D23 Explores EPCOT

EPCOT Central has admittedly been tough on the D23 concept. But it seems that the managers of the Disney fan club are trying to listen to feedback -- undoubtedly, not an easy thing to do given Disney's "brand management" inclination to appeal to the masses, even at the expense of passionate fans.

Today, the Disney D23 website features a look back at the opening of EPCOT Center. While not timed to any specific anniversary or event, and seemingly a bit random in its appearance, the D23 article provides some terrific images from early EPCOT.

No, it's not in-depth and it covers ground virtually ever Disney fan already knows. But it's a start, and digging up David Brinkley's quote about EPCOT's achievement is a nice touch. The more EPCOT Central sees of D23, the more it seems it's worth at least giving the benefit of the doubt. Disney's trying, and that says something.

Check out the article and the D23 website (open to all, not just members) by clicking here. It's nice, certainly, to see Disney officially refer to "EPCOT Center." Fingers crossed, perhaps D23 will give us more insight into the future of EPCOT and rare imagery from its glory days in the coming months.

More Disney Than Disney

MiceAge today features a terrific article that looks at some of the plans Disneyland in Anaheim has in store for the summer season. Featured in this article is a look back at a decades-old advertisement for Disneyland's summer season (the ad is shown here, and you can find more at Miehana's photostream on Flickr).

What's rather disarming about this ad is its absolute lack of any Disney characters or reference to "Disney-style" entertainment. There's no mention of Disneyland being "magical." Check out the stylized caricatures of park guests. Notice anything? No children.

The ad is 50 years old, but represents perhaps more canny, sophisticated marketing than is evident today. Disneyland didn't need "Disney" to sell it. The concept was enough. Disneyland was a special place, filled with wonder and excitement. Dixieland music, pop bands, riverboats, Tahitian fire dancers, a speeding Monorail ... there's something for everyone at Disneyland. And despite the fact that 1959 was the year of Sleeping Beauty and The Shaggy Dog, there's no effort to sell Disneyland based on these entertainments (or any other Disney movie). "Disneyland" was all you needed to know.

What does any of this have to do with EPCOT?

Well, consider how little faith Disney has in the very concept of EPCOT or, it's seeming these days, in the concept of a theme park in general. More than half a century has passed since Disneyland opened, yet today Disney is unable to market its parks on anything other than its "synergized" entertainment creations or the increasingly tired concept of "Disney magic." Yes, we all know it's "magical" for little girls to dress up as a princess and romp around a Disney theme park (less magical, perhaps, for the parent, whose wallet is suddenly hundreds of dollars lighter), but is this really the only way to sell Disney's theme parks?

EPCOT has the distinct advantage -- or, depending on how you look at it, disadvantage -- of being unlike any other Disney park. There never have been any easy, built-in opportunities for Mickey and his animated gang to invade the park, which is why even thematically driven efforts like The Seas With Nemo and Friends still feel, at best, uncomfortable. They're not rooted in storytelling, they're rooted in a marketing mindset that fails to understand one basic concept:

"Disney" doesn't just mean "magic."

As Disney's more-sophisticated-than-they-might-have-seemed marketers from the 1950s knew, Disneyland was about a lot more than flying elephants and seven dwarfs and tuxedo-clad mice. It could be many things to many different people.

It's probably one of the very reasons you (yes, you, whoever you may be) are reading this. At whatever impressionable age you were first exposed to Disney marketing, it didn't pander to you and make you feel that the only way to show your love for Disney was to dress up and have character breakfasts. It appealed to your imagination. It promised you wonders you had never before seen.

That was the simple beauty of EPCOT Center. Many longtime EPCOT enthusiasts were hooked from the moment we were promised a glimpse into our future. It had nothing to do with Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck or wishing upon a star. It had to do with tapping in to our not-so-hidden desire to live outside of ourselves, to imagine a world filled with opportunities and untold ambition. In its inherent promise of something extraordinary and wonderful, it became more Disney than Disney.

In its own way, 50 years ago, Disneyland's simple little newspaper advertisement did the same. By not leaning on "Disney," but rather focusing on the wonderful things the park offered, it was more effective at setting a tone than the entire, multi-million-dollar "What Will You Celebrate" campaign that's underway now around the world. Disneyland could take you to distant places, on exotic adventures ... but was as close as the Santa Ana Freeway at Harbor Boulevard.

Disneyland was unlike any other place imaginable. More than any movie or character or other creation of Uncle Walt or his artists, the park defined "Disney" simply by the enormity of its promise.

The same holds true for EPCOT. As Disney continues to struggle with how to bring more "Disney" to the park, its marketing managers would do well to take a look through the company's own history. The late 1950s and early 1960s were when Disneyland made its indelible mark on America and the entertainment industry. Ads as simple as these little guys were more effective in cementing the concept of Disneyland as "special" than all the pixie dust in the world.

So, why continue to shoehorn Kim Possible and the Three Caballeros and Finding Nemo and (no doubt, in the future) other Pixar and Disney "brands" into EPCOT? Why not focus instead on what sets EPCOT apart, makes it unlike any other place on the planet?

EPCOT once promised the dawn of a new Disney era, not just another place to meet "magical" characters. It's that promise and allure of something impossible to find anywhere else that once set Disneyland apart. Imagine what that mindset could accomplish today.

On the Horizon

When spring comes around, the sun stays out longer, the weather gets warmer and some of us start longing for the simple joys of life -- like EPCOT Center's unforgettable Horizons. If you're one of those unabashed nostalgia nuts, check out this cool site from EPCOT Central reader Shane. It's a great little trip back through time!

Clothes-Minded

Unfortunately, the tumultuous economy and recent cutbacks you've been reading about have hit EPCOT Central, and those issues have caused new blogposts to be published less frequently. Thanks for your patience ... as well as your notes of concern about the frequency of postings.)

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Word has begun filtering out recently -- EPCOT Central has heard this rumor from several different sources -- that a major change is being considered for Epcot's World Showcase.

Instead of cast members in each pavilion wearing costumes that represent historical attire that's associated with each country, Imagineering and Disney Parks & Resorts is mulling over the idea of having all cast members in World Showcase wear a standardized costume.

Sadly, though this post is being published just before the calendar changes to April 1, this does not appear to be an April Fool's joke, but rather a serious attempt to cut costs by easing the burden that the Wardrobe department faces at Epcot.

If the change happens, it's hard to imagine even the most ardent supporter of the "Disney's-just-a-business" view having good things to say about this. Even the Mexican restaurant down the street has "traditional" (perhaps stereotypically so) costumes for its waiters and waitresses. Surely Disney can keep up this effort to add to the character, charm and flavor of World Showcase?

The blandness of the "Disney Parks" name may now be visually represented by bland costumes that eliminate the global flavor and feel of World Showcase. Allegedly, Disney believes that guests don't really care about such things, and that a standardized, modern-dress "costume" would somehow make cast members more relatable.

World Showcase should represent the unique attributes of each nation that is represented there. While an update or design modifcation to the costumes in each country certainly would be welcome, sending the message that everyone in the world dresses like a Gap ad is hardly a creative, innovative or appealing solution. (And as the 1970s rendering of the German pavilion that accompanies this post shows, native costumes have been an integral component of World Showcase from the inception of EPCOT Center.)

Let's hope this rumor remains only a rumor, and that the friendly and appealing cast members throughout World Showcase remain a personable as well as visual representative of their countries' unique culture, traditions and history.

In Response to Anonymous

Typically, EPCOT Central doesn't publicly call out responses to posts, though every single one is read (multiple times, usually) and appreciated. However, this one is worthy of making an exception. In response to EPCOT Central's "Marketing EPCOT" entry, a user who chose to remain "Anonymous" wrote, in part:

"Almost all of your posts write about how to re-brand the park and deal with marketing and management. You never consider the internal structure might be flawed. Unlike a Disneyland style park, Epcot is basically a showcase for corporate America. Its in bed with various sponsors to fund the park's operation costs. No other park has a sponsor for every attraction. ..." (Followed by a great deal of valid complaint and comment on EPCOT's sponsorship structure. The entire response won't be quoted, but you can read it here.)

Further, Anonymous claimed that thh suggestion to "re-structure the park back to its original intent is bad. You make no effort to suggest how Epcot (or EPCOT CENTER, whatever) would be able to compliment the rest of Disney's offerings. Its like putting a book in a stack of video games and letting the public chose their form of entertainment. ... What's even more ridiculous is that you're asking them to re-brand Epcot for a niche audience. With that much land invested into the concept, I doubt they'll be gearing towards a niche anytime soon. ... This is why when the company tries to synergize you get things like Kim Possible and Donald Duck...its the only content they have. The parks are extensions of a brand, not the reverse. How do you expect them to manage an entire theme park around a concept when they can't even develop smaller investments (TV or consumer products franchises) around the education/discover concept?"

It genuinely seems to me worth opening up a discussion among all EPCOT Central readers about the subjects Anonymous raises. Partly, this is because Anonymous raises some arguments that I think are probably shared within The Walt Disney Company and, unfortunately, fail to grasp some of the basic truths about EPCOT Center, Disney's theme-park business and the potential of The Walt Disney Company as a whole to become better. And given that Disney is firing many of its employees, charging fans $75 to receive marketing material, just announced that it is halting Hong Kong expansion, and has lost more than $30 billion in market-cap value in recent years, there's obviously a lot of room for improvement.

Two and a half years ago, EPCOT Central asserted that "as goes EPCOT, so goes Disney," and so far, there's been little evidence to the contrary.

So, first, let's get one important fact out of the way -- indeed, almost every major attraction at Disneyland-style parks have (or have had) corporate sponsors. It's not difficult to find a list. They include AT&T, Energizer, Kodak, FedEx, Mattel, NIPPON Oil, TOMY, Dai-Chi Mutual Life Insurance, Fujifilm, RCA, Esso and many others. These are only the attractions at Disneyland-style parks. From the outset, from the very conception of Disneyland, sponsorship has been a key element.

Of course, many major attractions -- such as The Haunted Mansion, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Indiana Jones Adventure, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and others -- operate without any sponsorship at all. Either sponsorships have lapsed, the rides were conceived to be sponsor-free, or there simply was no sponsor interest. Certainly not every major attraction requires a sponsor, and there's no reason that should not be the case at EPCOT.

