How long has epcot been around

Today, a trip to Disney World is a rite of passage for many American families. Epcot, one of the four theme parks that comprise Walt Disney World, is the third most visited theme park in the United States.

My first trip to Epcot was in at just five years old. What does the pathetically static exhibit Innoventions communicate to kids about the future of technology in a theme park that purports to be about the future? Does Epcot offer the latest in technological wonders that it promised when it opened in ?

What kind of tone does Epcot set for science education in this country? And am I overthinking what is supposed to be an entertaining experience for people?

Epcot, which opened in , is home to the World Showcase, which features dozens of pavilions of countries from around the globe. This part of the park will remain once Disney's transformation of Epcot is complete, but it will be joined by three new neighborhoods: Discovery, Celebration and Nature.

He said many of the scenes that were part of the original will remain but be updated. New moments will also be added. The exit to the ride will be called Dreamer's Point and have a new statue of Walt Disney. World Discovery will feature a "Guardians of the Galaxy" ride called Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind as well as a new Play Pavilion where characters from Disney and Pixar films will appear for meet-and-greets and as part of a digital city.

Mission Space will also be updated with a new restaurant. The restaurant is called Space , which is set in a space station sitting high above the Earth. It will open this winter. It will debut in Skip Navigation. Key Points. Epcot has long been a destination for adults but has been, perhaps, a little too mature for younger parkgoers.

Through various dummy corporations, Walt Disney purchased 27, acres of Florida swampland twice the size of Manhattan Island located between the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee see Reedy Creek Improvement District. This land would eventually become the Walt Disney World Resort. There's enough land here to hold all the ideas and plans we could possibly imagine", Walt Disney said, referring to the fact that he had little control over the surrounding area of Disneyland.

Disney also petitioned with the State of Florida Legislature to give Walt Disney Productions municipal jurisdiction over the land they had acquired. This was to make sure that Walt Disney could have full control over every part of the property, even how the buildings were constructed.

Walt was planning new ideas in urban living and did not want the government to interfere. This was the beginning of the Reedy Creek Improvement District. In October , two months before his death, Walt Disney made a minute film about his plans for the Florida Project, then dubbed "Disney World". Disney made this film primarily to persuade and encourage American industry and various corporations to opt in and help Walt Disney Productions in the creation and running of EPCOT.

Disney also encouraged the industrial companies to come up with their best ideas in technology, so that those ideas could be continuously demonstrated in the city. With the help of concept art and limited animation, Disney showed what the city would look like and how it would work. However, he reminded the viewing audience that the sketches and paintings are only a starting point in the conceptualization of EPCOT, stating: "Everything in this room will change time and time again as we move ahead.

But the basic philosophy of what we're planning for Disney World is going to remain very much as it is right now". The film itself can be found here in its entirety. All guests would enter and leave Disney World the same way. Arriving at the Disney World Airport, in the southern part of the property, guests would be shuttled by monorail to the Disney World Welcome Center.

There, guests would be welcomed by Disney hosts and hostesses able to speak in the guests' own languages. This is where Disney World's core concept would come to fruition. The Park's offices and laboratories would be occupied by major American corporations who would use the facilities to develop new technology for use in the EPCOT city.

Guests of Disney World would be allowed to go on tours of the facility to see how it all worked. Walt Disney hoped that this would stimulate people to return to their own communities and encourage technological growth where they live. Walt never wanted to make a "sequel" to Disneyland, always stating that there will always be one Disneyland.

When Walt presented his ideas to the Board of Directors, they were skeptical. They wanted assurance that people would come to visit this "Disney World". What they wanted was a surefire hit: a Disneyland-style park. Walt initially objected, but eventually relented, and he used the park to his advantage. He put the theme park in the northernmost corner of the Florida property.

Disney wanted everyone to experience the rest of Disney World before getting to the theme park area. Based on a concept similar to the layout of Disneyland Park, the city radiates out like a wheel from a central core. The urban density of the area would dwindle as the city fanned out. The city would be connected to the other points in Disney World with a main line of transportation—the monorail. Walt Disney introduced the monorail at Disneyland in The monorail would cut through the center of the city, connecting EPCOT with the northern and southern points on the Disney World property.

The PeopleMover is a transportation system that never stops, relying on motors embedded in the track rather than in the vehicles. PeopleMover cars would transport residents from the metropolitan center to the outer residential areas.

The PeopleMover concept was first demonstrated at Disneyland's Tomorrowland in If they did, it would be used "only for weekend pleasure trips. The main roads for both cars and supply trucks would travel underneath the city core, eliminating the risk of pedestrian accidents.

This was also based on the concept that Walt Disney devised for Disneyland. He did not want his guests to see behind-the-scenes activity, such as supply trucks delivering goods to the city. From the Lobby, a passenger riding the monorail from the Magic Kingdom Park to their home would disembark the monorail and transfer to the appropriate PeopleMover station. EPCOT's downtown and commercial areas would have been located in the central core of the city, away from the residential areas.

The entire area would have been completely enclosed, unaffected by the outside elements. At the center of the area would be a story Cosmopolitan Hotel and Convention Center. The parking lot for hotel guests would have been located underneath the city core, right off of the vehicle throughway.

On the "roof" of the enclosed area would be the recreational area for hotel guests. The pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, shuffleboard, and other activities would have been located here. According to Imagineer Bob Gurr, Walt Disney pointed to one of the benches on the scale model of the area and declared, "This is where Lilly [his wife] and I will sit when this thing is finished, taking everything in".

Surrounding the hotel, inside the enclosure, would have been "shops and restaurants that reflect the culture and flavor of locations 'round the world".