Epcot Opening Day stories

[marni1971]

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?

Consensus is that Marty was mistaken.

 

[smile]

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?

Consensus is that Marty was mistaken.

Was always under the impression it was Dobkin (thanks Marty), and was only somewhat recently made aware that it was Perrin (thanks Martin)...
had my doubts at first (thanks Marty), but check the attached link - definitely Perrin.

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/spaceship-in-spaceship-earth.76004/page-67#post-7606879

 

[danyoung56]

I was at E.P.C.O.T. the first week that it opened. Unfortunately I had the worst sunburn of my life, so I was in quite a bit of pain. I remember Spaceship Earth kept breaking down on the inclines, leaving me to try to keep my wounded back off of the seat. Very painful day!

 

[ann0d]

I was Epcot on opening day, there were 10 of us from our family. We were staying at the Contempary Hotel and they let guests staying at the hotel into Epcot the night before. So we went on Spaceship Earth the night before, no problems then. Though I kind of think we did end up going again on opening day (so long ago!) We went on all the major rides/attractions the night before and everything was working. I do remember SE and other attractions being down a lot on opening day. I remember standing in line forever to get in, and there were balloons and doves and music, very festive and exciting.

We were on the Golden Key plan (Like the dining plan, but way better)The night before the grand opening we ate at Garden Grill was called something else. I just remember everything tasted like Kraft products, that who sponsored it. Opening day we at in Italy (Alfredo's it was called) I had the best spinach lasagna and for desert some kind of yummy chocolate cake. The golden key was an awesome plan, included tips and you could order anything you wanted. The waiters loved it, because there tip was based off how you spent, so they encouraged ordering appetizer, desserts, even 2 desserts if you wanted. Also it was 3 meals anywhere! We were so full it was hard to eat from meal to the next! lol We ate at every one of the expensive restuarants that trip. The best meal was at Downs

Back to Epcot opening day. I remember seeing Joan Lunden from Good Morning America in China. The guy in Japan that use to make those candy lollipop things. Dreamfinder and the old Imagination ride which I miss. I still have the 3 day commerative tickets, we were suppose to go 3 days to Epcot but because we went the night before, we only needed 2 days, so I still have a day left in Epcot! My ticket is stamped September 30th (my birthday!) the day before it opened. LOL.
I have a whole bag filled with memboralia, from pamphlets to napkins to a matchbook with the Epcot symbol on it. Other memories was being amazed at the O Canada film. That must have been the first surround film I ever saw. Just seeing the countries totally was amazing to me. I was in awe that whole trip. It was also my first Disney trip at age 22, so imagine how I was taking it all in, it truly was a magical trip.

Any questions I'll try to answer

 

[GVentola]

I remembered something else about my visit with my Dad to Epcot on opening day. At the end, Dad and I said that it was nice to see, but we wouldn't want to go there again! Now it's my favorite place on Earth and I go several times a year! I think a lot of it--and this may be controversial to say--has to do with the adding of IPs to the park. On opening day, you wouldn't even know it was a Disney park. But then they let Mickey, Snow White, and all the other Disney characters in, and it felt like home.

 

[ann0d]

Here are some pics. All my pictures from that trip faded because of poor storage! But I scanned them anyway. First set of pictures are postcards I bought.

the top picture is the balloons going up at opening or maybe that is the birds? Bottom right is walking into Epcot 1st time ever!

Here is some ephemera I scanned. From top to bottom_ Sugar pack, parking ticket, River country ticket, Goofy ticket not sure if that was from this trip or one later. I think later because we were on the Magic Key and the ticket was white was a key on it if I remember correctly.

I have more pics if anyone wants to see them. Like I said they are all pretty bad quality.

 

[bruc]

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.

Was there on opening day. Took vidio .

 

[bruc]

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.

I have the video of the first family that was selected. He worked for the news paper and live in Winter Park. They were next to us. I called them and asked if they want a copy and were not interested.

 

[bruc]

We have lots of video of opening day. Had breakfast at one of the hotel in Lake Beauna vista around 3:00 am Did not let you park Near EPCOT until around 8:00 am and the traffic going was back up at the front gate. There was a father and two children hiding in the woods hoping to get in first. The kids had mickey ears on. Did not get in first .Have video of the family that was selected first family. They were from Winter Park. He worked for the news paper. I called them and asked if they wanted a copy and they did not.