![Epcot-map-1966-modern](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Epcot-map-1966-modern.svg)
The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, or EPCOT, or E.P.C.O.T., is an unfinished concept for a
planned community
A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
, intended to sit on a massive swath of undeveloped land near
Orlando, Florida, that was developed by
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
in collaboration with the designers at
Walt Disney Imagineering
Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attra ...
in the 1960s. Based on ideas stemming from
modernism
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
and
futurism, and inspired by architectural literature about city planning, Disney intended EPCOT to be a utopian autocratic company town. One of the primary stated aims of EPCOT was to replace
urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...
as the organizing force of community planning in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in the 1960s. Disney intended EPCOT to be a real city, and it was planned to feature commercial, residential, industrial and recreational centers, connected by a mass multimodal transportation system, that would, he said, "Never cease to be a living blueprint of the future."
After Disney's death in 1966, the plans for EPCOT were eventually abandoned. Later, upon the opening of
Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...
in 1971, EPCOT served as the inspiration and namesake for the resort's eponymous theme park, and the nearby planned community of
Celebration, Florida. Several components and aesthetic designs of the original EPCOT vision survived and evolved into elements of the modern-day Disney World park, including the
Walt Disney World Monorail System
The Walt Disney World Monorail System is a public transit monorail system in operation at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. The Walt Disney World Resort currently operates twelve Mark VI monorail trains on three ...
and the
Disney utilidor system.
History
EPCOT will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise. — Walt Disney, describing the genesis of EPCOT
Forerunners of Disney's EPCOT plan include
Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...
in
Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
, which already featured
monorail
A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam.
Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...
s and
PeopleMovers, and the House of the Future (1957), which was designed by architects from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
. Architect/planner
Victor Gruen
Victor David Gruen, born Viktor David Grünbaum
retrieved 25 February 2012 (July 18, 1903 – February 1 ...
's plans to convert the site of the
1964 New York World's Fair was also a significant influence on EPCOT, Disney Imagineer
Marty Sklar
Martin A. "Marty" Sklar (February 6, 1934 – July 27, 2017) was a scriptwriter and construction developer. He was The Walt Disney Company's international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, the subsidiary of the company which designs a ...
said. Concerned with the "urban crisis" of the time, which he believed was one of the biggest problems facing society,
Disney also consulted urban planning literature, including books by
Ebenezer Howard
Sir Ebenezer Howard (29 January 1850 – 1 May 1928) was an English urban planner and founder of the garden city movement, known for his publication ''To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform'' (1898), the description of a utopian city in whic ...
, founder of the architectural "garden movement," and Victor Gruen.
Location
Numerous locations were proposed for EPCOT, including
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
,
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...
,
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
's
World Fair site.
Walt also considered incorporating an experimental city into his plans for a
Palm Beach, Florida development with
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
and investor
John D. MacArthur
John Donald MacArthur (March 6, 1897 – January 6, 1978) was an American insurance magnate, real estate investor and philanthropist who established the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, benefactor in the MacArthur Fellowships.
...
in 1959. Eventually,
Central Florida
Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...
was chosen.
Commenting on the choice, Walt said, "Here in Florida we've enjoyed something that we've never enjoyed at Disneyland: a blessing of size. There's enough land here to hold all the ideas and plans we could possibly imagine." The plans for "The Florida Project," officially dubbed
Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...
, called for
a Disneyland-style theme park and resort area, E.P.C.O.T., an industrial park, an airport, and an entrance complex.
Disney quietly purchased undeveloped wetlands in
Osceola County and
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
using
dummy corporation
A dummy corporation, dummy company, or false company is an entity created to serve as a front or cover for one or more companies. It can have the appearance of being real (logo, website, and sometimes employing actual staff), but lacks the capacit ...
s to avoid price gouging. By June 1965, Disney had acquired 27,433 acres—twice the size of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
—for an estimated $5.1 million ($ in ).
Walt Disney had planned to announce Disney World on November 15, 1965 publicly. Still, after the ''
Orlando Sentinel
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company.
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...
'' broke the story of Disney's land purchase, Disney asked then-Florida Governor
Haydon Burns
William Haydon Burns (March 17, 1912 – November 22, 1987) was an American politician. He was List of mayors of Jacksonville, Florida, Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1949 to 1965, and served as the 35th Governor of Florida from 1965 to 19 ...
to confirm the story on October 25. His announcement boasted that the new theme park would be, "The greatest attraction in the history of Florida."
The official announcement was made on the previously planned November 15 date, with Disney joining Burns in Orlando for the press conference.
