This takes me back to my first visit to epcot which was in 1988. These rides represented hope for the future and showed us what we could accomplish. So to old epcot I will say goodbye, farewell, and thanks for the dreams.
I'm disappointed that they haven't added more countries to World Showcase. I also miss some of the original music that was in the park. It was terrible that they tore down Horizons and replaced it with a ride that made some guests sick---and that others were afraid to ride.
It didn't open til 1986, but there was always a plan to have a Seas pavilion. They just couldn't find a sponsor until after the park opened. They also wanted a Space pavilion, but never found a sponsor for that, so there was nothing specifically space-related in the park til 2003.
Wasn't there another film for EPCOT that was more like a widescreen slide presentation in the late 70's? I remember seeing that somewhere on here years ago.
I love how they show a partial video with Walt next to a massive map, but don't elude to the fact that the EPCOT we know today is NOT AT ALL what Walt had imagined. That map was to be an entire urban city landscape not a theme park!
WOW! Does this bring back memories. I can remember watching this, then taking the monorail preview ride through the Epcot construction site. Thanks for letting me relive that excitement.
It's mice to go back in retro spect and see Epcot in its glory Sadly now it's become more of just food and wine and the selling of wine and beer in the parks more about getting you to spend more money on top of what you paid in your ticket so that. They can make more money I miss the old days
They took his ideas and made Las Vegas out of it, without the things that really matter. Leave it to moneyed interests to fuck up everything. All any man can do is dream, but still he always wakes up to the nightmare. Woe is man
True, but Walt Disney made Las Vegas out of the Brothers Grimm's _Cinderella_ and _Snow White_. At least Roy Disney tried to integrate some of Walt's ideas into Walt Disney World: automated vacuum waste collection, for example, and direct monorail connections to hotels on site. The modular design of the Contemporary and Polynesian Resorts were a well-intentioned, if ill-fated, attempt to facilitate the kind of continuous improvement that Walt Disney spoke of in the EPCOT pitch movie.
Does anyone who watched the Disney Channel anytime between 1986 (when I watched it for the first time) and about 1996 remember a short documentary commercial which centered on the mystique of life, science, technology, industry, education, imagination and similar things? It started out with a narrator stating "Ideas for the present, dreams for the future". This is the first time I've ever seen this and I see it's what the opening scenes from that segment came from.
My family stayed in the Contemporary in August '82 (I was 12), and I'm thinking it was about $120/night for a tower room. (I couldn't believe that we had that much money!) Our room was on the south side, 10th or 11th floor, so we had a good view that included the new Spaceship Earth. I also remember seeing this film in the Hospitality House, and receiving our passes for the monorail preview. I still have the book with all of the concept drawings, which they were giving out on the preview tour!
***** well said, i totally agree. i think what Disney should do is bring back the old style and keep the thrill aspects. for example, Horizons 2.0 with mission space space launch?
***** I partly agree with you. But the main fault of EPCOT was made even before it was build. Search for Walt Disneys original presentation of what E.P.C.O.T. should have been, a whole new city showcasing the future ways of living, traveling, working, etc. not just another lousy theme park. It's a shame he died to early so they could change his plans. It's an insolance to call that his dream, this is something different.
NeoDerGrose Well even if it wasn't Walt's dream it was a tribute to it, or it wouldn't be called EPCOT... Disney knew they couldn't afford to make a whole city when EPCOT was in planning, so they did the next best thing.
If somebody ever invents a time machine the first place I'm going is 1983 so I can go on Horizons. They got rid of their best attraction for crappy ass mission space. They ruined Journey into Imagination, Universe of Energy, and The Living Seas. They got rid of World of Motion. Ruined the Communicores. They should have kept the Cronkite version of Spaceship Earth with the Tomorrow's Child song at the end. They should have kept all of the logo symbols for the attractions. Wow I just realized I'm on a rant and I didn't even get to the Magic Kingdom yet. Like how they got rid of the nice futuristic looking waterfalls at the Tomorrowland entrance to put in some rocks. Who the hell wants to look at rocks. My only compliment is that test track is better with the neon lighting but that's it.
Totally agree. Although I liked the third iteration of the narration. The new one though is just horrid... Haven't been back since I was in high school. I don't see a point. I saw the best of it.
The Jeremy Irons version but with the Tomorrow's Child ending would be the ultimate! The current version is only Half the Attraction it once was. In other words...I use to enjoy the descent, with all there was to see. Now, our faces are buried in that screen while we answer questions. It was fun the first 2 or 3 times but now I don't even play along any more.
You look up what EPCOT was supposed to be, and how unprofitable it would have been for Disney, and you sometimes wonder if the top execs were almost happy he passed away. Walt Disney was a brilliant mind who was genuinely excited about contributing something to the world outside of just another silly amusement park. I honestly wonder, if had lived, what the outcome would have been for EPCOM city. Would it have survived, or would the concept grown stale after time? I think it is worth looking into again, though sadly no one with that much money these days is the type to do anything that humble... instead now it's all for another buck.
