Millennium Celebration - Was anybody there?

[Spyne]

So, was anybody at WDW during the Millennium Celebration? I sure was! It was the last time I've been to WDW actually. If you have, please share your personal experience in seeing any of the Millennium-specific events they had.

I remember seeing Illuminations 2000 and it was just spectacular. I remember being so blown away by it. I was also blown away actually by seeing the wand on Spaceship Earth up close with the glimmering 2000 on it, I literally could not stop looking up at it I thought it was so amazing. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go into the Millennium Village or see Tapestry of Nations, for any who have, what was the Millennium Village like and how was Tapestry of Nations? Was it as amazing as in pictures?

 

[mpaul32001]

I think I was about 9 years old....

Tapestry was the most amazing thing I had ever seen, and Illuminations was freaking awesome....It seems like only yesterday but was in fact about 7 years ago!

How time Flies!

 

[SirNim]

November 2000... When, I suppose, the Celebration was winding down...

Yeah, I must say, back then, I was in love with the Wand. We were staying at the Yacht Club, so when we entered Epcot via International Gateway, up the hill towards the UK pavilion, the Wand gradually came into view, a grand reveal. The sparkly red suncatchers were just terrific.

Tapestry of Nations was great, great music of course, really brought the Promenade to life in a novel way.

Millennium Village was interesting. I certainly wish it had been kept as a sort of multinational, ever-changing pavilion, World Showcase's answer to Innoventions. But no, the only permanent Innoventions-style attraction in Epcot was unfortunately destined to be, well, Innoventions itself. I loved the Scottish golf game. Somehow, when I see those Guinness commercials on TV, I'm reminded of it. I think that same animation style was utilized... In any event, it was very vibrant, too much to see and do, overwhelming. We missed so much of it that it kinda makes me angry. Oh well...

In any event, them's were good times. Good Times. 2000, a great year. *sigh*

 

[mpaul32001]

November 2000... When, I suppose, the Celebration was winding down...

Yeah, I must say, back then, I was in love with the Wand. We were staying at the Yacht Club, so when we entered Epcot via International Gateway, up the hill towards the UK pavilion, the Wand gradually came into view, a grand reveal. The sparkly red suncatchers were just terrific.

Tapestry of Nations was great, great music of course, really brought the Promenade to life in a novel way.

Millennium Village was interesting. I certainly wish it had been kept as a sort of multinational, ever-changing pavilion, World Showcase's answer to Innoventions. But no, the only permanent Innoventions-style attraction in Epcot was unfortunately destined to be, well, Innoventions itself. I loved the Scottish golf game. Somehow, when I see those Guinness commercials on TV, I'm reminded of it. I think that same animation style was utilized... In any event, it was very vibrant, too much to see and do, overwhelming. We missed so much of it that it kinda makes me angry. Oh well...

In any event, them's were good times. Good Times. 2000, a great year. *sigh*

I was at Epcot on New Years Eve and was very afraid that Spaceship Earth was going to explode at midnight....WHEW! :hammer:

 

[Spyne]

November 2000... When, I suppose, the Celebration was winding down...

Heh, I was there in November 2000 too, but at least the Celebration events were still going so we both could see them! Hey, good stories so far guys, keep 'em coming! :animwink:

(By the way SirNim, I like your avatar. Salute to you Bob Barker, it's going to be sad to watch his final show on June 15. )

 

[Mr_Tom_Morrow]

