Let’s pull another old newsletter out of the Tickle Trunk and look at a very exciting time in the history of Walt Disney World! The October 1982 issue describes the newest theme park, EPCOT Center which opened that month.

Look, there’s even color on the front page . . . and it’s just buzzing with good words about all the new attractions. What sort of spin did the Disney marketing experts put on the newest park? The image above is small and hard to read so I’m going to quote all three of those front page articles for you. I know you won’t want to miss a single word!

Epcot Center: The Newest Wonder of the World
Twice the size of the Magic Kingdom and just under one billion dollars in the making, Epcot Center at last opens its wonders to the world this month.

After 15 years of planning, dreaming, and doing, the World’s greatest adventure is ready: Walt Disney World Epcot Center.

Within this showplace of imagination, just 2 1/2 miles from the Magic Kingdom, adventures never before possible have been brought to life through the marvelous wizardry of Disney Imagineering. Epcot Center is as far advanced from the Magic Kingdom as the Magic Kingdom is from the old-fashioned amusement park.

Imagine time-traveling from the era of the dinosaurs to the age of the stars. Discovering the secrets of a Mayan pyramid. Dining beneath the Eiffel Tower. Spiraling through the universe inside an 18-story sphere. And discovering the wonders of 15 fantastic pavilions, each more incredible than the one before.

Epcot Center encompasses two distinct dimensions: Future World and World Showcase, each unique in theme and style. Future World celebrates the limitless potential of science, industry, and technology in helping to create a positive and viable world of tomorrow. World Showcase salutes the global community of nations joined in international fellowship. Together they invite people of all ages to become “Epcot travelers” bound on journeys as fantastic as Gulliver’s and as futuristic as our dreams for better tomorrows.

Wow ” that does sound exciting, doesn’t it!

Around the World in One Day
It would take a lifetime of vacations to explore the diverse countries of the world, discovering within each its own special ambience, charm and mystique. For most people, such adventure lives only in a dream. For travelers to Epcot Center’s World Showcase, it is a dream come true.

Here, amidst nations standing in friendship beside a broad lagoon, you’ll live in one day what only weeks of world travel could surpass. You’ll follow the roads leading to Rome. Lunch in a Bavarian Biergarten during Oktoberfest. Explore the interior of a Mayan pyramid. Cross the vast expanse of Canada and the Great Wall of China. Dine in gourmet splendor under a moonlit Eiffel Tower. Join Ben Franklin and Mark Twain for a soaring historical overview of America and her promising future. And more.

In World Showcase, Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany are brought to life through the creative magic that is the hallmark of Disney showmanship. Central among these nations stands the American Adventure, its position reinforcing America’s uniqueness as a “nation of many nations.” In a theatrical production unparalleled in Disney annals, the American Adventure combines large-screen projection, inspiring music and special effects with performances by the most lifelike Audio-Animatronics figures ever developed.

East and west of the American Adventure, along the promenade, you’ll discover other exciting shows and attractions, plus restaurants and shops unique to each nation. Dine at Les Chefs de France and savor the gastronomic masterpieces of superstar chefs Paul Bocuse, Roger Verge, and Gaston Lenotre. Or dine as the Romans do ” at L’Originale Alfredo Di Roma, where singing waiters serve such epicurean delights as the Maestro’s own Fettuccine All’Alfredo. In Mexico, you’ll enjoy the famed cuisine of Mexico City’s incomparable San Angel Inn. In Japan’s Mitsukoshi Restaurant, watch Japanese master chefs create culinary magic in spellbinding tableside presentations.

Wherever you go, World Showcase is alive with entertainment. Hundreds of performers – from Tyrolean yodelers to strolling troubadours – will keep you amused and enchanted. From France come white-faced mimes and street musicians … from Italy, the farcical players of the Comedia Dell’Arte.

At the United Kingdom, you’ll meet the Pearly Kings and Queens. From Japan, a Candy Man magically creates herons and unicorns from his treasure-trove of rice toffee. And Mariachi players serenade you at the cantina in Mexico.

In Canada and China, Circle-Vision cameras take you on a magic carpet ride through some of the most spectacular scenery ever filmed. At the Palais du Cinema, you’ll journey to France’s most famous locales accompanied by the music of its finest composers. In Mexico, you’ll embark on a boat ride through Mexico’s colorful past, discovering along the way the festival and dance of the great Mayan, Toltec, and Aztec civilizations.

Even shopping becomes its own form of entertainment. You’ll find an extraordinary number of boutiques, like the biscuit, toy, and china shops of the United Kingdom and the Neapolitan leather and pottery shops of Italy. Japan’s Grand Shishinden Hall houses a department store by the internationally-celebrated Mitsukoshi – a name synonymous with the finest in Japanese art and industry since 1672. Numerous artisans present their wares as well: The Hummel craftsmen of Germany, the Northwest Indians of Canada, calligraphers from China and Japan – and a World Showcase of other surprises.

Whether out for a stroll in the meditative Japanese garden or caught up in the merriment of Germany’s Biergarten, you’ll meet people whose native countries form the World Showcase community. Working together in a true family of man, these young adults are the binding spirit of Epcot Center – a spirit that calls for international fellowship for the present world and the future world ahead.

From my very first trip to EPCOT to my most recent, I have always enjoyed strolling around World Showcase. The architecture, the cast members, the music, the entertainers, they all impart just a bit of their foreign culture. It really does feel as though you have stepped into each of those countries. Today there are special events such as the Food & Wine Festival and the Flower & Garden Festival which add to the fun!

