Today is the twenty-fifth anniversary of EPCOT. It’s hard to believe that the second Florida gate for Disney is a quarter of a century old. Many Disney related sites, like the Disney Blog (http://www.thedisneyblog.com) , have retrospectives on the park. Anyways, I will give my take on the park.

EPCOT changed the landscape of the Orlando area, turning Walt Disney World into a multi-day vacation. The park was one of the last major theme park project worked on by Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney. EPCOT means “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.” The reasoning on the vast amount land purchase by the company in Florida, centered on the EPCOT project. Walt wanted to build a model city, demonstrating how the future citizens should live. Walt planned on building skyscrapers, hospitals, housing, and mass transit from the future. Due to the changing perception of the future, Walt’s vision was never realized. The project was not even touch until the Ford Administration. At this point, Walt’s dream was turned into a form of permanent world’s fair. In October 1, 1979, the company broken ground and three years to the day, the park opened.

Preview the Future: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdDuIJiJBjM

Many changes have been made. Of the nine original Future World pavilions, Horizons and Wonders of Life are no longer with us. The building of Horizons was demolished in 1999. Many pavilion have been dramatically altered: The Living Seas (Now just the Seas with Nemo & Friends), the World of Motion (now Test Track), the Land, and Communicore (now Innoventions). Mission: Space was added two years ago. The World Showcase has added many countries, but still never reached the level the planners wanted. The wand over Spaceship Earth has been removed.

In my own experience with the park, I was young, when I first went to the park. My family took me there, so I have little memory of it. On my later trips to Florida (before my age reached double digits), I remember the park as the boring educational park. At the time, there was no thrill rides. Each attraction had the mission to teach. Despite my memories of EPCOT being boring, my memories are actually quiet fond. This might be due to the great landscaping and visual elements of the park as well as the easy flow of the park. The park had an unofficial mascot, a dragon named Figment, who was downgraded over the years. I wonder if Disney would let Jake Long take the job.

The park was always a guilty pleasure for me. If you go to Florida, go to EPCOT, you should enjoy it.

With 25 candles on a cake, happy birthday EPCOT!