There have been countless threads about EPCOT Center Future World attractions and why we love and miss them, what made them special or what’s wrong with today’s Epcot. Remarkably, almost all of them end up at the nostalgia factor as the reason it remains so dear to our hearts, an idea I usually agree with. But then I started to think (a dangerous pastime....I know!), there has to be more to it then just that? I mean, as a kid I went to lots of different places that conjure up great memories but don’t seem to hold that same special place in my heart that EPCOT Center has. So I popped in my favorite Disney World CD, pulled out the old photo albums, surfed the net for old EPCOT Center information and digested all that information. So, here are my thoughts presented from a unique perspective, enjoy.
I grew up in a family of six, Mom, Dad, three younger sisters and me, but like most families my parents wanted us all to be old enough to enjoy the vacation. However, from the time I was six, my parents always managed to take us on short trips to local amusement parks. Living across the boarder from Detroit we had our choice of places to go, Boblo Island (local), Cedar Point (Sandusky, OH), Kings Island (Cincinnati, OH) and later Canada’s Wonderland (Toronto, ON) were all within a four hour drive of home. We generally alternated each summer going to Cedar Point one summer and Kings Island the next. I have vivid memories of visiting Cedar Point when Gemini (’78) opened as well as when The Beast (’79) opened at Kings Island, but roller coasters larger than kiddy size wouldn’t be my thing for years to come. I can also remember the Fun House and San Francisco Earth Quake rides at Cedar Point as well as the Hanna Barbara Cartoon TV boat ride at Kings Island, all were dark rides that I really enjoyed all have since disappeared.
Finally in December 1981 I learned that the Magic Kingdom wasn’t your typical amusement park! It was the holiday season during the 10th anniversary of the Magic Kingdom. I enjoyed all of the Fantasyland rides, 20,000 Leagues, Pirates, The Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion, Country Bears, Mission to Mars, Carousel of Progress, If You Had Wings, WED Way and yes even the Grand Prix Raceway. Everything seamed larger than life to me, like I was in a different world. But there was more, there was the 10th anniversary / Christmas parade and the New Years Eve fireworks, a tradition that continues for me even to this year. I didn’t want to leave that night, I even cried all the way back to the car, not a proud moment! In fact it would be months before we would stop singing ‘in the Tiki Tiki Tiki Room’ and ‘Yo Ho, Yo Ho a pirate’s life for me’. But there was one more thing that I remember from that trip, and that was riding in our station wagon down World Drive and watching the new monorail track being built, the track that would take you to EPCOT Center. I thought that if the Magic Kingdom was as amazing as it was at 10 years old, EPCOT had to be even better. I couldn’t wait to go back so I began to work on my parents, we returned two years later!
In December, 1983 we loaded up the station wagon and headed south stopping in New Port Ritchie, Florida. One of my Great Uncles owned a house there, which is where we always went first. We would visit other attractions like Weeki Wachee Springs, Busch Gardens or Circus World before heading over to Orlando. The Magic Kingdom was pretty much the same as it was two years before, but my attention was somewhere else, EPCOT! When we finally made our way to EPCOT Center I couldn’t believe my eyes, this place was huge. The first thing you encounter is Spaceship Earth and it was gigantic, but then you find out there is a ride inside, WOW! So we waited in line, a very long line! Even while I was enjoying the ride, I couldn’t believe that we were on a ride inside this huge ball. Following Spaceship Earth we took in CommuniCore which had all kinds of fun hands on things to do. There was even a show hosted by a robot that showed us how computers operated the entire EPCOT Center. Next we went to the Universe of Energy which has this really neat pre-show where this wall of big TV screens rotated out of the wall, very cool. After the show we moved to this large movie theater which didn’t seam like much, until the whole theater moved! That’s right, whole sections of the theater were on wheels and moved into other rooms where there were dinosaurs, and then another theater to watch second movie. Walking out of Universe of Energy I was left thinking cool theater, cool dinosaurs, the movies were kind of boring and loud but I couldn’t stop playing this song in my head ‘energy you make the world go round and round, you make the world go round’. Our next stop was Horizons, another huge building. This ride opened just a few months before. Inside we rode flying cars into the future! At the end of the ride we were able to select one of three endings; we chose the space one which was cool. This was my favorite attraction at EPCOT Center.
