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.