Imagineering the future
In Future World, the first of two colossal showplaces that make up Epcot Center, Disney Imagineers have taken some potentially dry subjects, such as energy, communications, transportation, invention, and agriculture, and turned them into shows so thoroughly entertaining that visitors will be inspired to learn more. Walt Disney’s maxim “I would rather entertain and hope that it teaches than teach and hope that it entertains” has never been more skillfully executed.

Each Future World show, of which there are presently five with more to come, combines a multitude of theatrical and motion picture techniques – some so far advanced of their field that they defy description. Yet the end result is overwhelmingly enchanting.

Spaceship Earth, presented by the Bell System. Epcot Center’s glistening geosphere, Spaceship Earth, is the gateway to Future World. Towering 18 stories, it is the only structure of its kind anywhere. Inside, guests embark on a spiraling time Journey tracing the 40,000-year evolution of communication. The message – that man’s ability to communicate, to metaphorically write the charts for navigating Spaceship Earth, has insured his survival. From the past, guests are suddenly propelled into the future, where they find themselves in an incredibly beautiful simulation of outer space, gazing back at Earth among a thousand stars.

Universe of Energy, presented by Exxon. The 300-foot-long mirrored pavilion, whose solar panels help power the show’s ride, presents an energy story as dazzling and as captivating as the building itself. Guests journey through an exquisitely detailed re-creation of a prehistoric jungle. And they witness such startling motion pictures as one projected on a mosaic screen with hundreds of constantly rotating surfaces.

World of Motion, presented by General Motors. The wheel-shaped World of Motion employs Future World’s largest and most colorful cast of Audio-Animatronics characters to chronicle man’s age-old quest for ever-accelerating mobility. It’s zany entertainment at its best. After the show, guests may visit the GM Transcenter for an intriguing look at concepts of the present and future of transportation.

Journey Into Imagination, presented by Kodak. The fantasyland of Future World, Journey Into Imagination takes visitors beyond the products of creativity for a fantastic Journey through the creative process itself. Then in a fun-packed electronic factory called Image Works, guests get to unlock their own creativity. The grand finale, in the Magic Eye Theatre, presents the largest ” and perhaps most captivating ” three-dimensional motion picture ever produced.

The Land, presented by Kraft. Covering six acres, The Land houses a boat ride through various climates of the world; greenhouses where plants grow in midair; a lively “Kitchen Kabaret” musical review; a provocative cinematic presentation; a “Farmers Market” for sandwiches and snacks; and the “Good Turn,” a unique revolving restaurant specializing in regional dishes from across America.

Epcot Computer Central, presented by Sperry. Located among an inviting cluster of buildings known as CommuniCore, this exhibit brings people and technology together with an up-close and entertaining look at the computers that help run Walt Disney World and put more than a thousand Audio-Animatronics performers through their paces.

How does Disney do it? They entertain us so well, but they educate us at the same time. They make learning a fun experience! Nowhere is this more evident than it is in Future World. The trip through Spaceship earth shows us the history of communication and hints at the future. The World of Energy (now with Ellen) hammers home the need for responsible energy management in an amusing and engaging way. In the greenhouses of The Land we learn the importance of conservation and resource management. I always marvel at those hydroponic gardens!

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I’m going to skip right past pages 2, 3 & 4 of the October 1982 newsletter. They are pictured above, but the content of those pages is almost identical to the November 1982 issue. I’ll discuss it in a future blog.

Now, I’d like to leave the newsletter behind and turn to a few other things related to the opening of EPCOT. Some other little gems hidden away in the Tickle Trunk!

Carol spent ten days at Walt Disney World in November 1982. After she reserved her accommodations she received a nice surprise when her confirmation package arrived in the mail. This application for a commemorative EPCOT ticket was included.

Naturally she had to have a couple!

It wasn’t long before the two tickets, measuring 8 ¾” X 3 ¾”, arrived, nicely presented in the shiny, embossed silver envelope pictured below. The reverse side had instructions for redeeming tickets at the park. There was a perforated stub on the left side of each ticket which was torn off as you entered EPCOT. Alas, I have no image of the stub.

The envelope containing those tickets held a surprise, a brand new brochure produced especially for the park opening.

The brochure opened first to a birds-eye view map of the property.

Two pages focused on Future World.

The final two pages introduced World Showcase.

Here’s an added bonus, the worst park map Disney ever designed! The map guests received when they entered the park was sponsored by Kodak. It was big, rigid and bulky. It measured 6″ X 6″ when fully folded; it would not fit in your pocket! It was made with heavy cardstock and unfolded to display three pages. Do you see that little paper dial on the top? When you turned it it gave you specifications for Kodak cameras and films. The map was 6″ X 18″ when unfolded; it was huge and awkward . . . what were they thinking?

Inside was information on park services and a wheel you turned to view information through cut-out holes (see the pink areas?). On this side you could dial to the countries of World Showcase. Dial Japan and one cut-out showed a small sketch of the pavilion while the other one suggested that you sample some taste treats and take a fresh, new look at an ancient culture.

Thankfully this map design didn’t last too long.

Autumn of 1982 was an exciting time for Disney fans and Carol was thrilled to be among the first to experience that brand new park. As I’ve told you before, every time we open the Tickle Trunk those great old memories come rolling out. For the last few days, as I put together this blog, Carol has had a great time reminiscing about that first trip to EPCOT.

I hope you have enjoyed the memories too!

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