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.
On September 9, 2001, the Tapestry of Nations walked its final majestic march along the World Showcase promenade. Though it would later be revived in part as a reworked and truncated Tapestry of Dreams for the 100 Years of Magic celebration the show would never have quite the same dignity and granduer of the original. Today we’re looking back on one of the highlights of the Millennium Celebration festivities as we count down to the Epcot’s 30th anniversary on October 1st. Though the 30th wont be nearly as big of a hoopla as the Millennium, we can hope it provides a point of reflection for some wonderful past celebrations – and maybe even some inspiration for the future. Unfamiliar with what exactly the Millennium Celebration was? Well, we’ve got a quick video primer to help you understand…
The Millennium Celebration was a big push to reinvigorate Epcot and the entire Walt Disney World Resort by the marketing folks at Disney. It was largely very successful in that regard as well. So why was it happening? Wasn’t Epcot just relaunched with the whole Epcot 94 and Epcot 95 rebranding?
Well, that mid-90′s relaunch failed. Miserably failed. Epcot was hurting for attendance and public opinion of the park was in the crapper. To explain, in the early 90′s a consultant advisory panel was assembled and decreed that EPCOT Center not an appropriate venue for the expression of education, educational aspects aspects and “Edutainment” as we know it. “People don’t go to theme parks to learn” this committee declared. This isn’t hearsay, we have proof this consultant group existed, and further that they felt from the start that Epcot should never have tried to educate and inform the general public. It says as much in their paperwork. They are the reason for the “must add thrill rides” push that came in the mid-90′s that lead to the addition of Test Track, the dumbed-down Universe of Energy, as well as the first iteration of Innoventions.
Back to the “Why?” – Innoventions ’94 failed horribly. By 2000 Disney was relaunching the area again. Most of the sponsors had been replaced and many of the attractions within the spaces had been reworked or replaced entirely. Even early articles from 1994 cite Imagineers questioning Eisner’s approach to Innoventions saying they had to modify it from his original vision to suite guests, not corporate culture, but by 2000 these sentiments are even stronger and there is an open admission that the 1994 version was a failure. Sorry, no bones about it, it simply was. Add to that the desired 1997 reopening of Test Track pushed back to 1999 due to technical delays and Epcot really needed a strong push.
Behold, the Tapestry of Nations – something which pulled the focus briskly away from the faltering Future World and toward the evergreen World Showcase and the themes of humanity and inclusion. And so it was.. a glittering puppet show that caused enough crossover (people moving between parks) that it was actually considered detrimental to the Magic Kingdom’s attendance in the afternoon and evenings.
Though it has been a full 11 years since Tapestry of Nations has been shown in Epcot the parade’s theme music is still played and the show still makes appearances during Illuminations on the Earth globe. If you’re not content to relive it through those fleeting moments, feel free to peruse the gallery of archival photos below:
UPDATE 2: D23 is now saying that previous emails sent out saying the World Key Reception in the World Showplace were incorrect, and the event will take place in Future World.
UPDATE: We’ve gotten at least one response that whoever sent that reply via email was mistaken/incorrect and the venue is not World Showplace for World Key’s reception. We’ve not heard a new formal response from D23, which will likely come during business hours.
Original post: This is what people purchased for World Key level tickets for the D23 event at Epcot for the 30th anniversary event:
World Key level admission includes:
• All features of the World Passport admission
• Reserved seating for all presentations
• A special dessert reception at 8 p.m. inside an exclusive Future World lounge
• Exclusive meet-and-greet opportunity with Disney Legends and Epcot luminaries
• Reception will also include screenings of rare film footage of Epcot’s early days
This is the email response sent today to ticket holders asking about the location of the reception:
At this time the World Key reception will be held in the World ShowPlace Pavilion.
There is no stretch of the imagination that makes World Showplace part of Future World. World Key ticket holders were told they were going to get a rare experience and now have been baited and switched to a different venue. If Disney wont refund the tickets over the blatant false advertising, a credit card company should agree that this is a breach of contract and failing to provide the agreed upon services.
