Often referred to as a "permanent world's fair", EPCOT is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, particularly technological innovation and international culture and is known for its iconic landmark Spaceship Earth, a geodesic sphere.

Walt Disney's original vision, sometimes called Progress City, would have been home to 20,000 residents and would be a living laboratory showcasing cutting-edge technology and urban planning.

However, Walt Disney was not able to obtain funding and permission to start work on his Florida property until he agreed to first build the Magic Kingdom theme park.

World Showcase featured nine pavilions: Mexico, China, Germany, Italy, The American Adventure, Japan, France, United Kingdom, and Canada.

[10] On October 24, 1982, EPCOT was officially dedicated by Walt Disney Productions executive chairman Donn Tatum and Card Walker.

[12] [13] Water was gathered from major rivers, lakes, and seas from across the globe and emptied into the park's Fountain of Nations to mark the opening.

Despite its initial success, EPCOT was constantly faced with the challenges of evolving with worldwide progress, an issue that caused the park to lose relevance and become outdated in the 1990s.

The Land pavilion saw its attractions replaced under new sponsor Nestlé between late 1993 and January 1995, and Spaceship Earth was updated with music by Edo Guidotti and narration from Jeremy Irons in 1994.

[20][21] In 2000, Walt Disney World held the Millennium Celebration with the central focus of the event at EPCOT, and a 25-story "magic wand" structure was built next to Spaceship Earth.

The Mexico pavilion's El Rio del Tiempo attraction closed on January 2, and Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros opened in its space a few months later.

After the "magic wand" structure was removed from Spaceship Earth, the attraction's fourth version, narrated by Judi Dench, soft-opened on December 8.

Toprak's "EPCOT Anthem" was eventually used in various nighttime shows, such as Harmonious and Luminous, as well as featured in ambient music within the entrance plaza and throughout World Celebration.

[31] The show ended its run on March 31, 2023, in preparation for Luminous: The Symphony of Us which debuted later that year; EPCOT Forever returned during the interim period.

Test Track closed for refurbishment on June 17 to make way for the attraction's third iteration, with the return of General Motors sponsor, which will be reopened in late Summer 2025.

Currently, the park features nine major pavilions: Galaxy, Imagination, Journey, Land, Motion, Odyssey, Seas, Space, and Spaceship Earth.

[40] World Celebration serves as the park's main entrance and a central hub that honors global human interaction and connection, including communication, imagination, creativity, and the visual and culinary arts.

[38] Guests enter through the main entrance and walk underneath Spaceship Earth, an eighteen-story-tall geodesic sphere structure and the anchor pavilion, which also houses an eponymous dark ride attraction that depicts the history of communication.

CommuniCore Hall and Plaza is a multi-use pavilion used for exhibitions, gallery space, a mixology bar, a demonstration kitchen, and music performances, as well as meet-and-greets with Disney characters.

Lying on the east side of World Celebration, the Discovery neighborhood currently features three major pavilions in clockwise layout.

[26] Located on the west side of World Celebration, the Nature neighborhood features three major pavilions in counterclockwise layout—inspired by human interaction with the Earth, specifically themes of ocean exploration, hydrology, agriculture, horticulture, ecology, ecotourism, and travel.

[43] Finally, the Land pavilion features three attractions; Soarin' Around the World, an attraction that simulates a hang gliding flight over various regions of the world; Living with the Land, a narrated boat tour through Audio-Animatronics scenes, a greenhouse and hydroponics lab; and Awesome Planet, a short documentary film presented in the pavilion's Harvest Theater about the Earth's biomes and the perils of climate change.

World Showcase is the park's largest neighborhood, dedicated to representing the culture, history, cuisine, architecture, and traditions of 11 nations from across four continents—North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Each nation pavilion features attractions, shops, restaurants, and landscaping that celebrate or portray authentic settings from each country—several pavilions also contain recreations inspired by existing buildings and landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, Itsukushima Shrine, Hampton Court Palace, Château Laurier, Gol Stave Church, St Mark's Campanile, and the Kutubiyya Mosque.

The Canada and China Pavilions each host Circle-Vision 360° films—Canada Far and Wide and Reflections of China—that depict the diverse cultures and countrysides of their respective countries.

[46] Each pavilion contains themed architecture, landscapes, streetscapes, attractions, shops and restaurants representing the respective country's culture and cuisine.

According to Disney's 1975 Annual Report, the Showcase would: ...offer participating countries a permanent installation for such features as themed restaurants and shops, product exhibits, industrial displays, cultural presentations, a trade center, and even special facilities for business meetings.

Major sponsorships for each participating nation will be asked to provide the capital to cover the cost of designing, developing and constructing its attraction and/or ride and all exhibits, as well as the Pavilion itself.

[45] In 1982, Disney announced three pavilions were "coming soon": Israel, Spain and Equatorial Africa, blending elements of the cultures of countries such as Kenya and Zaire.

Instead, a small African themed refreshment shop known as the "Outpost" currently resides in the area between China and Germany, where the Equatorial Africa pavilion was to be located.

[50] The Millennium Village was located inside a temporary structure built behind the United Kingdom pavilions that remains in use as World ShowPlace.