EPCOT Center was unlike any other Disney theme park from the start. The reason sponsors were sought was not solely to underwrite costs, but because the unusual "pavilion" concept allowed EPCOT's attractions to thoroughly and completely convey a sponsor's intended message. The sponsor's logo wasn't simply pasted onto the ride; the entire concept was developed with the partner's involvement.

So, quite the opposite than "flawed," the sponsorship opportunities at EPCOT are quite brilliant. The problem is, Disney cannot define the park to potential sponsors, cannot articulate a clear vision, and have difficulty helping sponsors understand why such an "old-fashioned" concept is still relevant. In this area, Disney clearly needs some help. When companies are spending literally billions of dollars on acquisitions, brand extensions and new businesses, there should still be money for something that captures tens of millions of people as singularly as a trip to a Disney theme park.

But today's Disney is not like yesterday's. While market cap and overall value have declined precipitously, Disney has the money, the ability and the power to operate its own theme park, even without sponsor money. It can, it just won't, and the question of "why" is indeed a curious one. Why wouldn't Disney want to encourage its own vision of the future, to lay out its own story of what we can be in our Future World, to present its own vision of our peoples in World Showcase? Well, in part, it does appear to want this -- as long as that vision includes Pixar characters, Disney characters or synergistic opportunities.

Disney's "vision" these days doesn't see far beyond its balance sheet, which is too bad -- because when you consider the remarkable opportunity it has created for itself, it's almost scary. Tens of millions of people are in Disney's thrall every year, and yet it does not try to espouse a particular set of views or philosophies. It's a big like a comic-book super-villain bent on "dominating the world" instead being content to sell toys and candy to everyone. Yes, I'm implying here that Disney could use its unprecedented opportunity to spout propaganda for nefarious purposes ... it could also use that opporutnity for remarkably good purposes, employing (as it once did) some of the greatest scientific and philosophical minds to create a vision of a possible future.

But really all it wants to do is sell more toys and candy. Oh, and lots and lots of t-shirts.

That's a major opportunity wasted, if you ask me.

In fact, EPCOT Center (or lower-case Epcot) should indeed"compliment (sic) the rest of Disney's offerings." But I think you were trying to imply that they should all be more alike than different -- an assertion I couldn't disagree with more. That's no more true than saying Disney should make only one kind of movie, only one kind of TV show, produce only one type of toy, publish only one type of book. Just as you would not want every house in your city to look exactly the same, or every piece of furniture in your house to strictly adhere to the same design ... just as you would not want every child in the world to think alike ... or every painting by Van Gogh to look alike ... or every piece of music by Mozart to sound alike ... every Disney theme park should "compliment" (actually, that's complement) each other, not mirror each other.

They should exist harmoniously together. They should each offer an experience that is unique and exciting and entertaining. Totally different, totally unlike the other, yet also making up a wonderful whole.

In fact, you're right, Anonymous: It's exactly like letting the public choose "their own form of entertainment." It's why we have hundreds of TV channels, hundreds of movies released annually, why the shelves of Target or Wal-Mart or Blockbuster are filled with thousands upon thousands of movies. Each one of us likes something different ... and in sum, we can say we share a common love "of movies" or "of reading" or "of Disney," even if our individual definition is different. Unfortunately, Disney, like you, would have it mean only the same thing, narrowly defined, denying itself the one thing that Walt Disney used to encourage us all to believe in: possibility.

Why Disney can't recapture that, why it has become a concept so narrowly defined that it can't sustain EPCOT, why it can't see Spaceship Earth as much more than "a giant golf ball," well ... that is the real disappointment.

As a longtime fan, as a lifelong shareholder, and as a steadfast believer in the things Walt Disney spent his life trying to get us to believe, it is saddening. This quote has been used before, and it will be used again no doubt -- the comment Eric Sevareid made on the night Walt Disney died: "The century hardly deserved him."

Marketing EPCOT

Determining your audience is one of the most important tasks a marketer can perform. It's important to have a thorough understanding of who likes your product, who might like your product, and who just absolutely never will like your product, no matter what you do. It's also increasingly important to find out if you have "brand ambassadors," people who love your product so much, they'd go out of their way to promote it.

So, it's hard to be convinced that, despite its formidable marketing army (which, if rumor holds, will be trimmed significantly sometime early this week), Disney really does understand EPCOT.

There's no doubt Disney understands the concept of a theme park. It definitely gets the idea of a Disney theme park ... so much so, that its most innovative (if that's the right word) development in the past five years has been rebranding all Disney theme parks under the generic "Disney Parks" moniker. Live in Tokyo? You're living near a "Disney Park." Live in the Western U.S.? You live near a "Disney Park." Visiting Paris? You can go to a "Disney Park."

Perhaps, following this logic, a consortium of marketers representing fine art museums could establish a marketing campaign that rebrands every museum, from the Whitney to the Guggenheim to the Smithsonian, as "Art Museums -- Where Fine Art Lives." The "Disney Parks" concept seems that ludicruous ... yet it has stuck.

The Magic Kingdom-style parks are easy. Disneyland, The Magic Kingdom in Florida, Tokyo Disneyland and Euro Disneyland all fit a clearly identifiable mold of what a "Disney Park" should be -- there's a castle, there are cute and cuddly characters, there are rides and attractions for the family, parades and "pixie dust."

But a quarter century ago, Disney made a clear step away from that basic mold. With EPCOT Center, Disney-MGM Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure and (to a much lesser extent, the awful Walt Disney Studios in Paris, Disney expanded the concept of what a Disney theme park could be. Now it wants to go back on its word.

The problem with that is, in differentiating its parks, Disney understood (through research and hard work) that different members of the family, different types of tourists, different kinds of Disney fans, different age groups ... they all wanted different things. Some wanted thrills. Some wanted "magic." Some wanted to learn. Some wanted to explore. Some wanted visceral excitement. Some wanted active discovery. There was no one "prototypical" Disney theme park guest, so it stood to reason there should be no one "prototypical" Disney park.

Which gets us to EPCOT. It was the first expansion of the Disney theme park concept, opening a year before Tokyo Disneyland, and by far the most unusual. EPCOT Center deliberately sought to be the "anti-Magic Kingdom." From its design to its theme, there was nothing overtly "Disney" about it, except the Disney name. EPCOT was intended to be a brand unto itself, to establish its own meaning and own set of principles.

Opened just as a huge revolution in technology was set to change the world as we knew it, EPCOT presaged these changes and promised that they would lead to an explosion of prosperity for all the peoples of the world. EPCOT gambled that guests would welcome the chance to have a different part of their mind stimulated, to find excitement not in 999 happy haunts or sailing over London, but in the boundless opportunity presented by our own creations.

So, Disney (at least for a time) knew exactly what EPCOT was ... but from the beginning to today, you have to wonder: Did they know who it was for?

EPCOT is not for a family of six who wants to spend their time being passively entertained. EPCOT is not for small children who want desperately to dine with a princess or pirate. EPCOT is not for people who find the news and documentaries boring and pointless. EPCOT is not for guests who feel education is meaningless. There are many people EPCOT most decidedly is not for, and on those guests EPCOT Central passes absolutely no judgment. Many people can spend three days at the Magic Kingdom and feel entirely fulfilled. They can make a side trip to Disney's Hollywood Studios and ride some thrill rides and see some shows and never really come face to face with "reality." Even Disney's Animal Kingdom presents the kinds of experiences that most of us (not "them," but, frankly, most of us -- all of us) will never see: African savannahs and Asian jungles feel as exotic and fantastic as a splash down a cartoon mountain.

So, who is EPCOT for?

EPCOT is for the many millions of people who want to discover something new on vacation. The same people who are targeted for "Adventures by Disney" (real-world excursions around our actual planet) are the families and guests who are ideal EPCOT guests. Kids who love science, the arts and social studies. Adults who like learning and exploring.

There are many, many different target groups that are the ideal EPCOT consumer.

Trouble is, Disney seems to have stopped breaking down its demographic outreach in those ways. EPCOT is now just part of Walt Disney World, which in turn is part of "Disney Parks," and as such, it must conform. There is no room for it to be unique or challenging.

Soon, I hope and believe, Disney will come to realize that its greatest asset, what truly sets it apart from any competitor, is the variety of its parks. Each one is truly different from the other. The more they become the same, the less reason there is to bother visiting multiple parks. If you've had a Nemo experience at Animal Kingdom, do you really need it at EPCOT? If you've dined with the princesses at the Magic Kingdom, is it a necessity to do it in World Showcase?

Maybe for some. Not for others. And those others are where Disney's growth opportunity lies.

In this down economy, Disney has to start looking at ways to really make itself different and distinct. The "sameness" of its theme parks just is not going to be able to sustain. They've been turned into commodities, not concepts.

As that begins to happen -- and I have to believe that with the scrutiny being given to all areas of The Walt Disney Company and corporate America that it will soon -- Disney will have that "a-ha" moment ... "We have different parks, not just multiple variations on essentially the same thing! Wow! And each one has a different audience. Big audiences!"

The media environment has become increasingly fractured, increasingly compartmentalized -- it's easier than ever (though more time consuming) to reach specific target groups, to craft messages unique to them, that will appeal to a specific niche audience, such as those millions who would be completely "turned on" by the concept, ideas and philosophies of a revamped, updated, reinvigorated EPCOT.

As Disney attempts to get smarter about its marketing efforts, hopefully they'll come to this realization: They've been sitting on a gold mine, they just have to find the key.

The Epcot-city of Hope

Yes, it's a play on words, using the title of President Obama's book. But it's also what many Disney fans wish EPCOT Center had become -- that shining city in Central Florida with a massive spire at its heart, streets and businesses radiating outward from it in circular fashion.

There's a reason the notion of an EPCOT city has persisted for more than four decades. Though situated in the flatlands of Florida, as soon as it was introduced by Walt Disney himself, a few weeks before his death, it became the proverbial city upon a hill, with the eyes of all people watching.

EPCOT the city represented hope, an assurance that the ills of the civil-rights struggle, of violence and war, of poverty and disease could be put past us. Walt Disney, who just 38 years earlier was a struggling, near-destitute cartoonist, was the man who could make it so. If he could make us believe in our childhood dreams, allow us to experience adventure and fantasy ourselves, take us to the bottom of the ocean and bring life to a magical nanny, if he could make us forget our troubles on screen, he above others could make us forget them in real life, too.

