Originally Posted By ExpDave Walt's EPCOT was NOT a theme park filled with attractions, it was to be a city filled with residents who worked at Disney World. True it did have a 30+ story hotel in the center surrounded by an internationally themed shopping district similar to World Showcase today. But he originally didn't even want to build a theme park in Florida. Walt didn't like duplicating himself. (Too bad Disney exc's today don't feel that way!) Walt only consented to MK as a way to finance his dream city of the future.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper I honestly thank heaven that EPCOT was never built the way Walt intended. It would have bankrupted the company.
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer >>>Hard to pull off though. People don't want to be preached to when their on a very expensive vacation. If they want to get that they can go to their local Church, Synagogue or Mosque or watch the History Channel. I think you can get away with a little of that in an attraction or 2, but it wouldn't work on a large scale. Where would the Pixie Dust, and Magic be.<<< They do it quite well in LwtL, AA (sorta) and SSE. It can easily be done in UoE, as it is now. It just needs updating.
Originally Posted By ExpDave /\ No way to know that for certain but I will agree that it is possible, it could have been Walt's folly. But it is still a fascinating concept and holds many ideas for city and transportation planning that could be very beneficial to apply today.
Originally Posted By ExpDave BTW, if some people here don't know the difference between Walt's vision of EPCOT and what was built, there is a very good web site about it at the-original-epcot.com I haven't read the whole site myself yet, but it is very interesting. It is there that I learned that only Disney employees could have lived there. I didn't remember that. Also anyone who has ridden the People Mover (I'm glad they brought that name back) in TL has gone past Walt's model of it.
Originally Posted By MPierce >> I honestly thank heaven that EPCOT was never built the way Walt intended. It would have bankrupted the company. << I agree Skipper. In theory it sounds very utopian. In practice I think it would have become a finacial disaster.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom I have a few suggestion on how WDW could be greener. Geothermal heating and cooling for everything, resorts and parks. Biodiesel, expand the monorail system, expand photovoltaic usage, windmill usage, and super insulate everything. EPCOT can remain exactly how it is..... and still become "greener". This should be a very exciting topic.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Also ExpDave.... you might be thinking kinda small, why make one park "green" when the goal should be the entire property, resorts and parks be green.
Originally Posted By ExpDave I was not saying anything about making one park green, my posts are nothing about making ANY of the existing theme parks or resorts greener (although it is of course a great idea that I like) or building a new theme park or green resorts, DVC's, etc. also all very good ideas. Walt's plan did call for a resort tower/convention center as the central icon, so that's a given. Including DVC in it would be great too, giving more people a taste of a greener future if only for a few days at a time. My posts are about the idea of reviving Walt's original dream of building not a theme park, but an actual city of the future. But to revive that idea to showcase green technologies and living. It would NOT be a theme park AT ALL. It would be a city (or town) where many cast members at WDW would live. It should also include an industrial park featuring innovative green companies and technologies. With the Disney guests being able to see what they and the city are doing. Hopefully many members of the public would be interested in seeing this development (I know I would) and learning from it. I think Disney could fulfill the EPCOT dream of its founder in a green way and showcase green living in a way few, if any other, companies today can. Would it be a financial success? Would it bankrupt the company now or back when Walt dreamed of it? I don't know, but other companies have done very well building planned communities. I think Disney did alright itself with Celebration. (It's not EPCOT but I do like it and respect much of what they did there, even if they did sell it off.) The US military and other businesses have built company towns without suffering financial ruin. How interested would most guests to WDW be in it. I don't know, I enjoy visiting Celebration, but most guests probably don't even know it's there. I've talked with many people who had no idea Celebration was there. Far fewer know that the "City" of Bay Lake with a handful or so of residents (carefully selected by Disney) is on Disney property. True Green-COT would be different with a monorail running through the center of it. But my guess is the biggest impact wouldn't come from the average WDW guest. But it would come from guests who ARE interested, and from planners, developers, businesses, science, etc., etc. It could have a huge positive impact even if the average guest to WDW never stepped inside it. For decades Disney has been doing some innovative green things back stage. This could bring much of that and more on stage. I'd love that, but then Living with the Land is buy FAR my favorite part of Epcot's FW. Even if most guests weren't interested, enough would be to make a difference.
