Epcot 30: Lurkyloo-king Back on Tomorrow: Celebrating Epcot's REAL Birthday New 11/12

[Curiouser&curiouser!]

Yippee! A lurkyloo trip report!

The Beach club rooms look so cozy! Which I imagine is a nice welcome after the 3 hour trek to get to it!

 

[stenogoddess]

I'm so happy there's a new report! Though I totally blame you for my huge desire to go to Japan to eat popcorn and buy amazingly cute toys. We're staying in Beach Club on our next visit, so am enjoying the insider preview!

 

[kkbutterfly]

I'm excited to follow along! I was there the same time you were, but there for my SBP/The Attic Wedding!

 

[lurkyloo]

Most excellent start. Meat, Epcot, Ice Cream. Now that is a FINE night right there my friend.

Followed your link to Swazzle...love the promo video!

Was the car commercial what led to your Japan TR?

Yup, that's the one! I got to run around Tokyo for four days while Patrick crammed into a Subaru with a Japanese pop star, a camel and a family of otters!

I was down there at the same time as you, and also attended the D23 event on the 30th! I didn't get to any of the others, so I'm looking forward to your recaps to see what I missed out on!

I have to admit, I blew off the public anniversary presentations on Oct. 1 because I thought they'd be a repeat of what we'd seen at D23... Now I hear they were great, and I'm bummed I missed them!

Yea! A new TR! I followed your pictures on twitter so I am anxiously awaiting all the details!

I arrived in Orlando on the day you left. I miss it so much. I swear looking at your photos I could smell the Beach Club lobby, hahahaha.

Can't wait to read more! I always love reading about these fun events that are always scheduled when I can never go grrrrrrr

I hear ya! Stoopid Tables In Wonderland confounds me with their fabulous-sounding dinners that are never scheduled near any other event you'd be in town for!

Also, my nose is notoriously inaccurate, but I think Leslie Blodgett Perfume Diaries Golden Light fragrance smells exactly like the Beach Club lobby, and I keep it around for the occasional nostalgia trip!

I just found your trip report. Can't wait to read more. I'll be leaving next week for our trip. I also love Beach Club, but can't always get in with DVC.

Sorry I won't be done before you go, but you'll have something to read when you get back at least!

Yippee! A lurkyloo trip report!

The Beach club rooms look so cozy! Which I imagine is a nice welcome after the 3 hour trek to get to it!

Definitely! They should prolly provide foot-massager thingies, though....

I'm so happy there's a new report! Though I totally blame you for my huge desire to go to Japan to eat popcorn and buy amazingly cute toys. We're staying in Beach Club on our next visit, so am enjoying the insider preview!

Oh dear. Well, maybe after this report you'll switch to wanting to go to WDW for Food & Wine... much cheaper (but, really, not as cool!).

I'm excited to follow along! I was there the same time you were, but there for my SBP/The Attic Wedding!

OOOhhh! I adore the Attic! I hope you'll post a pic when you get them.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Hi joining in.

Oh my goodness that was a long walk to get to your room. Did you ever learn a shortcut?

 

[mrsksomeday]

So happy to see this report!! The BCV hallways look as bad as the BWV ones. We thought we would never make it to our room . I can't wait to read this, we love your open and honest reviews of things and your writing style .

 

[merbobear]

I'm subscribing, and cursing my job, which I will now be late to, because I can't just sit here slurping coffee and keep reading right now! But I'll be back.

Do you think it would be strange for me, as a vegetarian, to go to the YSH and eat approximately 7 baskets of those onion rolls with the spreadable deliciousness/garlic? Because if it wouldn't be too strange, I just might.

 

[Cinderella909]

Yeah~! Been waiting for this trip report! Just joining in so will catch up tonight!

Thanks Karen

 

[bambi0921]

Yay a Lurkyloo TR!!! So excited!!! I'll be here lurking. Can I ask you about Advantage Rental Cars? I am planning kind of a last minute trip in December and looking at renting a car. Their rates are the best by far but I have been reading some scary reviews about people getting horrible service there and getting charged hidden fees and being forced to purchase insurance, etc. How was your experience with them? Thanks in advance for any info!

 

[PryncessChrysty]

Yay a Lurkyloo TR!!! So excited!!! I'll be here lurking. Can I ask you about Advantage Rental Cars? I am planning kind of a last minute trip in December and looking at renting a car. Their rates are the best by far but I have been reading some scary reviews about people getting horrible service there and getting charged hidden fees and being forced to purchase insurance, etc. How was your experience with them? Thanks in advance for any info!

Pardon my intrusion - we're planning a trip for December, too, and the car rental prices are INSANE this year! Usually they start to come down as our trip draws closer, but we're hard pressed to find anything for less than $50/day even for the Micro-Machine lookin' cars, save for Advantage - I read those same reviews and was too scared to book it.