When he introduced the concept of EPCOT as a city, Walt Disney promised hope.

He assured us that the turmoil that surrounded us on a daily basis could become distant memories if we applied enough innovation, creativity, dedication and vision.

When he died, the plans for the city mostly died with him ... but, Alexander Pope told us in the 18th century, hope springs eternal.

Hope for a better future. Hope for understanding and prosperity.

In 1982, we saw that the grand ambition may have died, but the hope it represented was still alive. EPCOT Center was not Walt Disney's promised land, but it embodied many of its ideals. It offered a glimpse into a future world in which we could actually solve our problems -- and gave us the seeds to take home and plant that could grow, one by one, into solutions. It presented a view of a world in which Mexico and Norway sat next to China, in which Italy and Japan, our enemy 40 years earlier, flanked the United States. The world, EPCOT Center promised, could live in harmony.

We are once again facing a time of uncertainty, unhappiness, fear and disillusionment. But where is the hope? Today's Epcot tells us that while there are things to discover, mostly life is about entertainment and thrills. Sit back, relax, enjoy the ride, forget about the real world, forget about your troubles, just have fun.

EPCOT the city and EPCOT Center the theme park reminded us that the future is in our hands. The only thing Epcot leaves in our hands is a Fastpass and an airsickness bag.

We need hope. We need Disney's incredible creative minds to show us again that the eternal flame of possibility hasn't died, no matter how meekly it may be flickering.

I'm No Fool, No Sirree!

Note: See March 10 update on this post, below.

Only rarely does EPCOT Central comment on non-EPCOT-related Disney news, but in this case, the detour feels warranted.

Tomorrow (Tuesday, March 10), The Walt Disney Company will hold its annual shareholder's meeting not in Anaheim, not in Orlando, not in New York, but in beautiful, downtown ... Oakland. At least it's not quite as bizarre a location as Philadelphia or Milwaukee, where the company has run to in years past to avoid confrontations with angry stockholders. This year's meeting is in close proximity to Pixar Animation Studios, though given that Disney's market cap has shrunk by more than $30 billion in recent months, it is worth wondering if Disney maybe should have stayed a little farther afield to avoid shareholder ire.

But more to the point, one of the worst kept secrets among Disney enthusiasts is the planned announcement on Tuesday of "D23," a new magazine-slash-fan-club that seeks to engage older, longtime Disney lovers.

So, eight years into the 21st century, Disney has finally acknowledged that we exist. And now the company wants more of our money.

It wasn't all that long ago that Disney operated a free fan club and fan magazine -- The Magic Kingdom Club and its Disney News. There were better, more polished magazines out there, but I can't be alone when I say that I can pull an issue of Disney News from the 1980s off of the shelf and pore through every article once again. (It's also fun to see the old theme-park admission prices.) In the 1990s, Disney dismantled MKC and Disney News, and instead offered a pay-for-play version of the "discount club." But that wasn't good enough, and ultimately that concept was done away with in favor of an "affinity" credit card -- buy enough Disney stuff, and you could get a free Disney theme park ticket ... assuming you were willing to spend the literally tens of thousands of dollars needed for that perk.

Disney also used to operate a modestly scaled collector's event called the Disneyana Convention. Typically held at Walt Disney World, the Disneyana event offered all sorts of great opportunities to meet and interact with Disney actors, writers, directors, voices, animators and other celebrities. The price was steep, but Disneyana was clearly intended for those who were serious about their love of Disney.

But now that's gone, too.

For the most part, Disney has turned its back on serious Disney enthusiasts. Insisting that Disney is a company that makes childrens' dreams come true (just look at the cover of this year's Annual Report), it has become a company for children, not for the child in all of us. One by one, many of the special touches that Disney theme parks offered to more "mature" fans have fallen away -- one need only look at the Golden Horseshoe Review at Disneyland, or the barely operational Carousel of Progress, or Horizons at EPCOT, to name but a few. In their place have cropped up new, "synergistic" opportunities to relentlessly and shamelessly plug new Disney movies and TV shows.

Now comes D23.

Rarely, if ever, has a marketing ploy felt so crass, so manipulative, so aimed directly at the wallet.

For $16, you can buy a glossy magazine that retells stories most Disney fans have heard many times over.

For even more money, you can join a membership club that nets a couple of nifty lapel pins.

And for even more money, that membership will get you a few bucks off of a multi-day Disney convention to be held in Anaheim in September.

No doubt, there will be many fans who won't view this through cynical, wary eyes. But D23 isn't really about honoring Disney fans -- it's about getting more money from cash-strapped fans in the midst of an economic downturn the likes of which haven't been seen since "The Three Little Pigs" first came to theaters.

D23 claims to preserve Walt Disney's legacy while the company continues to trash it.

There are many fans who complain that EPCOT Center failed to honor Walt Disney's greatest dream because it turned the idea of a full-fledged city into a theme park. EPCOT Central would like to suggest this:

The Walt Disney Company fails to honor the man who created it every time it turns its tin ear to the wind, pretends to listen to the voices of its "fans," and then offers another cash-grab marketing ploy in response. (Have you ever been to one of those "collector's" events at the theme parks, the ones that charge big bucks for the, erm, privilege of buying a high-priced item?)

Rather than preserving the Disney Legacy for a few fans wealthy enough to fork over the several hundred bucks it'll cost them for the full "benefits" of D23 membership, why not instead revitalize Disneyland to more closely reflect Walt Disney's ideals? Instead of creating a fan club for "serious" Disney fans, why not study the business philosophies and vision of the man who founded The Walt Disney Company and turn to his extraordinary success for inspiration?

For some reason, The Walt Disney Company is about to put a lot of effort into D23, a program that by its very nature excludes fans who can't afford membership, or those who don't (in these very difficult economic times) have $16 to spend on a magazine. Disney used to be about providing entertainment for everyone -- not slicing it up in ways that excluded others.

For those who regard D23 as a boon, here's hoping it is indeed a success -- and that there are enough passionate fans left, after being ignored for the better part of the past decade, to warrant a three-day Disney convention, one whose sheer size reportedly is intended to rival Comic-Con's. For those of us who aren't gonna be suckered by this shameless attempt to wring more money out of our wallets, after watching The Walt Disney Company neglect Walt's legacy for years, here's a little tune to consider:

I'm no fool,

No sirree,

I'm not gonna join

That D23!

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3/10/09 Update:

There has been noticeably little mainstream news coverage of the D23 "announcement," but USA Today's pop-culture blog did pick up on the news ... and not in a way that was laudatory toward Disney. The headline: 'Disney reaches out to the nerds.'

Apparently Disney fans don't even warrant the more affectionate "geeks" anymore. The article also points out that "unfortunately" the membership price is steep. Here's the full article, which is not exactly how you want something like this launched in the media.

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EPCOT Center Was Boring

"But," the oft-heard argument goes, "EPCOT Center was boring. No one liked it."

Sorry, EPCOT Central isn't buying it.

Say the EPCOT had to change, and you're on to something. Say that EPCOT grew stale and didn't reflect the rapidly changing times, and it's a fair assessment. Say that EPCOT paid the price for not explaining itself to guests, and the argument holds water.

But, folks, EPCOT Center was not boring.

In 1993, film critic Roger Ebert (who used to work for Disney) wrote a review of the richly emotional The Remains of the Day, which he compares with the simliarly thoughtful The Age of Innocence. His review concludes: "I got some letters from readers who complained the movie was boring, that 'nothing happens in it.' To which I was tempted to reply: If you had understood what happened in it, it would not have been boring."

So it was for EPCOT Center, a theme park that from inception was designed to be unlike any other, and suffered the consequences for its one-of-a-kind ambition.

EPCOT Center, as it was conceived in the years after Walt Disney died, was a hard-to-define combination of world's fair and theme park, where guests could learn about the world around them -- both how it worked and who made it work. Its two distinct areas, Future World and World Showcase, may have seemed quite separate, but shared a common theme: We are all in this together.

Politics and economic philosophies were cast aside, and with good reason. Because at its core, EPCOT Center sent a message that whether we believed in progress at the hands of major corporations, or whether we believed that individuals shaped our destiny, the world was ours to make of it whatever we could dream.

This was a brazen concept. It conformed to no pre-existing "rule" about theme-park design. There was no "hub-and-spoke" concept to lure guests into the park. Visually, much of EPCOT Center couldn't be seen from any given location. Simple "rides" were transformed into lengthy experiences. Each of these experiences hewed to the theme. It wasn't enough to create a fun attraction; the central concept of our future world or our shared global culture had to be reflected.

Where EPCOT Center went wrong was less in the execution -- though that was no doubt hampered by the economic realities of spending $1 billion in the late 1970s and early 1980s, money that Walt Disney Productions simply didn't have -- than in the communication of the message.

What was EPCOT Center? It was almost impossible for guests not to know that it existed; they just didn't know what it was, and once they got there, those who hadn't sought out the explanation for themselves were left not knowing what to make of it. Two miles away, The Magic Kingdom was filled with fun and frivolity. Around the Walt Disney World "Vacation Kingdom," simple pleasures like golfing, tennis, water skiing and horseback riding beckoned. They didn't need explanation. EPCOT Center did.

One of the most frequently maligned attractions of EPCOT's early days was the Universe of Energy, sponsored by a Exxon -- a company that, even in the oil-crazy days of the 1970s, was hardly a bastion of trust and integrity. Exxon had an agenda, and the Universe of Energy proved a perfect platform from which to extol the virtues of petroleum-based energy products. With the leaden, stentorian tones of a dull college professor, the attraction insisted that oil and gasoline would lead the way. Considering the times, and particularly what followed EPCOT Center's opening, the attraction was tone deaf and, yes, dull.

But was it boring? Not to anyone who disagreed with its view. Not to anyone who looked beyond the surface to explore the ideas and concepts that were buried just under the surface. If the Universe of Energy wasn't exactly inspirational, it wasn't boring. Even in its deceptive simplicity, it was unusually complex in its ambitions.

No, neither the Universe of Energy (used here as just one example) or EPCOT Center could be defined as "boring." Challenging, perhaps. Ambitious and not entirely successful, without doubt.

The problems with EPCOT Center, looking back, came not from execution, but from expectation. Guests expected to find the prototypical, happy, silly, tune-filled Disney merriment, but came away confused. Confusion is never good for a brand-conscious company like Disney, so over the years, Disney marketeers sought to decrease the confusion.

