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Examining Epcot – The Germany Showcase

Germany, at a distance

When planners at WED Enterprises were selecting the initial lineup of pavilions for Epcot Center’s World Showcase, they knew that Germany would be included. This decision might seem obvious, considering the nation’s prominence on the world stage, as well as its familiarity to American audiences. Disney’s key reasons for […]

Selling EPCOT – Germany and Hummel

Sponsors were critical to the creation of Epcot Center, and some of the very first corporations to sign on for the park were German companies. One of the earliest was Goebel, who sponsored the Glas und Porzellan shop in the Germany pavilion. It remained an Epcot presence until 2010, when the shop closed to make […]

Tickets, Please…

With the arrival of EPCOT Center in 1982, Disney was forced to take a look at its pricing structure. The old ticket-book strategy wouldn’t work for this new park, with its megalithic corporate-sponsored pavilions. With every corporation paying handsomely for a seat at the EPCOT table, how could Disney tell one sponsor that their […]

A Very Special Disney Fever Dream, 1995

There is no way I could adequately prepare you, so just watch.

Why? Seriously, why?

This video was distributed at General Motors dealerships in 1995, to people who came in to test-drive cars. G.M. was, at the time, sponsoring World of Motion at Epcot Center, which was preparing to give way to Test Track. Where […]

Stark Raving Rumors

So, there’s this rumor that seems to be spreading everywhere…

People keep suggesting that Imagineering has a plan to – at last – replace the unfortunate Innoventions exhibit at Disneyland with some sort of attraction modeled on the Stark Expo from last year’s Marvel release Iron Man 2.

Yeah, that’s totally not a thing.

For […]