Dates Date Announced Sun, Oct 1, 1978 Construction Started Tue, May 1, 1979 Soft Opening Tue, Sep 28, 1982 Opening Fri, Oct 1, 1982 Building Descriptions Construction Costs $1,400,000,000 Theme Technology, innovation and internationality Park Size Park Size 541.18 Acres Address 1300 Avenue of the Stars Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830 Latitude 28.37405 Longitude -81.54958 Official Website Click Here Taxes Parcel ID 30-24-28-0000-00-001 Taxable Value $367,635,927.00 Land Value $110,680,500.00 Building Value $243,137,355.00 Taxes Last Paid $5,150,667.56 Taxes Last Paid Date 11/30/2006

Items At Epcot

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Details

EPCOT, which stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, was originally viewed as the Utopian city Walt wanted to design. His fantasy is probably unachievable because of how he wanted to control population. Many of his successors were unsure of how to continue with his view. They were unsure if they should build Walt's last dream and potentially ruin the company. The current theme park was designed with Walt's ideals and inspiration. Even though they were not able to build his Utopian community, they could at least portray the world in the way Walt wished it was. The original model of Epcot can be seen on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority ride near Stitch's Great Escape.

Walt Disney said:

"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's original vision of the model community would have been home to 20,000 residents with the city being in the shape of a circle. Most of the transportation would have been done via the People Movers or Monorails. Car and truck traffic would have been kept underground leaving only pedestrian traffic on the surface. Additionally it would have been totally planned and controlled community. People would rent the homes instead of owning them, there by not allowing for voting opportunities for the city. There would also be no retirees and everyone would have to be employed.

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Planning

Card Walker, then president of Disney, presented the plans on October 1st, 1978 for the theme park. Future World was to showcase the land, sea, energy, imagination, communication, motion and technology. The world showcase was to display the many nations in the world.

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Construction

The construction of the park began in 1979. Like the Magic Kingdom, it was one of largest construction projects in the United States at that time. During the construction, there were over 3,000 designers, 22 construction companies, 500 sub-contractors and over 10,000 workers. Like the Magic Kingdom, there are utilidoors under the park but only under the buildings in Future World. They are mainly under Innovations East and West and are used for stock rooms, break rooms, kitchens, and garbage disposal.

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Opening Day of the Park

On opening day, there were international performing groups representing countries from all over the world. These included countries that were not represented in the world showcase. In the front of the park is a plaque that was place during opening day. It says

"To all who come to this Place of Joy, Hope and Friendship, Welcome. Epcot is inspired by Walt Disney's creative vision. Here, human achievements are celebrated through imagination, wonders of enterprise and concepts of a future that promises new and exciting benefits for all. May Epcot Center entertain, inform and inspire, and above all, may it instill a new sense of belief and pride in man's ability to shape a world that offers hope to people everywhere." - E. Cardon Walker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Walt Disney Productions.

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Dedication Ceremony

Below is the text given on opening day in 1982 during the Grand Opening and Dedication Ceremony:

"Some twenty years ago, long before the opening of Walt Disney World, Walt Disney envisioned a place where the greatest feats of human imagination and invention could be communicated to the benefit of all people. He called his idea 'Epcot' - the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow - for he wanted to present alternatives and possibilities for a better life ahead.

Walt Disney's death on December 15, 1966, was a critical event for the company. His vision of 'a new Disney World' outside Orlando, Florida, especially his concept of Epcot, was so strongly a personal, life-summing statement that many believed the dream might die with Walt. Not so. For in addition to the fantasy empire he had created, he had also built a unique organization...determined to carry out the plan Walt had outlined.... When, in July 1975, Walt Disney Productions announced it was moving forward with plans for Epcot, to some it was a bolt of lightning....

From the beginning, Walt Disney World has been planned, constructed and developed with Epcot concepts in mind. Futuristic designs and technologies have been put into action as a matter of policy - monorail and linear induction power transportation systems, a solar-powered office building, state-of-the-art waste treatment processes, the first all-electronic, fiber-optics telephone system, and much more. Since 1971, Walt Disney World has been host to the world - 130 million people from 100 nations have visited this community.

The planners, designers, engineers, and operators of Walt Disney World are already providing nearly all the public services of a city, from communications and security to waste disposal. Implemented by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the Epcot Building Code, embodying Walt's philosophy for Epcot, is firmly in place as the foundation for future development. What was lacking was a public focus for new ideas and concepts, a 'center' for the communication of new possibilities for the future - directly to the public

To answer this need, we are developing Epcot Center: a permanent World's Fair of imagination, discovery, education and exploration that combines the Disney entertainment and communications skills with the knowledge and predictions for the future of authorities from industry, the academic world, and the professions. Our goal is to inspire the visitors who come here, so they will be turned on to the positive potential of the future and will want to participate in making the choices that shape it. We believe that in a world where cynicism and negativism abound, there is another story, and we have chosen, with forethought and conviction, to tell it, and to be that voice of optimism.

Now we have a way to bring real focus to the import of creative and futuristic processes and the value of friendship among nations. Epcot Center is a permanent World's Fair of imagination, discovery, education, and exploration built with the help of leading American and international industries and with the cooperation of a number of governments."

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Theme Park

Epcot is viewed more as a 'learning' theme park than the other ones. It includes thrill rides but also includes a lot of educational information from its different areas.

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