Dissatisfied with
the zoning regulations he had to deal with in
Anaheim, Disney developed the
Reedy Creek Improvement District
The Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) is the governing jurisdiction and special taxing district for the land of Walt Disney World Resort. It includes within the outer limits of Orange and Osceola counties in Florida. It acts with the sa ...
(RCID) for the property. With the approval of the Florida legislature and the governor, as enshrined in the
Reedy Creek Improvement Act
The Reedy Creek Improvement Act, otherwise known as House Bill No. 486, was a law introduced and passed in the U.S. state of Florida in 1967, which established the area surrounding the Walt Disney World Resort, the Reedy Creek Improvement Distri ...
, the District had most of the powers of a Florida county.
The EPCOT film
In an effort to lobby the Florida legislature to approve the RCID and persuade American industries to participate in the project, a short film was shot at the
Walt Disney Studios on October 27, 1966, two months before Disney's death.
Written by
Marty Sklar
Martin A. "Marty" Sklar (February 6, 1934 – July 27, 2017) was a scriptwriter and construction developer. He was The Walt Disney Company's international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, the subsidiary of the company which designs a ...
and directed by Ham Luske, the 25-minute film is hosted by Disney, who explains the plans for
Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...
, focusing on how EPCOT would interrelate with other aspects of the property. The film, utilizing concept art and highly technical
animation, was a start to the conceptualization of EPCOT. The EPCOT philosophy, as it became known, included showcasing the development, testing, and use of new materials and ideas from American industries to find solutions to urban problems. EPCOT would always be in a state of becoming, the philosophy detailed, focusing on the needs and happiness of residents, and generating demand for new technologies.
The film was screened for Florida legislators on February 2, 1967.
On May 18, 2004, the film, entitled ''
Walt Disney Treasures: Tomorrow Land,'' was released.
Master plan and community site
Disney personally sketched a master plan for the Florida property known as the Seventh Preliminary Master Plot Plan, in 1966, the year of his death. The main features of the plan include the
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...
, hotels, camps and motels, convention facilities, EPCOT and a satellite community, a golf course, a "swamp ride," an industrial park, a tourist trailer camp, a main entrance, and a "jet airport." In addition, a monorail runs the length of the property.
Visitors would enter at the southern end of the property and be shuttled by monorail to the Disney World Welcome Center. There, they would be welcomed by "cast members" able to speak the guests' own languages. Visitors would re-board the monorail to arrive at the industrial park. There, guests would ride PeopleMovers to see warehouses and research and development laboratories from American industry.
Walt hoped visitors could take ideas back home to improve their own communities. After visiting the industrial park, the monorail would take the guests to EPCOT, where they would arrive under the central city.
The community
The EPCOT city, according to the concepts presented in the EPCOT film, was based on a radial plan, a design inspired by the
garden city movement
The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, and ...
of urban planning. Based on a concept similar to the layout of Disneyland Park, the city radiates out like a wheel from a central core. The
urban density
Urban density is a term used in urban planning and urban design to refer to the number of people inhabiting a given urbanized area. As such it is to be distinguished from other measures of population density. Urban density is considered an import ...
of the area would dwindle as the city fanned out.
The dome
In an article by famed architectural historian
Ada Louise Huxtable, "Out of a Fair, A City," which appeared in ''Horizon magazine'' in May 1960, Huxtable discusses architect Gruen's vision for a plastic dome over an international bazaar in the central city. There has been much speculation about a dome for EPCOT over the years. Gruen's plan may have been an influence.
An official of the Reedy Creek Improvement District recalled that a dome would pose fire safety issues. None of the Imagineering artwork shows the international shopping center open to a dome. However, the Florida Film does include a dome "enclosure." Walt Disney died in December 1966, while much of the EPCOT source material was produced in 1967. It is difficult to separate what Walt outlined and what was actually published in 1967. Architect Jon Jerde stated that a glass dome over 50 acres would have been "daunting" due to its cost. Walt Disney was known for striving for the impossible, which may explain the plan for a dome.
Walt Disney talked about the Houston Astrodome and a New York Times article mentioned a dome. The dome was likely another element Walt was wrestling with before his death.
Transportation
The city would be connected to the other points in Disney World with a main line of transportation—the
monorail
A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam.
Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...
. Walt Disney introduced the
Disneyland Monorail
The Disneyland Monorail System (originally named the Disneyland ALWEG Monorail System) is an attraction and transportation system at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, United States. It was the first daily operating monorail in the ...
in 1959. The monorail would cut through the center of the city, connecting EPCOT with the northern and southern points on the Disney World property.
Internal transportation would be provided by a new Disney transportation concept, the
WEDway
WEDway is a people mover system using linear induction motor (LIM) technology to propel vehicles along a pair of steel rails.
This system was developed by WED Enterprises (now Walt Disney Imagineering) and has been installed at places such as Walt ...
PeopleMover
The PeopleMover, sometimes referred to as the Goodyear PeopleMover and WEDWay PeopleMover, was a transport attraction that opened on July 2, 1967, in Tomorrowland at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Guests boarded small trains that ran ...
. The system uses motors located between the tracks to propel vehicles along a pair of steel rails. PeopleMover cars would transport residents from the metropolitan center to the outer residential areas. The
PeopleMover
The PeopleMover, sometimes referred to as the Goodyear PeopleMover and WEDWay PeopleMover, was a transport attraction that opened on July 2, 1967, in Tomorrowland at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Guests boarded small trains that ran ...
concept was first demonstrated at Disneyland's
Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...
in 1967. The PeopleMover was also installed at the
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...
as the WEDWay PeopleMover in 1975.
Because of these two modes of transportation, residents of EPCOT would not need cars. If a resident owned a car, it would be used "only for weekend pleasure trips." The streets for cars would be kept separate from the main pedestrian areas. The main roads for both cars and supply trucks would travel underneath the city core, eliminating the risk of pedestrian accidents. This was also based on the concept that Walt Disney devised for Disneyland. He did not want his guests to see behind-the-scenes activity, such as supply trucks delivering goods to the city. Like the Magic Kingdom in
Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...
, all supplies are discreetly delivered via tunnels.
The two systems, the monorail and PeopleMover, would come together at the EPCOT Transportation Lobby. The Transportation Lobby would be located at ground level, above the busy automobile/truck roads. From the Lobby, a passenger riding the monorail from the
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...
Park to their home would disembark the monorail and transfer to the appropriate PeopleMover station.
Beyond EPCOT, visitors would arrive at the Airport of Tomorrow, located across from the Main Entrance to EPCOT. The airport would have been connected to the park by a monorail station.
The planned airport would have had a general aviation area with an executive terminal, and another for regional passenger travel with a large terminal building. Plans identified the airport in 1966 but was not present in the revised plans in the later 1970s.
City center
EPCOT's downtown and commercial areas would have been located in the central core of the city, away from the residential areas. The entire downtown would have been completely enclosed, unaffected by the outside elements.
Roy Disney stated that "The pedestrian will be king" in this area, free from the danger of cars and other vehicles.
At the center of the area would be a 30-story Cosmopolitan Hotel and Convention Center. This building was to have been the tallest building in Disney World and could have been seen for miles. The parking lot for hotel guests would have been located underneath the city core, right off of the vehicle throughway.
On the "roof" of the enclosed area would be the recreational area for hotel guests. The pool,
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
courts,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
courts,
shuffleboard
Shuffleboard (more precisely deck shuffleboard, and also known as floor shuffleboard) is a game in which players use cues to push weighted discs, sending them gliding down a narrow court, with the purpose of having them come to rest within a ma ...
, and other activities would have been located here. According to
Imagineer Bob Gurr
Robert Henry "Bob" Gurr (born October 25, 1931 in Los Angeles, California) is an American amusement ride designer and Imagineer. His most famous work was for Walt Disney's Disneyland Park, and its subsequent sister parks. Gurr is said to have de ...
, Walt Disney pointed to one of the benches on the scale model of the area and declared, "This is where Lilly
is wife
In linguistics, a copula (plural: copulas or copulae; abbreviated ) is a word or phrase that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement, such as the word ''is'' in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase ''was not being'' ...
and I will sit when this thing is finished, taking everything in."
Surrounding the hotel, inside the enclosure, would have been "shops and restaurants that reflect the culture and flavor of locations 'round the world." According to the concept art, these areas would be themed to each country, having the look and feel of each of the exotic locales. This concept eventually evolved into the
World Showcase
Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...
area of the
Epcot
Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...
theme park. The PeopleMover track would travel above these downtown shops and streets in a similar fashion as the system did in Disneyland. Preliminary plan indicated that the people who would have worked in these shops would have also lived in the city.
Green belt
Separating the city core from the low-density residential area would be an expanse of grass areas, known to the planners as the "green belt." This is where the city services would be located. Establishments such as parks with playgrounds, community centers, schools, stadiums, and churches would be located here.
Residential areas
On the rim of the city core would have been high-density apartment housing. This is where most of EPCOT's 20,000 citizens would have lived. Not much is discussed about the apartments themselves, although Walt Disney stated that no-one in EPCOT would own their land. There would be no difference between an apartment and a home. All renting rates would be modest and competitive with the surrounding market. Housing would be constructed in such a way as to ensure ease of change, so that new ideas/products could be used. A person returning from a hard day's work could very well come home to a kitchen with brand-new appliances in it.
Beyond the Green Belt was the low-density, single-family house neighborhoods. These areas would have resembled the petals on a flower, with the houses located on the rim of each "petal". Inside the "petal" was a vast green area. The area would have had paths for electric carts, light recreation areas for adults and play areas for children. The PeopleMover station for each area would have also been located in the green area. The resident could simply walk to the station from their home and on to work. As with the apartments, the houses would be built to be easily changed.
Living and employment
As no one living in EPCOT would own their own land or home, residents would have no municipal voting rights (bond issues, etc.). Walt Disney wanted to exercise this control only to be able to change technology in homes easily.
According to the film, all adults living in EPCOT would be employed, thereby preventing the formation of slums and ghettos. There would be no retirees—everyone would have been required to have a job. Residents would have been employed at the
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...
theme park, the city central core shopping areas, the hotel/convention center, the airport, the Welcome Center, or the industrial park. As the film states, "everyone living in EPCOT will have the responsibility to maintain this living blueprint of the future."
General Electric's Progress City model
![Progress City (29420427613)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Progress_City_%2829420427613%29.jpg)
The
Carousel of Progress
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress is a rotating theater audio-animatronic stage show attraction in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida just outside of Orlando, Florida. Created ...
, sponsored by
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...
, was one of four of Walt Disney's pavilions at the
1964-1965 New York World's Fair
The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...
(known as Progressland there). The show consisted of
Audio-Animatronic
Audio-Animatronics (also known as simply Animatronics, and sometimes shortened to AAs) is the registered trademark for a form of robotics animation created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequent ...
"actors" presenting the progress of household technology through the decades. The same "family" was used for each time period. Guests were seated in an outer ring of six theaters that rotated around a fixed, circular stage. The Disneyland version of the Carousel opened in July 1967 and featured a huge, one-eighth scale model called Progress City. It could be viewed on foot or from the
PeopleMover
The PeopleMover, sometimes referred to as the Goodyear PeopleMover and WEDWay PeopleMover, was a transport attraction that opened on July 2, 1967, in Tomorrowland at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Guests boarded small trains that ran ...
attraction in Tomorrowland. The model was constructed after Walt's death but featured the basic elements of the EPCOT plan: city center and hotel, high density apartments, greenbelt, and single family houses.
The model measured 6,900 square feet and included 22,000 trees and shrubs, 4,500 buildings lit from within, 1,400 street lights, a climate-controlled center city, amusement park rides in motion, sports stadiums, an airport, an atomic power plant, underground passageways, single family cul-de-sacs, retail stores, monorails, electric sidewalks, schools, churches, electric trains, electric carts, and PeopleMovers. The city was all-electric. The show's theme song, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," was written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman and reflects Walt's view of progress and American industry.
General Electric and Westinghouse had been in merger discussions with the Disney organization but a deal never came to fruition. EPCOT would be an expensive proposition. In a 1968 print advertisement, General Electric announced that it had "much of the technology needed.... But as futuristic as it sounds, it could be built today." The ad also featured a photograph of Progress City. General Electric was prepared to tackle EPCOT.
Disneyland's Carousel of Progress closed in 1973 and the show was moved to Walt Disney World's
Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The ...
in 1975. A portion of the Progress City architectural model is on display on the
Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover
The PeopleMover is an urban mass transit PeopleMover system attraction in Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida just outside of Orlando, Florida. Designed as an urban mass-transit system of th ...
today, located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom.
EPCOT after Disney
Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966. According to his older brother
Roy O. Disney
Roy Oliver Disney (; June 24, 1893 – December 20, 1971) was an American businessman and co-founder of The Walt Disney Company. He was the older brother of Walt Disney and the father of Roy E. Disney.
Biography Early life
Disney was bor ...
, Walt was still planning EPCOT in the hospital in the days before he died. Walt used the ceiling grid to lay out a scale plot plan in his imagination, each 24" x 24" tile representing one square mile. Florida Governor
Claude R. Kirk Jr. signed Chapter 67-764 into law on May 12, 1967, establishing the
Reedy Creek Improvement District
The Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) is the governing jurisdiction and special taxing district for the land of Walt Disney World Resort. It includes within the outer limits of Orange and Osceola counties in Florida. It acts with the sa ...
. However, Disney directors eventually decided that it was too risky to venture into city planning now that its biggest advocate was gone. Roy persisted and took the reins on the project, coming out of retirement, but he could not convince the board to build EPCOT. The Magic Kingdom project proceeded with construction beginning the same year under the supervision of Roy, and Walt Disney World Resort opened in October 1971 with only the Magic Kingdom and two hotels. Roy insisted it be called Walt Disney World as a tribute to the man who had dreamed it up.
