Why For did Epcot’s Future World not turn out as WED had originally planned?

Jim Hill

13 years ago

Epcot Enthusiast wrote in this week to say:

I saw a Tweet today that said that you and Len Testa were
touring Future World and World Showcase recording stories for a new "Unofficial
Guide Disney Dish with Jim Hill" podcast. Epcot is my very favorite WDW theme
park. Could you please share some stories about rides and attractions that were
planned but not built at that theme park?

Dear Epcot Enthusiast,

To be honest, it's kind of hard to know where to begin with
EPCOT Center. There are so many strange & bizarre stories associated with
the development & construction of this futuristic theme park.

Take – for example – how EPCOT Center was initially supposed
to be built much closer to World Drive. With the idea being that you were
literally supposed to be able to see Spaceship Earth looming up over the trees
as you drove past towards The Magic Kingdom.

Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.

"So why did these plans change?," you ask. During the initial site survey work of this
project, a colony of Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers was found to be nesting right on
the spot where – ironically enough — EPCOT Center's "The Land" pavilion was originally
supposed to be built.

And since continuing with development of this particular piece
of Walt Disney World property would have then disturbed this endangered
species, the Imagineers opted to shift EPCOT Center's construction site over 300
feet to the East. Which was great for the Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers, but kind of
screwed up WED's plans for Spaceship Earth to be dramatically revealed while
driving up World Drive.

"But why didn't Disney just relocated these birds?," you
ask. Well, you have to keep in mind that this was/is a federally-protected
species. So it's not like the Mouse really had any options in this particular
situation. More to the point, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wasn't
entirely sure (at that time, anyway) that Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers could actually
be relocated.

A naturalist at the Disney
Wilderness Preserve places a Red-Cockaded
Woodpecker in its new home

But times changes. And in the Fall of 2008, five pairs of
Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers were successfully moved from Florida's Apalachicola
National Forest to the Disney Wilderness Preserve in Kissimmee. And these birds seem to have really taken to their
new 12,000-acre home. At last count (which was done back in October of 2010),
this Red-Cockaded Woodpecker colony had grown from just 10 birds to 30.

So who knows: If this particular relocation technique had
existed back in the late 1970s (More to the point, if the Feds had be willing
to sign off on the idea of Mickey moving an entire colony of endangered birds),
EPCOT Center would have probably had a slightly different layout. At the very
least, "The Land" pavilion in Future World would have been built in a different
spot.

And speaking of "The Land" … Thanks to "Soarin'," this
Future World pavilion is quite popular with modern-day Epcot visitors. But this
wasn't actually the sort of structure that the Imagineers had originally
planned on building in this part of that theme park.

What WED had originally wanted to fo with "The Land" was
construct this pavilion which was made up of seven massive crystalline
structures. And each of these giant crystal-like chambers was to have housed a
different habitat from the Earth. We're talking snow-covered peaks, the burning
desert, even the lush greenery of the rainforest.

Mind you, only five of these chambers were to have held natural
environments. The other two would have been agricultural and urban
environments. And it was in both of these parts of the show building that the
Imagineers were looking to hammer home the basic premise of this Future World
pavilion:

The Land Pavilion will graphically illustrate man's role as
the "protector" of this finite resource, as well as his alternatives and
choices in maintaining, and even enhancing, the delicate balance within the
natural environment. Through a variety of exciting and informative shows and
experiences, guests will be introduced to the basic concepts essential for
understanding the need for harmony between man and his home on "The Land."

That's how this Future World pavilion was described in Walt
Disney Productions' 1977 annual report. And as for the rides & the shows
that the Imagineers had in the works for this version of "The Land" back then …
Well, this pavilion's signature attraction was to have been "The Blueprints of
Nature." Where Epcot visitors were to have boarded this balloon and suddenly found
themselves caught up in a fierce snowstorm high up in the mountains.

As these Guests rode along in their balloon, they were to
have followed along as this snow became water and then flowed through the other
six of "The Land" 's natural habitats. As they floated along in their balloon observing
this water from above, these WDW visitors were to be introduced to the four
basic components of Nature's Blueprints (i.e. the snowflakes of Winter, the
germinating seeds of Spring, the flowers of Summer and the leaves of Fall). And
as the water reached the desert habitat and then evaporated, the Guests (aboard
their balloon, of course) were to have followed this water vapor high into the
atmosphere. Where it then was to have reformed as snow.

You get the idea, right? The never-ending cycle of Nature.
How we are all interconnected. More importantly, how fragile our ecosystem
actually is. Which is why man must do everything he can to preserve the balance
of nature. Make sure that this cycle is never interrupted.

Which was a great message for when "The Land" was supposed
to be sponsored by a lumber company (which wanted Disney to help get across the
message that they were doing everything they could – i.e. replanting forests
after they had harvested all of the trees – to be an environmentally responsible
corporation). But when that would-be Epcot sponsor dropped out and Kraft Foods
then offered to underwrite the construction of this Future World pavilion …
Well, the central story, the underlying message, even the overall look of "The
Land" now had to be radically reworked.

Even so, given all of the architectural work that had
already gone into the creation of this giant crystalline-structure version that
was to have housed this proposed Future World pavilion, the Imagineers didn't
want to totally abandon this design idea. Which is why Epcot's Journey into Imagination
wound up being housed inside of a crystal-shaped show building.

More to the point, given all of the time & effort that
WED had put into designing those seven carefully interconnected natural
habitats that were to have been the heart of the original version of Epcot's "The
Land" pavilion … Well, this wasn't a concept that Dr. Henry Robitaille was
willing to walk away from.

Biosphere 2

For those of you who aren't familiar with Henry's work, Dr.
Robitaille is known worldwide for his contributions to the science of
hydroponics. Dr. Robitaille worked for 20 years on the Epcot project. And if
you're ever floated through "Living with the Land," you've already seen a lot
of Henry's cutting-edge work (EX: soil-less growing technologies) on display in
this Future World pavilion.

Well, Henry genuinely believed that there was something to
WED's original idea for "The Land" (i.e. creating seven interconnected natural
habitats to then demonstrate how the Earth's ecosystem actually worked together).
Which is why – in the late 1980s – Dr. Robitaille agreed to become a consultant
on the Biosphere 2 project.

For those who don't remember this quirky scientific experiment,
Biosphere 2 was this massive glass greenhouse that was built in the Santa
Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, AZ. Built by Space Biosphere Ventures (a
company that received much of its funding from Texas multimillionaire Edward P.
Bass. Whose family – at one time, anyway – used to own almost a quarter of The
Walt Disney Company), this artificially closed-off complete ecosystem was
initially thought to be a dry run for man building a colony on Mars.

Sadly, personality conflicts and flaws in this enormous enclosed
ecosystem eventually derailed the Biosphere 2 project. Today, this massive
structure is being used by the University of Arizona as an environmental lab.

And speaking of space travel … Perhaps the greatest loss to
the early, early version of Epcot Center was the Space Pavilion. Which – based
on the description of this proposed Future World pavilion which can be found in
Walt Disney Production's 1977 annual report – sounds like it would have been
something truly extraordinary.

Space – a huge, interstellar "Space Vehicle" will transport
passengers to the outer frontiers of the universe, highlighting man's efforts
to reach out for the stars around him … from the early pioneers who looked and
wondered … to modern-day space travelers and their triumphs … to the challenges
and possibilities of future space technologies and exploration.

"And how exactly would this Future World pavilion have
worked?," you ask. The key to pulling off Space's central illusion – that you and
several hundred other Epcot visitors were actually aboard this massive vehicle
that was hurtling through the cosmos – was the Omnimax Sphere. Which was to have
filled this Future World pavilion's many "windows" (i.e. projection screens)
with this moving-in-perfect-sync starfields.

This — coupled with the sleek space vehicle that three-time
Academy Award-winning production designer John De Cuir Sr. had drawn up as well
as the inspired script that sci-fi pioneer Ray Bradbury had written for this proposed
theme park attraction – would have made this version of Future World's "Space"
pavilion a must-see for all Epcot visitors.

"So why wasn't this version of the 'Space' pavilion ever
built?," you ask. For the same reason that many of the rides, shows &
attractions that were initially proposed for Future World & World Showcase never
made it off the drawing board. Because Walt Disney Productions executives had a
lot of trouble lining up sponsors for EPCOT Center. Mainly because many
countries & corporations just couldn't see the long-term benefit of being
associated with this forward-looking theme park.

