What was epcot supposed to be

No more grueling commute. No more noisy streets. No more of life's little frustrations. Walt Disney called it the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow," and he wanted it yesterday. After opening Disneyland in July in Anaheim, California, the visionary conceived of a city that would bring his patented magic to life. Of course, that was easier said than done, the defining characteristic of most Disney projects.

But logistics didn't faze him. He was a student of aesthetic, technology, and workflow. Whatever he couldn't crack himself, he threw to his elite Imagineers. This wasn't Walt Disney's first folly. When Hollywood pundits told him that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs wouldn't work as the company's first feature-length animated film, he produced it anyway. And when he mounted Disneyland, critics said the same. So why not build the perfect city?

He nearly did. But when Disney peered into the future, he failed to see his own timeline. In , Walt Disney Productions had the land, the manpower, the designs and the dream to build the Community of Tomorrow. All that was missing was Walt, the last line of defense against reality. Few of life's inconveniences were as irksome to Walt as the early morning trash pickup, cans clanging through the silent streets.

That was no way to wake up. The question followed him everywhere. In the mid-'30s, Disney also regularly took his daughters to a merry-go-round in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Feliz, though he didn't much care for it.

As the girls played, the animator would sit on the bench, eating peanuts and wondering why his neighborhood attraction—and all amusement parks, for that matter— couldn't be cleaner. They could, of course, if he willed it. Walt was a smooth operating amalgam of creative willpower and savvy sales tactics. He was a regular Don Draper, right down to the carousel obsession. After Disneyland opened and filled investors' pockets with cash, suits were lining up on Walt's doorstep.

They wanted him, which offered some promise. He wanted something, too: tools of the future. Everyone would be treated equally, with shared access to the best and most technologically advanced homes Disney could design. And they would all be expected to take up service roles in the city, with all work directly applied to the betterment of the city and their mutual prosperity. With the enforced drive for progress in mind, EPCOT would become the nexus for countless innovations and breakthroughs, keeping the metropolis in a perpetual, ever-advancing industrial and artistic renaissance.

One should note that while the Walt Disney World property was already planned to contain multiple resorts and guest facilities for tourists, the grandest and most ambitious of all the hotels was the story building meant to rest at the center of EPCOT, with all of the above- and below-ground transportation networks leading to and from it.

This indicates that while the Magic Kingdom may have served as the more immediate attraction, Walt considered EPCOT as the ultimate destination in Florida, one that would come to overshadow the theme park. But that was just the beginning. Just as companies could use the venues of Disney World to showcase their newest products, EPCOT as a whole would serve as a model and blueprint to the world — both for the American free enterprise system and for the future of cities and communities.

In this ideal world inspired by EPCOT, there would be no conflict or suffering, just a shared, interlinked passion for improving the world.

While progress with Walt Disney World continued, and in Disney obtained the municipal jurisdiction that Walt had wanted, the idea for a utopian community was diminishing fast. Keep in mind that for many investors, Magic Kingdom, based on the already tested and proven design of Disneyland, was the main incentive for funding, with EPCOT still an uncertain work in progress.

Spaceship Earth is seen under construction at Epcot Center. And as a result, Epcot would never be a city of its own right; business and residential sectors did not align with the new goal for a theme park. Instead, Disney World as a whole changed, shifting from a centralized operation meant to sustain EPCOT to a decentralized, standard theme park approach.

While the Epcot park is very different from what the utopian EPCOT would have been, the original plans still left their mark on the park. The businesses that would have funded the community instead became key sponsors for different rides in Epcot, a tradition continuing to this day with rides such as Chevrolet-sponsored Test Track. While there was never a story hotel put in the middle of EPCOT, the overall concept of idealized, multi-amenity resorts for guests has been applied at smaller scales in the other resorts across Walt Disney World.

Moreover, Epcot introduced a new approach toward visitors, one that stemmed from the utopian vision of progress.

Rather than simply entertaining guests, many of the attractions at Epcot also teach them about diverse cultures and significant advancements around the world, encouraging them to become imaginative discoverers in their own right.

Some aspects of his plan, such as his absolute control over the city and its tenants, raise moral dilemmas, and his faith in altruistic business cooperation may have been misplaced. Moreover, some of the key ideas for EPCOT, such as the mass transit systems and emphasis on cultural and green areas to spark urban renaissances, have become key instruments in city revivals. Residences would take the form of apartments on the outside edge of the city.

The thing that would set these apartments apart from other residences is that Walt Disney wanted the people living in EPCOT to be at the forefront of technology. The idea was that the companies that had businesses at the industrial park area would use the residents as testers for new products, so people living at EPCOT would have access to the cutting edge of technology. Walt Disney died in December of , years before even Magic Kingdom would be open to the public. Walt's brother, Roy E. Disney, took on the responsibilities of leading the company even though he'd been planning to retire.

The process for creating the special district was started largely because the EPCOT project was going to require such a special district in order for Disney to have the control that Walt wanted in designing the city. The simple fact was that without Walt, there just wasn't anybody passionate enough, or who understood exactly what Walt wanted well enough, to move it forward.

Getting into city planning just wasn't something that the new Walt Disney Company wanted to do without Walt there to run it. Instead, the Epcot idea was used as inspiration for what would become a brand new theme park. Instead of a futuristic city, Epcot would be designed to be a permanent world's fair. The other half would be the World Showcase, with multiple pavilions each dedicated to different cultures and nations around the world.

Today, the park is simply called Epcot, and while a lot of Disney IP has become part of the park that originally had none, the core of Epcot is still there. The park is currently undergoing a major renovation that will split up Future World into smaller areas, but there will still be a home for the celebration of technology and the future as well as the other elements that make up the world we live in.

The idea that all the residents would largely live, work and play in this same space only works as long as all the pieces function. Walt Disney is pointing to the entrance center which would be in between the airport below and an industrial park above. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Good Subscriber Account active since Shortcuts.

Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. Log out. US Markets Loading H M S In the news. Kirsten Acuna. Located partly in Orange and Osceola Counties, Disney picked the center of the state for his Florida project on purpose, reasoning it would be easy for tourists and residents to arrive by car. The land was located between Orlando and Kissimmee, a few miles from the crossing point of Interstate 4 and the Sunshine State Parkway this was before I95 was finished, of course.