I was there the final 2 days of 1999 up til Jan 4th 2000,It was a blast except for Dec 31st.Epcot closed its doors to the public at 11am,only people who could get in were those staying on disney property,and if anyone left the park they were not going to be re-admitted.There were cars being turned around for miles on end and being told to try and enter any of the other 3 parks.The monorail pilot told us that the parks capacity was if I'm not mistaken like 60,000 guests and they were trying to fit 65,000 in,getting on rides was a nightmare.ROE was very cool tho they timed it perfectly.as soon as the show ended the countdown began.Buses to the hotels were the worst.there was an hour and a half wait from Coronado Springs for Epcot buses just getting to the park,so my family and I took a bus to MK and just took the TTC Monorail over to Epcot,Disney had to call on Orange County's public transportation buses to help with the loads,we were waiting for a bus til after 3 in the morning getting back to the hotels,Overall probably my best trip to WDW out of many.One thing i regret tho,I blew off Tapestry of Nations,seeing videos of it now I wish I would've gotten to see it in person

 

[SpenceMan01]

Well, sorry to rain on your parade, but you asked:

It was April of 2000. My family and I were back at WDW after a nearly 7 year absence. We arrived at MK on our first day and did our regular MK rides. In the afternoon we headed over to EPCOT Center. You see, we ALWAYS ended EVERY Disney Day at EPCOT Center watching Illuminations.... the fireworks, the lasers, each country having its moment in the limelight followed by all the countries uniting in a grand spectacle of "water, fire and light".

As we arrived at the park, the grand and stately, futuristic Spaceship Earth had been adorned with a large gaudy arm, hand and wand with '2000' emblazoned across the top . "Ok," I thought, "It's just temporary, I can handle that". We had no idea the other changes in store for us, you see, as this was well before there was the wealth of Disney knowledge online as there is now. We did our traditional first ride at EPCOT: Spaceship Earth, except the narrator was different. It wasn't Walter Cronkite anymore, it was Scar. Tomorrow's Child was gone too.

My dad's favorite ride, World of Motion, was gone and Test Track stood in its place... and that's all it pretty much did. It was down so much, we barely even managed to get a ride in between shutdowns. Horizons was closed, strike two. We managed to find our way into Wonders of Life and discovered Cranium Command, something we had neglected to see before. We enjoyed it quite a bit.

As we made our way over to the other side of Futureworld, we decided to pay a visit to my dear old childhood friends, Dreamfinder and Figment. Well, that was a wakeup call to say the least. We got caught smack dab in the middle of Journey into YOUR Imagination. That's right, no Figment. My system could barely handle the shock. "It's ok," I thought, "Illuminations tonight will be great".

Well, it got dark and we started to stake out our spot for Illuminations. As we traveled around WS, the new parade was in motion. It was kind of a pain because it made getting though the crowd very difficult. The big rotating drum floats were cool though. We got to our spot for Illuminations and waited. All of a sudden the lights went out. "Here we go," I thought. The announcer came on. It wasn't the voice I remembered. The music started. It wasn't the same music. "What's happening?" I thought, "Where is my Illuminations?" My dad was in the same boat. The show was completely different, and before we could even think about it, it was over. Shorter than our beloved Illuminations and, well, different. It was quite a shock to us.

We don't make a special effort to see Illuminations every night like we used to. Though the music of Illuminations:ROE has grown on me (I still think the middle is boring), my dad has never gotten over the change. He likes Fantasmic and Wishes much more. Though I've gotten used to many of the changes at WDW, my heart will always lie with the classics of my youth. I dream to see the original wandless Spaceship Earth. I hope that one day we'll once again be able to see commercials with Mickey standing on top of the giant sphere, waving as the camera flies overhead and my children begging, "Daddy, can WE go to Disney World and see Mickey?"

Gosh, that was depressing. Quick! Everyone go listen to a round of "It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow"! Maybe that will lighten the mood.

 

[Mr_Tom_Morrow]

Well, sorry to rain on your parade, but you asked:

It was April of 2000. My family and I were back at WDW after a nearly 7 year absence. We arrived at MK on our first day and did our regular MK rides. In the afternoon we headed over to EPCOT Center. You see, we ALWAYS ended EVERY Disney Day at EPCOT Center watching Illuminations.... the fireworks, the lasers, each country having its moment in the limelight followed by all the countries uniting in a grand spectacle of "water, fire and light".