"Epcot" became a "discovery park" for a while, and today has no real definition. It's just another "Disney park," one that can't be defined as "the Hollywod park," or "the animal park" or "a place where fairytale dreams come true."

EPCOT Center has never lived down its early reputation as being boring. But it didn't earn that reputation. More accurately, Disney never tried to combat that label. Instead of developing a team of marketers, publicists, brand managers and operations staff who could further define and understand EPCOT, Disney gave up on it. Now, it's a dumping ground for anything that doesn't quite fit anywhere else. It's a hodgepodge of ideas, one that seems somehow easier to define for its lack of a consistent theme than it ever was when it knew what it wanted to be.

EPCOT Center was never like any other place. It might be true that few 11-year-olds were blown away by the place, found it to be exciting and captivating. But as one reader recently observed, when he first visited the park, he found it boring. Today, he can't get enough but his family finds it dull.

As a high-school teacher used to say to our class, "Only boring people are bored." For those of us who went in knowing what to expect, who were willing to open our minds to the ideas presented (even if they were rudimentary), who wanted something more than passive entertainment, EPCOT Center was hardly boring, and could have grown and changed into something even more spectacular, even more ambitious ... not just a dumping ground for cute cartoon mascots and high-tech thrills.

Had EPCOT Center truly been boring, this blog wouldn't see thousands and thousands of readers every month. It would have been forgotten. As flawed as it may have been, EPCOT Center stirred the imaginations of a great many who visited it. Only time will tell, but it's hard to imagine the same thing happening with the lower-case Epcot. It just seems like a big waste of a great idea.

Our Future, Epcot's Future

Your vehicle is resuming its journey. Thank you for your patience!

EPCOT Central apologizes for the delay.

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Last week, when speaking to Congress, President Barack Obama once again (for this EPCOT-loving listener, anyway) evoked thoughts about what went wrong with Disney's most ambitious theme park ... and about why there is no better time than now to get back to the business of making it work properly again.

EPCOT Center had an ambition unlike any theme park before or since. Its goal wasn't simply to entertain, it was also to inform and inspire. Guests to EPCOT Center were expected to be active, not passive, participants in the experiences.

It was an ambitious goal, and because it was so unlike anything else, Disney ultimately lost sight of it. It's no easy thing to try to "monetize" the desire to "inform and inspire." Entertaining people is much easier.

But here we are, a quarter of a century later, facing challenges unlike any that most living Americans have ever experienced. The outlook is dire, there is no doubt. Will we be able to meet the remarkable demands placed on us in the next three, five, ten, twenty years? At times like these, people need to be inspired.

EPCOT Center may not have done everything perfectly, but inspiration is indeed what it tried to impart. It was a theme park, to be sure, but it also sought to have its guests leave feeling edified, feeling eager to learn more about what they had experienced. For a while, a short while, Disney even tried to encourage EPCOT's ideals outside of the theme park, by operating a teacher's center within the park, by producing educational materials and by producing a magazine.

Today's Epcot, alas, is a place to have a good time and spend some money, not a place to learn. It's a place to talk with Crush the Turtle and drink your way around the world. Few guests likely come away from Epcot eager to launch their own explorations of the seas, transportation, space, energy or international culture. Epcot is about diversion, not inspiration.

Still, some 11 million people a year visit Epcot, the majority of them Americans. A healthy percentage of them are of a very impressionable age. What they learn and experience at Epcot could change their lives, could inspire them to forge a different path, and to influence their friends and peers.

But Epcot is wasting these opportunities -- either through sheer neglect (as in the Universe of Energy), through a misguided notion that vacationing guests just want simple thrills (as at Test Track), or through a lack of understanding of enormous potential (as with the park's overall theme).

As our President lately has been telling us, we are now paying the price, as a nation and as individuals, for years of choosing expediency and immediate gratification over long-term dedication and principle. Similarly, Disney is paying this price with Epcot. Now is the time for change.

The Walt Disney Company has a fantastic opportunity to begin rebuilding EPCOT Center to its former glory, making it more meaningful, more relevant and more influential than ever before. That doesn't mean tearing down what is there and returning the park to its 1982 guise. It means focusing on the core values of EPCOT Center, recognizing that Disney has the opportunity to create a theme park that actually reflects the world around us, a world on which it can have genuine impact.

The next four years (and beyond) are filled with challenges, but last week, Obama started drawing the map to a destination that promises to be better than where we are now. He reminded us that we are all passengers on Spaceship Earth, that we're setting forth on a grand American Adventure, and that the actions we take today and in the months ahead will shape our Future World.

Its original promise of being an always-changing, ever-growing place might have seen EPCOT rather immediately reflect our current environment. Instead, it is stuck in carefree, "fun" mode. Still ...

With care and effort, EPCOT could be one of the most extraordinary destinations Disney has ever created. It could constantly change to make us more aware of our world while never being staid or overbearing. It could be an EPCOT for these times, as well as for all times.

But Disney would need to put aside "immediate gratification" projects like more Disney Vacation Club resorts and new Pixar-based attractions ... to turn its back on short-term gain in favor of long-term vision.

The world is struggling to believe in a message of change and hope, to believe in a better future. It's hard not to remember, as the President speaks, about what EPCOT was meant to be, what it almost became. EPCOT Center was conceived in an era of turmoil and change. Perhaps an era of turmoil and change can once again have an impact. If EPCOT is at all important to The Walt Disney Company, there's no better time than now to prove it.

Attention Travelers!

Your time machine has come to a stop. EPCOT Central is working on this temporary situation and will resume its journey shortly.

Back to the Future, Part III

There are a lot of great EPCOT montages on YouTube, but this one is particularly nice. Hope you enjoy!

Back to the Future, Part II

This fantastic in-room information video from 1987 really brings back memories! No "giant golf ball" here, but rather EPCOT Center is described as "a celebration of man and his imagination on a scale never before dreamed of." The EPCOT Center fun begins at about 2:34 into this video. Enjoy!

Back to the Future

Though EPCOT Central listed it as the top worst thing about the original incarnation of EPCOT Center, it's nonetheless a kick to check out this short video of Communicore and EPCOT from the 1980s. Enjoy!

A Letter to Bob Iger and John Lasseter

Dear Mr. Iger and Mr. Lasseter,

It is very clear that The Walt Disney Company has bigger problems at the moment than the creative direction of a 26-year-old theme park, particularly one that has always been difficult for your company to understand. You have to be concerned about the softening ad market, the declining ratings for ABC, the strong competition facing Disney Channel, the impact that the economy is having on retail sales of your consumer products, the details of your contract to build a new theme park in China, and the enormous hassle of rebuilding a flawed theme park from the ground up.

Yes, the problems of EPCOT pale in comparison. And the last-place finish of your studio in 2008, along with the public rejection of Disney-produced animated features, haven't even been mentioned. So, yes, you have your hands full. Good luck with all that.

But here's the thing: EPCOT really is more than just another one of your Disney Parks. In the lineup of parks around the world, it is unique. It stands for something, or at least it did. And that something is much more than "Walt Disney's final dream."

You see, Walt Disney ran a company that was itself quite complex. Back in those days, he had a fully operating studio to be concerned about, his own distribution company, animated features to produce, two weekly television series, a theme park, a merchandising operation, and a full-fledged R&D group called WED Enterprises. He was also, arguably, the most well-known and beloved public figure of his time.

The company you run was built from scratch by him -- by this man. He wasn't a "concept," he wasn't a "brand." He was one of the 20th century's most optimistic visionaries, and within a space of forty years, he moved from struggling to get cartoon shorts made and distributed to concerning himself with nothing less than the fate of humanity.

That seems to have been forgotten these days, though I think, Mr. Lasseter, you have spoken about it quite eloquently in the past. Walt Disney was an actual person, and he carefully crafted an entertainment empire out of nothing.

Today, you manage that empire, and you've been trying to make it grow. But in so doing, you seem to have lost sight of some of the very ideals and ideas that made it grow in the first place. Interestingly, and despite all that came out of their tenure, Michael Eisner and Frank Wells really did seem to understand that. When they "grew" The Walt Disney Company, they did so by focusing sharply on its core operations, by encouraging creativity within the scope of the things Disney already did well. As we all know, that came unraveled in 1995 when Disney purchased Capital Cities/ABC Inc. and became distracted. There was too much to do in too little time.

The predecessor of Eisner and Wells, Ron Miller, isn't often given credit for what he did right, and there were a great many things. He recognized that Disney needed to make different kinds of movies, but still focused on the concept of strong storytelling, so he created Touchstone Pictures, which is now gone. He knew the Disney brand had potential outside of the United States, so he oversaw the development of Tokyo Disneyland. He knew Disney could capture some of the market in the growing cable and home-video businesses. When he left, Disney was well-poised for growth, and under Eisner and Wells it grew at an astonishing rate.

But at the heart of everything was always the idea that Disney understood what "Disney" meant. It wasn't about being a company focused on pleasing kids and tweens. It wasn't a company that could compete on a lot of fronts. So, it would ignore those and focus on what it did well.

It was around this time, though, that Walt Disney's grand passion for building a better tomorrow was sacrificed. And EPCOT has been a major casualty.

So, now that EPCOT Central's slightly skewed (admittedly) version of Disney history is out of the way, let's focus for a moment on EPCOT itself.

EPCOT was, for several years, the culmination of all Disney had learned -- in theme-park development, in R&D, in filmmaking, in guest services, in merchandising, in employee management. Set aside (which is a tough thing to do) that it never really fulfilled Walt Disney's vision of a city of the future -- once he died, it was unlikely anyone could carry his torch for that massive a dream. Let's focus on what EPCOT actually did do.

EPCOT provided something wholly different. By virtue of being within Walt Disney World, it was, in fact, the most "Disney" of creations. But it didn't need to wear this on its sleeve. Even once Mickey and gang were introduced to EPCOT, it remained unlike anything else on earth.

Without making a show of it, EPCOT encapsulated the very definition of "Disney" -- dreams, hope, ambition and progress. And let's not forget this one simple fact: It was successful.

The original incarnation of EPCOT Center has a reputation of having failed ... but it didn't. It followed a very predictable, very normal pattern in its first couple of years: Great attendance in the first year, followed by a decline, which leveled off. Anyone with a few hours and some key data would have seen that EPCOT's attendance declines in 1983 and 1984, fueled in part by difficulty in the overall economy, are the same declines that Disney and other theme parks have traditionally seen.

