"Westcot and the original Disneyland Resort plan was truly groundbreaking stuff. It sought to turn Disneyland and the tired collection of motels and fast food joints that surrounded the park as something extraordinary: a lushly gardened, brightly lit urban entertainment center. Had this project gone forward as originally planned, Anaheim could have emerged as one of California's premier destination resorts.
As you push through the turnstile to enter Westcot, the first thing you see is the park's icon, Spacestation Earth. A giant 300-foot-tall golden ball reminiscent of Epcot's Spaceship Earth. Even in the distance, it towers over everything. Sitting on a lush green island at the center of World Showcase lagoon, Spacestation Earth is home to the Ventureport.
You'll have to cross a pedestrian bridge out over the water to reach Spacestation Earth and the Ventureport. But here, you'll get your first taste of the Wonders of Westcot. Many of your old favorites from Epcot's Future World -- the "Journey into Imagination" ride with Figment and Dreamfinder, the "Body Wars" ride from the"Wonders of Life" pavilion as well as the "Horizons" ride -- will be waiting for you here, where you can "Dare to Dream the Future."
Westcot's World Showcase is a little different than the Epcot version. Here, you won't find separate countries, but countries grouped by regions. So, if you want to check out the international area, you have a choice of heading to the Americas, Europe, Asia as well as Africa & the Far East. Four distinct districts that try to span the globe. Today, you'll begin your journey in the Americas.
As you walk back across the pedestrian bridge, you can't help but notice how cleverly Westcot is laid out. The buildings that form the Americas area (which also double as the main entrance to the park) have been done in an early 1900s style, reminiscent of the way New York City must have looked like at the turn of the century. Architecturally, these buildings have just enough in common with the buildings that make up Disneyland's Main Street U.S.A. that the two theme parks blend together effortlessly. There are no jarring transitions for guests who are exiting one park to visit the other. It all flows together seamlessly.
Inside World Showcase, this sort of architectural blending continues. Instead of doing what the Imagineers who designed the original Epcot did (i.e.: building large, free-standing international pavilions with wide swaths of greenery separating each building from its neighbor), the team that designed Westcot put its buildings right next to one another. That way, you can -- for example -- see how Japanese architecture borrowed from Chinese design, which -- in turn -- influenced Indian ornamentation.
You also notice that Disney has obviously learned from the other mistakes it made with Epcot. There are fewer travelogue films to be seen here, but a lot more rides. Kids won't complain about there being nothing to do in this park, particularly with attractions like "Ride The Dragon." This steel coaster roars across the rooftops of the Asian section of World Showcase, following a track that's designed to look like the Great Wall of China.
You walk out of Westcot. And -- while you are sorely tempted to catch that rock concert that's currently playing in the Disneyland Arena (a 5,000-seat venue located just outside the entrance of Westcot, right next to Harbor Boulevard) -- you know it's really time to go home. That's another one of the many attractions that will have to wait 'til the next time you visit the new and improved Disneyland Resort.
The beauty of this plan was that -- in designing six story structures for World Showcase that housed shops, shows and restaurants on their first three floors and guest rooms towards the top -- is that the Imagineers created a unique variation on Disneyland's berm. The very height of these combination show buildings / hotels prevented guests from seeing out into the real world, perfectly preserving the sense that they had been transported to a different place."
I do LOVE the westcot idea idea...