I think the concept would have grown stale after time. Some of the ideas, like the radial plan and the central transportation hub, are brilliant, but people would eventually tire of living in a showcase, and the ideas of a permanent World's Fair and industrial showcase destination, while attractive half a century ago, don't seem as practical or desirable today, when pervasive Internet connectivity eliminates much of the rationale for a World's Fair and many companies depend on secrecy to avoid being leapfrogged by competitors. Finally, while Disney excelled in creating memorable experiences for theme park customers, not all of those skills translate to governing a city, and it wasn't even clear that even as charismatic a showman as Walt Disney was capable of drumming up enough corporate interest in EPCOT to get it off the ground. (As I recall, the only company that was interested in EPCOT was General Electric.)
@ProgressCityPublicTV, I know I remember watching IMAGINE back in the old days of The Disney Channel in 1980s / 1990s. In fact My Friend, I first visited Walt Disney World in 1986 - Pre WDW 15th Birthday. It was on the first days of April in 1986. It's almost like a moment in time that will always stay with me no matter where I go. - Dwight
two of the funnest places on earth are actually particle accelerators....hidden .....Disneyland is original alice project....epot is a paticle collider......here they make cores for hydrogen bombs,,,,,
I was there when it opened in Christmas Break it was so amazing to say the least. So disapointed that most of the original expos in Futureland are closed
YES! I think it was called "IMAGINE". I can see it in my mind's eye. There were a number of different ones... I'll have to see if I have any on my tapes.
I wonder how many of these ideas, they have actually put into place... i/e the water plants, solar power plant. I also wonder how many inventions or creations of theirs have made it to the industrial market. IS there any way to track that or find that out?
This takes me back to my first visit to epcot which was in 1988. These rides represented hope for the future and showed us what we could accomplish. So to old epcot I will say goodbye, farewell, and thanks for the dreams.
I like how this includes the original song written for Horizons
I'm disappointed that they haven't added more countries to World Showcase. I also miss some of the original music that was in the park. It was terrible that they tore down Horizons and replaced it with a ride that made some guests sick---and that others were afraid to ride.
It didn't open til 1986, but there was always a plan to have a Seas pavilion. They just couldn't find a sponsor until after the park opened. They also wanted a Space pavilion, but never found a sponsor for that, so there was nothing specifically space-related in the park til 2003.
Still replaced an amazing ride that just needed an update
Wasn't there another film for EPCOT that was more like a widescreen slide presentation in the late 70's? I remember seeing that somewhere on here years ago.
I love how they show a partial video with Walt next to a massive map, but don't elude to the fact that the EPCOT we know today is NOT AT ALL what Walt had imagined. That map was to be an entire urban city landscape not a theme park!
WOW! Does this bring back memories. I can remember watching this, then taking the monorail preview ride through the Epcot construction site. Thanks for letting me relive that excitement.
It's mice to go back in retro spect and see Epcot in its glory
Sadly now it's become more of just food and wine and the selling of wine and beer in the parks more about getting you to spend more money on top of what you paid in your ticket so that. They can make more money
I miss the old days
They took his ideas and made Las Vegas out of it, without the things that really matter. Leave it to moneyed interests to fuck up everything. All any man can do is dream, but still he always wakes up to the nightmare. Woe is man
True, but Walt Disney made Las Vegas out of the Brothers Grimm's _Cinderella_ and _Snow White_. At least Roy Disney tried to integrate some of Walt's ideas into Walt Disney World: automated vacuum waste collection, for example, and direct monorail connections to hotels on site. The modular design of the Contemporary and Polynesian Resorts were a well-intentioned, if ill-fated, attempt to facilitate the kind of continuous improvement that Walt Disney spoke of in the EPCOT pitch movie.
It makes me sad how Disney's clueless management has basically ruined what was once the world's most amazing theme park.
its all about money from sponsors they are trying to get.
Does anyone who watched the Disney Channel anytime between 1986 (when I watched it for the first time) and about 1996 remember a short documentary commercial which centered on the mystique of life, science, technology, industry, education, imagination and similar things? It started out with a narrator stating "Ideas for the present, dreams for the future". This is the first time I've ever seen this and I see it's what the opening scenes from that segment came from.
Ahh, for the times when people were still optimistic about the future…
it was a blast from the past
My family stayed in the Contemporary in August '82 (I was 12), and I'm thinking it was about $120/night for a tower room. (I couldn't believe that we had that much money!) Our room was on the south side, 10th or 11th floor, so we had a good view that included the new Spaceship Earth. I also remember seeing this film in the Hospitality House, and receiving our passes for the monorail preview. I still have the book with all of the concept drawings, which they were giving out on the preview tour!
Now, this is magic! :)
wow you watch that then look at Epcot now its like what the hell happened to that place?
warped by Disneys idea that learning isnt fun and that u can just replace the good stuff with worthless thrill rides.......
***** well said, i totally agree. i think what Disney should do is bring back the old style and keep the thrill aspects. for example, Horizons 2.0 with mission space space launch?