John De Cuir Sr. and Ray Bradbury
examine the model for the show car which was to
have been used in the original
version of Epcot's "Space" pavilion.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All
rights reserved

Plus there were mechanical issues with the original version
of Epcot's "Space" pavilion. To be specific, the Imagineers couldn't figure out
an affordable way to make the enormous theater car (which served as the central
ride vehicle for this Future World attraction) feel as though it were actually floating
in space. Which was one of the key emotional beats that Bradbury had included
in his show script. That Epcot visitors – even if it was only for just a moment
– had to experience what it felt like to be in zero gravity.

Mind you, it wasn't 'til some 25 years later — when the
Imagineers came across that centrifuge-based technology which currently powers
Epcot's "Mission: SPACE" attraction — that they actually found a way to give WDW
visitors what Ray had been asking for (i.e. the chance to feel what it's like
to float in space). But WDI did eventually make this happen. Albiet in a very different
form than what De Cuir Sr. and Bradbury had originally proposed.

This has actually happened quite a bit over the course of the
Walt Disney Company's history. The Imagineers come up with a genuinely great
concept from a new ride, show or attractions for the Parks … but then have
absolutely no clue as how they'd pull off a particular effect, build the cost-effective
/ easy-to-operate-and-repair ride system that's necessary to pull off this show concept.

Take – for example – the "Incredible Journey Within" ride
that was supposed to be the marquee attraction at Epcot's Life & Health
Pavilion. Guests were to have boarded super-sized blood cells and then traveled
through a realistic representation of the human circulatory system,
witnessing " … the inner workings of the fascinating, complex human machine" as
they rode through this Future World show.

The only problem was … The Imagineers had absolutely no clue
how they were going to create a 35 foot-tall working heart value. One that
would flex & pulse continuously for 12 hours a day, seven days a week as
each blood-cell-full-of-WDW-visitors then moved through that particular show
scene in "The Incredible Journey Within."

Which is why it was almost a kindness that it took the Walt
Disney Company so long to find a sponsor for Epcot's "Wonders of Life"
pavilion. By then, the Imagineers had come up with that simulator-based technology
which is used to power "Star Tours." Which made it that much easier to create a
ride film that took Guests on a trip through the human body, rather than
building the enormous & elaborately themed physical sets that would have
been necessary to properly pull off the "Incredible Journey Within" ride.

An early model for Epcot's Life and Pavilion.
Please note – that as you look to the back of
this photo – you can see some of
the sets which would have been built for Future
World's "The Incredible Journey
Within" ride. Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

Now I know that it sometimes depresses Disneyana fans to
read these what-might-have-been articles, hearing about all of these great rides,
shows and attractions that didn't quite make it off of WDI's drawing boards.
Well, at least you're not as disappointed as then-President Jimmy Carter must
have been when he finally got to visit EPCOT Center.

You see, back on October 2, 1978, Card Walker – the then-President
and Chief Executive Officer of Walt Disney Productions – announced that the
Company had decided to definitely move forward with its plans to build EPCOT
Center. And at the 26^th World Congress of the International Chamber
of Commerce meeting (which was held that year at Walt Disney World), Walker actually
unveiled Disney's plans for Future World and World Showcase.

So as President Carter and his wife Rosalynn wandered
through that gallery of concept art that the Imagineers had set up in the
convention center at Disney's Contemporary Resort Hotel, they got to see
extremely cool things like the magic carpet ride that was proposed for World
Showcase's United Arab Emirates pavilion. Which was to have sent Guests flying
past scenes straight out of "A Thousand and One Arabian Nights," not to mention
soaring over sequences which were to have showcased what the modern Arab world
was actually like.

And did I mention this magic carpet ride was supposed to
have made use of that mist curtain / project system that Imagineers eventually
installed in "Pirates of the Caribbean" as a way to bring Davy Jones and
Blackbeard into that popular theme park ride? Or that this attraction at Epcot's
United Arab Emirates pavilion was to have featured a Disney-created genie
character that would have predated the one that Robin Williams voiced in "Aladdin"
by more than 10 years?

But the story of the United Arab Emirates' magic carpet ride
will have to wait for a future Why For column. Sorry to be such a tease here.
But this week's story is already 'way too long.

Anyway … That's it for this week. Here's hoping that you
folks have a great Columbus Day Weekend. And in the meantime, remember that –
if you have a Disney-related question that you'd like to see answered in a
future Why For column – you need to send those queries along to whyfor@jimhillmedia.com.

Your thoughts?