As we arrived at the park, the grand and stately, futuristic Spaceship Earth had been adorned with a large gaudy arm, hand and wand with '2000' emblazoned across the top . "Ok," I thought, "It's just temporary, I can handle that". We had no idea the other changes in store for us, you see, as this was well before there was the wealth of Disney knowledge online as there is now. We did our traditional first ride at EPCOT: Spaceship Earth, except the narrator was different. It wasn't Walter Cronkite anymore, it was Scar. Tomorrow's Child was gone too.

My dad's favorite ride, World of Motion, was gone and Test Track stood in its place... and that's all it pretty much did. It was down so much, we barely even managed to get a ride in between shutdowns. Horizons was closed, strike two. We managed to find our way into Wonders of Life and discovered Cranium Command, something we had neglected to see before. We enjoyed it quite a bit.

As we made our way over to the other side of Futureworld, we decided to pay a visit to my dear old childhood friends, Dreamfinder and Figment. Well, that was a wakeup call to say the least. We got caught smack dab in the middle of Journey into YOUR Imagination. That's right, no Figment. My system could barely handle the shock. "It's ok," I thought, "Illuminations tonight will be great".

Well, it got dark and we started to stake out our spot for Illuminations. As we traveled around WS, the new parade was in motion. It was kind of a pain because it made getting though the crowd very difficult. The big rotating drum floats were cool though. We got to our spot for Illuminations and waited. All of a sudden the lights went out. "Here we go," I thought. The announcer came on. It wasn't the voice I remembered. The music started. It wasn't the same music. "What's happening?" I thought, "Where is my Illuminations?" My dad was in the same boat. The show was completely different, and before we could even think about it, it was over. Shorter than our beloved Illuminations and, well, different. It was quite a shock to us.

We don't make a special effort to see Illuminations every night like we used to. Though the music of Illuminations:ROE has grown on me (I still think the middle is boring), my dad has never gotten over the change. He likes Fantasmic and Wishes much more. Though I've gotten used to many of the changes at WDW, my heart will always lie with the classics of my youth. I dream to see the original wandless Spaceship Earth. I hope that one day we'll once again be able to see commercials with Mickey standing on top of the giant sphere, waving as the camera flies overhead and my children begging, "Daddy, can WE go to Disney World and see Mickey?"

Gosh, that was depressing. Quick! Everyone go listen to a round of "It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow"! Maybe that will lighten the mood.

yeah i didnt mention how shocked and appalled i was about those

 

[CThaddeus]

I was there in February of 2000. I loved Tapestry of Nations, Reflections of Earth, Ellen's Energy Adventure, and the Millenium Village (except for the cheesy simulator ride I came to call "The God Ride." It was actually called something like Journey to the Holy Land, but it was mostly just a religious lesson with bumps). I really disliked the Wand (I suppose the avatar gave that away), Imagination!, and Test Track, and was extremely disappointed that Horizons was not open. On the plus side, Wonders of Life was still open all the time, Ice Station Cool still existed, and Food Rocks! still entertained.
Millenium Village should definitely have been continued. All they had to do was change the name to World Showcase Village and it would have been fine. It was nice to see countries like Sweden, Brazil, and Scotland represented. Hopefully, something similar will be opened again someday. My original hope was that they might do it this year for the 25th, but since they don't seem to care about the anniversary, we'll be lucky to see any recognition of it beyond some "collector's edition" pins.

edit: Spence man, we must have been channeling each other. I feel like I did a Cliff's Notes version of your post. But I have to say I prefer ROE to the other Illuminations. I found the others seriously dull. Oh, and I much prefer Jeremy Irons to Walter Cronkite, but that's just me.

 

[minnie2000]

We were there in March 2000. It was my first time ever to Epcot, and I don't think we saw everything. I think we spent most of the time in the WS. I do remember the Tapestry of Nations parade though, and vaguely remember the millenium village. Does anyone have any pictures of the millenium village that they could post? I'm sure we went in, but I can't remember what it was like inside.

