Disney World - The Online Guide

Passporter WDW 2003
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Epcot Facts

Epcot (Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow) opened on October 1, 1982.
The dedication plaque still reads: “To all who come to this place of joy, hope and friendship, welcome.
“Epcot Center is inspired by Walt Disney’s creative genius. Here, human achievements are celebrated through imagination, the 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, Oct. 24, 1982.
Groundbreaking - Oct. 1, 1979.
Planning the dream: On Oct. 1, 1978, Card Walker, then president of Walt Disney Productions, revealed plans for Epcot, a theme park inspired by Walt’s philosophies. A groundbreaking ceremony was held one year later. Epcot was designed with two “lands” of discovery: Future World and World Showcase. Future World showcases the land, the seas, communication, imagination, energy, technology and motion. World Showcase is a kaleidoscope of nations from throughout the world brought together to celebrate their cultural heritage, arts and entertainment.
From the official program for the Grand Opening and Dedication Ceremony of EPCOT Center: "Some twenty years ago, long before the opening of Walt Disney World, Walt Disney envisioned a place where the greatest feats of human imagination and invention could be communicated to the benefit of all people. He called his idea 'EPCOT' - the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow - for he wanted to present alternatives and possibilities for a better life ahead.
Walt Disney's death on December 15, 1966, was a critical event for the company. His vision of 'a new Disney World' outside Orlando, Florida, especially his concept of EPCOT, was so strongly a personal, life-summing statement that many believed the dream might die with Walt. Not so. For in addition to the fantasy empire he had created, he had also built a unique organisation...determined to carry out the plan Walt had outlined.... When, in July 1975, Walt Disney Productions announced it was moving forward with plans for EPCOT, to some it was a bolt of lightning....
From the beginning, Walt Disney World has been planned, constructed and developed with EPCOT concepts in mind. Futuristic designs and technologies have been put into action as a matter of policy - monorail and linear induction power transportation systems, a solar-powered office building, state-of-the-art waste treatment processes, the first all-electronic, fiber-optics telephone system, and much more. Since 1971, Walt Disney World has been host to the world - 130 million people from 100 nations have visited this community.
The planners, designers, engineers, and operators of Walt Disney World are already providing nearly all the public services of a city, from communications and security to waste disposal. Implemented by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the EPCOT Building Code, embodying Walt's philosophy for EPCOT, is firmly in place as the foundation for future development. What was lacking was a public focus for new ideas and concepts, a 'center' for the communication of new possibilities for the future - directly to the public.
To answer this need, we are developing EPCOT Center: a permanent World's Fair of imagination, discovery, education and exploration that combines the Disney entertainment and communications skills with the knowledge and predictions for the future of authorities from industry, the academic world, and the professions. Our goal is to inspire the visitors who come here, so they will be turned on to the positive potential of the future and will want to participate in making the choices that shape it. We believe that in a world where cynicism and negativism abound, there is another story, and we have chosen, with forethought and conviction, to tell it, and to be that voice of optimism.
Now we have a way to bring real focus to the import of creative and futuristic processes and the value of friendship among nations. EPCOT Center is a permanent World's Fair of imagination, discovery, education, and exploration built with the help of leading American and international industries and with the cooperation of a number of governments."
Size - 300 acres.
Spaceship Earth is a geodesic sphere, standing at 180 feet tall & 165 feet in diameter, & weighing an estimated 16 million pounds. There are 11,324 silvered facets on 954 triangular panels covering the globe. The exterior tiles are made of Alucobond material, a composite of ethylene plastic which has been chemically bonded between two aluminum panels. This material can withstand the Florida climate and is self - cleaning. Rainwater is channeled through the structure and sent to underground drains, where it replenishes the World Showcase Lagoon. It has an outside surface of 150,000 square feet.
More than 26,000 feet of lights outline the World Showcase pavilions - a string long enough to stretch across the Golden Gate Bridge more than six times.
World Showcase Lagoon is 15ft deep, and has a circumference of one and a quarter mile.
The water in the Living Seas is 27ft deep, the diameter of the tank is 203 ft and it contains 5.7 million gallons of salt water. The temperature is kep at around 74-78 degrees Fahrenheit.
The acrylic windows in the second-level observation deck of Living Seas measure 8 feet by 24 feet, weigh 9,000 pounds each, and range in thickness from six to eight inches.
There are 8,500 inhabitants in the Living Seas, with over 100 different species.
The hydrolators in the Living Seas don't actually move.
If you look at the ceiling in the Living Seas observation area, you'll see numbers and letters forming a 'code', they are the initials and birthdates of the people who worked on the attraction.
The fruits and vegetables grown at The Land pavilion are served in Epcot restaurants. Last year, more than 30 tons of fruits and veggies were harvested from The Land pavilion's greenhouses.
There are 4 simulators at Body Wars
The fountain at Epcot Innoventions Plaza can shoot water 150 feet in the air -- within 30 feet of the top of Spaceship Earth. If all of the shooters were fired at once, there would be 2,000 gallons of water in the air.
The pavements are painted a certain colour of pink, which makes the grass look greener.
The DNA Tower at the entrance to Epcot Wonders of Life pavilion is 5.5 billion times actual size -- just the right size for a human 6 million miles tall.
The Land pavilion's entry mosaics -- each 134 feet long with 150,000 individually shaped pieces of marble, granite, slate, glass and gold to represent the layers of the Earth -- lead to the Great Hall.
Designed in rich hues of blue with graceful banners and kinetic hot-air balloons, the pavilion encourages guests to "think environmentally," right down to prolific sayings printed on the walls near the queue for "Living With the Land" -- for example, "Once Our Natural Splendor Is Destroyed, It Can Never Be Recaptured" (Lyndon Baines Johnson); and "We Have Not Inherited the Earth From Our Forefathers, We Have Borrowed It From Our Children" (Kashmiri Proverb).
Epcot has two entrances. The original entrance is convenient to Epcot’s 162-acre parking area and the Epcot monorail station (the monorail runs between Epcot and the Magic Kingdom Transportation and Ticket Center three miles to the north). The International Gateway entrance opened in 1990 near the France pavilion in World Showcase, providing park access to guests staying in Epcot resort area hotels -- Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, Disney’s Beach Club Resort, Disney’s BoardWalk, Walt Disney World Swan and Walt Disney World Dolphin.
Future World pavilions:
• Spaceship Earth, 1982
• The Land (presented by Nestlé USA), 1982
• Imagination! (presented by Kodak), 1982
• Universe of Energy (presented by ExxonMobil), 1982
• The Living Seas, 1986
• Wonders of Life, 1989
• Innoventions, 1994
• Test Track (presented by General Motors), 1999
World Showcase pavilions:
• Mexico, 1982
• China, 1982
• The American Adventure (presented by American Express), 1982
• Germany, 1982
• Italy, 1982
• Japan, 1982
• France, 1982
• Canada, 1982
• United Kingdom, 1982
• Morocco, 1984
• Norway, 1986

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