EPCOT Concept Frozen in Time
Wednesday, July 24, 2002
(The Ledger) -- Not many people remember it, but Walt Disney once envisioned building a domed, air-conditioned city near Orlando. An Associated Press story from Feb. 2, 1967, reported the glass-domed city would take "a quarter of a century to construct."
A film, narrated by Disney shortly before his death, showed a 50-acre city, which would be laid out like a wheel. The hub would be "a 30-story hotel and convention center, with stores, theaters, restaurants, nightclubs and office buildings." Roy Disney, Walt's brother, told reporters the city "would have a completely closed environment with a minimum of traffic. 'The pedestrian will be the king,' Roy Disney said.
High-speed monorails would take workers to the city's business district from three outlying areas.
The dream hit reality's windshield like a love bug. Walt Disney's "Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow" became the EPCOT attraction at Walt Disney World -- a commercial-sponsored ride that tried to provide a glimpse into the future.
Celebration is another Disney development; homes cost an average of $300,000. It was sold as an old-fashioned neighborhood -- a city of yesteryear.
But Disney now wants to build several hotels and a luxury resort, and double the number of hotel rooms. Residents, including one who develops real estate for a living, are mad.
"We chose Celebration because it was not a resort town and had a community, and didn't have hotels," Beth McIntosh, the real estate developer, told the Orlando Sentinel. "If it's not going to be a community, I'm going to move."
Officials of the Celebration Co., a Disney subsidiary, note that all previous marketing brochures contain the paragraph: "These materials, and all photos, renderings, plans, improvements and amenities depicted or described herein, are subject to change or cancellation (in whole or in part) without notice."
Just like Walt Disney's EPCOT, the dream can transform at any time. EPCOT transformed quickly after Disney's death from a place everyone would want to live to an amusement ride.
Marvin Davis, who worked closely with Disney on the EPCOT concept, went to Roy Disney to discuss the idea after Walt Disney died. "Marvin," Roy Disney is reported to have said, "Walt's dead."
More than 35 years after his death, this scenario is as fresh as today's news. Disney was interested in cyrogenesis, and wondered, according to author Stephen M. Fjellman, if "he could be brought back in time to rectify the mistakes his successors would almost certainly start making at EPCOT the moment he was dead."
The residents of Celebration no doubt wish they could thaw him out.
Wednesday, July 24, 2002
(The Ledger) -- Not many people remember it, but Walt Disney once envisioned building a domed, air-conditioned city near Orlando. An Associated Press story from Feb. 2, 1967, reported the glass-domed city would take "a quarter of a century to construct."
A film, narrated by Disney shortly before his death, showed a 50-acre city, which would be laid out like a wheel. The hub would be "a 30-story hotel and convention center, with stores, theaters, restaurants, nightclubs and office buildings." Roy Disney, Walt's brother, told reporters the city "would have a completely closed environment with a minimum of traffic. 'The pedestrian will be the king,' Roy Disney said.
High-speed monorails would take workers to the city's business district from three outlying areas.
The dream hit reality's windshield like a love bug. Walt Disney's "Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow" became the EPCOT attraction at Walt Disney World -- a commercial-sponsored ride that tried to provide a glimpse into the future.
Celebration is another Disney development; homes cost an average of $300,000. It was sold as an old-fashioned neighborhood -- a city of yesteryear.
But Disney now wants to build several hotels and a luxury resort, and double the number of hotel rooms. Residents, including one who develops real estate for a living, are mad.
"We chose Celebration because it was not a resort town and had a community, and didn't have hotels," Beth McIntosh, the real estate developer, told the Orlando Sentinel. "If it's not going to be a community, I'm going to move."
Officials of the Celebration Co., a Disney subsidiary, note that all previous marketing brochures contain the paragraph: "These materials, and all photos, renderings, plans, improvements and amenities depicted or described herein, are subject to change or cancellation (in whole or in part) without notice."
Just like Walt Disney's EPCOT, the dream can transform at any time. EPCOT transformed quickly after Disney's death from a place everyone would want to live to an amusement ride.
Marvin Davis, who worked closely with Disney on the EPCOT concept, went to Roy Disney to discuss the idea after Walt Disney died. "Marvin," Roy Disney is reported to have said, "Walt's dead."
More than 35 years after his death, this scenario is as fresh as today's news. Disney was interested in cyrogenesis, and wondered, according to author Stephen M. Fjellman, if "he could be brought back in time to rectify the mistakes his successors would almost certainly start making at EPCOT the moment he was dead."
The residents of Celebration no doubt wish they could thaw him out.
:brick: