Okay, so why did Epcot take so long to be made?

[Walt Disney1955]

We all know that this was Walt's dream. This was also a big reason for the "Florida Project". Walt had that vision before he died in 1966.

So when WDW opened in 1971 all there was would have been MK of course and then Epcot opened in 1982. Roy Disney was long dead by 1982, so I assume that Ron Miller was at the top of the food chain at that time and was done under his watch correct?

Maybe some other posters can help me out here but why take 11 years to make it? Did they want to see how succesful Magic Kingdom would be here first before trying it?

 

[marni1971]

Because even before the MK opened, and in parts even whilst Walt was alive, Management knew they couldn`t build a city like EPCOT. Expense, voting rights, logistics, sponsors, having an open house.... so they planned LBV instead as a community, and for a while this was to be a test community for the real thing. On paper. Did Disney lie to get the Reedy Creek charter? Most would say no. Did they not tell the whole truth? Definately.

Forward to the mid 70`s, the city was dead due to the reasons above. EPCOT was developing into a physical forum about the world and its problems. Allowing guests in to the Orlando part was seen as a good tourist boost. Slowly the ideas became less grand, more theme park, and though a lot of core thinking went into the park of 1982 the only financially viable option was as a tourist attraction, though one built on the original EPCOT ideals.

EPCOT was built in part - as you`ve probably heard - as all around WDW for the first 15-20 years technical innovations and futuristic city planning were implemented all around the property. The real EPCOT is what keeps WDW running. Epcot is just a theme park.

 

[tampabrad]

Could be wrong, but from what I have read and been told, Walts vision of EPCOT was not a theme park. All of WDW was to be EPCOT, and it was to include, different theme parks, buisness centers, homes etc. Of course, people would be invited to see how this community of tomorrow worked on a day to day basis and visit the parks. After Walt's passing, the whole project was up in the air, and the easiest thing to do was to build a copy of DisneyLand and plus it with resorts, golfing ect.

It was later realized that tourists would find it boring to come and watch people work, and it would be difficult to find people to live in EPCOT who would be "on stage" 24/7 so the idea was scrapped.

Eventually, it was decided that the EPCOT theme park would be built and I guess the rest is history. Also, apparently, the story about shoving the two models of future world and world showcase together to make the one park is made up.

 

[SoupBone]

Because even before the MK opened, and in parts even whilst Walt was alive, Management knew they couldn`t build a city like EPCOT. Expense, voting rights, logistics, sponsors, having an open house.... so they planned LBV instead as a community, and for a while this was to be a test community for the real thing. On paper. Did Disney lie to get the Reedy Creek charter? Most would say no. Did they not tell the whole truth? Definately.

Forward to the mid 70`s, the city was dead due to the reasons above. EPCOT was developing into a physical forum about the world and its problems. Allowing guests in to the Orlando part was seen as a good tourist boost. Slowly the ideas became less grand, more theme park, and though a lot of core thinking went into the park of 1982 the only financially viable option was as a tourist attraction, though one built on the original EPCOT ideals.

EPCOT was built in part - as you`ve probably heard - as all around WDW for the first 15-20 years technical innovations and futuristic city planning were implemented all around the property. The real EPCOT is what keeps WDW running. Epcot is just a theme park.

I guess what you are saying is that the "real" EPCOT is actually all the themed lands plus resorts? I truly believe that EPCOT is ALL of WDW and not just one park. Throw in Celebration and it gets a little more confusing..

*EDIT* As long a Home Suite Homes is not included I'm all fine with the concept....:ROFLOL:

 

[Ziffell]

Roy Disney was long dead by 1982, so I assume that Ron Miller was at the top of the food chain at that time and was done under his watch correct?

Actually, Card Walker was CEO at that time. For some reason, people remember Ron Miller as head of the company much better than they tend to remember Card Walker. And yet Card Walker was in charge for much longer (Ron Miller was only CEO for about year until he got ousted).

 

[MissM]

All of WDW was to be EPCOT, and it was to include, different theme parks, buisness centers, homes etc. Of course, people would be invited to see how this community of tomorrow worked on a day to day basis and visit the parks. After Walt's passing, the whole project was up in the air, and the easiest thing to do was to build a copy of DisneyLand and plus it with resorts, golfing ect.

Not exactly.

"The Florida Project" was always going to include a theme park - originally to be known simply as "Disney World;" the "Walt" part was added later by his brother Roy as a tribute. It was also going to include a large city complete with central downtown core, extensive PeopleMover system, monorails, apartments, a neighborhood, and an industrial complex. The city was known as E.P.C.O.T. for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. It was a very large portion of the planned space on the Florida land.

If you watch the EPCOT segment on the Tomorrowland Treasures DVD, you can see much more information on what EPCOT was going to contain. The video was the last film Walt made just two months before he died.

In this picture you can see the very tip-top left corner is the planned theme park while the central portions are EPCOT and the industrial complex: http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/collection/biography/florida/media/florida03_lrg.jpg

Another image: http://www.varley.net/Pages/VarleyY...land images/Map of Disney Florida Project.jpg

An improved version of Disneyland was always going to be part of Disney World, but it wasn't Walt's main focus.

There's some good overview in the Wikipedia article as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_Prototype_Community_of_Tomorrow_(concept)

edit: Another really interesting site: http://sites.google.com/site/theoriginalepcot/

 

[Krack]

I guess what you are saying is that the "real" EPCOT is actually all the themed lands plus resorts? I truly believe that EPCOT is ALL of WDW and not just one park. Throw in Celebration and it gets a little more confusing..

*EDIT* As long a Home Suite Homes is not included I'm all fine with the concept....:ROFLOL:

No, he's saying the "real EPCOT" is the WDW infrastructure - the transportation systems, the ability to feed and house all the guests on property, the sanitation systems, the maintenance, fire and security.

 

[mp2bill]

It was probably because "the real EPCOT" was Walt's idea.

By that, I mean that his successors probably would have liked to complete his idea to honor him, but probably not many people were as passionate about the idea as he was. If Walt had lived on, I have no doubt that his idea of EPCOT would have been built.

 

[Mr. Morrow]

Because it is the best theme park on the planet

 

[ChrisFL]

Regarding the entire resort being "EPCOT", that was discussed in the opening special of EPCOT Center with Danny Kaye. It was funny because even he was a bit confusing about it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LApowdPGyI8

The description starts about 5:10

 

[forevermickey]

Can someone tell me more about Celebration? Is is just a neighborhood?