First of all, let me apologize for my somewhat low profile at JHM this week. But we’ve had some pretty wild weather these past couple of days up here in New England. With winds of 45-50 MPH knocking down tree limbs. Which — in turn — took out a number of power lines in our neck of the woods.
And — you know — there’s nothing like sitting a cold, dark house for a couple of days to make you think: it’s really time to get back to Orlando.
Which is where I’ll be this time next week. Doing the meet-n-greet thing at Mousefest 2004 as well as running my latest set of JHM tours over at the Magic Kingdom. (Though — to be honest — I don’t know which I’ll enjoy more: Getting to chat with all you nice JHM readers at Saturday’s Mega-Mouse Meet or just being someplace where it’s nice and warm again. Anyway … )
In honor of next week’s festivities in Orlando, I thought that I might put together a special Disney World edition of “Why For.” Where I’d answer JHM readers’ questions about Central Florida’s vacation kingdom.
So — first up — is a question from Carla F. Who asks:
Dear Mr. Hill —
As they say on talk radio, I’m a long-time listener, first-time caller. I’ve been a fan of your stuff ever since I first read your “California Misadventure” series over at MousePlanet. (Those are the sorts of stories that I think you really do best, Jim. Those long-winded tales about theme parks or attractions that never got built. Which is why it’s been nice to see you getting back to articles like that lately and not spending so much time beating up on SaveDisney.com.)
Speaking of stuff that never got built, I was wondering if you could tell me something about my favorite theme park: Epcot. Whenever I’m walking around World Showcase lagoon, I always notice all the huge gaps between the international pavilions. Like that big open space between China and Germany. I know that — back in the early 1980s, when Epcot Center first opened — that Disney had originally hoped that a lot more countries would eventually sign up to be part of World Showcase. But that — for some reason or another — that never happened.
So can you help me fill in the gaps, Jim? Tell me what country was supposed to be where in World Showcase?
Thanks,
Carla F.
Dear Carla F. —
Sure, I’d be glad to help out you out here. Take — for example — that gap between China and Germany where the “Villager Traders” souvenir shop and the “Refreshment Outpost” snack stand are currently located. That was where Epcot’s Equatorial African pavilion was supposed to have been built.
But — when we’re talking about what-was-supposed-to-be-where at World Showcase — it’s always important to remember that WED had several different site plans for this section of Epcot Center. And that — over the decade that this theme park was in serious development — World Showcase’s layout actually changed a number of times.
Take — for example — the 1977 plan. Back when the Imagineers were still convinced that they’d be able to recruit enough countries to fill up every available inch of space around World Showcase Lagoon. Of course, this was back when the U.S. pavilion wasn’t supposed to be housed in some enormous red-brick federalist-looking building on the other side of the lake. But — rather — an immense futuristically-styled structure that was to have stood (on stilts, no less!) in the Showcase Plaza area. Right inbetween where the “Port of Entry” and “Disney Traders” shops are currently located.
Yeah, that version of World Showcase (as it was envisioned by the Imagineers back in 1977) was to have been decidedly different from the one that we have today. Instead of the “American Adventure” occupying the 12 o’clock position at the very top of World Showcase Lagoon, WED wanted to build an ornate bridge in that spot. One that was to have allowed Epcot visitors to walk past this beautiful fountain, which was supposed to have sprayed water hundreds of feet in the air.
“A fountain? There?!,” you gasp. “But then where would all of the countries have gone?” Well … Sticking with our clock face analogy for a while: If you would have traveled around World Showcase Lagoon — moving from the 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock position — you would have encountered (in this order):
- Italy
- Great Britain
- Sahara / Africa
- France
- Mexico
At the 3’clock position, you would have encountered another bridge. Which was pretty much in the position where you’ll find the bridge that separates Epcot’s France and United Kingdom pavilions today.
Then — moving from the 3’oclock to the 6 o’clock position around World Showcase Lagoon — you would have encountered (in this order):
- Scandanavia
- Israel
- South Korea
- Canada
- Saudi Arabia
At the 6’clock position, we would have found that futuristic-looking U.S. pavilion that I described earlier. Then — moving from the 6 o’clock to the 9 o’clock position — you would have encountered (in this order):
- Morocco
- Costa Rica
- Taiwan
- Australia / New Zealand
- Switzerland
At the 9 o’clock position, Epcot visitors would have found yet another bridge. One quite similar to the one that lies between the China & German pavilion today. Then — moving from the 9 o’clock to the 12 o’clock position — you would have encountered (in this order):
- Holland
- West Germany
- Brazil
- Japan
- Poland
That’s one pretty wild mix of countries, don’t you think? Europe right next to South America, which is then right next to Asia. But you have to understand that this was actually the effect that the Imagineers were originally shooting for. To give Epcot visitors that sharp sense of contrast that can only come when you place several distinctly different types of architecture right next to one another.
