DCTooTall
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- Joined
- Apr 24, 2008
- Messages
- 5,957
That would be the ORIGINAL version of the Tomorrowland at the MK that lasted until the big "Future that never was" makeover in the mid 90's (94?). When the park first opened, there was actually a waterfall down from the spires into the lagoon. It didn't last long however due to the spray which wet and caused issues on the bridge from the hub. If I recall correctly, Later on after the water was shut off, they added some mosaic work and other decorations to the slopes to spruce things up. (I think the idea at first was that the sloping walls from the roof into the lagoon area painted blue almost looked like a waterfall on it's own.)
Interesting enough, here's a picture from Tokyo Disneyland (which took a lot of it's original designs from WDW's MK) on the bridge from their hub.
and from another angle
(Yup.... I know WAY too much Disney trivia. lol)
Father in law at Epcot 1982.. Have NO IDEA who the character is..
Looking kinda bald here too..
I think if I recall what i've read correctly, EPCOT originally had some characters at the World Showcase that were simply there to represent the country/region you were in.
As for the lack of trees around the Fountain, Prior to the '94 redo of Futureworld and the Communicores, EPCOT had a much more open/airy feel to it. Much of the light within the Communicores came from the floor to ceiling windows and some skylights. There were also numerous bridges you walked over as the fountain water flowed much closer (and around) the buildings with several ponds.
When they converted the Communicores into the Innoventions buildings, They paved over many of the ponds to widen the walkways and create more areas for plants to grow. They also painted the windows and skylights black to make the interior of the buildings much darker, and allowed the trees and plants outside the building to fill in to hide the windows which were now painted black. (There were also some props like a dragon placed behind some of the trees by the fountain for the short-lived stage show that was done on the stage they built over a portion of the fountain). You can still get a slight feel for the original interior Comunicore look in the hallway on the backside of Communicore West behind the Coolzone and Character Spot. [including the raised ceiling which was designed with the idea of potentially adding a Wedway Peoplemover style transportation system in Futureworld around the perimeter of the Communicores]
Yup.... DEFINITELY way too much Disney trivia.....