Next up was World of Motion which looked really cool from the outside. You could see people riding in cars that looked like real cars moving up a ramp to the second floor outside of the building. The ride was another continuously moving ride just like the Spaceship Earth and Horizons. There were lots of different funny scenes about the history of transportation. When we finished the ride there was this cool area called the Transcenter where you could look at futuristic cars. There was another song ‘its fun to be free’ that I couldn’t get out of my head just like the one over at Universe of Energy. We then went into World Showcase where we went on a boat ride in Mexico and watched a movie in China and a really cool show at the American Adventure kind of like the Hall of Presidents at the Magic Kingdom. We saw two more movies, one in France and the other in Canada. The movies in China and Canada were the same kind as Magic Carpet “round the world’ at the Magic Kingdom, they called it a 360 movie where you had to stand which wasn’t good.
I really don’t remember everything that was at Imagination. There was a ride that opened earlier in the year with two characters named Dream Finder and Figment who told the story of imagination. The cars in this ride moved forwards and sideways. And just like the other Future World buildings, another song stuck in my head, ‘one little spark, lights up for you!’ At the end of the ride there was this play area which had lots of neat hands on things to do. Next we were off to The Land. This building didn’t look very big until you went inside. There were three different things to do inside. Symbiosis was a movie but I don’t really remember much about it. There was a boat ride called Listen to the Land which had another one of those catchy songs. And then there was this really cool show called Kitchen Kabaret, it was very cute and had this song ‘veggie veggie fruit fruit’.
My next visit to EPCOT Center would be two years later in December 1985. Not much changed during those two years and only Morocco was added between the two trips. I remember seeing The Living Seas which would open just two weeks after we were there. My third visit to EPCOT Center wouldn’t be until December 1995 when there were few additions but many changes. But what does this little trip down memory lane tell me about why I love EPCOT Center? Well according to the definition, nostalgia means “A bittersweet longing for things, persons or situations of the past.” which tells me nostalgia is more than just memories, but a wanting to experience things from an earlier time and or place. But why do I have a longing to return to EPCOT Center but not say to the Cartoon TV ride at Kings Island? I mean I enjoyed the Cartoon TV ride, I have very clear memories of it and it would be great to ride it again, but I don’t have the same longing for it. I believe there are several reasons why many of us are nostalgic about EPCOT Centre. The short answer would be Disney Magic, those unique experiences that Disney has become the master at providing and the only place that we can find them. However, many of those experiences, in whole or in part are now gone and we can’t experience them anymore so we’re nostalgic about them. For those who didn’t have the opportunity to experience EPCOT Center to understand our nostalgic feelings, imagine if you will that the Magic Kingdom closed for good for whatever reason and you could never experience it again, how would you feel?
There are many elements that made up the Magic at EPCOT Center, many have disappeared, some are disappearing and yet others remain. Let’s start with the buildings in Future World, each is massive and ecstatically very unique, different from anything else that exists in any other theme park, even other Disney parks! The buildings were designed to be impressive and are overwhelming as you walk up to each one. Heck, The Land building takes up as much space as Tomorrowland does! With the exception of Horizons, which has been replaced with another impressive building, all of the buildings remain uniquely different from anything else that exists today. This would be one of the Magic elements that remain today.
The feeling you got from walking up to each of the pavilions was that you were someplace very different from anyplace you’d been before and that theme was carried through to the inside of each building. Each pavilion told its own story through the use of impressive audio animatronics, unique ride systems and catchy music. It was the story inside each building that tied each pavilion together to create a continuous cohesive experience. And yes it was educational but was done in such an entertaining way that you didn’t really notice that you were being educated at the same time. It is in this area that we have lost much of the Magic that those of us who long for the way EPCOT Center use to be. Even the small details, like the logos for example have almost completely disappeared. Each pavilion had its own logo which was simple in design but very futuristic looking; all were neon blue and added to the over all story of EPCOT Center.