Disney tried to disguise its latest attempt to test out offering free Wifi in Epcot for a trial period as a movie tie-in at a children’s play area. But we’re on to you Disney – we’re watching.. always watching…
From June 1-July 8, Epcot will serve as the setting for the Brave – The Highland Games Tournament, a kid-focused offering that will include games like Mini Caber Toss, Cake Toss, Haggis Flip and archery. There will also be a kids’ playground with enhanced free wireless. The tournament will take place on the Rose Walk (right where Future World blends into World Showcase), from 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Disney filed permits today to reinstall the Twinkle Light system in the Crape Myrtle trees in the central hub in front of the Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World resort. This long-forgotten effect has been sorely missed since it removed when several of the larger trees were removed from the hub to allow better viewing of the castle itself during fireworks shows.
We weren’t able to find any good photographs or videos of the old trees at the Magic Kingdom for reference, so Epcot will have to do as a substitute. Here’s the same effect in the trees that line the bridge between Future World and World Showcase:
Disney has issued the following advisory internally to be distributed immediately to it’s Cast Members throughout the Walt Disney World Resort:
Disney and General Motors have renewed their long-term business relationship with a new multi-year strategic alliance agreement that includes a partnership to develop a re-imagined, design-centric Test Track experience. The current GM Test Track at Epcot will close for refurbishment on April 16, 2012, with an anticipated opening of Test Track Presented by Chevrolet scheduled for fall 2012.
The re-imagined Future World attraction will transform into the sleek “Chevrolet Design Studio at Epcot” with interactive design and styling workstations where Guests will be able to create their own custom concept vehicles. Also included will be a “SimCar” ride vehicle experience where Guests can put their design through its paces on the exhilarating hills, switchbacks and straight-aways of the Test Track circuit. Guests will enjoy a post-show area filled with special effects, be scored on how well their custom concept vehicle did and see the latest Chevrolet vehicles in an all-new state-of-the-art showroom.
While Test Track is closed for refurbishment, Guests may enjoy several unadvertised “surprise and delight” offerings, including the following which begin April 16:
The Test Track Allstars travel-themed A Cappella group will be performing daily in the area near the Test Track pavilion.
On a trial basis, Character Spot, Soarin’ and all attractions, merchandise locations and grab-n-go food & beverage offerings in The Land will remain open until 10pm.
Well folks, there’s not a terrible lot of news to report lately.
Ok, strike that – there’s not a terrible lot of news we’re willing to report on lately. We refuse to accept the Disney Cruise Line as a “park” or “resort” and we wont touch Aulani with a twenty-foot pole either. We might cover stuff at Universal Orlando, but that’s really outside of our general scope. Most of the current Walt Disney World resort projects are at a general standstill thanks to Easter crowds with very little in the way of interesting work happening. So, it’s time to look back on the past and on the mounds of research we stare at while working on those books you’re all going to be buying in the future (you do buy the books we write, don’t you? Because if not.. this blog is totally pointless.. )
This week’s theme.. not to imply we’ll do this weekly, or ever again: The Millennium Celebration!
Meylah-weylah! To keep things a bit less nonsensical than the parade theme song lyrics, we’ll divvy this up into chunks. Today we’ll just do a bit of a general overview. Then we’ll tackle Leave a Legacy, the Wand, the Tapestry Parade, Millennium Village (and seriously if you have a map/layout/ground-plan of that building we’d love to see it! email us or link to it!) and finally Reflections of Earth. If we have the willpower we might even discuss the cringe-worthy makeover of the Imagination pavilion.
In searching for some prose to really aptly to describe what the feel of the Millennium Celebration was all about and how the Walt Disney World resort really pulled out all the stops we ran across the following press release from the summer of 2000:
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — New Year’s Eve festivities that welcomed 2000 may be a fast-fading memory to some, but at Walt Disney World Resort, the fun’s just begun.
In a year-long millennium celebration, it’s the spirit of New Year’s Eve every day and night at the Vacation Kingdom.
Now through Jan. 1, 2001, a millennium celebration too big for one night features grand Disney spectacles, show-stopping entertainment, groundbreaking technologies and sights, sounds and tastes from around the globe.
The spectacle, centered at Epcot, takes the theme “Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand.”
In Disney style, a spectacular line-up of daily entertainment dazzles Epcot guests of all ages. “Tapestry of Nations” is a new spectacle for the new millennium featuring larger-than-life figures ablaze in vibrant colors. Soaring nearly 20 feet and controlled by performers dressed in elaborate costumes, these enormous figures (120 in all) dramatically prance, dance and interact with Epcot guests.
To the sounds of an original musical score, the puppet-like figures are joined by 15 gigantic percussion units, designed to resemble colossal timepieces. A global celebration builds as cultures from around the world join together for an unparalleled extravaganza.
