Celebrating 35 Years of Epcot

Disney opened Epcot 35 years ago yesterday. Thirty five! Although a lot has changed at the park over the years, many things haven’t. You can still explore the cultures of different countries by wandering around World Showplace. You can also still travel through time on Spaceship Earth. The monorail still glides through Future World and millions of people pose for pictures, sometimes in ridiculous ways, in front of the giant “ball.”

There’s a lot to love about Epcot’s past, present and future. In honor of the park’s 35th birthday, I’m listing 35 facts about Walt Disney’s grand experiment:

(1) Let’s start with the park’s unusual name. EPCOT was originally an acronym for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. It was Walt Disney’s dream to build a community where people could live, work and play within an efficient, self-sufficient neighborhood. You can still catch a quick glimpse of his vision on the People Mover ride in the Magic Kingdom. Disney later changed the name of the park to EPCOT Center and then to just Epcot (lower case letters) as it stands today.

(2) The iconic ball of Epcot is technically a geodesic sphere. Disney Imagineers explored numerous materials and colors before selecting Alucobond, a combination of polyethylene plastic and aluminum, to cover the surface. Other materials were rejected because they retained too much heat in the Florida sun. (Ouch!)

(3) The outer shell of Spaceship Earth is constructed of triangular panels. It hides an interior gutter system that drains rain off the surface of the sphere to prevent water from dripping (gushing!?) onto unsuspecting guests below.

(4) Epcot is divided into two sections: Future World and World Showplace. Combined, the park covers 300 acres, which is more than double the size of the Magic Kingdom.

(5) Speaking of Future World, that section of the park typically opens two hours before World Showplace. It’s the only park at Disney World to have two sections and two entrances, that consistently open at different times.

(6) The giant fountain in Future World is officially named the Fountain of Nations. National representatives brought water from 29 different countries to contribute to the fountain on Epcot’s opening day.

(7) The unofficial mascot of Epcot is Figment, a light purple dragon. Unlike the other characters at Disney World that were brought to life from films and cartoons, Figment was designed exclusively for Epcot. You can still find him featured in the Journey into Imagination attraction and on generous amounts of Epcot merchandise.

(8) Epcot opened in 1982 with nine countries represented in World Showplace. Morocco and Norway were added later in the 1980s to bring the total to eleven. There’s room to add more. (… and non-stop rumors of what they could be and when they will join!)

(9) The American pavilion sits in the center of World Showplace to represent its “host” status among the other countries. The building uses forced perspective to make the five story building look like two and a half, to keep with the colonial time-period theming of the building.

(10) Disney designed the exterior of the The Land pavilion, that currently houses Soarin’ and other attractions, to look like a volcano.

(11) The salt water tank within the Seas with Nemo and Friends pavilion holds 5.7 million gallons of water! It was the largest tank of its kind from its opening in 1986 until 2005, when it was surpassed by the Georgia Aquarium.

(12) The Living with the Land attraction has been operating since the park opened. This slow-moving boat rides takes guests on a journey of agriculture, including a tour of Disney’s onsite greenhouse. The greenhouse supplies produce to the nearby Garden Grill and Coral Reef restaurants.

(13) Although it wasn’t always the case, Disney characters now greet their guests within their respective countries in World Showplace. You can meet Alice and Mary Poppins in the United Kingdom, Mulan in China and several other favorites on your journey around the world.

(14) Disney started hosting the popular Food and Wine Festival at Epcot in 1995. The event attracts more guests to the typical “off-season” of early fall, and provides the opportunity to expand the number of countries and cultures represented in World Showplace. The 2017 Festival, for example, includes food kiosks from more than ten additional countries including Thailand, Greece, India, Brazil and Spain.

(15) In July of this year, Disney announced a new Ratatouille-themed ride for the French pavilion. The ride is based on a similar attraction from Disneyland Paris and is scheduled to open by 2021. (Disney World’s 50th Anniversary!)  The only other pavilions that currently offer rides are Mexico and Norway.

(16) The fictional flight number for the Soarin’ ride at Epcot is 5505, to represent the attraction’s opening day at Epcot (May 5, 2005). Soarin’ received a third theater and a new film, Soarin’ Around the World, in the summer of 2016.