 

[disneyworld07]

We were last there in 2000!! It was our first trip to Disney and our first trip abroad. It was an amazing experience. We went in April, and now we are going again in just 20 days!!! Cannot wait. Looking forward to seeing Reflections of Earth again, that was phenominal in 2000

Tapestry was awsome and it all felt extra special because we were all there in the new millenium, it was fantastic. Cant believe it was 7 years ago! I was only 12! Cant wait to go in a couple of weeks, going to Disney from the UK is one of those one off things - it costs nearly £8000 for a family of 5 to stay on property (which we've never done before now!!).

POP Century here we come!

 

[JWG]

My wife and I spend 1 day at Disney in 2000 for the sole purpose of the Millennium Celebration. It was an advance stay before our cruise and some time at IOA over at Universal. It was middle of August.

I too remember thinking the wand with 2000 was cool (and temporary). We (at the time) thought Leave a Legacy was also cool as it was our honeymoon, the year 2000, etc. So we did that. It is still cool to go find our photo and share it with friends/family - though had we known how those photos would be presented...

Millennium Village as neat, it was fun to see countries that were new and different to World Showcase - too bad some of them can't be added permanently. I think they could easily add two more countries to the Showcase and should. People can debate which, but for sure I'd like to see Australia and another European country.

2000 was the first time I'd stayed for Epcot's fireworks ever, so I couldn't compare to previous Illuminations even though we were there in 1993 and 1998. We tended to do MK's parade/fireworks. I was amazed by it. Thought it was the coolest thing. Made a point to do it on our return trip in 2001.

Having been there in 1998, the changes to Epcot were not a complete surprise. I missed Horizons, that's for sure but was really looking forward to Mission Space, it sounded so exciting. Test Track was in progress in 1998, so I was looking forward to getting to do it in 2000. I can't remember if we did Imagination or not. I don't remember doing the ride without Figment, but we must have if we were there in 2000 and 2001 - I wouldn't have skipped it both times.

All in all, it was a good day. We spent 80% of it at Epcot and only park-hopped over to MK to do our favorites. We were staying at the Boardwalk, so getting out of Epcot after the show was not bad (and the crowds weren't terrible by mid August it didn't seem).

We were just back for a day in September 2005 (post cruise this time - 5th anniversary) and are very much looking forward to our extended week long stay coming up this July. It will be our first long trip at Disney since 2001.

But on topic, I'm glad we made time to spend a day celebrating the year 2000 at Epcot.

 

[SarahBella82]

I loved Millennium Village. It was nice to see even more representatives and representations of countries.

I also enjoyed the parade at Epcot.

 

[k.hunter30]

Tapestry was AMAZING! i can still picture it! I wish it could be brought back somehow.

The only thing I remember in Millenium Village were some cute guys from one of the represented countries flirting with me...:lookaroun ...:shrug:

 

[celticdog]

We were there for the beginning; October 1999. Things have changed quite a bit since. We started our day with breakfast at The Garden Grill. That's right breakfast! Once upon a time you could get this huge breakfast with visits from Chip, Dale and Mickey.

We got a Leave a Legacy tile.

I got to experience Offkilter for the first time. I have since purchased all the CDs.

We attended an ice cream social in the afternoon at the Garden Grill with Chip, Dale and Mickey. The sundae was huge. It stood over a foot tall and was way more ice cream than I could eat.

We were able to catch both performances of Tapastry Of Nations Parade. Back then they had one in the afternoon and again right before Illuminations.

We waited and hour and half for Test Track and actually got to ride it.

I was absolutely blown away by Illuminations:ROE. It became an instant favorite the first time I saw it.

Epcot continues to be my favorite park.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

We also visited in October of 1999 just as things were starting. I also thought the "temporary" 2000 was kind of a neat touch.
Got free coupons for the "new" leave a legacy program...I missed the fountain however.

