Epcot Center had a rough start

[coasterridr]

Well just the normal technical problems, check out this Oct 5 1982 article from the NY Times.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9500E4D71F38F936A35753C1A964948260

 

[TheBeatles]

Awesome.

 

[Pocamahontas]

Oh well a rough start but man do they have their stuff down now!

 

[BSikor]

very cool thanks for posting.

 

[jmvd20]

That's a good find... just wondering how you came across that article?

 

[coasterridr]

That's a good find... just wondering how you came across that article?

I did a Goggle search for Epcot Technical, it was on the first page of results, there's some other interesting stuff around there too.

 

[marni1971]

The Radok screen in the UoE took the best part of a year to run at a reliable level of operation; CMs would rush over when word got round "Hey! All the cubes are turning today!"

JII opened March 5th 1983 due to the ride system problems I`ve mentioned before; problems never full ironed out.

The entire park crashed at least twice in the early 80`s as Computer Central nosedived completely; truly a spectacular demonstration of how the whole park was controlled from one room.

 

[mousermerf]

I think my favorite "everything broke" Epcot moment is Test Track cars going through the building in pitch black, none of the show elements working, and the ride system thinking absolutely nothing was wrong.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I think my favorite "everything broke" Epcot moment is Test Track cars going through the building in pitch black, none of the show elements working, and the ride system thinking absolutely nothing was wrong.

Mmmmm my wife must have been an Imagineer on that project

 

[ann0d1]

I was there opening day, and several of the rides were having problems. SE for one. We were lucky because they let hotel guests go in the day before, so we hit all the major attractions then.

 

[marni1971]

Oh, I forgot - SSEs rotation of ride vehicles in 180top failed for a fortnight. CMs took shifts to sit under the track and manually release the vehicle locks.

 

[GenerationX]

I was at Epcot in March of 1983, and I remember being disappointed SSE was not open. We were told it wasn't quite finished yet.

 

[Jesùs_Carioca]

It reminds me of Walt himself with Disneyland. It was a very very rough start with him too back in '55. But, just like EPCOT, despite it's multiple problems opening day, it easilly got into the swing of things.

 

[jmvd20]

Minor glitches happen to new things all the time, it is not a big deal.

 

[CThaddeus]

I think my favorite "everything broke" Epcot moment is Test Track cars going through the building in pitch black, none of the show elements working, and the ride system thinking absolutely nothing was wrong.

How is this any different than the normal attraction? There are "show elements?"