Since the dawn of time, humans have drawn pictures to tell stories. In 1826, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce captured the first photograph. In 1888, Louis Le Prince presented the first motion picture. In 1927, The Jazz Singer introduced sound to movies. However, in 1955, Walt Disney introduced the world to the most immersive form of entertainment ever conceived: the theme park. At the time, of course, that park was Disneyland. Up to that point, two dimensional art allowed viewers to witness an instantaneous moment in time. With the advent of film, movie-goers could now watch a whole story transpire in front of their eyes. Yet, Walt Disney and his team of “Imagineers” took it one step further. In a theme park, the audience becomes the main character. The story is yours – not only to behold, but to partake in.
Disneyland was the start of a revolution in themed entertainment and amusements. In 1971, Roy Disney honored his late brother with a sister park to Disneyland: Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. It was a near carbon copy of the Anaheim original, albeit with a few small changes to differentiate. Still, the park carried the same time-tested themes of Walt’s original vision: Main Street USA, Adventureland, Frontierland, New Orleans/Liberty Square, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. The ideas were basic genres among the collection of intellectual properties (IPs) Disney owned, supplemented by a hefty amount of original attractions. “Original attractions” are those that bear no basis on IPs, and their concepts are derived by creative ideas developed at Walt Disney Imgineering. And, while the two original “castle parks” contained a fair number of these rides and show, you are just as likely to bump into Mickey Mouse or Peter Pan.
By 1982, though, the Imagineers at Disney were thinking of something wildly different: a Disney park completely devoid of Disney characters. This was the dream called EPCOT. To understand the concept, though, you have to go back two decades. In the 1960s, before he died, Walt Disney unveiled plans for what he called the Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow (EPCOT) in Orlando, Florida. It was supposed to be a master planned community home to a select number of people. On the surface, the city would be roadless, moving its citizens around by peoplemover. Meanwhile, the entire city would play host to new technologies from America’s top companies and industries. Unfortunately, Mr. Disney died from lung cancer before the project could move beyond concept stage.
Yet, nearly 15 years later, the Imegineers dusted off his idea and transformed it into something the world had never seen before. Their new park would be called EPCOT Center. Instead of being an actual shining city on a hill for the world to see, it would be place for global cultures and technologies to come together. Two lands, World Showcase and Future World, would exhibit new inventions and exhibit human history in a “semi-permanent World’s Fair”. In the end, the park opened as the most ambitious amusement park in history. Like never before, guests could enter into other regions of the world and seamlessly learn of their cultures. This is the beauty of the modern theme park, and it would be impossible without the dream called EPCOT.
Jared, I really enjoy the topic of your blog. It’s cool to hear about the behind the scenes aspects of theme parks that you may never have thought of. Personally, I have never been to Disney (I know, crazy right?) but that made hearing about Walt Disney’s dreams for Epcot and how it eventually became reality despite his passing even more interesting. I am excited to hear more about theme parks next week.
I really enjoyed reading your first blog post. I like how you dove into the history of the park and talked about more than just EPCOT. I enjoyed hearing about the connection to images and pictures. I’m excited to read your next post!
This is super interesting! I don’t know much about the Disney theme parks because they were not a huge part of my life going up. Especially with regards to EPCOT, I was not entirely sure what it was! The pictures associated are so helpful, and your background information on the topic and your explanations are superb. Cannot wait for your next post!