Originally Posted By brotherdave Someone forwarded me this link of some great old video of the opening of EPCOT Center from the Today Show. Seeing this footage sure reminds me how great EPCOT Center's original scope and vision was! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz2A9jyX_pU&mode=related&search=" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =Iz2A9jyX_pU&mode=related&search=</a>
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Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 I don't need to see the footage. I was there on opening day ...Disney-MGM Studios as well. DAK I missed by a week! And I have seen nothing built (at least in the USA) that can match the quality, size and scope of EPCOT Center. DAK in its original form could have possibly.
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 That was cool dave thanks for bringing us back to the day Epcot opened.
Originally Posted By Boardwalkbum There is a whole bunch of really good quality ads & promo pieces floatin' around that site produced by both Disney as well as others. Worth spending some time looking. The 1971 ad for WDW is particularly cool.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I really like how the video just has an exciting feel to it. You can really tell that every one involved with Epcot Center was really passionate about it. Now it is just sort of a blah mix of random stuff. I also find it interesting that they encourage one generation draggin the other places, as Disney parks were supposed to be designed to let the generations have fun together. I guess that ideal left long before the internet discussion boards started complaining about things.
Originally Posted By brotherdave ^^You'll notice that I correctly posted it as EPCOT Center in the heading! To me, nothing will surpass the EPCOT Center of 1982 to about 1993. Although the park still has some of it's majesty left, a good deal of it has been removed. Thankfully, World Showcase has remained relatively faithful to it's original self. Unfortunately, Future World has seemed to lost it's way, for the most part. At least Spaceship Earth is still there (just get rid of the Wand and the tombstones out front). Aside from "Living with the Land" (although I miss the original "Listen to the Land" song), parts of Universe of Energy, and the aquarium portions of the Living Seas, not much of Future World from the 1980s remains. Pity. It was sooooo inspiring!
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<Now it is just sort of a blah mix of random stuff. >> Good way of putting it. The pavilions still look great from the outside because they were designed to be timeless. But inside, the only one that has really stayed true to itself and IMPROVED would be The Land. I'm thinking The Seas with Nemo will get people in there again, and I'll enjoy it but not as much as the original. Imagination is a mess. Can't wait to see version 4.0. The wand and cemetary at the entrance show how misplaced and misguided the Imagineers were ... and the stones were supposedly a brainchild of John Hench, but I find that hard to be believed ... more likely he was told to head up something that would make money for the park (like the stones) and he picked the lesser of evils. I don't even want to address TT and MS because I've done so way too much. World Showcase certainly has fared better over the years. No doubt about it, even with no significant addition since 1988. Although it still has seen a dumbing down in shopping and dining and characters shoved everywhere. But it's soul is still the same.
Originally Posted By brotherdave >>The 1971 ad for WDW is particularly cool.<< Here's a link to it: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wTcH49N-8A" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =9wTcH49N-8A</a> A little 'bizarre', but indeed, very cool! It's also cool to hear Orson Welles doing the voice-over!
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>I don't need to see the footage. I was there on opening day ...Disney-MGM Studios as well. DAK I missed by a week!<< Me too, and for MGM's and DAK's official openings as well. I was standingin line around 7am and Willard Scott was doing live segments just a few feet away from us.. I'll have to check this video to see if I can myself on it... Hehehe!!! Oh the memories of the times when Disney celebrated these things with the public in attendance, and not just for the press folks. *sighs*
Originally Posted By TDLFAN OMG! I just caught the Eastern Airlines ad.. <---runs away sobbing uncontrollably.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN OMG!! I just saw the Today short... The Kitchen Kabaret, the original costumes, a clean Main Street shot, the Tencennial Parade, "you won't see the beloved characters at EPCOT..", and Jane reminding Disney they can't grow money on trees... FABULOUS look back albeit too too short ... <---runs away again to cry his heart out for missing the old WDW so much.
Originally Posted By brotherdave I'm bumping this topic up in honor of WDW's and Magic Kingdom's 35th and EPCOT Center's 24th anniversaries! It's worth watching these videos to remember how these parks got their starts...
Originally Posted By avromark BTW, youtube is a treasuretrove of old videos Disney and otherwise, I downloaded this off of youtube awhile back. I love flash player You can find all sorts of stuff, some of it removed for obvious reasons (ie copyright, leaking) others by the poster. This definately surpassed the 80's Wendy's training rap video. Ride throughs, etc, I like the Vintage 8mm Disneyland videos I found as well are cool.