Loved Tapestry of Nations, thought the puppets were so novel and the music well infectious! Not only did you hear it, but you felt it and hearing it today still gives me chills.

Spent some nice time in the Millenium Village, and thought it was a nice touch with so many "smaller countries". Reminded me again (as EPCOT Center did at it's opening) of the NY Worlds Fair, and that's a very good thing!

Saw signs of countries coming soon, Israel between Morocco and France, Equatorial Africa and I think Sweden....still waiting...

As part of the hotel package and at various locations/events in Epcot, pins were handed out, some small areas were selling some pins....started an addiction that I have not recovered from. The idea of pin trading was very simple and unpressured then....

 

[trendicoff]

Oh the millenium celebration, such fond memories.

Tapestry of nations was my favorite, I know it was a logistical nightmare, but I wish they still had a parade at epcot. It was so cool becasue you could see the parade all around the lagoon and then it finally got to you!!

I remember we would always stand right next to the entrance of millenium village where the parade would make its turn to go offstage so it eally did come right towards us, and the guy on stilts leading the parade would just stand there until the parade finished to make his closing announcement. I love the music, I have it on my MP3 and listen to it all the time. Also if you stay long enough after Illuminations now they still play that song "Wera oh wera yerah" (I have no idea what the words are or how to spell it.

And millenium villiage, well it was very cute, but soooo packed, they tried to get everything they could into a tiny space. The new cuisines in there were really neat though. Of course the memory that sticks out in my mind is when my mom and I went into millenium villiage and we were walking through Holland I think (sorry my memory's not that great could have been Finland or Sweeden) and the exhibit was like 4 large translucent eggs that you would walk through, each representing the 4 seasons and in the one for fall you walked across this metal grating like 10 feet in the air and this huge gust from below blew you. My mom's skirt flew sky high!! We had a good laugh after.

Anyways, if I can dig up some pics or I know I have a video of Tapestry I'll try to post it.

Oh BTW if you go into guest relations at Epcot they have posters from Tapestry of nations and dreams on the back wall. And, if you're a CM go to Maingate and they have the puppets from Tapestry in the hallways!!

 

[Pooh88]

I was there with DH. We may be the only ones but we really didn't like the Tapestry Parade and music. Just kept hearing it over and over in my head and I really didn't like it that much.

 

[disneydudette]

May of 2000 was our first trip back since 1997 (pink cake fiasco... lucky us) We were staying off site and I can remember driving to Epcot and being in awe of the 2000 sign. For some reason it was just "very fitting" for that place and time.

I really liked the "logo" they used the 2 with the 3 zeros in the shape of a mickey head.

I was a huge fan of the ToN parade. It was so nice to stake out a spot, enjoy the parade and music, and then turn around to watch illuminations. The music was so addicitve and as a PP said, got stuck in your head.

Overall we just love the music of the entire event, every now and then I'll hum "come celebrate the future, hand and hand" and I even have a snowglobe that features the music. We really enjoyed our time that year... and feel that Disney did an excellent job of capitalizing on the event.

We returned, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2007, thanks to the experience we had in 2000.

 

[CBOMB]

We were there in January of 2000, and really liked what they did with Epcot. The first time I saw SSE with the Wand, and 2000 above it I thought. that really makes a great statement about this clebration. I think it made it something special, no matter how many Wand haters there are out there. Reflections of Earth was new, and unique I really liked it. The Tapestry of Nations has yet to be matched by any parade that Disney has done since, just my opinion. If you missed it I feel sorry for you. I wish they could come up with something similar without the risk of injuries to CM. The Millenium Village was interesting, but to crammed together for my taste. It was something new to look at, and I thik sucessful in what it tried to present. I wish it could have stayed, only spread out a little more. All in all I would have to say WDW did a fantastic job for the celebration.