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Courtesy of John Donaldson come these sketches by Herb Ryman; they are preliminary studies for EPCOT’s Italy pavilion. While they are merely sketches, they do convey a Rymanesque sense of atmosphere and – of course – hint at a cast of interesting characters in the foreground. The landmarks depicted do differ somewhat from [...] One of the mandates during the creation of EPCOT Center was to differentiate its offerings from what could be found in Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. One of the more famous elements of that agenda was the lack of traditional Disney characters in the park; instead of Mickey and friends, EPCOT would showcase [...] When we old people bemoan the need for ambition, scope, and class in Disney’s current efforts, this is what we mean… There’s been a lot of thought lately directed towards the problems facing the Disney theme parks, and how – if possible – they can be resolved. One rather shocking discovery I’ve made, and which I plan on addressing more in the future, is that a tide seems to have turned against Disney on the fan message boards and social media. Fan boards have typically been on the sunny side in the past, happy to accept whatever Disney hands down, but this seems to have changed. Sometimes it seems that folks like myself, who have tended to view the company with a critical eye and were often branded cranks in the past, have become among the least despondent members of fandom. This has taken me by surprise, and I’ve been at a loss to really explain it. As I’ve said, it’s an odd time to be a critic, with the company willing to spend once more but making dubious choices in the theming of these multi-million dollar expansions. Even more baffling is Walt Disney World, my personal area of greatest interest, which seems to rise and fall on a daily basis; depending on which subject you’re addressing – attractions, entertainment, foods, transportation – you can waver between optimistic and despondent on an hourly basis. Big new Fantasyland plans? Yay! Decaying Tomorrowland? Boo! Tasty new burgers at Pecos Bill? Yay! Shortened hours and generic chicken nuggets at Columbia Harbour House? Boo! Classy new Town Square Theater? Yay! The hideous Stitch stage blaring Cotton Eye Joe in Tomorrowland? Boo! It’s hard to keep track. And it’s hard to really chart the progress of the resort when you have snazzy new rockwork going up in Fantasyland but monorails falling apart outside the gates. What is most baffling is that many of us feel that the absolute nadir of the Magic Kingdom is behind us, and the park has seen an overall rise in quality and maintenance over the last few years. While it is far, far from its historical peak, of course, it’s at least better – better than when Under New Management festered in Adventureland, or the Exposition Hall remained empty, or the 20,000 Leagues lagoon sat stagnant and filled with floating garbage. The Magic Kingdom is better off, and the other parks are certainly no worse off than they were five years ago, so why are so many people worried? And why does the future quality of the resort feel like such a dicey proposition? Continue reading Cracking The Code, And A Year In Review One hallmark of Walt Disney World since its very earliest inception is the ambitious master plan; the sweeping, grand vision which is slowly whittled away and watered down once the practicalities of construction and the vagaries of history take their toll. While the construction of the resort in the late 1960s involved a massive amount of terraforming and infrastructure creation, which resulted in miles of newly-dug drainage canals and the dredging of an entire lagoon in front of the Magic Kingdom, there were other major landscaping projects that never came to be. This is apparent as far back as the public’s first glimpse of the Florida Project, with Walt’s “EPCOT film” from 1966. The large map of property, which Walt famously stands in front of during the film, depicts a Bay Lake that has been artificially expanded so that it reaches all the way to where EPCOT Center now stands. Had this plan come to fruition, it could possibly have covered the area now occupied by Fort Wilderness, Port Orleans and Dixie Landings. Over the years, other plans were hatched to enlarge and link the small natural bodies of water on property. At one point, what is now the Sassagoula River was to be widened so as to link a series of recreational areas north of the Lake Buena Vista village; even EPCOT Center’s World Showcase Lagoon was once designed to extend beyond the current row of pavilions into a larger lagoon beyond. So while it’s fascinating, it’s not completely jarring to take a look at early plans for the Disney project…
To find obscure, forgotten zoning details like this:
The “lagoon” labeled here is what is now the Seven Seas Lagoon; you can also see the site of the Polynesian resort hotel. Of the two sites labeled “future hotel site”, the rightmost was once earmarked for the Venetian resort and the square site to the left, where the Grand Floridian resort sits today, was intended for the planned Asian resort. What’s of interest is the area behind the Asian site, labeled as “future lagoon extension.” It’s odd to think that the Seven Seas Lagoon could have theoretically been extended to wrap around the Asian resort, north of what is now the Grand Floridian’s parking lots and covering what is now the site of the Floridian’s convention center. Of course there are many zoning and land-use provisions hidden in the depths of the Reedy Creek Improvement District’s many master plans from years past, and I’ve never seen any suggestion that Disney had seriously considered extending the lagoon. Until now, that is. Continue reading A Model Kingdom, 1968 |
 
Essays about the first forty years of Walt Disney World, including two pieces by yours truly. Available in print and for Kindle. |
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