EPCOT (concept)
[1][2] Based on ideas stemming from modernism and futurism, and inspired by architectural literature about city planning, Disney intended EPCOT to be a utopian autocratic company town.
Disney intended EPCOT to be a real city, and it was planned to feature commercial, residential, industrial, and recreational centers, connected by a mass multimodal transportation system, that would, he said, "Never cease to be a living blueprint of the future".
In 1971, Walt Disney World emerged, with EPCOT opening in 1982 as a theme park and influencing the nearby community of Celebration, Florida.
Architect/planner Victor Gruen's plans to convert the site of the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair was also a significant influence on EPCOT, Disney Imagineer Marty Sklar said.
Numerous locations were proposed for EPCOT, including St. Louis, Niagara Falls, Washington D.C., New Jersey, and New York City's World Fair site.
[10] Disney also considered incorporating an experimental city into his plans for a Palm Beach, Florida development with RCA and investor John D. MacArthur in 1959.
"[13] The official announcement was made on the previously planned November 15 date, with Disney joining Burns in Orlando for the press conference.
[13] Dissatisfied with the zoning regulations he had to deal with in Anaheim, Disney developed the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) for the property.
The EPCOT philosophy, as it became known, included showcasing the development, testing, and use of new materials and ideas from American industries to find solutions to urban problems.
EPCOT would always be in a state of becoming, the philosophy detailed, focusing on the needs and happiness of residents, and generating demand for new technologies.
The main features of the plan included the theme park, hotels, campgrounds and motels, convention facilities, the EPCOT city and a satellite community, a golf course, a "swamp ride", an industrial park, a tourist trailer camp, a main entrance, and a "jet airport".
Based on a concept similar to the layout of Disneyland, the city would have radiated out like a wheel-like spokes from a central core.
The monorail would cut through the center of the city, connecting EPCOT with the northern and southern points of the Disney World property.
The main roads for both cars and supply trucks would travel underneath the city core, eliminating the risk of pedestrian accidents.
Beyond EPCOT, the Airport of Tomorrow, situated opposite the Main Entrance, was planned to connect to the park via a monorail station.
The parking lot for hotel guests would have been located underneath the city core, right off of the vehicle throughway.
According to Imagineer Bob Gurr, Walt Disney pointed to one of the benches on the scale model of the area and declared, "This is where Lilly [his wife] and I will sit when this thing is finished, taking everything in".
[8] Surrounding the hotel, inside the enclosure, would have been "shops and restaurants that reflect the culture and flavor of locations 'round the world.
[citation needed] According to the film, all adults living in EPCOT would be employed, thereby preventing the formation of slums and ghettos.
[9] The Carousel of Progress, sponsored by General Electric, was one of four pavilions or attractions that Disney produced for the 1964 New York World's Fair.
The show's theme song, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," was written by the Sherman brothers and reflects Walt's upbeat view of progress and American industry.
The model, which could be viewed either on foot or from the PeopleMover attraction, was constructed after Disney's death and was meant to be a visual representation of his EPCOT plans, including the city center and hotel, high-density apartments, greenbelt, and single-family houses.
[24] Walt used the ceiling grid to lay out a scale plot plan in his imagination, each 24" x 24" tile representing one square mile.
[25] Florida Governor Claude R. Kirk Jr. signed Chapter 67-764[26] into law on May 12, 1967, establishing the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
Because of the formation of the RCID, Disney could find innovative solutions to the problems of transportation, building construction, supplying electrical power, and waste disposal.
Imagineers, including John Hench and Richard Irvine, devised means of waste disposal and sewer transport.
The monorail, while mainly an attraction at Disneyland, was utilized as an actual transportation system, taking guests some thirteen miles around the Resort area.
Celebration is designed based on new urbanism, and resembles a small American town, but has all the modern conveniences, without the revolutionary transportation ideas contained in the plans for EPCOT.
The city uses a circular grid layout, divided into eight sections and a central hub, similar to a wagon wheel.
