Baron - I got to thinking today and.....

[MelissathePooh]

How is it you figure Epcot was complete when it opened? It didn't really occur to me at the time, but today it hit me. FW was had how many attractions/pavilions when it opened. WS was less two countries - which doesn't seem as big deal as FW, but FW didn't have a lot going on.

Now that isn't to say that attractions and pavilions weren't added soon after opening, but at opening Epcot had serveral holes.

I can't quite see how it was complete/finished on opening day.

Maybe I'm missing what you meant about being finished and complete. It sounded as if you meant it to be so at opening.

 

[airlarry!]

Hmm....

Within a year or so of its opening, Epcot comprised:

Futureworld:

Imagination
World of Motion
Universe of Energy
Spaceship Earth
Communicore East
Communicore West
Horizons
The Land

World Showcase:

Mexico
China
Germany
Italy
American Adventure
Japan
France
United Kingdom
Canada

They added Morocco and Norway later to the World Showcase, added The Living Seas and the Wonders of Life later to Future World. They replaced Horizons with Mission:Space, Ellen's Universe of Energy went in Energy's place, Innoventions replaced Communicore East & West, and Test Track replaced the World of Motion.

Great or horrible additions, they can be argued of course.

But the question is that E.P.C.O.T. Center took AT LEAST one whole day (Baron would say two...and he's right) just for the fact that each Future world attraction took at least an hour, and the walk around the World Premanade was a half-day easy. The shopping in each country was unique to each country (I bought a tie from Pringle's of Scotland that I still have---and still, gasp, wear occasionally).

Contrast that with the opening line-up of the Studios, and the Animal Kingdom, and Cali, and Paris Studios Lite, and Hong Kong DisneySpot.

Don't forget all the transportation that was put into place --monorails to and from the park, quaint English style buses, the boats, the shows, the restaurants, the cool Disney reservation system that was seemingly face-to-face with cast members (including those that spoke different languages), and you had one heck of an opening day line-up.

A big risk? Yes. But it paid off as the average guest trip went from one or two days to half-a-week or more.

Sorry to butt in, but I love this discussion. (Nope, Scoop, I'm still not bored with the AK is a half-day park thread.)

 

[MelissathePooh]

No - I said they added a lot of things early on, but my take on what Baron said was that it was complete when it opened - and I don't see you could say that.

 

[d-r]

Originally posted by MelissathePooh
when it opened

Originally posted by airlarry!
Within a year or so of its opening

 

[Another Voice]

Disney World Opens New Theme Park

August 1, 2003
Lake Buena Vista, Florida


Walt Disney World today opened the gates on its fifth theme park – Disney's Magical® World of Magical® Disney Magic®. On hand were dignitaries including Michael Eisner, Weird Al Yankovic and the stand-in for the monkey from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

They were greeted by an excited crowd of one person.

"To all that come to this profitable place, welcome," Michael Eisner said at the start of the ribbon cutting ceremony." Today is a day that will long be mentioned in the quarterly statements. Never before has my company opened up a park with such tremendous potential. Truly here at Disney's Magical® World of Magical® Disney Magic® things can only get better."

With that, Mr. Eisner had someone push the button to provide power to the park's credit card verification system signaling the completion of the park. After a wait of four short hours (while Eisner was taken away in a sedan chair carried on the back of fifty cast members) – the expectant crowd rushed through the entrance plaza.

"I've never imagined so much Magic® could be found in a single place! This is such a wonderful gift for us True Believers!" screamed Betty, the park's only visitor, as she stepped over the puddle on the dirt path which forms the park's entrance plaza.

Disney's Magical® World of Magical® Disney Magic® consists of three themed areas. The Entrance Plaza is themed as a dirt road turn-off from I-4 and features a wide variety of the native soils found in this region of central Florida. The Magical® Fields of Make-Believe is a vast quarter acre clearing created in twenty minutes by a bulldozer. Consisting of ruts, puddles, tree stumps and the carcasses of bulldozed animals, the brochure stapled to a wooden stick at the park's entrance describes the area as "a blank canvas onto which the guest can relive fond memories of the past and savor the challenges of the future – if you can dream it, than imagine it in your head!"

A last minute addition is Disney's Magical® True Life Adventure – a red anthill that was uncovered during the bulldozing process. "They're such lucky ants, aren't they? To live, toil and die in this Magical® place!. I wish I was an ant too," Betty squealed when first spotting the ant hill between the churro wagon, cotton candy stand and drink cart.

