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The Epcot Explorer's Encyclopedia

Tag Archives: Future World East

Epcot Pin Central Closes January 13th 2013

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Epcot’s Pin Central in the center of Future World closes on january 13th, 2013, with no set reopening date. The sale location and central tipboard location for the park was the pet project of the forthcoming Walt Disney World President George Kalogridis. During a visit to the Olympics prior to Epcot’s Millennium celebration George saw the pin-trading phenomena in action and decided to bring it to Walt Disney World as part of the event. It became a large enough portion of the planned Millenium Celebration that the dedicated Pin Central was constructed – anchoring the Millennium Circus tarps that fill the Innoventions Plaza courtyard behind Spaceship Earth. The prior 1994 Innoventions rennovation had removed the flanking ponds and greenery while adding the now-removed whirligigs to the courtyard, creating a sea of concrete.  Imagineering felt the Millennium Circus tarps added shading and something of interest to the barren plot of land by 1999.

The exact reason for the closure is unknown. As mentioned, no formal end date is currently announced. Tipboards in Future World East and West will continue to operate and pins can be purchased anywhere.

We’ve included some photos from the 1994 Innoventions installation period to show you what the courtyard looked like with Innoventions but without Pin Central.

1994 1994a june94

Latest Photos of Test Track Construction at Epcot

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Another day, another quick jaunt to Epcot to check out the work on Test Track 2.0 which will open in December.

As you can see in the above photo, the base around the new marquee has been installed and a survey crew is determining the final specifics to install the signage. A bit further back, the curved extension of the main building which will function as the new entrance is beginning to be skinned.  A few more shots from around the area can be found in the gallery below – though there were reports that the installation of the canopy covering artwork had begun – it’s still just a few pieces of tarp attached for apparent visual testing purposes rather than an actual installation of the final look.

Nearby, the snark kiosk out-front of Mission: SPACE has come out from behind refurbishment. It has been re-angled and recessed more into the original Future World East planters suggesting Disney finally decided it was a permanent structure. Also there’s a chance they thought it was blocking the flow of guests to Mission: SPACE. We regret to inform Disney that a snack kiosk sticking out into the walkway is NOT what is keeping guests away from Mission: SPACE.

Epcot’s VISION House to Open Earth Day and New Concept Art

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We’ve gotten word that Epcot’s new VISION House in Innoventions East is scheduled to open in celebration of Earth Day this year. That’s April 22, for the holiday impaired.  We also managed to come across some new concept art showing what the house will look like from the exterior.

Front View (toward Sum of All Thrills and Habit Heroes)

Note the use of greenery and foliage. The tall tree will actually be right near the doorway leading out into Future World East by the Universe of Energy. It will stretch along the wall from the Energy doorway to main East Future World doors. Recently the Environmentality Corner was absorbed by the refurbishment walls – eliminating the last vestige of the old Forest For Our Future exhibit. That exhibit was ironically known for its giant trees, so it’s a bit ironic that the VISION House is re-introducing plant-life to Innoventions.

The new design of the old “house of the future” exhibit is really meant to focus on sustainable living and how that living can be easy and not cost prohibitive – thus an option for the average Joe. The major themes will be whole-home automation, energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor environment quality, security, multi-generational design, and durability.

Side View: (The Chevy Volt will be in the garage by the East exit toward Test Track / Mission: SPACE)

Sponsors who will have products in the house to be showcased include Trane, Nexia, Schlage, Boral, Panasonic, Pella, Armstrong, Kohler, GM, and Siemens. Despite early concepts showing a house free-to-roam the new exhibit is planned to have Innoventions hosts and hostesses giving guided tours.

Major Imagineering office expansion at Epcot

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Often a single permit will fly by our desks and we wont give it a second thought. Either the information doesn’t seem important at the time or we simply can’t make heads or tales of what the information means. In this case, Monday a notice was filed for the Imagineering offices in Epcot located behind Future World East.

This nondescript notice could be for anything at the building, and since it’s for 1365 Avenue of the Stars we knew it was the main building where the currently existing office complex resides. Today’s notice for the installation of a 10-wide trailer complex at 1364 Avenue of the Stars is not. In fact, it’d be directly adjacent to the building.Isn’t that Epcot address reference guide from the Epcot Explorer’s Encyclopedia coming in handy?

Now the question remains, is Epcot gearing up for a large Imagineering project?