(17) IllumiNations, the nightly show centered on the World Showcase Lagoon has been operating since 1999 and will finish its run by the end of 2018. The barge containing the elements for the show is stored near the China pavilion during the day, then passes through a draw bridge into the lagoon a few hours before show time each day.

(18) The Skol Bread served at the Kringla Bakeri og Kafe in the Norway pavilion enjoys a cult-like following. The Skol Bread consists of sweet dough stuffed with vanilla cream and sprinkled with powdered sugar and coconut. (How do say “yummo” in Norwegian?)

(19) The American Adventure show within the American Pavilion features 35 animatronics. Disney stores the animatronics beneath the seats of the theatre in a series of “drawers” that slide in and out to access the necessary figures throughout the 30-minute show.

(20) Epcot was the first Disney World park to offer alcoholic beverages. You can find tequila flights in Mexico, wine samplings in Italy and beer in almost every country throughout the World Showplace.

(21) The bridge between the United Kingdom and France pavilions in World Showcase allows guests to symbolically cross the English Channel.

(22) Located on the ground between Epcot Character Spot and the Land pavilion is the Inventor’s Circle. This artwork organizes the “greatest” discoveries of mankind into chronological order using concentric circles. The display covers the alphabet (Thank a Phoenician!) to the internet and other monumental discoveries in between.

(23) Captain EO, a 3D film featuring Michael Jackson, opened at Epcot in 1986 and closed in 1996. Francis Ford Coppola directed the film and George Lucas produced it. Disney revived the film from 2010 to 2015. The theatre now features Disney Pixar short films.

(24) Disney offers several behind-the-scenes tours of Epcot. Examples include tours of the park’s greenhouse, the American pavilion and Epcot’s top attractions. (Many of the facts listed in this tribute were learned on these tours!)

(25) Test Track is the fastest ride at Disney World at 65 mph. Imagineers chose this maximum velocity to follow the speed limit laws in Florida.

(26) Although Disney does a great job disguising the animatronics, some of the same models are used for multiple purposes throughout Disney World. For example, you may notice one of the transcribing monks from the Spaceship Earth attraction bears a striking resemblance to John Adams from the Hall of Presidents at Magic Kingdom.

(27) The Moroccan government worked with Disney on the design and opening of the Moroccan pavilion in 1986. Although it’s more difficult to see today due to tree growth, Disney purposefully designed the side of the Tower of Terror that is visible to Epcot guests to blend in with the Moroccan architecture in World Showplace.

(28) The Friendship boats at Epcot transport guests across the World Showcase Lagoon. You can choose a boat from Canada to Morocco or another from Mexico to Germany. Unlike real travel between these countries, each trip saves you a little more than half a mile of walking.

(29) The Chinese pavilion displays an incredible miniaturized replica of the famous Terra Cotta soldiers. Construction workers uncovered the original Terra Cotta soldiers during an excavation project in China in 1974.

(30) In July of this year, Disney announced a new Guardians of the Galaxy attraction in Future World. Later the company confirmed the ride will be an indoor roller coaster. The new (giant?!) coaster will occupy the space once used for Ellen’s Energy Adventure and open (hopefully) by the end of 2020.

(31) Club Cool in Future World provides free samples of popular carbonated beverages from around the world. Be sure to sample wisely.

(32) World Showplace is a whopping 1.3 miles long. Make sure you plan ahead. It will feel much longer if you’re rushing to a dinner reservation!

(33) Epcot hosted 11.8 million guests in 2016, making it the third most popular theme park in the United States.  Magic Kingdom and Disneyland claimed the top two spots.

(34) Frozen Ever After opened in the Norwegian pavilion in June 2016. The slow-moving boat ride replaced Maelstrom, a tribute to Norwegian culture, which had been in operation since 1986.

(35) Disney opened Mission: Space at Epcot in 2003 and completed a minor update to it in 2017. Guests may choose between a Orange Mission, which simulates the g-forces of a real rocket launch, or the much less intense Green Mission. I’m fairly confident it’s also the only ride at Disney World that offers sick bags. Yikes!

Happy Birthday Epcot!

Whew! That’s a wrap. Thirty-five Epcot features to celebrate the park’s 35th birthday! Hopefully it provided you with a walk down memory lane, a data point to impress your friends or a reason to plan another trip to Disney’s incredible park in the near future.

Add a little (Epcot) magic to your world!