We have lost all of the audio animatronics inside World of Motion, Horizons and most inside Imagination and The Land. The Living Seas, Test Track and Mission Space have no audio animatronics. Wonders of Life and The Universe of Energy have very few audio animatronics. Spaceship Earth, the last big collection may or may not be in danger of losing its audio animatronics. Do you need audio animatronics to tell a good story? The answer of course is no, there are many ways to tell a good story. However, part of the Disney Magic is using audio animatronics to tell a story, it’s one of those experiences that can only be found at a Disney park. While there are still audio animatronics inside today’s Epcot, we miss the ones that have gone.
As for the unique ride systems, we have lost two (World of Motion & Horizons) but gained two new systems (Test Track & Mission Space). The loss of World of Motion’s ride system isn’t that significant as it was very close to what is inside Spaceship Earth, Horizons however was unlike anything else. Unique ride systems can still be found at Spaceship Earth, The Universe of Energy, Mission Space, Test Track and Imagination. The trouble here is that the two newest attractions aren’t capable of handling the capacity levels that the two systems they replaced could. This results in long lines forming at both attractions and contributes to the loss of the leisurely pace that was also part of the Magic of EPCOT Center.
Finally, what about the catchy music that you just couldn’t get out of your head? For about a 10 year stretch you could hear the following songs, ‘Tomorrow’s Child’ (Spaceship Earth), ‘Energy (You Make the World Go’ Round)’ & ‘Universe of Energy’ (Universe of Energy), ‘New Horizons’ (Horizons), ‘It’s Fun to Be Free’ (World of Motion), ‘Magic Journeys’, ‘Makin’ Memories’ & ‘One Little Spark’ (Imagination), ‘Listen to the Land’ & ‘Kitchen Kabaret Medley’ (The Land). Only two songs remain from the “Golden Era”, sort of! ‘Listen to the Land’ was replaced with ‘Living with the Land’ and the new ‘One Little Spark’ made its debut with the return of Figment. Music plays a big part in just about all forms of entertainment and has a huge impact on recall. Add to that the fact that all of these songs were original, created as part of each experience, that’s Magic, Magic that’s gone!
But there is hope! Epcot can certainly reclaim much of the Magic that it has lost. But you’ll have to read part 2 to find out how!
I grew up in a family of six, Mom, Dad, three younger sisters and me, but like most families my parents wanted us all to be old enough to enjoy the vacation. However, from the time I was six, my parents always managed to take us on short trips to local amusement parks. Living across the boarder from Detroit we had our choice of places to go, Boblo Island (local), Cedar Point (Sandusky, OH), Kings Island (Cincinnati, OH) and later Canada’s Wonderland (Toronto, ON) were all within a four hour drive of home. We generally alternated each summer going to Cedar Point one summer and Kings Island the next. I have vivid memories of visiting Cedar Point when Gemini (’78) opened as well as when The Beast (’79) opened at Kings Island, but roller coasters larger than kiddy size wouldn’t be my thing for years to come. I can also remember the Fun House and San Francisco Earth Quake rides at Cedar Point as well as the Hanna Barbara Cartoon TV boat ride at Kings Island, all were dark rides that I really enjoyed all have since disappeared.
Finally in December 1981 I learned that the Magic Kingdom wasn’t your typical amusement park! It was the holiday season during the 10th anniversary of the Magic Kingdom. I enjoyed all of the Fantasyland rides, 20,000 Leagues, Pirates, The Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion, Country Bears, Mission to Mars, Carousel of Progress, If You Had Wings, WED Way and yes even the Grand Prix Raceway. Everything seamed larger than life to me, like I was in a different world. But there was more, there was the 10th anniversary / Christmas parade and the New Years Eve fireworks, a tradition that continues for me even to this year. I didn’t want to leave that night, I even cried all the way back to the car, not a proud moment! In fact it would be months before we would stop singing ‘in the Tiki Tiki Tiki Room’ and ‘Yo Ho, Yo Ho a pirate’s life for me’. But there was one more thing that I remember from that trip, and that was riding in our station wagon down World Drive and watching the new monorail track being built, the track that would take you to EPCOT Center. I thought that if the Magic Kingdom was as amazing as it was at 10 years old, EPCOT had to be even better. I couldn’t wait to go back so I began to work on my parents, we returned two years later!
In December, 1983 we loaded up the station wagon and headed south stopping in New Port Ritchie, Florida. One of my Great Uncles owned a house there, which is where we always went first. We would visit other attractions like Weeki Wachee Springs, Busch Gardens or Circus World before heading over to Orlando. The Magic Kingdom was pretty much the same as it was two years before, but my attention was somewhere else, EPCOT! When we finally made our way to EPCOT Center I couldn’t believe my eyes, this place was huge. The first thing you encounter is Spaceship Earth and it was gigantic, but then you find out there is a ride inside, WOW! So we waited in line, a very long line! Even while I was enjoying the ride, I couldn’t believe that we were on a ride inside this huge ball. Following Spaceship Earth we took in CommuniCore which had all kinds of fun hands on things to do. There was even a show hosted by a robot that showed us how computers operated the entire EPCOT Center. Next we went to the Universe of Energy which has this really neat pre-show where this wall of big TV screens rotated out of the wall, very cool. After the show we moved to this large movie theater which didn’t seam like much, until the whole theater moved! That’s right, whole sections of the theater were on wheels and moved into other rooms where there were dinosaurs, and then another theater to watch second movie. Walking out of Universe of Energy I was left thinking cool theater, cool dinosaurs, the movies were kind of boring and loud but I couldn’t stop playing this song in my head ‘energy you make the world go round and round, you make the world go round’. Our next stop was Horizons, another huge building. This ride opened just a few months before. Inside we rode flying cars into the future! At the end of the ride we were able to select one of three endings; we chose the space one which was cool. This was my favorite attraction at EPCOT Center.
Next up was World of Motion which looked really cool from the outside. You could see people riding in cars that looked like real cars moving up a ramp to the second floor outside of the building. The ride was another continuously moving ride just like the Spaceship Earth and Horizons. There were lots of different funny scenes about the history of transportation. When we finished the ride there was this cool area called the Transcenter where you could look at futuristic cars. There was another song ‘its fun to be free’ that I couldn’t get out of my head just like the one over at Universe of Energy. We then went into World Showcase where we went on a boat ride in Mexico and watched a movie in China and a really cool show at the American Adventure kind of like the Hall of Presidents at the Magic Kingdom. We saw two more movies, one in France and the other in Canada. The movies in China and Canada were the same kind as Magic Carpet “round the world’ at the Magic Kingdom, they called it a 360 movie where you had to stand which wasn’t good.
I really don’t remember everything that was at Imagination. There was a ride that opened earlier in the year with two characters named Dream Finder and Figment who told the story of imagination. The cars in this ride moved forwards and sideways. And just like the other Future World buildings, another song stuck in my head, ‘one little spark, lights up for you!’ At the end of the ride there was this play area which had lots of neat hands on things to do. Next we were off to The Land. This building didn’t look very big until you went inside. There were three different things to do inside. Symbiosis was a movie but I don’t really remember much about it. There was a boat ride called Listen to the Land which had another one of those catchy songs. And then there was this really cool show called Kitchen Kabaret, it was very cute and had this song ‘veggie veggie fruit fruit’.
My next visit to EPCOT Center would be two years later in December 1985. Not much changed during those two years and only Morocco was added between the two trips. I remember seeing The Living Seas which would open just two weeks after we were there. My third visit to EPCOT Center wouldn’t be until December 1995 when there were few additions but many changes. But what does this little trip down memory lane tell me about why I love EPCOT Center? Well according to the definition, nostalgia means “A bittersweet longing for things, persons or situations of the past.” which tells me nostalgia is more than just memories, but a wanting to experience things from an earlier time and or place. But why do I have a longing to return to EPCOT Center but not say to the Cartoon TV ride at Kings Island? I mean I enjoyed the Cartoon TV ride, I have very clear memories of it and it would be great to ride it again, but I don’t have the same longing for it. I believe there are several reasons why many of us are nostalgic about EPCOT Centre. The short answer would be Disney Magic, those unique experiences that Disney has become the master at providing and the only place that we can find them. However, many of those experiences, in whole or in part are now gone and we can’t experience them anymore so we’re nostalgic about them. For those who didn’t have the opportunity to experience EPCOT Center to understand our nostalgic feelings, imagine if you will that the Magic Kingdom closed for good for whatever reason and you could never experience it again, how would you feel?