Where EPCOT failed, though, was that it never changed. It remained static, and was not representative of the world it tried to present. Quickly, people grew tired of it -- why visit a park with such complex, intricate attractions if those attractions never changed? Once life began to change so rapidly, with the ubiquity of personal computers, VHS players, etc., EPCOT seemed to show us a past vision of the future ... not a new one.

And here's the rub: If EPCOT represented the ideals of Walt Disney and the company he founded, once it grew stale, so did Disney. Sure, there were several years of excitement, of explosive growth at Walt Disney World, and EPCOT did reflect that, by opening new attractions, new pavilions, new rides that could distract guests from the ones that didn't change.

But EPCOT was founded on the ideal of constant change. Of reinvention. Of new possibility. Not of "more of the same."

And in the past decade or so, Disney has been exactly that -- more of the same. Where is the excitement? Where is the sense of opportunity? Where is the feeling that the goal isn't simply to grow revenue, it's to constantly innovate as a way to grow revenue?

So, you see, when EPCOT grows stale, so does Disney. Possibly it's the other way around, but I don't think so. Too many hopes, dreams and promises were built into EPCOT, so it's something of a bellwether.

Today's EPCOT reflects what Disney has become: Obsessed with self-promotion, with simple entertainment, with shoving the "brand" into our faces, with capturing the tween market, with appealing to everyone. What did your mother tell you when you were growing up? If you try to please everyone, you'll please no one.

There is much to admire in EPCOT, but most of that comes in the form of reminders of the park that once was, of the extraordinary ambition it represented.

As a longtime shareholder, I'd love to see my stock realize a significant return on my investment. It's been languishing for years.

If you want to know why, don't look at the happy worlds of your now-ubiquitous Magic Kingdoms. Look at the park that is most unlike any of the others. Look at the park that represented the imagination and ideals of Walt Disney and thousands of people who shared his dream. Look at the park that used to point to our future.

EPCOT is Disney. Disney is EPCOT.

It will be interesting to see what the future has in store for both.

Yours truly,

EPCOT Central

A Quick Word to the Wise

To the marketing gurus behind the new Walt Disney World website: Spaceship Earth is many things, including an architectural icon, an engineering work of wonder and a symbol of hope and progress. But calling it a "giant golf ball" is demeaning and insulting. Sadly, it's also not surprising.

The Best and Worst of Epcot -- Number 1

There are literally hundreds of "best" things about EPCOT, from the Fountain of Nations ... to the music that plays throughout Future World ... from the music-filled dinner at Biergarten ... to the "undiscovered" back alleys and side paths in the Morocco and United Kingdom pavilions.

Likewise, there are, unfortunately, a large number of things that aren't just worthy of improvement, but are downright lousy. That creaky wooden stage area at the Fountain of Nations ... the Beverly soda at Club Cool (though this falls into the category of "strangely worthwhile" to me) ... the out-of-place Character Connection ... the travesty of turning Akershus into a "princess" dining facility ... the carny-style sales carts that line the streets prior to Illuminations ... the doesn't-fool-anyone "Eiffel tower" ... the ghost town that was the Wonders of Life.

Yes, as many readers have pointed out, EPCOT Central tends to find more wrong with EPCOT than right -- much like the teacher who believes a student should be getting an A, not a B-minus. It could be so much more.

There are bad things about EPCOT, and there are resplendent ones. So, for this final list, EPCOT Central will work its way backward, writing first about its No. 1 worst at Epcot and EPCOT Center, and ultimately ending on a positive note, with the finest, most majestic and memorable offering EPCOT has ... and perhaps has ever had. What is it? Read on to find out.


The Worst and Best of EPCOT Center-- #1



Worst: CommuniCore
The idea could have been turned into something extraordinary -- the familiar "world's fair" concept of allowing American (and, today, global) industry to showcase their work and how it will impact our future. A place where we could see, feel and interact with the technologies and the ideas that would shape our Future World. But it never, ever worked. From the start, CommuniCore lacked vision. The "Astuter Computer Review" was rightly one of the fastest-shuttered attractions at EPCOT Center. The computerized coaster was a blast, but even in 1982 seemed like something you could find in other places. The flag game was silly. The computer technology on display was rudimentary even by the standards of the early 1980s. This was supposed to be the "community core" of EPCOT Center, but felt more like the kind of place you wander through without quite knowing what to do. Later, Innoventions would offer more current technology, but with a heavy-handed sales pitch in most cases, and even if it had a more understandable layout, the result was still the same: mostly boredom. CommuniCore should have been one of the centerpieces of EPCOT Center, but wound up as a series of unimpressive "sideshows." From the moment the first artists renderings of EPCOT Center were released, it seemed CommuniCore might be a blueprint for literal community centers that could be replicated around the country, a centralized hub for technology, information and education. But it never happened, not in the real world, and certainly not at EPCOT. Especially given its prominent location at the heart of EPCOT Center, CommuniCore was a bust. Alas, it was replaced by a bust, as well.





Best: Horizons
"All shiny and new" -- that's all you needed to know. Our future was going to be amazing, and we were the ones who were shaping it. There is no question that Horizons exemplified everything Disney did best, as well as encapsulated EPCOT Center's theme brilliantly. Although it wasn't the visual icon of the park, like Spaceship Earth, it may as well have been. I'm not sure many would have complained if Horizons had been dismantled and then put back together inside the geosphere, since it was the perfect EPCOT attraction. Some have pointed out recently that Mission: Space isn't a pavilion but just a ride. The same was true for Horizons, of course. A recent post on the wonderful Progress City blog describes a post-show that never came to be, which would have "filled out" the pavilion. But unlike Mission: Space, Horizons wasn't just a ride; it was a lengthy, immersive, family friendly experience that combined Audio Animatronics, smellitizers, film and even interactivity -- long before the latter was possible with CG technology.


Optimism abounded in Horizons. The attraction wasn't afraid to suggest that our future was a good one, and in our hands it was safe. Keep in mind, Horizons was conceived and built not long after the end of the Vietnam War, as the country was coming out of a recession and energy crisis, after an attempted presidential assassination and the Iranian hostage crisis. We had experienced a fair share of trauma, but Horizons assured us it would all be OK. Of course it was a fairy tale. Of course it was borderline silly. But optimism always is. Horizons was uncommonly brave for being so sure of its happy theme despite evidence to the contrary. The future couldn't be anything but promising if we could dine with friends from Africa under the sea, or watch a storm gather in the desert while hovercraft harvested oranges, or imagine ourselves as part of a family that floated together in an outer-space home. Getting dizzy while diving into the double-helix of a DNA strand may not have taught us anything, but it was infinitely more inspiring, more astounding, than a ride designed primarily to get you sick.

We face new horizons today, but at EPCOT, without this remarkable attraction, they don't seem quite so shiny, quite so new.



The Worst and Best of Epcot-- #1



Worst: Imagination! Pavilion
It's cringe-worthy. Just as Mission: Space splits the family due to its unrelenting intensity, so does the awkwardly named Imagination! Pavilion. (I discovered that the exclamation point is being used by visiting Disney's equally cringe-worthy new "Epcot Theme Park" webpage, which actually compares the majestic Spaceship Earth to a golf ball and includes a picture of the Innovations entrance that hasn't even been touched up in Photoshop -- the "ghost" effect of carelessly removing the word "West" is evident. Meanwhile, "Disney's Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure" is touted as the premiere new "attraction" at Epcot Theme Park. OK, sorry, I digress. Badly.)

From the start, the Imagination pavilion -- excuse me for not using the exclamation point anymore -- was iffy. Yes, it was for kids, but it was almost only for kids. It was as cloyingly sweet as drinking Coke with a mouthful of Bubble Yum. Yes, Figment and the Dream Finder were there, and they had the advantage of being the unofficial mascots of Future World. But adults had a very hard time finding something to love about this place, and if it was fair to "balance out" EPCOT and provide something for the kids, well, fair enough. But then, an iffy pavilion went tragically wrong. A late-'90s, Disney-specific fascination with a gear motif invaded. An already icky-sweet kids ride became a travesty, that ultimately was reworked into an almost-travesty. And a 3-D film that provided more than a few laughs on the first viewing became, somehow, a permanent Epcot attraction. Look here, Disney -- Honey I Shrunk the Audience not only isn't very good, but I can get a better 3-D experience in IMAX theaters around the country today. There's absolutely nothing special about this film anymore, and it certainly doesn't stir the "imagination."

Then again, this is Disney's public acknowledgement of how it perceives the concept of imagination. And that, sadly, says an awful lot.




Best: Illuminations -- Reflections of Earth
Several readers guessed this was coming ... and there is, in the opinion of EPCOT Central, no single better attraction, present or past, at Epcot. Illuminations -- Reflections of Earth is a stunning achievement, one that frankly transcends mere entertainment (which is how, no doubt, most guests perceive it -- just "the fireworks show") and becomes a majestically memorable artistic experience. Without a single Disney character (unless you count very brief glimpses of Mickey Mouse), without a single reference to a Disney work, it embodies all that Walt Disney himself believed: the promise of mankind, the ways in which we are all connected, the glory we feel when we achieve great things, the perserverence we display when challenged. It combines an artistic expression of the creation of the world with a literally glowing display of the diversity, the beauty and the power of our planet and ourselves.

Illuminations -- Reflections of Earth offers soaring music, dazzling lights, and impressive firepower, and few who see it walk away unmoved, even if they can't quite explain why.

It's a beautiful end to a day at Epcot, and a perfect representation of everything the park could be. Illuminations -- Reflections of Earth may have been created to celebrate the millennium, but it continues as a way to celebrate every day, to remind us that we are all on the same journey, ready to make another thousand circles 'round the sun, not knowing the future, but confident it is good.

Bravo, Disney. Bravo, Epcot.

May Illuminations -- Reflections of Earth never go away. It's perfect as it is. Don't tinker with it. Be proud of the fact that if there are flaws in Epcot, this is gloriously, spectacularly, wonderfully perfect.

The Best and Worst of Epcot -- Number 2

As EPCOT Central moves closer to revealing its Number 1 "Best and Worst of Epcot," it's rather remarkable how the exercise has revealed just how much EPCOT started with a pitch-perfect theme that needed fine-tuning and care, and how The Walt Disney Company has allowed it to devolve into just another "Disney Park." That doesn't mean, though, that the very best that EPCOT has to offer isn't something very special indeed ...


