Relive your Childhood as Epcot Celebrates 35 Years
Disney Parks Blog has announced a preview of the Epcot 35th Anniversary and the 80’s kids out there are shouting, “shut up and take my money!” At first impression, you can’t help but feel the nostalgia of the colors, characters, and designs that marked the 1980’s represented by this new line of merchandise scheduled for release in late September to celebrate the October 1st anniversary festivities.
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The History of EPCOT and Walt’s Dream
Epcot (formerly named EPCOT Center) was the second of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World in Florida, following the Magic Kingdom, and was an unrealized concept of dreamed up by Walt Disney himself. The 300-acre park (twice the size of the Magic Kingdom) opened on October 1, 1982, and is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement and is referred to as a “permanent world’s fair.”
The park’s name, EPCOT*, is an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow and was an unrealized vision for a future community/city of Walt Disney. This original idea was to create a community that would have been home to nearly twenty thousand residents with community buildings, schools, and recreation with a fully-underground transportation network of PeopleMovers and monorails. Walt Disney was not able to obtain funding and permission to start work on his Florida property until he agreed first to build the Magic Kingdom. He died nearly five years before the Magic Kingdom opened.
EPCOT Center: The Opening Celebration
The Opening Celebration aired on CBS on October 23, 1982, the night before the park’s official dedication, and hosted by legendary actor-singer-comic Danny Kaye and a very young and adorable Drew Barrymore.
“To all who come to this place of joy, hope, and friendship, welcome.
Epcot Center is inspired by Walt Disney’s creative genius. Here, human achievements are celebrated through imagination, the 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, October 24, 1982
We’ve Just Begun to Dream: Epcot Anniversary Merchandise
This October, Epcot celebrates its 35th Anniversary and to celebrate, Disney Parks Merchandise has announced a retro-inspired collection of merchandise that will take every early Epcot fan back to their childhood. In an interview with Disney Parks Blog, Eric Caszatt, Creative Manager with Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media Group, explains that the inspiration for the design came from research and a lot of heart, “Many of the artists on my team are long-time Epcot fans,” explained Eric. “We wanted the art to have a distinct vintage feeling, and take its cues from artwork, logos, signage, and in-park graphics found in the early 1980s. We also referenced actual merchandise released during the first few years of operation. Many products then did not incorporate Disney characters into the artwork except for Figment from the Journey Into Imagination attraction. I’m excited to see several products being released this fall can trace their heritage back to those original items.”
The Epcot 35th Anniversary collection has a scheduled release in late September and Walt Disney Company is expected to announce more information about the anniversary celebration around Epcot. Disney Adulting will do our best to report on this information as announcements are available, but we highly encourage you to follow Disney’s official channels and the Disney Parks Blog for the most up-to-date information.
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