I went to Priceline and opted to use their bidding process because they only use 4 of the major companies (Avis, Alamo, Budget & National, if I recall correctly). I low-balled a full-size car for $15/day and Budget accepted the offer! Afterward I was kicking myself for not bidding even less, so my mom tried it out (same dates) and $15 was the lowest they'd go. Not too shabby!!

If you want a little more piece of mind, it may be worth a shot! Who knows, as December gets closer, they may even accept lower bids. I imagine with their ridiculous prices, their parking lots must be full.

 

[lurkyloo]

Hi joining in.

Oh my goodness that was a long walk to get to your room. Did you ever learn a shortcut?

No, and it was killing me! When you're on the Epcot side of the resort, there are all these stairwells and exits that put you out on the path to Epcot. I couldn't find anything like that on my side...

So happy to see this report!! The BCV hallways look as bad as the BWV ones. We thought we would never make it to our room . I can't wait to read this, we love your open and honest reviews of things and your writing style .

Thanks! I think BWV may win the prize for longest hallways. Walking from the furthest reaches of the Villas side to the International Gateway seems longer than walking to DHS and catching a Friendship boat to Epcot!

I'm subscribing, and cursing my job, which I will now be late to, because I can't just sit here slurping coffee and keep reading right now! But I'll be back.

Do you think it would be strange for me, as a vegetarian, to go to the YSH and eat approximately 7 baskets of those onion rolls with the spreadable deliciousness/garlic? Because if it wouldn't be too strange, I just might.

Not at all! I mean, I go to all these "food and wine" seminars even though I don't drink!

Yeah~! Been waiting for this trip report! Just joining in so will catch up tonight!

Thanks Karen

Yay! Thanks for joining in!

Yay a Lurkyloo TR!!! So excited!!! I'll be here lurking. Can I ask you about Advantage Rental Cars? I am planning kind of a last minute trip in December and looking at renting a car. Their rates are the best by far but I have been reading some scary reviews about people getting horrible service there and getting charged hidden fees and being forced to purchase insurance, etc. How was your experience with them? Thanks in advance for any info!

I didn't think Advantage was that bad, except for their confusing gas fee. They pre-charge you their rate for filling the tank up at the end of your trip, then take that amount off your credit card if you bring the car back full. I didn't understand this and almost got into a shouting match with the desk agent because I thought he was trying to swindle me, until another customer leaned over and said she'd just had the same misunderstanding cleared up. I just said no to all the extra insurance and didn't get hassled, though.

The other negative is, their corner of the parking lot is extremely remote and not well marked at all. Otherwise, the price couldn't be beat, the car was brand new, and the people were friendly.

It sounds like Princess Chrysty got a great deal on Priceline! In the past when car rental prices are super high for my trip, I've made a refundable reservation just to have it, then waited til the last minute (like 2 weeks before) to check again and see if prices have come down. If they haven't, no worries cuz you already have a reservation. If they have, hooray!

 

[bambi0921]

Pardon my intrusion - we're planning a trip for December, too, and the car rental prices are INSANE this year! Usually they start to come down as our trip draws closer, but we're hard pressed to find anything for less than $50/day even for the Micro-Machine lookin' cars, save for Advantage - I read those same reviews and was too scared to book it.

I went to Priceline and opted to use their bidding process because they only use 4 of the major companies (Avis, Alamo, Budget & National, if I recall correctly). I low-balled a full-size car for $15/day and Budget accepted the offer! Afterward I was kicking myself for not bidding even less, so my mom tried it out (same dates) and $15 was the lowest they'd go. Not too shabby!!

If you want a little more piece of mind, it may be worth a shot! Who knows, as December gets closer, they may even accept lower bids. I imagine with their ridiculous prices, their parking lots must be full.

Awesome! Thank you for the advice!!

 

[bambi0921]

No, and it was killing me! When you're on the Epcot side of the resort, there are all these stairwells and exits that put you out on the path to Epcot. I couldn't find anything like that on my side...



Thanks! I think BWV may win the prize for longest hallways. Walking from the furthest reaches of the Villas side to the International Gateway seems longer than walking to DHS and catching a Friendship boat to Epcot!



Not at all! I mean, I go to all these "food and wine" seminars even though I don't drink!



Yay! Thanks for joining in!



I didn't think Advantage was that bad, except for their confusing gas fee. They pre-charge you their rate for filling the tank up at the end of your trip, then take that amount off your credit card if you bring the car back full. I didn't understand this and almost got into a shouting match with the desk agent because I thought he was trying to swindle me, until another customer leaned over and said she'd just had the same misunderstanding cleared up. I just said no to all the extra insurance and didn't get hassled, though.

The other negative is, their corner of the parking lot is extremely remote and not well marked at all. Otherwise, the price couldn't be beat, the car was brand new, and the people were friendly.