The Best and Worst of Epcot -- #2



Best: The American Adventure
Ben Franklin doesn't make it up those stairs quite as smoothly anymore, and except for the stirring short film at the conclusion, little in The American Adventure has been altered in 27 years, even while America itself has seen remarkable change in that time. How wonderful it would be to see a new scene that acknowledges the Vietnam War, American innovations in technology, or the role of activists like Gloria Steinem and Cesar Chavez, who were still struggling for equality when the show opened in 1982. (Yes, they are both briefly represented in the film.) But carping aside, there are fewer finer examples of Disney showmanship than The American Adventure. No doubt, some readers will take exception to the pro-American theme and the schmaltzy sentimentalism that glosses over what Walt Disney once called "the hard facts that created America."


"Disney Parks" have all but forgotten that rather important element of Walt's opening-day speech at Disneyland, but here, under the veil of Disney optimism, those hard facts are on full display. People die, there are consequences, there are tears that are legitimately earned. The American Adventure is a masterful blend of Audio-Animatronic actors, spectacular set design, a compelling story and memorable music. It is perhaps the pinnacle of Disney Imagineering, and it truly thrills the heart -- not just the body.


Some will say it's boring and it's just a good excuse for a 30-minute nap. I feel sorry for those people, and sorry for the EPCOT that could have been (and, in the spirit of The American Adventure, perhaps still can!) -- it's a pavilion and a show worth visiting time and time again, one that leaves the mind and spirit soaring, and reminds EPCOT guests that pessmism is impossible when they remember the challenges faced by those who have come before us. No theme park in the world offers anything like The American Adventure. No one has dared since. Not, sadly, even Disney.





Worst: Mission: Space
It's a hell of an experience, there's no doubt. But in the end, it's not much different than any other spinning ride, just a lot more elaborate; and you're not actually doing anything except staring at middling CG imagery on a small screen. The lift-off and moonshot moments are thrilling and disconcerting and unique -- but they also make some guests fearful that they may be experiencing a heart attack or stroke, particularly after the dire warning signs plastered on billboards that are big enough for Times Square. Love it or hate it, Mission: Space could, with a few tweaks to the storyline (are we on a training mission, or did we really go to Mars?), have imparted some real insight into the space program and the challenges the world faces in conquering that final frontier.


No, it's not the attraction itself, for all of its inherent flaws, that kicks this one up to the No. 2 spot of EPCOT Central's "Worst of Epcot" -- it's the ride's intensity, which makes it one that only a relatively few people even want to try. It's not appropriate for everyone, which the warning signs make abundantly clear. True, Disney theme parks have had basic roller coasters ever since the Matterhorn opened at Disneyland in 1959. But they were tame, fun attractions that even roller-coaster haters, if forced, would admit weren't nearly as bad as they had feared. Perhaps the whole family wouldn't ride them together, but they could.


Mission: Space takes the opposite approach. It's not for the faint of heart. People who have survived the most extreme of traditional roller coasters quake at the mention of Mission: Space. It genuinely repulses some people. And for those who are not tall enough, brave enough, old enough or in good enough physical condition to ride it, it is forbidden. It splits up the family in exactly the opposite way Walt Disney intended for his theme parks. Uncle Walt once sat on a bench while his daughters enjoyed a dilapidated merry-go-round and felt there should be someplace the family could go to have fun together. Today, he'd be sitting on a bench outside Mission: Space feeling the same thing ... and wondering what happened to his vision.

The Best and Worst of EPCOT Center -- #2

Best: The Living Seas

Imagineers never could crack the ride portion, and that doomed The Living Seas from the very start. It's a shame, because the original attraction, which existed from 1986 to 2003, was one of the most evocative in all of EPCOT Center. But its lack of a compelling ride element caused too many guests to overlook it. Certainly the opening film, with its dramatic narration and astonishing visuals, set the stage better than any other pre-show, creating a legitimate sense of interest and excitement among guests. The exhibition areas were fantastic, and the set design of the interior truly transported guests into a different place. It was at The Living Seas that I first saw a manatee, learned about the damage done by a ship's wake (not good marketing for the Disney Cruise Line), saw the living creature inside the delicious conch fritters I enjoyed in South Florida, learned more about dolphins (porpoises) and understood what a deep-sea diver has to do to prepare. No, it was no Sea World, but it was extraordinary. Beyond that, and thankfully the "updated"/Pixar-ized pavilion still offers this, the 5.7 million-gallon tank was a place in which a guest's mind could get lost. Yes, for most it was a "point-at-the-fish-and-say-how-pretty-it-is" kind of place, but for those who wanted to know more, who were intrigued by what The Living Seas had to offer, it was also the kind of place in which you could spend almost an entire day and still come away wanting to see, learn and know more. It was inspirational. It wasn't just a bunch of talking cartoon sea creatures.

Worst: Italy

There was a lovely, more-or-less authentic Italian restuarant that opened our stomachs to the notion that the mom-and-pop pizza place down the street was the Italian equivalent of McDonald's. And beyond that, there was (and is) nothing. A couple of shops, a few fake statues, a lovely mirror-image replica of St. Mark's Square in miniature. And that's it. The gondolas moored at the front of the pavilion still hint at what could have been -- a gondola ride through the country. But this ain't Italy, folks. Not even close. EPCOT's Italy offers no hint of the complexity, diversity and beauty of the country, and if Germany's Bavaria-heavy pavilion next door is guilty of some of the same sins, at least it offers a genuine entertainment experience at the Biergarten. Italy used to give you some authentic Fettucini Alfredo (it doesn't even do that anymore) and a few occasional street players. Mostly, it's a big waste of space that is of slightly less than passing interest. Does mediocrity really warrant its inclusion on a list of the worst that the "original" EPCOT Center had to offer? Yes. Because even a guest who knew nothing of the project's troubled development was left wondering why there actually anything here. It was and is just a big, fat nothing, a perfect example of why far too many people write off EPCOT as "boring." In the case of the Italian pavilion, they're right.

The Best and Worst of Epcot -- Number 3

The responses and comments have been great … keep them coming! Of course, this list is just EPCOT Central’s view, which is hardly definitive. And don’t forget – it’s divided into the best and worst of “lower-case” Epcot, as well as the historical best and worst of EPCOT Center. And sometimes, there’s an interesting intersection …

The Best and Worst of Epcot -- #3

Best: Spaceship Earth

The ending still doesn’t work, and many have argued that Dame Judi Dench sounds like a smug schoolteacher. But generally speaking, Spaceship Earth retains is place as one of Epcot and Walt Disney World’s very best not because it tells a particularly coherent story or leaves riders feeling clasically “thrilled.” No, what it does so remarkably well today is exactly what it has done remarkably well for 27 years: It sets the tone for the entire theme park. It offers a well-told tale of where we've been, where we are and where we may be going, optimistically and, speaking as one who actually likes the new, screen-based, Horizons-like ending, with a touch of humor. Even more importantly, Spaceship Earth is the sort of ride that only Disney creates -- or, more accurately, created. Every moment of the long ascent is filled with audio-animatronic magic, and the burning of Rome, short as it is, provides that only-at-Disney jolt to guests who don't expect these sorts of touches at a theme park: "Did you smell that?!" The revamped theme of innovation isn't as specific as the history and future of communications, but in a way, it is the scene-setter EPCOT has always needed. The re-imagined Spaceship Earth would have been right at home at EPCOT Center. Today, alas, it's a bit of an anomaly in the schizophrenic, identity-less Future World. Nonetheless ... it works.

Worst: Universe of Energy/Ellen’s Energy Adventure

Take a perfect theme for an EPCOT pavilion, dumb it down and make it irrelevant and ... you've got the "new" (circa 1996) Universe of Energy. Oddly, Ellen's Energy Adventure has been in place almost as long as the original Universe of Energy attraction, but it feels dated and lackluster in a way that even the admittedly draggy first effort (see below) never did. Ellen De Generes is a great comedian. She's a charming host, and it's hard not to at least be amused by her presence. Once. Ellen's Energy Adventure is the sort of ride that, once experienced, you never want to go on again. Painfully unfunny comedy such as the "humorous" radio broadcasts after the dinosaur sequence; the horrifyingly dated use of "Jeopardy!" and Bill Nye the Science Guy; a "plot" that doesn't make sense even in context; and a murky message made so elementary as to be pointless all combine to make this one of Epcot's absolute worst. There's so much potential here, but even as the entire developed world has made energy use, conservation and development one of its most important priorities, Disney hasn't done a damned thing with the Universe of Energy. In an age of the internet, hybrid cars, consumer solar arrays and hydrogen-powered vehicles, this attraction mentions none of them, leaving it painfully, achingly stuck in the waning days of last century.

The Best and Worst of EPCOT Center -- #3

Best: Universe of Energy

Yes, it’s true that some guidebooks listed EPCOT Center’s Universe of Energy pavilion as the single worst attraction in Central Florida. Boring. Plodding. Simplistic. Biased. And there’s a lot of basis for those negative criticisms. But there’s another way to look at it: The Universe of Energy combined film, audio-animatronics, smell, music, sound and color into an experience that may have seemed dull to some, but was almost certainly never forgotten. The attraction violated Walt’s own vision, put forth during the development of the World’s Fair, that film-based experiences weren’t interesting or involving. Maybe not in a movie theater, but in a traveling theater they became fascinating, particularly when they contained incredible images presented on massive screens. The Universe of Energy had not one but two separate musical themes, and any EPCOT enthusiast c an tell you they may have been trite and jingly, but they were memorable. The audio-animatronic sequences were the heart of the attraction, but today they’re extraneous and feel completely out of place, where in the original incarnation they provided a fantastic centerpiece that truly added to the story. There’s no doubt, particularly in today’s world, that the core message that fossil fuels were really our only good energy option was misguided and painfully tilted toward the interests of Exxon – but it was delivered in a mightily persuasive way. You may not have believed or welcomed it, but you couldn’t argue that it wasn’t told compellingly. Likewise, with its size, its shimmering solar panels, its “Radok blocks” pre-show, its skillful and technologically sophisticated pairing of epic-scaled ride-through and vivid films, the Universe of Energy was a fantastic example of EPCOT Center’s vision.

Worst: World of Motion

There's a painful truth hidden amid loving memories of the "old" EPCOT Center: A couple of the pavilions were, well, not good. The World of Motion was one of them. Yes, it was a quintessential Disney attraction, there's no denying that. It was lavishly produced, beautifully executed, a long and detailed ride-through that in many ways represented the very best Disney had to offer. But it was as bloated as a movie musical from the early 1970s, mistaking "big" for "good," mild humor for passable comedy. On every trip to EPCOT Center from 1983 (my first visit) to 1996, when the attraction closed, I desperately wanted to discover that I was wrong about World of Motion. It never happened. Its history-of-transportation story never felt fully fleshed out, and its music was terrible. Keep in mind, this is coming from a big fan of X Atencio and Buddy Baker. There were, though, a couple of saving graces: the glimmering, shining "city of the future" in the center of the attraction; the gleaming, absolutely beautiful mirrored circle of a building; the curving ascent to the ride that took you outside the show building for a moment and effortlessly conveyed, both to riders and to guests looking at the building, the concept of "motion." EPCOT Central has defended World of Motion in the past, and the flawed attraction is, all things considered, still marginally preferable to Test Track. No, it wasn't very good. But at least it tried.

EPCOT, Obama and the Future

Today, U.S. President Barack Obama delivered an inauguration speech rich with promise and hope, and as he spoke, my mind surprisingly turned to EPCOT Center.

Twenty-six years ago, Disney created a theme park of remarkable scale and ambition, one that attempted to tell us where America and the world had been, where we are going, and what we may find when we get there. The theme was also filled with promise and hope, with optimism and pride. And for the past decade and a half or so, it has been considered outmoded and cheesy, irrelevant to a nation obsessed with commercialism, consumerism and brand identity.

And yet, on the first day of the Obama Administration, our president admonished us for having forgotten those very ideals, those lofty dreams, the idealism and vision that helped create an entire nation out of nothing during the course of just two centuries.

President Obama said, "Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions -- who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage. What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them ..."

These were words that had me recalling the very feelings I first felt as a teenager visitng EPCOT Center. Our country is strong. Our world is strong. Our future is strong, if we just have imagination and a sense of purpose.

Earlier in the speech, he said, "We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do."

Science. Technology. Harnessing the sun and the soil. Joining imagination to purpose. As he said this, I recalled Spaceship Earth, the Universe of Energy, the World of Motion, Living With the Land, Communicore, The Living Seas and all of the audacious ideas and concepts they tried to present. I thought about World Showcase and its humbly unspoken message that we all live next door to each other, we are all working together for the vision of the future that is just on the other shore, so close by, waiting to be explored.

As Obama related the struggles of our forefathers, I recalled that The American Adventure offers a similarly stirring story. But is so often overlooked these days, and Disney has responded not by improving and refining it, but by installing the Kim Possible activity, by encouraging young guests not to explore the true stories of the world's nations and peoples, but rather the fictional adventures of a Disney cartoon.

Today's EPCOT reflects our times.

It is crass consumerism, pointed "brand positioning" and unabashed, meaningless "entertainment." It is like everything else, and our society has come to value things that are like everything else. We want our movies to be the same, we want our TV to be the same, we want our cars to be the same. We value profits and economic growth over hard work and sacrifice, over imagination and progress.

"Progress" was a word Walt Disney used frequently. Obama uses it, too. Maybe it will become part of our vocabulary again. "Progress" is different than "growth." "Progress" is change, imagination, inspiration and promise. "Growth" is selfish gain.

Maybe you don't want to be told these things on vacation. Disney has made sure you don't have to be.

Maybe Disney just wants to make sure EPCOT makes the most money it can. Surely after losing billions of dollars on Hong Kong Disneyland and Disneyland Paris and Prince Caspian and ABC Family, Disney can afford to have one theme park that isn't as much a slam-dunk as the others?

We are faced with the opportunity to answer a call to try harder. To come together as an American and a global family. To see ourselves in the faces of those who look and live differently. To shine a light on the path that leads to the future.

These are all things that EPCOT Center tried to do.

It's a shame that EPCOT has given up this attempt. Because more than ever, as we were told today by our president, we need to set an example for what we can be, what we should be. The next generation of EPCOT did lower its sights, and now we see the outcome.

The time has come, Obama reminded us today, citing Scripture, to put away childish things.

Here's hoping someone at Disney was listening.

The Best and Worst of Epcot -- Number 4

Many thanks to EPCOT Central readers for great comments and feedback on the first entry in this series. Here's hoping that the No. 4 ranking of the best and worst, current and historical, at EPCOT will trigger equally good, bad, passionate and interesting responses!

The Best and Worst of Epcot -- #4

Best: Living With the Land

Otherwise known as "the boat ride in the Land," this is one of the very last traces of Epcot's roots, and thank goodness Disney hasn't done away with it ... yet. Despite its leisurely pace, its informative nature and its lack of zany, crazy singing Disney/Pixar cartoon characters, Living With the Land is one of those extraordinary experiences that typically has most resistant guests expressing genuine surprise and delight that it's such a memorable, unique attraction. A few years ago, Epcot lovers held their collective breath as Disney did away with the live narrators who had "piloted" the boats since 1982. The most astonishing surprise: The ride improved. No longer was there a chance of getting a newly trained or bored host who recited lines in a flat monotone, or overly peppy guides who hoped one of the guests would be a talent agent and that this was his or her big break. Now, the experience is the same for every guest, and it's a great experience, one that opens a door onto a realm of our everyday life that most of us take for granted. Living With the Land educates, entertains, stimulates and fascinates -- even the early limited-animation animatronic/diorama scenes have an unexpected, rather beautiful quality. This is one of Epcot's very best attractions. It used to be simply first among equals when EPCOT Center's Future World was filled with elaborate, multi-faceted pavilions dedicated to thrilling our minds and spirits. Now, it's one of the few holdovers of that long-gone EPCOT that leaves many guests thinking, "I wish more of Epcot were like that!" Let's hope Disney doesn't do away with this one. It shows off what makes Epcot unlike any other theme park in the world.

Worst: Soarin'

Oh, don't worry -- EPCOT Central is braced for backlash on this one, but here's the reason: Soarin' has absolutely no thematic connection to the Land pavilion or Epcot. It's just a transplanted ride, albeit a wonderful one, plopped down in Walt Disney World. Given it's California theme, it would make as much sense at Disney's Hollywood Studios. And that's a big black eye for Epcot. If taken on its own terms, Soarin' is a terrific ride that combines the feeling of being on a "real" ride-through attraction (sitting in a chair, buckling a seat belt, being lifted) with a stunning IMAX film experience. But it's exactly the same ride that exists at Disney's California Adventure; not even a modicum of effort was made to alter the ride for Florida guests, so, incongruously, guests are taken on a scenic journey over the Golden State that has absolutely no relation to anything else at Epcot. Imagineers even kept, bizarrely, the final scene that takes place over Disneyland in California. With a handful of new shots, this could have been "Soarin' Over the Land," showing off wheat and corn fields, shrimp boats, cotton fields and the like. That might have made some sense. As it is, particularly for those of us who spend time at the California parks, it's just one more example of Disney doing things on the cheap and hoping that guests won't notice that there's really no point to it at all.

The Best and Worst of EPCOT Center -- #4

Best: Norway Pavilion

Poor Norway. An extraordinary country with thousands of years of heritage and culture is represented at Epcot by a restaurant frequented by Aurora and Jasmine, among others, and a creaky ride that sometimes barely functions. Kids deserve to have a good time at Epcot, of course, but there should be some responsibility taken by the parents. Instead, it seems most guests don't want to actually engage themselves in this theme park, they want it to be a passive, come-to-me experience that fulfills the every Disney dream of their four-year-old daughters. Nevermind that The Magic Kingdom and countless resort character dining experiences are just a short drive or bus ride away (not to mention in Future World), as long as there was money to be made, Disney was going to rip it out of guests' wallets. As soon as the Norwegian government stopped funding the Norway pavilion, Disney reckoned it was theirs to do with as they pleased, even if their changes had nothing at all to do with, well, Norway. Knowing full well that many parents will be offended, EPCOT Central will say it anyway: For adults without kids, the Norway princess dining restaurant is a painful, unhappy experience. Rubbing salt on the Scandinavian wound, it sometimes seems Disney hasn't even tried with Maelstrom. The ride has always been too short, but for years was that all-too-rare Disney experience: A ride-through that combined great visuals, sound and animatronic effects with some genuinely unexpected touches. A recent ride showed two torn cyclorama screens, polar bears that growled but didn't move, a tree troll that just barely was able to lift its eyes, and a set of cast members who looked like they were desperate to be anywhere else. The final film, which retains its beauty and awe despite hilariously embarrassing 1980s fashions and technology, didn't even play. As we walked through an empty theater with scratched-up seating and dried on gum all over the carpet, my friends and I shook our heads and said, "What a shame." Then again, I'm not supposed to be writing about the worst of curret Epcot, rather the very best of "old" EPCOT Center. And for quite a wihle, Norway had the single best dining option in Epcot, one of Disney's most imaginative and charming rides, a tiny-but-informative museum exhibit that truly offered (a tiny bit of) insight into Norwegian history, a perfectly themed play place for kids and some of the nicest cast members at the park. Oh, and rice cream, too. It had more character and appeal than perhaps any other pavilion, despite its relatively small size. Now it's mostly a sea of strollers and screaming kids. Ah, but what it used to be!

Worst: The Making of Me

It should have been terrific -- a Disney-produced film about the miracle of human reproduction. Instead, we got Martin Short. Maybe he's an acquired taste. Maybe you just have to be conditioned to like him (or Canadian), but the guy has rarely been funny or even charming. It was like watching your "funny" uncle tell you about the "birds and the bees" because your parents were too embarrassed to say anything. He wasn't funny, his "facts" were slightly suspect, and you came away not actually learning anything. Yes, there were some lovely in utero images and some nice music. That's about it. Anyone over 3 came away wondering why they bothered, anyone under 3 was confused, and most of us got a good chuckle that Disney was trying to offer some insight into the most human, the most basic of functions: sex. Without the sex.

The Best and Worst of EPCOT -- Number 5

For the next couple of weeks, EPCOT Central will offer its own take -- open to debate and admittedly quite subjective -- on the five best and the five worst attractions and offerings at Epcot.

But Epcot, as fans know, isn't a static, never-changing place. So, the list will offer up the five best current offerings at Epcot, as well as the five best historical attractions at EPCOT Center. Likewise, it will consider Epcot's five worst, as well as EPCOT Center's five worst.

Your thoughts, comments, suggestions, feedback and arguments are most welcome, with the hope that EPCOT Central's list will never be seen as "definitive," but instead open the door to lively conversation, both online and in the real world.

The Best and Worst of Epcot -- #5

Best: China Pavilion

As a top-class World Showcase pavilion should be, China offers much more than the attraction at its center, the CircleVision 360 film Reflections of China. More to love, then, that the film itself is terrific. Exemplifying the best of "old" EPCOT Center and "new" Epcot, the film retains the structure it has had since 1982, which ran for 21 years under the name Wonders of China. It's a beautiful film that transcends the notion of mere travelogue by truly taking guests to a place most of them have never seen, and presenting it in breathtaking, informative way. But China is much more than this film. The extraordinary Dragon Legend acrobats would be worth the cost of admission to Epcot alone. Even more, there are genuinely compelling exhibitions and authentic, immersive shopping experiences -- some of the items are truly exquisite, and there's nary a Mickey or Donald to be found. The dining may never be a journey of discovery, simply because this sort of "mass-appeal" Chinese food is so familiar to most people. Still, Epcot's China presents a beautiful, multi-faceted face in a compact space. You'll never mistake it for the real thing, but you'll also come away realizing that the real thing is vastly more complex and awesome than you may have imagined going in. It's truly a pavilion to be savored and explored.

Worst: Test Track

If judged solely on adrenaline rush and repeatability, Test Track scores high. It's an undeniably fun, sometimes genuinely thrilling ride. True, almost everyone reading this drives his or her car faster every single day, but not on road like this! No, conceptually the ride is pretty good. It's in the execution that it fails miserably, and its huge flaws are only amplified with every passing visit. It starts outside the pavilion, which is a visual mess. There's an exquisite, sleek metal-and-glass building behind there, but you'd never know it. Once through the soulless queue area, the pre-show is a primer on how not to make a pre-show. Few guests pay attention, but rather gab and text throughout. They just want to get to the ride ahead. There's nothing captivating about it at all, wasting an opportunity to set the tone and impart some worthwhile information. Inside the ride, the cavernous inside of the show building feels half-abandoned, as if Imagineers stopped at "good enough." It's difficult to make out most of what's going on, and most riders frankly don't care. What's the point? The final 30 seconds are an undeniable rush. The rest is, to cite the latest entry into the Collins English Dictionary, meh.

The Best and Worst of EPCOT Center -- #5

Best: The World Key Information System

This was the promise of EPCOT Center -- a world we had yet to see, but could experience today! Back in 1982, touch-screen computers and laser discs were truly leading-edge technology. Yet here they were, ready and waiting to be used! Want to know more about something at EPCOT Center? Just touch the screen -- literally, that's all you needed to do. Many of these screens were housed in the CommuniCore area, just at the base of Spaceship Earth, but there were also stations scattered throughout EPCOT, kind of like Vacation Club kiosks today, but useful and thematically appropriate. And if that's not enough, you could make same-day dining reservations by video conference call. (Technically, this was separate from World Key, but combining them seems to make sense.) Though simple by today's standards, this technology was truly a marvel, and would probably be impressive on its own even to those of us currently living in the 21st century. For a time, EPCOT wanted to fulfill the promise of showing us how the world of tomorrow might work, and WorldKey was a wonderful example of that. It wasn't a commercial, it was real, applied technology. It wasn't trying to sell us a new DVD, movie or TV show, it was just showing off what our Future World might be like. It was everything EPCOT aspired to be, and EPCOT was the only place you could find it.

Worst: El Rio del Tiempo

Few Disney attractions have ever gotten off to a better start. The small loading area imparted the flavor of old Mexico, a happy, lovely feeling also conveyed by the costumes of the few cast members working here. The literal "river of time" down which boats floated wound past the still-existing cyclorama of an ancient pyramid and exquisite outdoor scene. On the opposite "shore," the San Angel Inn and small marketplace completed the sense of being in a different time and place. Imagineers weren't aiming for verisimilitude, they wanted to evoke an emotional response. It worked. And then, the ride. A pointless mixture of poorly shot film scenes projected oddly into static displays, it played like the Spanish-class report of a very creative high-school student. The Mexico City scene at the end clearly hoped to be an impressive finale, but came off instead giving a creepy, black-light vibe; a glow-in-the-dark Elvis-on-velvet painting wouldn't have seemed out of place. No sense of Mexico's vast and impressive history, or of its people or places, was truly conveyed, though the song (quite arguably) was at least fun and cheerful. "El Rio del Tiempo" was a beautiful name for a ride that should have been splendid, but wasn't. (Sadly, in EPCOT Central's opinion, the "El Gran Fiesta" update has only exacerbated the problems.)

The Opposite of Brand

For decades, The Walt Disney Company was a peerless leader in brand development and management. Long before business schools had even defined such concepts, Walt Disney knew that there was Walt Disney, the man, and "Walt Disney" the concept.

Disneyland may be best known as a "theme park," but in essence it was conceived a brand experience. Even if attractions and themed lands like Pirates of the Caribbean and Tomorrowland weren't based on a specific movie, TV show or "entertainment property" (as the phrase is known today), they defined Disney simply by being part of the experience. Prior to their appearance at Disneyland, no pirates had sailed the seven seas in a Disney movie, 999 "happy haunts" were not part of a pre-existing TV series. But because they were created and brought to life by Disney, they became Disney.

Likewise, when he introduced the concept of EPCOT to the world two months before his death, Walt Disney had never revealed publicly his fascination with urban planning and design, transportation technology and sociological issues. But as soon as Walt Disney talked about EPCOT, it, too, became Disney.

When the EPCOT Center theme park finally opened 16 years after Walt's death, it wasn't easy to see how it correlated to his final dream. It was filled with rides, shows and attractions, and even if they weren't the "city of tomorrow" Walt once promised, they were identifiably Disney. They took everything his organization had perfected in the previous five decades and combined them in a way that had never been seen before. The dinosaurs of the Universe of Energy, the dramatic storytelling of Spaceship Earth, the silly inhabitants of the World of Motion, the Dreamfinder and Figment ... all of these things were unfamiliar and new, yet unmistakably Disney.

Disney used to be in charge of its brand, used to revel in the unspoken message that it could define itself any way it wanted to do so. The moment something was created by Disney artists, it became Disney.

Where, then, did Disney lose the ability to define itself?

When did Disney change from being in the creativity business to being in the "brand-management" business?

There can be fewer better (or worse, if you prefer) examples of this than EPCOT Center.

From 1978 to 1982, Disney embarked on a massive marketing and publicity blitz to ensure that every American (for these were, by and large, the days before instantaneous, international communication) knew that "Disney" was now defined by the concept called "EPCOT." Anyone with any awareness of entertainment and popular culture in the late 1970s and early 1980s knew that EPCOT was the newest Disney creation ... even if they didn't quite know what it was.

Viewed from the perspective of today's (ahem) more enlightened marketing perspectives, what Disney did would be seemingly impossible today. The company that was known for lame comedies starring Don Knotts and Dean Jones was dominating the news with a bold message that everything you knew about Disney before would have to be rethought. Disney didn't just mean pixie dust and cartoons, it meant something unexpected, bold and totally out of the ordinary.

That's one of the reasons that it's so disappointing to walk through EPC--, um, Epcot today. Later this month, Disney will introduce a new "Kim Possible" activity at Epcot's World Showcase. Instead of learning about other cultures, sampling their wares and cuisine, and experiencing the underlying message that we're all in this together, Epcot guests can take active part in a commercial for a Disney cartoon. World Showcase just happens to be a great spot for this kind of "synergistic" brand enhancement.

Already, we've seen the Three Caballeros become the representatives of thousands of years of Mexican culture; a journey through the history of this awesome civilization has become a great way to sell some more Donald Duck plush toys.

And, of course, we've seen the awesome mysteries of the oceans that surround us become a tune-filled, happy ride through Nemo's undersea home, with the other high point of Epcot's Living Seas pavilion being a chat with a cartoon turtle, while the real ones go more or less unheralded.

EPCOT Center once "branded" Disney as a remarkable organization that created theme parks unlike any other in the world, with extraordinarily detailed experiences that surrounded guests with truly three-dimensional sets, "actors" and spectacle, that brought a sense of story, purpose and theme to previously unimagined heights.

Had that EPCOT Center concept been allowed to flourish, grow and change, with an eye toward maintaining the notion that "Disney" did not need to be narrowly defined as "benign entertainment for children," it could have been extraordinary.

EPCOT once had a remarkable brand, one that could have been further explored and developed and turned into something that could stand alongside "Disney" as meaning the best that imagination has to offer.

Now, EPCOT is just a meaningless word within the "Disney" brand, and all of its promise and hope have been drained. As a brand opportunity, is has been squandered. It's just 162 acres of staging ground for "brand managers" to play in ... even as they ignore the very concept of what a "brand" actually is. Or could be.

Holiday Hiatus is Over!

EPCOT Central will return on Monday, Jan. 11, after an extended holiday break. Thank you for your patience while EPCOT Central, like so many of you, were dealing with work deadlines, family pressures, shopping, wrapping, cooking and eating. Even in the Community of Tomorrow, the stress of the holidays will get in the way!

"Future Schlock," by P.J. O'Rourke

Apologies to readers of EPCOT Central for a long delay since the last post. Chalk it up to the holidays, partly, but also to wondering if everything that can be said about EPCOT has, for now, been said.

And then ... this happens:

A wonderful, incisive, observant article by P.J. O'Rourke in The Atlantic that is not about EPCOT, but easily could be. It's about Disneyland's "House of the Future," and is well worth a careful read. A meaningful excerpt:

"Disney’s Tomorrowland is deeply, thoroughly, almost furiously unimaginative. This isn’t the fault of the 'Disney culture'; it is the fault of our culture. We seem to have entered a deeply unimaginative era."

It can only be assumed what Mr. O'Rourke would make of EPCOT and its squandered promise.

(As an aside, the picture doesn't necessarily correlate with this post, it's just another example of the sad decline of EPCOT -- and, perhaps, "Disney Parks" in general.)