***** I partly agree with you. But the main fault of EPCOT was made even before it was build. Search for Walt Disneys original presentation of what E.P.C.O.T. should have been, a whole new city showcasing the future ways of living, traveling, working, etc. not just another lousy theme park. It's a shame he died to early so they could change his plans. It's an insolance to call that his dream, this is something different.
NeoDerGrose Well even if it wasn't Walt's dream it was a tribute to it, or it wouldn't be called EPCOT... Disney knew they couldn't afford to make a whole city when EPCOT was in planning, so they did the next best thing.
Anthony Studios They did the next best thing to earn a lot of money, and that's just what they're doing today.
If somebody ever invents a time machine the first place I'm going is 1983 so I can go on Horizons. They got rid of their best attraction for crappy ass mission space. They ruined Journey into Imagination, Universe of Energy, and The Living Seas. They got rid of World of Motion. Ruined the Communicores. They should have kept the Cronkite version of Spaceship Earth with the Tomorrow's Child song at the end. They should have kept all of the logo symbols for the attractions. Wow I just realized I'm on a rant and I didn't even get to the Magic Kingdom yet. Like how they got rid of the nice futuristic looking waterfalls at the Tomorrowland entrance to put in some rocks. Who the hell wants to look at rocks. My only compliment is that test track is better with the neon lighting but that's it.
Totally agree. Although I liked the third iteration of the narration. The new one though is just horrid...
Haven't been back since I was in high school. I don't see a point. I saw the best of it.
ceramicsaturn Out of all the narrations I'm very much partial to the Jeremy Irons version, but maybe it's just because it's the one I grew up with.
The Jeremy Irons version but with the Tomorrow's Child ending would be the ultimate!
The current version is only Half the Attraction it once was. In other words...I use to enjoy the descent, with all there was to see. Now, our faces are buried in that screen while we answer questions. It was fun the first 2 or 3 times but now I don't even play along any more.
sponsors didnt want to sponsor those rides anymore, nothing disney can do there.
Disney has more than enough money to run the parks without sponsors.
Is there anyway to get the alternate versions of the songs used in this video? Or am I wrong and are they the originals?
I also would like to get those alternative versions of those songs as well!
that pesky water hyacinth!
Unfortunately for these days, nowadays, there's more ideots out there than there is dreamers, sadly! 😢😧
You look up what EPCOT was supposed to be, and how unprofitable it would have been for Disney, and you sometimes wonder if the top execs were almost happy he passed away.
Walt Disney was a brilliant mind who was genuinely excited about contributing something to the world outside of just another silly amusement park. I honestly wonder, if had lived, what the outcome would have been for EPCOM city. Would it have survived, or would the concept grown stale after time?
I think it is worth looking into again, though sadly no one with that much money these days is the type to do anything that humble... instead now it's all for another buck.
I think the concept would have grown stale after time. Some of the ideas, like the radial plan and the central transportation hub, are brilliant, but people would eventually tire of living in a showcase, and the ideas of a permanent World's Fair and industrial showcase destination, while attractive half a century ago, don't seem as practical or desirable today, when pervasive Internet connectivity eliminates much of the rationale for a World's Fair and many companies depend on secrecy to avoid being leapfrogged by competitors. Finally, while Disney excelled in creating memorable experiences for theme park customers, not all of those skills translate to governing a city, and it wasn't even clear that even as charismatic a showman as Walt Disney was capable of drumming up enough corporate interest in EPCOT to get it off the ground. (As I recall, the only company that was interested in EPCOT was General Electric.)
@ProgressCityPublicTV,
I know I remember watching IMAGINE back in the old days of The Disney Channel in 1980s / 1990s. In fact My Friend, I first visited Walt Disney World in 1986 - Pre WDW 15th Birthday. It was on the first days of April in 1986.
It's almost like a moment in time that will always stay with me no matter where I go.
- Dwight
two of the funnest places on earth are actually particle accelerators....hidden .....Disneyland is original alice project....epot is a paticle collider......here they make cores for hydrogen bombs,,,,,
This is just dynamite -- I've been looking for this for a long time.
I was there when it opened in Christmas Break it was so amazing to say the least. So disapointed that most of the original expos in Futureland are closed
YES! I think it was called "IMAGINE". I can see it in my mind's eye. There were a number of different ones... I'll have to see if I have any on my tapes.
The illustrations are amazing! Does anyone know if they've been published in any books?
I wonder how many of these ideas, they have actually put into place... i/e the water plants, solar power plant.
I also wonder how many inventions or creations of theirs have made it to the industrial market. IS there any way to track that or find that out?
Yes,does anyone know who narrates this?
So 80’s I love it lol hopefully Disney breathes new life into Epcot soon.....
Does anyone have a video of the monorail preview trip to Epcot?
8:38 Why was The Living Seas included in the Preview Film ? Because it didn't open until 1986.
this was a preview for it.
Really long, but probably worth it
how much was it to stay in the contemporary back then I wonder?
I wish it was still there! Stupid Nemo...
I know! Finding Nemo is such a crappy ride, especially at a park like Epcot.
Who narrated the film?
08:00