The Disney Difference: "May EPCOT Center entertain, inform and inspire; and above all, may it instill a new sense of belief and pride in man's ability to shape a world that offers hope to people everywhere in the world."

Welcome to Epcot (Center)!

Epcot Center (now Epcot) opened on October 1, 1982. This park has a history that begins long before the actual park opened, way back in the 1960s when Walt Disney was planning his "Florida Project". Basically, Walt wanted to create a theme park and a Utopian City in Central Florida. The Magic Kingdom would be his theme park, and EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) would be his Utopian city. His original vision was for a model community, home to twenty thousand residents. It was to have been built in the shape of a circle, with businesses and commercial areas at its center, community buildings, schools, and recreational complexes around it, and residential neighborhoods along the perimeter.

However, after Walt died in 1966, his plans for EPCOT were scrapped. The Magic Kingdom was built, and eventually Epcot Center. It was not a Utopian city, but another theme park. In order to keep Walt's original vision alive, the Imagineers created this park to focus on the future and the world. That's why the two sections of the park are called Future World and World Showcase.

Here's a complete walkthrough video of the entire park.

Future World:

Future World is, you guessed it, dedicated to the future. When the park first opened, there were pavilions representing agriculture, innovations, transportation, imagination, future living, communication, energy, the sea, and the human body. That was Future World's main theme; to provide new technology and a view into what the future may be like. However, Future World has seen a lot of changes. Three of these pavilions have been completely demolished and replaced, and six have been altered. Not one of the pavilions is the same as it was opening day, which is an inevitable side effect of having a section based on the future. However, it is my humble opinion that Epcot lost it's sense of being when it lost it's original name. Not to say that the park isn't good, but it definitely is not what it used to be, and it definitely has lost some of it's sense of being.

The current pavilions include:

Spaceship Earth

This ride is actually inside of the Epcot "ball". It focuses on how communication has changed over time. This ride has been updated over the years to include more modern communication, but it has stayed relatively the same.

Mission: Space

Mission: Space replaced Horizons (top) in 1999, which was an optimistic view of what future living would be like. Mission: Space (bottom) focuses on space expedition, and is a motion simulator that simulates what it would be like to go into space, complete with G-force spinning and your own space pod.

Innoventions
Innoventions (formerly called Communicore) is a large exhibit that focuses on innovations and new technology. It's basically a huge interactive area full of brand new technology for you to explore.

Universe of Energy

The Universe of Energy has not seen any external changes over the years, but the show inside has. When it first opened, the ride took you back to the age of dinosaurs to explore where fossil fuel came from. Today, Ellen Degeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy go along with you.

Test Track

Test track (right) replaced the World of Motion pavilion (left) in 1996. Both focused on transportation, but World of Motion was about how transportation has evolved and Test Track is about how cars are made and tested.

The Seas with Nemo and Friends

The Seas with Nemo and Friends replaced The Living Seas (left) in 2006. Most of the changes that were made included adding Finding Nemo characters to the pavilion. Both focused on the oceans, sea life, and conservation, but now the entire pavilion is themed to Finding Nemo.

The Land

The Land is a large pavilion focusing on agriculture and the environment. While not undergoing many external changes, The Land has seen many internal changes. New restaurants, a hang gliding flight simulator ride called Soarin', and a boat ride called Living with the Land are just a few of the changes this pavilion has seen.

The Imagination Pavilion

Imagination has not seen any external changes, but the ride inside currently called Journey Into Imagination with Figment has changed three different times, and the interactive exhibit called Image Works has been indefinitely closed.

Wonders of Life

Wonders of Life was a pavilion focused on the human body. It included two rides, three shows, a restaurant, and an interactive exhibit. It was closed in 2006, and has been completely gutted and is no longer open to the public. It is sometimes used for seasonal events such as the Epcot International Food & Wine festival and the Epcot Flower and Garden festival.

World Showcase

World Showcase is the other half of Epcot. It is reminiscent to a World's Fair, and has eleven pavilions to represent eleven different countries. Most every country includes a restaurant, a shop, and some type of entertainment like a ride or show. I won't go into as much detail as I did with Future World, because the World Showcase pavilions are relatively the same except for the countries they represent.