It sounds like Princess Chrysty got a great deal on Priceline! In the past when car rental prices are super high for my trip, I've made a refundable reservation just to have it, then waited til the last minute (like 2 weeks before) to check again and see if prices have come down. If they haven't, no worries cuz you already have a reservation. If they have, hooray!

Good to know! Thank you!!

 

[Mom2m&k]

So excited about a new trip report from you! I enjoy reading them and your Blog!

 

[jillybeene71]

Alright!!! I saw on twitter you had another report...how awesome you get to go to all these Disney events. Lucky Lucky girl!

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

HEY LOVELY! i am here and along for the ride! Gotta support my fellow DisBride!

Teresa

 

[lurkyloo]

So excited about a new trip report from you! I enjoy reading them and your Blog!

Hey, thanks!

Alright!!! I saw on twitter you had another report...how awesome you get to go to all these Disney events. Lucky Lucky girl!

I feel SO lucky, and I'm telling you this now because I know sometimes I can grouch a bit in these reports, but then I remember... high-class problems!

HEY LOVELY! i am here and along for the ride! Gotta support my fellow DisBride!

Great to see you! Thanks for joining in!

 

[lurkyloo]

I ended up getting less than four hours of sleep that first night, and one hour in I was awoken by R2D2 when Patrick, bless him, replied to a text message I’d sent before bed. Note to self: Turn off ringer before bed...

I’d lucked out and gotten a World Key ticket to D23’s Epcot 30th Anniversary Celebration, which theoretically meant that I could just breeze into World Showplace right before the event started and get a great seat. However, I got the opening time for the International Gateway mixed up and arrived WAY before it was opened for attendees. Even after I accidentally stood in the World Passport admission line for 10 minutes, I still ended up being about the 12th person through the door and scored a fabulous seat in the front row, about 4 seats from center.

Primo seat-o!

It gradually dawned on me that I was sitting right in the middle of a big group of veteran D23 event attendees who all knew each other, but they were quite friendly and didn’t seem to mind the interloper.

What I didn’t know was that I’d picked a spot that would place me right in the front of D23’s official photo of the event. They took a bazillion shots of the other half of the crowd and only two of ours, but for some reason the one featuring pale, overdressed Gargantua in a sea of tans and T-shirts made the final cut...

Look, Ma, no tan!

There was plenty of time to run back and shoot the special merchandise, which you had to pre-order with a form and then pay shipping and handling to have mailed to you. I thought that was a little disappointing, and the price of shipping jumped to a jaw-dropping $15 for purchases over $25, so I bought less than I’d planned to, just the event logo pin.

These are supposed to be the freaky big-head walkarounds they used to have at Epcot, which I didn’t understand til we got to that part of the presentations

Teleprompter!

While we waited for the event to start, they used the giant screens to display a mix of vintage photos and waggish graphics aimed at hardcore fans.

OK, let me apologize now for many of the photos: Sitting in the front row meant having an obstructed view of the screens, and most of the event seemed to take place on the screens. Sorry about that!

Steven Clark kicked off the event with an unintentionally depressing montage of Epcot in all its long-faded glory, plus a crowd-activated re-creation of the old World Key information system.

I screamed myself hoarse voting for Adventures with Duffy The Bear, but instead we got...

Epcot: The Dawn of a New Disney Era
This was a taped presentation by Marty Sklar, since he had to be in SoCal that day for the annual Ryman Foundation fundraiser. I wish they still raised funds by selling tickets to breakfast at Club 33!

Marty called. Wants to be in two places at once

So exuberant were the fans over even a canned show that if Sklar had then burst through the screen and taken the stage, at least a third of them would’ve passed out.

He gave an overview of what it was like to work with Walt Disney and then have to build Epcot without him. The team became directionless after Walt’s passing, but eventually there was an idea to hold “EPCOT forums” consisting of industry leaders and creative folks (like Ray Bradbury) who brainstormed what EPCOT could become. This is how it transformed from a visionary community into a theme park with an educational bent. Sklar said that he felt the Land Pavilion, with its working garden and fish hatchery, came closest to Walt’s original intent.

He talked about how the park was built at the geographical center of Disney property, just about in the same spot as he towering hotel in the original Epcot concept art I adore.

One of the earliest Epcot concepts had two identical buildings, one housing exhibits by industry, the other exhibits of various foreign countries. The entrances to each would be identical to promote equality, but each country could expand out the back as far as it could afford to.

Harper Goff’s concept art is what convinced Imagineering that the distinctly different countries of Epcot could coexist in visual harmony

Ray Bradbury’s initial script for the 9-minute narration of Spaceship earth was 28 pages long!

Epcot takes a dump...

...and these guys gotta shovel it!

 

[lurkyloo]

Whaddo you mean, the big golf ball isnt done yet?!

