Today I miss EPCOT...the experimental prototype community of tomorrow.
I miss all the optimism of ALL the attractions.
I admit the first time I went there, I was a teen, a little jaded, and didn't care as much about "educational" rides, or tiny countries.
On the first trip, everything sort of blended together...and I couldn't distinguish Horizons from SSE, or Italy from Germany.
To be fair, it was the very first Disney park I had ever experienced in person, and I think I was mighty overwhelmed just at the sheer size of the place.
Later, I went back with my Mom, and we decided to see EPCOT first , and I took her to see Captain EO as her first Disney experience.
When I got to take my boyfriend(now husband) for his first Disney trip, we hit EPCOT first as well. And we both distinctly remember him falling asleep during the UoE, and upon waking...he had this amazing idea for engineering an energy highway where car's friction would create power to light up the neighborhood.
Everything about Futureworld seemed just on the cusp of happening. Everything about the park sparkled with a feeling of newness and "can do it" attitude. And then we lost Imagination...literally. Along with WoM, Horizons, a SSE that seemed relevant as well as historical, WoL, real people in the Land, all that great inspiring music and everything that seemed to be about wonder and innovation.
Now, I go there for half a day. There just isn't anything to ride that interests me. I don't want thrills, or fast cards, or vomit-inducing space travel. I don't want dumbed down narrations, and budget cut attractions.
I don't want Apathy.
I want Hope.
And a feeling that we, as a country, as a people...as humans... can still do great things.
Is that too much to ask for?