There are many elements that made up the Magic at EPCOT Center, many have disappeared, some are disappearing and yet others remain. Let’s start with the buildings in Future World, each is massive and ecstatically very unique, different from anything else that exists in any other theme park, even other Disney parks! The buildings were designed to be impressive and are overwhelming as you walk up to each one. Heck, The Land building takes up as much space as Tomorrowland does! With the exception of Horizons, which has been replaced with another impressive building, all of the buildings remain uniquely different from anything else that exists today. This would be one of the Magic elements that remain today.
The feeling you got from walking up to each of the pavilions was that you were someplace very different from anyplace you’d been before and that theme was carried through to the inside of each building. Each pavilion told its own story through the use of impressive audio animatronics, unique ride systems and catchy music. It was the story inside each building that tied each pavilion together to create a continuous cohesive experience. And yes it was educational but was done in such an entertaining way that you didn’t really notice that you were being educated at the same time. It is in this area that we have lost much of the Magic that those of us who long for the way EPCOT Center use to be. Even the small details, like the logos for example have almost completely disappeared. Each pavilion had its own logo which was simple in design but very futuristic looking; all were neon blue and added to the over all story of EPCOT Center.
We have lost all of the audio animatronics inside World of Motion, Horizons and most inside Imagination and The Land. The Living Seas, Test Track and Mission Space have no audio animatronics. Wonders of Life and The Universe of Energy have very few audio animatronics. Spaceship Earth, the last big collection may or may not be in danger of losing its audio animatronics. Do you need audio animatronics to tell a good story? The answer of course is no, there are many ways to tell a good story. However, part of the Disney Magic is using audio animatronics to tell a story, it’s one of those experiences that can only be found at a Disney park. While there are still audio animatronics inside today’s Epcot, we miss the ones that have gone.
As for the unique ride systems, we have lost two (World of Motion & Horizons) but gained two new systems (Test Track & Mission Space). The loss of World of Motion’s ride system isn’t that significant as it was very close to what is inside Spaceship Earth, Horizons however was unlike anything else. Unique ride systems can still be found at Spaceship Earth, The Universe of Energy, Mission Space, Test Track and Imagination. The trouble here is that the two newest attractions aren’t capable of handling the capacity levels that the two systems they replaced could. This results in long lines forming at both attractions and contributes to the loss of the leisurely pace that was also part of the Magic of EPCOT Center.
Finally, what about the catchy music that you just couldn’t get out of your head? For about a 10 year stretch you could hear the following songs, ‘Tomorrow’s Child’ (Spaceship Earth), ‘Energy (You Make the World Go’ Round)’ & ‘Universe of Energy’ (Universe of Energy), ‘New Horizons’ (Horizons), ‘It’s Fun to Be Free’ (World of Motion), ‘Magic Journeys’, ‘Makin’ Memories’ & ‘One Little Spark’ (Imagination), ‘Listen to the Land’ & ‘Kitchen Kabaret Medley’ (The Land). Only two songs remain from the “Golden Era”, sort of! ‘Listen to the Land’ was replaced with ‘Living with the Land’ and the new ‘One Little Spark’ made its debut with the return of Figment. Music plays a big part in just about all forms of entertainment and has a huge impact on recall. Add to that the fact that all of these songs were original, created as part of each experience, that’s Magic, Magic that’s gone!
But there is hope! Epcot can certainly reclaim much of the Magic that it has lost. But you’ll have to read part 2 to find out how!