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When Epcot Center opened in 1982, Disney characters were famously kept out of the new park. There were the big-headed World Showcase dolls and, of course, Dreamfinder, but no Mickey and Minnie. But with its vast, open areas, Epcot Center needed something happening to enliven the sprawling plazas between the pavilions. Someone, apparently, also through that it needed robots. Lots and lots of robots. Continue reading To GYRO And GERO In The Wabe Related Posts...Long have Muppet fans waited with bated breath to see when our furry, demented pals would make a return to theaters and – more importantly – if they could manage to re-harness the anarchic feeling they’d seemingly lost. For several years news about the project has come and gone, with slacker comedian and Muppet fan Jason Segel eventually taking on scripting duties. We’re finally starting to see the end result of all that effort as the film’s November release approaches, and at last we have some real footage – a teaser trailer that was released today. The great news is that it looks really fun and in the right Muppet “spirit” – I only wish that I could have seen this without knowing what it was, so the gag could have really played out as intended. But rejoice! It’s a trailer for a Disney film with nary a single embarrassing moment, “record-scratch” gag, or flatulence hilarity. Perhaps the world did end this last weekend. So enjoy the trailer and remember – everything is funnier with puppets!
Related Posts... 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 including Germany, however, were far more pragmatic. Continue reading Examining Epcot – The Germany Showcase Related Posts...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 way for the Karamelle-Kuche candy store. So with Epcot Center being such a big deal in 1982, and with sponsors having shelled out admirably for a seat at the table, why not advertise a little bit and get some of that Epcot mojo?  No, that's not at all creepy! It’s a bold advertising strategy to include one of the scary World Showcase dolls looming over the doorway of your establishment. Related Posts...
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 attraction was a D- or C-ticket, when their neighbor’s was an E? Disney had to act like everything at EPCOT was an E-ticket and, to be fair, it was indeed a very different park than Disneyland, with a very different mix of attractions. There’s an obvious difference between, say, a Main Street trolley and the Matterhorn, but how do you quantify the difference between Kitchen Kabaret, Horizons, and Impressions de France? When you add into the mix the fact that the sponsors wanted to make sure that as many guests as possible visited their pavilions, and didn’t want people skipping over an attraction because they were out of tickets, it became apparent that EPCOT simply wouldn’t work with the time-honored admissions system. This led to the rise of the Passport – the all-inclusive, full-day admission. For the first time, guests could enter a Disney park and ride every ride as much as they wanted. It was a big change, and so in Spring of 1982 Disney published this article in Disney News to help explain the new policy: Continue reading Tickets, Please… Related Posts... |
 From the Progress City archives comes this collection of 33 tall tales and true from Disney history. Available in paperback, hardback, and ebook formats.  |
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