This street festival breezes past the global pavilions of World Showcase twice daily. For Disney’s Millennium Celebration, Epcot is also introducing “IllumiNations 2000: Reflections of Earth,” an all-new nighttime spectacular filled with the fiery glow of torches, a high-energy soundtrack, sky-piercing lasers and thunderous fireworks. More than a simple update, the show has been created from scratch, with more than 30 percent more fireworks than any prior Epcot show.
Skies above World Showcase Lagoon transform into a kaleidoscope of colorful pyrotechnic bursts. Comets streak across the sky as video images displayed across a giant sphere tell Earth’s incredible tale. Then, the sphere blossoms like a flower, exposing a brilliant ball of fire and setting up the show’s emotional finale. Dreams of hope for a better tomorrow are cast as the music soars, lasers shoot skyward, fireworks light the night and flames leap across the surface of the lagoon. This breathtaking new show is presented nightly during Disney’s Millennium Celebration.
Dozens of nations and international presenters join in the multicultural festivities at Millennium Village, an all-new World Showcase pavilion created especially for the celebration. Once they enter the attraction, guests become immersed in a collection of exotic smells, sights and sounds from this exciting “new world.” Within its borders are no borders, making it easy for guests to wander freely and discover its rich content including exhibits from 24 countries, the United Nations and World Bank. Guests journey through a Brazilian rainforest, experience first hand the four seasons of Sweden and meet artisans from across the globe.
At the front of the park, Future World welcomes Epcot guests to themes of science and technology.
For the millennium celebration, Disney Imagineers have completely reinvented Innoventions, where guests preview the future of technology today in a showcase of the latest products for the home, work and play.
At the new Future World pavilion, Imagination!, presented by Kodak, guests on Journey Into Your Imagination expand their own imaginations in a ride-through adventure of sights, sounds and senses. Rooms turn upside down and normal turns inside out as guests are challenged to increase their I.Q. — Imagination Quotient.
Guests also can literally leave their mark as a memory of their millennium visit at Leave a Legacy. Their photo is captured on a limited edition commemorative tile, then mounted on one of 30 sculptured granite megaliths near Spaceship Earth. Leave a Legacy tiles can be purchased at one of the five Photo Capture Stations located in the Epcot Entrance Plaza.
Reminiscent of other world-class celebrations, guests can interact with other guests and Disney cast members through pin-trading. Guests can purchase pins at several Walt Disney World locations, including inside each of the four major theme parks and Downtown Disney, or choose to trade pins they’ve brought from home.
Soaring dramatically above the whole scene, Epcot’s Spaceship Earth is crowned with giant, glittering “2000” numerals. Perched on a star-topped wand held by Sorcerer Mickey’s unmistakable gloved hand, the whimsical symbol offers guests a larger-than-life welcome.
“With the international cultures of World Showcase and the technological attractions of Future World, Epcot is the natural setting for an event that draws together all humankind in a celebration of what lies ahead,” said Al Weiss, president of Walt Disney World Resort.
On January 6th of this year a whole bunch of Disney theme park blogs ran the Disney-PR supplied blurb and photo from the Disney parks blog that was carefully crafted to be light on hard details:
Beginning this fall, Epcot guests will be able to enjoy a re-imagined version of the popular Future World attraction, Test Track presented by Chevrolet.
This new version of the attraction will transform the current testing workshop into the sleek “Chevrolet Design Center at Epcot,” where guests can become immersed in the fun – and fast – world of automotive design. Here, guests will become automotive designers and create their own custom vehicles. Next, they’ll buckle into a six-person SimCar ride vehicle and test out their design on the challenging track of the Test Track course.
Afterward, guests can take a fascinating look into the future of transportation by viewing a collection of the latest Chevrolet vehicles in an all-new showroom.
This fun new experience is the result of a renewed, multi-year business relationship between Disney and General Motors, companies that have worked together for more than 30 years.
Oo… aah… exciting right? A little bit of digging and the dates of April 15 – to September 21, 2012, were even established as Disney’s tentative dates for this overhaul. Digging even deeper there was a more formal press release from Disney to their media outlets to be printed and published and cut and pasted and bandied about in all the usual ways. We proudly cut and pasted it here for your viewing pleasure even. The pertinent line of the release states:
Plans call for closing the current GM Test Track in April 2012, with an anticipated opening of Test Track Presented by Chevrolet scheduled for fall 2012.
And… now it’s four days until April and there’s not a peep from either company about the project. There’s not a foot on the ground and no one at the park seems to know anything about the project. Attractions Cast Members staffed at Test Track reportedly haven’t been told of any rescheduling to send them to alternate work locations – and they wouldn’t simply be laid off or fired en mass, there would have to be normal scheduling notice to have them work elsewhere.
No, things seem to be looking bleak for the project on the outside. Inquiries to Disney, GM, and Chevrolet on the matter have been met with non-responses. Odd, considering the timeline they gave technically begins in four days. Further, they actually pulled the press releases from their media website before we began poking our noses around and asking questions even. And it’s not as though that releases is simply old or may have fallen off the listings.. no.. the media and images related to that release is still there, along with the releases from the days before and after, but not the release itself from January 6th… pretty much blantantly meaning Disney hit “delete.”
So, Disney, you wanna fess up and tell everyone wether you intend to close Test Track in April, or not, after you put out a press release stating as much? We sort-of have proof that you did, despite the whole delete thing…
An interesting little bit of paperwork filed today by Disney: New Signs to be installed on all of the walkways between Future World and World Showcase at Epcot.
What are they for? We’re not sure, but two of the three signs are marking the walkways that lead to/from the rarely-utilized Odyssey building complex. The third is on the rose-walk that goes around the side of the Imagination pavilion toward the Canada pavilion.
There had previously been plans to open the Odyssey as an internet cafe with free wifi – which seemed interesting but a bit preposterous considering that Disney at the time charged even their resort guests for internet access in their hotel rooms. But Disney had made that announcement as part of Epcot’s 2011 Food and Wine Festival during the early press releases, and Disney stopped charging to internet at many of their hotels. The internet cafe was later dropped from the Food/Wine schedule due to unknown circumstances, but Disney also vacated the Grand Gatherings from the Odyssey building starting in January – suggesting perhaps a simple schedule conflict needed to be worked out before the internet cafe could open.
The new signs are to be installed by March 2012, which fits a timeline of renovating the interior of the Odyssey for some future use if they start after the Grand Gatherings move out in January.
However, the Rose Walk is about as far removed from the Odyssey as possible – the only real connection the three signs have is that they’re all on the paths to/from Future World and World Showcase. In particular they seemed to be oriented in positions/planters that would be prominently visible from a World Showcase to Future World approach, not vice-versa. The one at the Odyssey itself would be tucked around the side near First Aid and the ones on the main connector bridge is on the World Showcase and Odyssey side in a planter that is blocked by the Kim Possible adventure setup from the Future World side.
We’ve gotten word that the final pieces are being put into place to take Test Track down over the summer, likely just after the Easter crowds are gone. Apparently GM has signed fully onto the deal and it’s not a matter of if the project will go forward, but rather when.
Staff at the attraction are being cross trained to new locations (it has one of the largest staff levels of any single attraction) and maintenance workers have already been informed of a rough timeline for the closure. Full-time and Casual-Regular CM’s normally positioned at other Future World attractions are also being asked to take on additional shifts at Test Track as the current round of College Program CM’s are phased out.
Curious about what may come? Here’s our original blog post from a few weeks ago:
Latest from the rumor mill: General Motors is ready to ink a deal to sponsor their Epcot pavilion for a further 10 years until 2022. As part of the deal the Test Track attraction would essentially be gutted, leaving only the ride path and vehicles chassis in place.Other areas of the pavilion would also be completely redone as they were during the transition from World of Motion to Test Track.
The new ride-thru attraction that Disney is in talks with GM to fund would involve new vehicle bodies for the Test Track vehicles designed not by Imagineering but rather GM’s own design, research, and development unit. Upgraded interiors and new electronics and show elements (screens, etc..) would be the fruit of this collaboration. For the ride scenes the pavilion would become a sort of hybrid version of the original World of Motion and the current Test Track attraction, detailing vehicle design, production, fabrication, and testing with a nod toward its history and the future. Apparently currently iterations of the design have a distinctly forward-looking emphasis with grand splashes of futurism to boot.
Final details are being worked out between the companies before any formal announcement is going to be made. This information is subject to change. Two timelines for a possible closure of the attraction have been discussed, starting in either January or April. As always, the full history of the Transportation pavilion at Epcot, including its conceptual origins as a two-ride attraction with both a high-speed test track and a history ride-thru, can be found in the Epcot Explorer’s Enyclopedia.
