Corporate sponser question

[desperate housewife]

Does anyone know of a thread that lists the corporate sponsers over the years?

DH and I are trying to remember who sponsered "Horizons" in EPCOT. We're also trying to figure out if Mission Space is where Horizons had once been.

Now I'm curious how many sponsers have changed over the years. Also how many attractions no longer exist.

I'll start with one I know:

EPCOT "Living with the Land" opened with Kraft as the sponser and is now sponsered by Nestle.

Thanks in advance for playing along with me.

 

[DisneyBlonde]

I know that at one time GE sponsored Horizons. I used worked for GE, and in the late 80s I went to a room for GE employees at the Horizons pavilion. I believe Mission Space is at the old Horizons location, but I don't know if the building is the same.

 

[rayelias]

Anyone know exactly what being a corporate sponsor entails? Is it just a cash infusion up front, or cash annually? What is the cost?

Do they aid in designing the attraction? What do they get for the sponsorship?

I'm curious how the whole thing works.

 

[desperate housewife]

I know that at one time GE sponsored Horizons. I used worked for GE, and in the late 80s I went to a room for GE employees at the Horizons pavilion. I believe Mission Space is at the old Horizons location, but I don't know if the building is the same.

Thank you - Ha - I won the bet with DH - now he has to go get coffee.

 

[cardaway]

Not up on all the sponsors but no, Misson Space does not use the same building. We saw big space of nothingness while we were in Epcot one year inbetween Horizons coming down and the new building going up.

The only time I've ever read about the sponsor being involved in design was with Mission Space. HP was involved with the controls and post show areas.

 

[Acklander]

I had heard that McDonalds sponsered one of the attractions in the AK (maybe Tree of Life?????) in exchange for having McDonalds at DTD, and Coke had the Coke tasting station

 

[cardaway]

I had heard that McDonalds sponsered one of the attractions in the AK (maybe Tree of Life?????) in exchange for having McDonalds at DTD, and Coke had the Coke tasting station

Dinoland - There are some funny signs outside the Dinosaur ride featuring the McD's logo.

 

[cardaway]

From wikipedia:

Each Future World pavilion was initially sponsored by a corporation who helped fund its construction and maintenance in return for the corporation's logos appearing prominently throughout the pavilion. For example, Universe of Energy was sponsored by Exxon, and The Land was sponsored by Kraft, then Nestlé. Each pavilion contains a posh "VIP area" for its sponsor with offices, lounges, and reception areas hidden away from regular park guests. In the years since the park's opening, however, some sponsors have decided that the branding wasn't worth the cost of sponsorship and have pulled out, leaving some of the pavilions without sponsors. Disney prefers to have sponsors helping to pay the bills, so pavilions without sponsors have an uncertain future. After General Electric left Horizons in 1993, it closed for several years, operating only on rare occasions. It was ultimately demolished in 2000 to make room for Mission: SPACE. After MetLife abandoned Wonders of Life in 2001, that area operated seasonally, until it ultimately closed. Test Track is sponsored by General Motors, and Mission: SPACE is sponsored by Hewlett-Packard. Spaceship Earth was sponsored by AT&T from the park's opening until early 2004. It is now sponsored by Siemens.

 

[desperate housewife]

WOW Cardaway, thank you. Your information is very interesting.
What about MK? Is COP sponsered by GE? I know Space Mountain had RCA originally and then FedEx. Does this still hold true? Any others? I can't find anything on the boards. DH and I are really interested. We appreciate your knowledge.

Anyone else know some answers?