Your visit sounded both pleasant and bittersweet at the same time. It's always thought-provoking when you take a stroll down memory lane. I found it fascinating that there are still some remnants of the old 60's World's Fair to be seen. Thanks for passing along your observations.
Thanks Minnie.
I was actually surprised there was as much as there was left over from the Fair there.
Sure i had heard about a few things still being there, mainly the Unisphere and NY State Pavilion and Towers before visiting.
However, a lot of things like some of the status, fountain fixtures, and original walkways/roadways was a nice surprise.
The big plus was having in hand a old original retro 1965 'Guide Book to the Fair' that was published by Time. This was key to the visit, as it was used to pinpoint exactly where the old Pavilions used to be.
That was a HUGE help...not to mention touring with a local who knew his Fair history well.
It as really neat to stand at a crossroads in certain spots, and know CoP was once there...or the original Small World.
I had read so much about those original WED created attractions over the last three decades i just never dreamed one day i would visit the place where the birth of the idea for a 'East Coast Disneyland' moved from a proposition to a 'yes, we are going to build it' mode.
As fans know, the success of those attractions at that 'testing ground' caused plans to move forward to build what would become WDW and EPCOT.
Fantastic.
I highly recommend anyone interested in the World's Fair, or these famous Disney/WED attractions to pick up one of those neat Guide Books off of eBay.
I am told they are fairly commonplace and not too expensive.
There are some AMAZING color artwork adverts contained within the 65' addition related to the Ford Skyway, GE Pavilion and CoP, Small World, and a few mentions of Mr. Lincoln.
Worth buying just to get the ads,but the book is PACKED with info and some nice black n' white photos.
The Pavilion designs remind me so much of the classic EPCOT Pavilion designs.
So obviously inspired by what came before it....so freaking cool to boot..!
The two maps at the start of the book will look strangely familiar to any EPCOT fan, that is for certain.
So to bring this around back on topic, i can easily see Horizons fitting in exceptionally well at the NY Worlds Fair.
From the Show itself, to the Pavilion design, it just screams it to me now.
I wish EPCOT would try to recapture some of that feeling again....instead of being somewhat of a mish-mash of 'whatever' these days.
I LOVED them as a kid. Maybe I was just a big nerd, but I thought Horizons was fantastic and was on my favorites list.
