Epcot Opening Day stories

EpcotMark

EpcotMark

Active Member
Original Poster
marni1971 said:
Yes, it’s great quality isn’t it? If I recall only this and the Worldkey video show Central in any great detail.
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I would love to see what is in there now. But from what I have been told, not much. They decentralized "central" in the mid 90s. DARYL is available on Itunes last I checked in high definition. There are additional scenes with central that are not in the youtube clip. Plus I think it's a great 80s movie.
 
marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
EpcotMark said:
I would love to see what is in there now. But from what I have been told, not much. They decentralized "central" in the mid 90s. DARYL is available on Itunes last I checked in high definition. There are additional scenes with central that are not in the youtube clip. Plus I think it's a great 80s movie.
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There is still working equipment in there. Some park operations still run from it. It doesn’t look much like the film clip you posted though, and is also an engineering and storage area now.

If I recall Wonders was the first pavilion built self contained. Even the BGM was played from the pavilion. SSE Irons was the first attraction to be converted to local control and storage.
 
GVentola

GVentola

Well-Known Member
My Dad and I went on opening day. I was 10 years old. We would have gotten there before everyone else, since my Dad has always been an early bird, but we had to return home a few moments into our drive there to get a forgotten camera. We still ended up one of the first people there, but another family got picked to be the first family and get lifetime passes to Epcot. Dad said it was because they were more typical of the demographic Disney wanted. I guess he meant a whole family and not just a daddy/daughter. (I guess my Mom was busy at work. I don't remember.) We went on Universe of Energy and it broke down while we were just entering the audio-animatronic dinosaur land. I could see my piano teacher and her husband seated in another of the vehicles/theaters, but too far away to get her attention. That's really about all I remember. A school friend said she went to Epcot on or near opening day, and got stuck on the top of Spaceship Earth, and it had to be evacuated, and she had to walk down a very long stairway. Dad and I also went to Universal Studios on their disaster of an opening day.
 
marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
castlecake2.0 said:
Where was/is computer central?
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EpcotMark said:
That little section of Communicore East that sticks out just to the southwest of Universe of Energy.
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Funnily enough part of a complex very familiar to me at the moment :)

The onstage part was hands on exhibits of computer technology - voice recognition, CAD, computer assembly and the like. Sponsored by Sperry-Univac at opening. The Backstage part (circled) was the heart of what ran the park. And you could take a tour of it too via an attraction called The Astuter Computer Revue, until 1984 when it became Backstage Magic.


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EPCOTCenterLover

EPCOTCenterLover

Well-Known Member
Not opening day, but a few months from it.
We loved using World Key at Earth Station to book our restaurant reservations. The whole park felt electric- optimism and fun was in the air. People exploring each pavilion in both WS and Future World. We were amazed at what the Imagineers had accomplished. Nothing quite like it- not even now.
 
Walt Disney1955

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
Walter Elias Disney said:
Lillian Disney Interview at Epcot 1982
Walt Disney's wife Lillian, daughter Diane, and granddaughter Jenny speak with W.E.D. Imagineers. The interview takes place in the United Kingdom Pavilion of EPCOT Center, 1982.
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I always wonder why Sharon never seemed to be involved in these things as much. I know she died before Diane, in 1993, but it seemed Diane, or Roy Jr., were more the spokesmen of Disney. Sharon you didn't see a whole lot of, even when she was alive. Any reason why?
 
donsullivan

donsullivan

Premium Member
EpcotMark said:
Was anyone at Epcot Center on opening day, or even the first month? I worked at Epcot for several years about a decade ago, but I am curious if people have stories from the first few days in 1982. Crowd size, ride issues, merchandise, entertainment, etc.

For example, one thing I heard from a retired director of engineering services, is that on Spaceship Earth, the ride vehicles at the top would not automatically turn around for the trip back to earth. There were Cast Members there that had to manually turn them.

Other stories?
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The CM’s having to turn the ride vehicles manually at top and bottom is absolutely true- I experienced it many times during that early era. The ride system for Spaceship Earth had major reliability issues in the early years with lots of ride stops and closings. The rotation mechanism at the top did not work properly once the ride vehicles were loaded with guests so there was a CM posted at the rotation location to push the vehicles into the lock position for the downward route with their foot. They were sitting on a stool and just put their foot on the ride vehicle and pushed it until the latch clicked in. There was another CM at the bottom of the downward route that did the same thing to push it back to forward.

I’ve often referenced this for historical context when folks complain about some new attraction not being ‘perfect’ when it opens.
 
EpcotMark

EpcotMark

Active Member
Original Poster
donsullivan said:
The CM’s having to turn the ride vehicles manually at top and bottom is absolutely true- I experienced it many times during that early era. The ride system for Spaceship Earth had major reliability issues in the early years with lots of ride stops and closings. The rotation mechanism at the top did not work properly once the ride vehicles were loaded with guests so there was a CM posted at the rotation location to push the vehicles into the lock position for the downward route with their foot. They were sitting on a stool and just put their foot on the ride vehicle and pushed it until the latch clicked in. There was another CM at the bottom of the downward route that did the same thing to push it back to forward.

I’ve often referenced this for historical context when folks complain about some new attraction not being ‘perfect’ when it opens.
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Nice story Don. I have been told that the assertion by Marty Sklar that Lawrence Dobkin was the first narrator was wrong and that it is Vic Perrin after all. Can anyone expound?
 

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