“But which one — out of all of the World Showcase pavilions that the Imagineers ultimately didn’t build — do you think was the biggest loss, Jim?,” you query. To be honest, I think I’d have to say that it was actually the smallest structure that WED ever designed for this part of the theme park … The Costa Rica pavilion.
I mean, take a look at this photo of several Imagineers fussing over the model for Epcot’s proposed Costa Rica pavilion.
1980 Walt Disney Productions
Doesn’t the exterior of this proposed pavilion look really great? Like a set for some yet-to-be-filmed “Indiana Jones” film?
“So what would the inside of the Costa Rica pavilion have been like?,” you ask. Here. Let’s let David Baron — the WED executive who actually supervised the development of World Showcase — take you on a brief tour of this show building:
“We feel (that this proposed World Showcase addition will be) a jewel. The architecture is Spanish colonial. We’ve taken the liberty of creating a crystal palace containing tropical gardens of Costa Rica. There’s an orchid show at the entrance. The conservatory covers a third of an acre, it has waterfalls, tropical birds — a very relaxing atmosphere. You’ll exit through a tourism area. There’ll be a snack bar serving seafoods and melons. Leather items, carved wood and that sort of thing will be sold in the craft and merchandise area.”
Mind you, I’m evidently not the only person who thought that the Costa Rica pavilion was really something special. The model that’s depicted in the above photograph was actually stolen out of WED’s model shop back in the early 1980s. Evidently some Imagineer — who was upset to learn that the Costa Rica pavilion had suddenly been pushed back from EPCOT Center’s “Phase I” to “Phase II” (Which meant — in essence — that this attraction was now mostly not going to get built) — decided to protest this decision by stealing the model.
Given the cost of creating a highly detailed model like this, Disney Productions management was (understandably) furious when they learned of the theft. The company launched a full-scale investigation, interviewing dozens of Imagineers. (After all, given the size of this model, it’s highly unlikely that just one man — or woman — could have spirited the thing out of WED’s model shop all by themselves.) But the culprit and/or culprits were never found.
To this day, the model for Epcot’s proposed Costa Rica pavilion remains MIA. Though — to be honest — every so often, I go over to eBay and type in the words “Epcot & Costa Rica.” Just to see what the site’s search function comes up with.
Anyway … I hope this gives you a little better sense of what was supposed to have been where in Epcot, Carla F.
Next up, BestinShow writes in to ask:
Jim —
What do you know about the hotel rooms over at the Contemporary? Weren’t they supposed to be built with this state-of-the-art construction technique where the completed rooms were slid straight into the building’s A frame — like drawers into a dresser?
If that’s really what happened here, Jim, then why haven’t we seen any cranes towering over at the Contemporary whenever that WDW hotel has had a rehab? Wouldn’t it stand to reason that — whenever Disney’s redone that resort — that they should just pulled out the old hotel rooms and replaced them with brand-new rooms?
Just wonderin’,
BestinShow
Dear Bestinshow–
Yeah, that was the plan originally. That — every decade or so — the folks at Walt Disney World would just be able to yank the old rooms out of their slots at the Contemporary and Polynesian Resort Hotels and replace them with brand-new state-of-the-art units.
But then — when Disney & the folks at U.S. Steel (I.E. The corporation who actually built & operated the on-site factory that constructed all of the hotel rooms for the Contemporary and the Polynesian) came up with this innovative construction technique — they forgot to take one rather important thing into account: Central Florida’s incredible humidity. Which is how all of these 1970s-era hotel rooms basically wound up rusting in place inside of their resort’s metal frames.
Thus ended Disney’s experiment in modular construction. Though — truth be told — given the enormous cost over-runs that the company incurred during the construction phase of these two hotels (U.S Steel had originally promised to deliver finished modular hotel rooms to the Disney Corporation for just $17,000 per unit. But — by the time the construction of the Contemporary & the Polynesian had basically been completed — the cost of these finished modular hotel rooms had actually risen to over $100,000 per unit. So is it any wonder that Disney & U.S. Steel eventually had a huge falling-out? With the end result being that the Mouse actually bought out U.S. Steel’s share in the resort and then booted this American manufacturing giant off of the WDW project? Anywho …), I seriously doubt that Disney is ever going to use this particular construction technique again.
And — finally — Michael M. writes in to ask:
Jim —
I don’t get it. Disney World has a monorail system that runs from the Magic Kingdom to Epcot. And yet it only runs buses to Disney-MGM and Animal Kingdom.
Wouldn’t it be less expensive in the long run (and more environmentally sound) for Disney to just extend its pre-existing monorail system to the resort’s two other theme parks as well as Downtown Disney? Not to mention Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Boardwalk resorts and all those water parks?