Even though the city was never built, the Resort represents some of the forward-thinking planning that embodied Walt's idea of EPCOT. Because of the formation of the
RCID, Disney could find innovative solutions to the problems of transportation, building construction, supplying electrical power, and waste disposal. Imagineers, including
John Hench
John Hench (June 29, 1908 – February 5, 2004) was an American artist, designer and director at The Walt Disney Company. For 65 years, he helped design and develop various Disney attractions and theme parks.
Early life
Hench was born on June 2 ...
and
Richard Irvine, devised means of waste disposal and sewer transport. The monorail, while mainly an attraction at Disneyland, was utilized as an actual transportation system, taking guests some thirteen miles around the Resort area. The
Contemporary Resort
Disney's Contemporary Resort, originally to be named Tempo Bay Hotel and previously the Contemporary Resort Hotel, is a resort located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Opened on October 1, 1971, the hotel is one of two o ...
opened with the Magic Kingdom as an architectural remnant of EPCOT's modernist aesthetic.
Without Walt Disney's personal leadership, EPCOT's progress was "seriously weakened." In the late 1970s, Disney
CEO Card Walker
Esmond Cardon Walker (January 9, 1916 – November 28, 2005), commonly known as E. Cardon Walker or Card Walker, was an American businessman who served as a top executive at Walt Disney Productions during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. He was born in ...
wanted to revisit the EPCOT idea, but the board was still wary and all agreed that Walt's EPCOT would not work in its initial incarnation; they thought that no one would want to live under a microscope and be watched constantly.
The result of the compromise was the
EPCOT Center
Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...
theme park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
(now simply known as ''EPCOT''), which opened in 1982. While still emulating Walt Disney's ideas, it was not a city, but rather closer to that of a
World's Fair
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
. EPCOT, somewhat true to Walt Disney's vision, revolves around technology and the future in the
Future World area. The
World Showcase
Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...
is an embellished version of the downtown shopping area, albeit without the enclosure.
In the early 1990s, the Walt Disney Company built a community on the Florida property called
Celebration. It is a
planned community
A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
that employs some of the ideas that Walt Disney envisioned, but on a significantly smaller scale. Unlike EPCOT, which was based on
modernism
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
and
futurism, there is no radial design for Celebration. Celebration is designed based on
new urbanism
New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually i ...
, and resembles a small American town, but has all the modern conveniences, without the revolutionary transportation ideas contained in the plans for EPCOT. Similar planned communities, known as
lifestyle center
A lifestyle center (American English), or lifestyle centre (Commonwealth English), is a shopping center or mixed-used commercial development that combines the traditional retail functions of a shopping mall with leisure amenities oriented toward ...
s, are now being built by other planners.
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
is often cited as a real-life EPCOT country.
William Gibson
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...
described Singapore as "
Disneyland with the death penalty
"Disneyland with the Death Penalty" is a 4,500-word article about Singapore written by William Gibson. His first major piece of non-fiction, it was first published as the cover story for ''Wired'' magazine's September/October 1993 issue (1.4).
...
" in an article for ''Wired'' in 1993, due to its high degree of city planning and clean and orderly lifestyle, just as Walt Disney would have wanted his community to be.
References
Further reading
*
* ''Walt Disney and the Promise of Progress City'' - 2014. Text written by Sam Gennaway. Published by Theme Park Press.
* ''Walt Disney and the Quest for Community'' - 2017. Text written by Steve Mannheim. Published by Routledge. .
* ''Florida Film'' - 1966. Film. Script written by Walt Disney with Martin A. Sklar. Available on the "Tomorrowland" volume of the
Walt Disney Treasures
Walt Disney Treasures is a series of two-disc DVD collections of Disney cartoons, television episodes and other material. They cover material from the studio's earliest days to its more recent work. There were nine waves, each containing two ...
DVD series.
* ''Walt Disney's EPCOT Center'' - 1982. Text written by Richard R. Beard. Published by
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery.
The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe. Run by President and CEO Michael ...
* ''Walt: The Man Behind the Myth'' - 2001. Film. Written by Katherine and Richard Greene.
* ''Since the World Began'' - 1996. Book written by Jeff Kurtti. Published by Hyperion.
External links
Walt Disney's original EPCOT projectWalt Disney Family Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow (Concept)
*
Unbuilt Disney attractions
Proposed populated places in the United States
Planned communities in Florida
Walt Disney
Walt Disney World
fr:EPCOT