Do you think if Walt was alive Epcot would of been a city, not a park?

[ClemsonTigger]

Ignoring for a second the flame wars that always seem to erupt whenever WWWD is used in a discussion.....

The original proposal was highly unlikely for a number of reasons. First the cost...Walt didn't get everything he wanted....there were always those with business and financial acumen that kept him attached to the ground.

Second the concept of EPCOT required significant underground services. I believe the original city as can be seen from TTA had five underground levels for all services and much of the transportation. Not able to do that in Florida.

The main idea of a collaborative, international environment mixed with technology was met (after a fashion)in the actual Epcot.

 

[piratetreasure]

Precisely.

Thank you.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I would take both, since I would imagine that the industrial park that was planned would have ended up as a kind of super-Future World.

Heh...Super Future World...Didn't we have that in 1989-1994?:lookaroun

 

[Mr.EPCOT]

Heh...Super Future World...Didn't we have that in 1989-1994?:lookaroun

I'm talking something to the effect of, say, in addition to AT&T having a visitor pavilion, there is also a facility where they are actually developing experimental phone and communication systems, and testing them right there in EPCOT and the rest of Disney World.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

I certainly think he would have been disappointed in the overall result, especially as it stands now. I don't think he would be pleased with the way the company is run by suits that lack imagination. He probably would not love the fact that not everyone can afford to go to his parks. The way the pricing system has been developed, you make choices...got to disney or take the money and put it towards a mortgage payment or two.
What we see of Disney World and Epcot are traces of a great dream. Those traces are what keeps us going back. But as service erodes, paint chips away more...well we will probably still keep coming back, but the future city and those wonderful imaginative ideals are not in the Epcot we see today. Maybe more so in EPCOT Center, but not today.

On a less serious note...we could just get that head out of cryogentics under the castle and ask him..right?

 

[mattfusf]

"Walt Disney" by Neal Gabler (Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/8w727g) is a great read on Walt's life and talk a lot about this very topic. Its a good read for any fan and gives a lot of insight into Disney's motivations and way of thinking. Very interesting book!

 

[Missing20K]

That's assuming that Walt would be happy with any ol' general planned community. No. He had a plan for a specific design in a specific layout to accomplish specific goals. He was out to try a better way of organizing a community that wouldn't be burdened with the problems of pre-existing cities. That plan was not built.

That is the idea behind New Urbanism as far as I have been able to learn. And Celebration was designed almost entirely around the tenets of New Urbanism. I will agree with the other posts, in that, EPCOT the city seemed to be far different the EPCOT the theme park. Also, I'm not sure I entirely buy the idea that all of WDW holds the idea of Walt's original EPCOT concept. Sure it's become a large community/city, but where is the innovation in transportation, education, industry, and urban and regional planning that EPCOT the city called for??

 

[Mr.EPCOT]

That is the idea behind New Urbanism as far as I have been able to learn. And Celebration was designed almost entirely around the tenets of New Urbanism. I will agree with the other posts, in that, EPCOT the city seemed to be far different the EPCOT the theme park. Also, I'm not sure I entirely buy the idea that all of WDW holds the idea of Walt's original EPCOT concept. Sure it's become a large community/city, but where is the innovation in transportation, education, industry, and urban and regional planning that EPCOT the city called for??

I do remember reading about New Urbanism and "new towns" back around when Celebration was opening, but I can't say I remember much about it. I've always meant to pick up a copy of the book "Walt Disney and the Quest for Community", but it's a little more tough to come by these days. People say, "Oh, Walt Disney World is EPCOT, it's got experimental technologies and stuff!" Well, no, EPCOT was very specifically layed out in the shape of a wheel with a downtown and transportation hub at the center and residential areas surrounding it, all connected with efficient (not fleets of road-bound buses!) mass transportation. Part of Walt's intention for Disney World was to get people out of cars and buses and off of congested roads and show them how efficient, pleasant, and even fun mass transportation could be if it was done right! Even if the constant rotation and testing of new technologies integrated into the city didn't pan out, the very organization of the city would have been revolutionary in itself!

 

[hokielutz]

I think if Walt had lived a little bit longer his vision of EPCOT would of have been built they way that he had it planned out.

After going through One Man's Dream and doing a bit more research on the Original E.P.C.O.T. as Walt envisioned it.... I think EPCOT would have been the City/Community that tries new ideas and experiments with technology to better itself and be an example for the rest of the world.

So in short, I agree.


its a shame it never was tried, but I still like what went in its place. I just with he could have lived a bit longer to see his dream fulfilled. He was taken from us long just as he was hitting his prime.

 

[Dragonrider1227]

Hard to say. I think he might've gotten some sort of living environment off the ground, but I seriously doubt it would've been quite what Walt was planning. Reality had to hit him like it hit the rest of the Disney team at some point

 

[Kamikaze]

Yes, he would have built it, and doing so would have bankrupt the company.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Yes, he would have built it, and doing so would have bankrupt the company.

That opens an interesting line of thinking.

Imagine if Walt had survived into his 70s or 80s, and insisted on building EPCOT his way. Aging, cantankerous, maybe a little senile, he forces his entertainment company into the swamps of social engineering, bites off far more than he can chew, and authors a major boondoggle that drains the company coffers and stains his reputation forevermore.

Reminds me of the line from The Dark Knight: "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Maybe Walt bowed out at just the right time, before his aspirations got too big for even his imagination.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

A city, built out of moon beams and candy floss where everyone was happy, no one was over weight and all residents paid up members of the ultimate dream.