT are now of legal drinking age and one of the popular activities is drinking and eating around the world during the Festival. Groups even create personalized t-shirts to celebrate their visit.
Today, the front entrance of the park is being reimagined and many new attractions are being added. A couple of the additions coming late 2020 and 2021 are Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure (new attraction – already in Disneyland Paris), Harmonious (new show), Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind (new attraction), and Space 2020 (new dining option).
Regardless of what is new or what festival is happening, I still get chills every time I see Spaceship Earth from the Monorail. It is just as an iconic landmark as Cinderella’s Castle at Magic Kingdom and will forever stand for Walt Disney’s image of what the world could be.
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