I mean, not running monorails to WDW’s value resorts … That — I guess — I can understand. But to only have trains that service the Magic Kingdom, its resorts and Epcot just seems like incredibly poor urban planning on Disney’s part.
So what’s really going on here, Jim? Why doesn’t Disney run monorails all over its Central Florida property? Did the company have some sort of falling-out with Alweg? What’s the real story here?
Thanks for agreeing to answer my letter. Please keep up the good work at your site,
Michael M.
Dear Michael M. —
Well, for starters, Alweg didn’t make Walt Disney World’s monorails. That resort’s first set of trains were actually constructed by the Martin Marietta Corporation at that company’s Central Florida production facility.
Now — as to why the monorails don’t run to Disney-MGM, Animal Kingdom et al … Well, it’s the same old story when it comes to the modern Walt Disney Company, Michael M. The projected cost of adding several different monorail lines to the WDW resort eventually proved to be too high.
How high are we talking here, Michael? Well, I’ve seen reports that suggest that it could cost as much as $1 million for every quarter mile of track that was to be added to the pre-existing system. And we’re just talking about track here, folks. Not the new trains that you’d need to ride on Disney World’s expanded monorail system. Not the new stations that you’d have to build at each of the resorts and theme parks on these lines. Not the new personnel that you’d need to hire to drive these trains and/or mann those stations. Or all of the back-of-the-house stuff and/or the annual maintenance involved. Just the track itself. Anyway …
The good news is that all the survey work that’s necessary for Disney World to eventually expand its pre-existing monorail system was actually done back in the early 1990s. And all this info (which includes a monorail line out to Celebration & back as well as an extension of the existing Magic Kingdom / Epcot line to accomodate a 5th WDW theme park) is currently on file at the Team Disney building in Lake Buena Vista. Just waiting for a Disney CEO who isn’t afraid to spend a little (Alright. A lot of) dough to upgrade Disney World’s current transportation system.
So maybe if we all wish and hope … Hey! Speaking of wishes: We actually have a winner in this week’s contest. Where JHM readers had to write in and list exactly how many different characters the Genie played in “Aladdin.”
Well, I’m pleased to report that loyal JHM reader Gregory K. won this week’s contest by putting together this fairly exhaustive listing of the Genie’s characters. In alphabetical order, no less.
According to Mr. K, the Genie’s characters in the original “Aladdin” film include:
Real People
Walter Brennan
William F. Buckley, Jr.
Julius Caesar
Carol Channing
Rodney Dangerfield
Robert De Niro
Elvis
Arsenio Hall
Groucho Marx
Ethel Merman
Jack Nicolson
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Ed Sullivan
Señor Wences (ventriloquist)
Cartoon Characters
Jafar
Pinocchio
Sebastian
Professions
boxing trainer
chef
cheerleadering squad
drum major
fat man
French waiter
Frenchman
flight attendant
game-show host
harem girl
little boy
magician
muscle man
nightclub entertainer
one-man band
pitcher (baseball)
Scotsman
script prompter
stewardess
tailor
teacher
tourist
TV parade hosts
Inanimate Objects
certificate
fireworks rocket
hammock
lampshade
moon
pair of lips
roast turkey
slot machine
submarine
Animals
bee
devil
dragon
goat
pink rabbit
rabbit
Scottish terrier
sheep
tiger
zombie
So — in recognition of all of Gregory’s fine work here — I’ll be sending him a copy of the “Aladdin” screenplay. Just as soon as he forks over his mailing information. So hop to it, Mr. K. !
Anyway … That about does it for this week’s “Why For.” (Mind you, Scott L. over at Mouseketrips.com would love it if I reminded you that there were still some spots available for the JHM Magic Kingdom tours that we’ve got scheduled for this coming Thursday & the Monday-after-next. So — if you’re going to be in Orlando over the next 10 days and would like to hear yours truly tell some seldom-told tales about that theme park — then I suggest that you follow this link and sign up for one of those tours ASAP.)
Beyond that … Even if you’re not in a mood to hear me yammer about the Magic Kingdom, I’d still be pleased if all you JHM readers who’ll be in the Central Florida area next Saturday would drop by the Swan Hotel and check out this year’s Mega-Mouse Meet. I — along with dozens of other Disneyana webmasters — will be attending this once-a-year event. So this event should be a lot of fun.
So — if you’re free next Saturday — be sure to drop by Ballroom Salon 10 at the Swan Hotel and say “Hello.” You won’t be able to miss me. I’ll be the loud man in the loud shirt who’s wearing the extremely large name tag.
That’s it for this week, folks. Have a great weekend, okay?
jrh