The park's skyline is dominated by Disney's Magical® Merchandising Mercantile – themed as a double wide construction trailer – located at the center of the park. "I read once in an Internet chat room that when Disneyland opened in 1964," Betty explained as she shopped the vast area of snow globes available for purchase, "Walt didn't put in a single pin trading cart. In the entire park! That just shows the depths of the man's greed, cruelty and depravity. I mean really, people back then were sooooo stupid."

A few critics have complained that Disney is charging $53 a day to visit an empty field. "Those are jealous, bitter, evil people who don't have enough pixie dust in their lives," Betty explained. "Some people aren't good enough for today's Disney. They're always talking about the old days like anyone even cared or knew about Disney before my first trip to Disney World in 1996. It's like they think we don't owe Disney anything! I just don't understand where they're coming from, so they must be wrong."

"See that," Betty says as she points to a flattened tire on the Merchandise trailer, "that's just like the flat tire on the office trailer at the Kmart they were building of the interstate back home, but they gave it up when the store went bankrupt. Look at that kind of detail – you only get that at Disney. Some people just don't want to see all the good things about this place."

When announced back in July, the park was to have featured a fourth themed area – Disney's Magical® Catering Truck Cafe. A Disney spokesperson explained its absence. "Because the nation remains unable to travel due to the crisis in Liberia, we felt it was only good business sense to limit our investment in new properties until the public proves their willingness to give us money. Or you could say it was because of West Nile Virus. We're holding a focus group now to find out which excuse works best."

Later as the park closed for the day, Betty stood wistfully next to a squashed palmetto palm and holding her bags of merchandise. "I could spend a full day here. I really could. It's like you turn your head and you get to see something different. Really, this is so much nicer than I heard Epcot was when it first opened with the rides and stuff. They didn't even have Mickey's hand over the big ball then! How special could that have been?"

Admission to Disney's Magical® World of Magical® Disney Magic® is $53 and is open daily from 11:00am until 2:00pm.

 

[cristen]

AV,

I'm sorry, but I have to do this

Thanks for the laugh, again!!

 

[PKS44]

Originally posted by MelissathePooh
No - I said they added a lot of things early on, but my take on what Baron said was that it was complete when it opened - and I don't see you could say that.

Originally posted by airlarry!
each Future world attraction took at least an hour

This is the key--anyone who went back in the beginning would know that you cannot just count how many attractions there are or were and compare to today--every Pavillion was a series of activities and a ride to occupy the visitor for 45 minutes to an hour--not the five minutes it takes to ride Test Track like today....we did Epcot in the beginning and by skipping Canada and Communicore we were able to barely get thru everything else we were interested in in a day...I think that was the typical experiece---when Epcot opened they started selling 3 day park hoppers--not two day or one day because it was felt you needed 3 days to see two parks...when they opened MGM they phased out the 3 day passes.

 

[donald@home]

The only thing on AirLarry's list that wasn't open when the park opened is Horizons. It opened a year to the day after the park opened. The other things on his list were all opened. And as one of the other posts mentioned, each of the things on the list were multi attractions that took quite a while to see.

Futureworld:

Imagination: Journey into Imagination attraction, Magic Journeys 3-D movie, Image Works Creative Play Area (this was a very elaborate area that took an unlimited amount of time)

World of Motion attraction plus exhibits at the end (the bird and the robot, etc.)

Universe of Energy (45 minute attraction)

Spaceship Earth

Communicore East / Communicore West (so many attractions I can't remember them all, but I remember desigining my own rollercoaster, the Epcot Poll, the computer review, backstage magic, something about vacation destinations)

The Land: Living with the Land boat ride, Kitchen Kabaret (audio animatronic show), Symbiosis movie

World Showcase:

Mexico: El Rio Del Tiempo
China: Wonders of China Circlevision Movie
Germany: Octoberfest Show
Italy
American Adventure: The most elaborate Audioanimatronic show ever created
Japan
France: Impressions de France movie
United Kingdom
Canada: Oh Canada Circlevision Movie

You could barely scratch the surface of Epcot in a day. And don't forget that many of the things presented when Epcot first opened were state of the art technology, things people had never seen before. It was truly an amazing park. Even making reservations for one of the restaurants was an experience back then (with the two way televisions).

 

[MelissathePooh]

Okay - I'm seeing from the other posts that completeness is being considered in terms of what a guest can do in a single day. If that is the definition of completeness I can easily say that Epcot took a full day when it opened.

Although - just a point for accuracy - according to Birnbaum - Journey into Imagination didn't open until 1983.