One of the first attractions to begin construction at EPCOT Center was the Universe of Energy. Exxon had been one of the first sponsors to sign on for Future World, and so the design of the pavilion had been locked fairly quickly. Renderings from 1977 show a concept fairly similar to the building’s final appearance [...]
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Herb Ryman at work on EPCOT Center’s Mexico pavilion Herb Ryman’s work on EPCOT City for Walt Disney ended well before Walt Disney World’s debut in 1971. Ryman departed WED Enterprises that year, and set off on another round of world travels. He returned to the halls of Imagineering in 1976, though, in order to [...] Michael Eisner didn’t get EPCOT. He didn’t understand it, he didn’t like it. He wanted to make it more “exciting.” And so, when he arrived at Walt Disney Productions in 1984, those grand expansion plans for the park were all put away, never to be seen again. Instead, EPCOT would begin to see a series [...] EPCOT Center’s path from concept to execution was, in so many ways, far more tortured than most Disney fans know. Far from a merely difficult transition from Walt’s concept for a futuristic city to a permanent World’s Fair (or, as modern revisionists would have it, a straight shot from Walt’s mind to the park that [...] Then-EPCOT VP Jim MacPhee pours himself some Beverly on October 1st, 2007 The title pretty much says it all. This picture is why MacPhee, who is now Walt Disney World’s Senior Vice President of Operations and Next Generation Experiences (whatever that means), will always be my favorite WDW exec. It also doesn’t hurt that he [...] |
 
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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