Michael Landon narrowly escapes the sinkhole that conveniently became World Showcase Lagoon

Im not sure there was anything in this presentation I hadnt heard before, but it was still interesting and an appropriate kickoff to D23s Epcot 30th.


We Can Do It!
Up next was a panel featuring people who were part of the building of Epcot, which I noted in my journal was not as boring as the talk by a similar crew of Magic Kingdom vets at last years Destination D. The quip-witted Jason Surrell hosted Duncan Dickson, Bob Matheison, Jim McCaskill, Tom Nabbe, Charlie Ridgway, Howard Roland, and Bill Sullivan, all of whom are pictured below, but you have to guess whos who!

One of the first things they talked about was the We Can Do It! motto used to rally the troops in the wake of Walts passing.


The slogan that launched a hundred bumper stickers

We got to hear hair-raising tales of construction difficulties, including the aforementioned sinkhole, which was dug out to create World Showcase Lagoon and its muck moved to form the beach at Caribbean Beach resortbut not before they lost seven huge monorail track pylons into its depths!

They also shared the story about how all the plants in The Land Pavilion are pollinated by hand cuz you cant have bees flying around inside an operating theme park attraction!

Marty Sklar invents bull wrestling as the macho mans alternative to bullfighting

Two Concordes landed at Orlando International to celebrate the openingsupposedly the only time there were ever two in the same place!

My favorite part of this presentation was when one of the panelists was asked, What would Walt have thought of the work you did on Epcot? and replied, I dunno, but he sure would have TOLD us!


Looking Back at Tomorrow
This look at the Epcot that never was turned out to be the best panel of the entire event. It had everything an Epcot nerd could wantrare photos and video, never-before-shared trivia, D23s most polished presenter (Steven Vagnini), and @ProgressCityUSA, a.k.a., D23s Michael Crawford, the blogospheres foremost and funniest scholar on Epcot!

OrangeBirdHorizonsPeoplemoverMintJuelpKitchenKabaretWallCarpetSunDropCountryBearsSchoolBread!

So it turns out I was the only one who didn't know you weren't s'posed to take photos of a lot of the stuff in this presentation. I thought only that afternoon's Journey into Imagination presentation was on the no-no list, so I spent this one firing away. Whoops! I'll try to re-enact the parts I can't show you....


Right outta the gate we got to see a 1972 memo featuring the earliest rendering of World Showcase, and then some early Epcot logo concepts.

This one gets the thumbs down from Card Walker...

And you thought the john at Le Cellier was tiny!

I love all the gorgeous concept art you get to see at these events, and again I wonder aloud why Disney refuses to release it to the public through Print On Demand...

This one's pretty much the only concept art I can show you from the whole presentation, so... savor it!

 

[lurkyloo]

Because there were to be no Disney characters in EPCOT, Imagineers wanted to create new ones to go with some of the pavilions and attractions. Communicore’s robot SMRT-1 made it off the drawing board...

...but SMRT-2, a planned replacement for the Astuter Computer Review, never did. And here’s why!

“My face! My beautiful faaaaace!!!”

These characters did manage to make it off the drawing board... and into children’s NIGHTMARES!!!

Another failed character character was X. Atencio’s Communicat for, you guessed it, Communicore. I can't show it to you, but it looked pretty much like this Aristocat but brown and white and hatless...

We got to see Ward Kimbell’s brainstorming list of names for the General Motors-sponsored pavilion, but first there was more gorgeous concept art. I can't show it to you, but here's a detailed rendering I created from my photographic memory:

Among the never-used names for what was being called The GM Transportation Building were...

• Transportation Center
• Transpocenter
• Transcenter
• Transporama
• Transportation America
• American Transportation
• American Cavalcade of Transportation
• Transporamerica
• Transpocade
• Transport Parade
• Parade of Transport
• World of Transport
• Horizons of Transport
• Transposanctorium
• Transactorium
• Motorium
• Cavalcade of Cars
• Cavalcade of Transportation
• American Cavalcade of Transport
• American Pageant of Transport
• American Mobilrama
• Futureamble
• Panoramble
• Automobilorama
• Wheelorama

The Land Pavilion had its share of outLANDish alternative names, too!

The Kitchen Kabaret section of the presentation got the biggest reaction. People love that show!

Little do they know that originally Bonnie Appetite was to have a sidekick called Juicy Lucy, and that after Lucy got deep-sixed, Bonnie was given a wedding ring due to the “family nature” of the show. Yowza!!!

We all know and love Dreamfinder and Figment. But did you know there could have been a rip-off set of characters for the Living Seas known as Captain Saltyhinder and his sidekick Mackerel if the folks at United Technologies had had their way?

We may never know exactly what a Captain Saltyhinder walk-around character would have looked like, but I'd say the world's better off if he were to have looked anything like this: