The ABANDONED Remnants of Old Epcot Center

are any of you here familiar with the thought experiment the ship of thesis I request elaboration Theus is a figure in Greek mythology who was famous for slaying the minitar in the underground Labyrinth of King Minos after Theus slayed the halfman half bull he escaped onto a ship Bound for the Greek city of delos and each year the citizens of Athens would commemorate this by taking theseus's ship on a pilgrimage to delos to honor the Olympian god Apollo but here's the question here's the thought experiment if the Athenians would celebrate the ship's Voyage to delos every single year for years and years decades hundreds of years after a while some of the Planks on that ship would become rotten it needs some repairing and so the planks would be replaced but as this Voyage continued year after year decade after decade eventually every single one of the planks would be replaced and at that point was the ship that was making the voyage to delos every single year still thesis's ship if every single part of it had been replaced and if you took all of the rotted boards repaired them and built a new ship out of them would that be more of a ship of thesis than the one that had been repaired in the first place also now you have the problem of two boats do both of them make the voyage just one of them do they switch out every year that way you prolong the lifespan of the boats ships I'm confused now okay what does this have to do with Epcot I am so glad you asked now I'm not going to sit here and pretend like Epcot is the only Disney park that's received a creative refresh since its opening date Epcot opened in 198 82 and has undergone various different stages of evolution since then other Parks like California Adventure out in Disneyland or even Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World and to a lesser extent Animal Kingdom kind of have sort of changed their Direction in where they wanted to take the messaging of the park but I would argue my friends that Epcot is the one that did it first after it opened in ' 82 it was initially well-received and people enjoyed Epcot but as we entered the '90s the mid90s things started getting outdated really quickly and so a new version of cot had to Be Imagined and that new version is what a lot of us grew up with in the '90s and the 2000s and the you know early 2010s and now we're entering a new era of Epcot another new era of Epcot and it makes me wonder how much of the old Epcot is still remaining in the park how much of it has been ripped out and how much of it has just been forgotten to time lost into a a corner of a pavilion that nobody ever really goes into these days and so today I hope you'll join me as we wander around the Former Future world now world celebration nature and Discovery and discover some of the abandoned pieces some of the Lost remnants of the original Epcot and when I mean original Epcot I mean Epcot 1.0 from opening day in 1982 to the opening of Wonders of life in 1989 and so we begin our Trek and what better place to start than when you first walk through the gates into World celebration with spaceship earth the icon of Epcot and one of the best attractions at the park spaceship earth has stood in one Incarnation or or another since Park opening in 1982 when it was narrated by Vic parin and sponsored by Bell systems and since Bell was a telecommunication company specializing in telephones and communication I I guess that's what that word means the original story of spaceship earth was about the evolution of communication throughout the entirety of human history over the years different scenes and finales were changed in and changed out until we are left with what we have today a new version of the attraction new if you consider 2007 new narrated by Dame Judy Dench see the original finale for spaceship earth isn't what we have today where you're looking at Earth from outer space or from the surface of the Moon still not exactly sure what they were going with for this finale originally you were on the surface of the Moon you could tell you were looking at Earth from the surface of the Moon and not only were you on the moon other humans were also on the moon not your co-writers but animatronics figures inhabiting a moon base there was a moon base in the finale of spaceship earth and we lost it kind of you can see here from this blurry old photo which is I mean really good for the time it was really dark up there an astronaut working on a satellite and a woman talking to him from a control tower now this control tower and allegedly this woman still exist in the ride today just covered up kind of when your time machines begin to turn around and descend back toward the loading station do not look straight in front of you where Disney wants you to look instead look behind you and up this is the the location of the old Moonbase control tower and if your vision has adjusted or if it's sort of bright in there for some reason you'll be able to see it or you can just look at the photo provided here of somebody taking a picture of the control tower with their flash on very naughty do not do that do not turn your flash on under any circumstances here's another photo taken from I guess what would be a security camera showing the guests descending back down to the unloading station and there within the confines of the green lines you can see the vague outline of a sort of a conical curved structure that that my friends is the control tower in case you need help seeing it here is a much clearer image taken by WD Disney 9000 on the wdw magic forums you can see right there I'm circling it that is the old control tower as you're going down The Descent now our next piece of spaceship earth history that is still standing Still Remains at Epcot today is actually when you first enter the attraction and you know what I I don't think this office is a very appropriate place to show you I think I'll just show you at spaceship earth it's it's this way I actually know it's this way see that's much better this first one relates to the lady in the control tower we were talking about earlier the control tower obviously in uh spaceship earth but to to see what I'm referencing we have to go underneath spaceship earth to the bottom side of the ball if you will because if you remember the lady in the blackedout control tower was instructing an astronaut who is working on a satellite and if we go underneath SPH of birth here into the the shade we will find a beautiful beautiful mural that has been standing since 1982 so not only is it a beautiful mural it also features scenes that we can't really see very well today whether they're completely blacked out by the new finale of spaceship earth or hidden behind curtains the mural still does feature a little classic remnant of Epcot here today for us to enjoy that features get this an astronaut working on a satellite it's that guy from earlier there's no lady though in a blacked out Tower or otherwise but there is an astronaut working on a satellite also some more astronauts working on satellites up there but just look at this thing that is amazing but there he is just a remant of an old ride scene that doesn't exist anymore and the line is moving goodbye I guess I do get a free spaceship earth R out of this though so I can't complain too much [Music] see now that wasn't so bad we got a ride on Spa of birth we got a little bit of a a history lesson you're welcome now we get to walk around project yesterday project tomorrow and see what they got to show us so next time you're going to go on spaceship earth give spaceship earth a little ride through why not stop it admire the mural because it's a piece of spaceship earth and Epcot history and also because it's a cool mural you should admire It Anyway our next stop on this walk around Epcot is the former Wonders Of Life pavilion maybe the play Pavilion if you believe Disney is going to move forward with that I don't think they are a pavilion dedicated to play or the human body exercise fitness health it was sort of like a filler Pavilion it would filled the empty space between world of motion and universe of energy when it first opened and I think the best remnant of the Wonders Of Life pavilion is just the exterior of the building itself it still stands it's still standing there allegedly empty probably being used for storage or out of season Festival decorations and signage but essentially to us guests out of use forever forgotten until something else takes its place and just like with spaceship earth I don't think this office is really the best place to show you the Wonders Of Life pavilion what remains of it anyway so I think the wonders of life is isn't that way it's actually this way I think I'm right on this this time ah there it is completely closed off and behind construction walls the Wonders Of Life pavilion there's a big wall for it too I'm not going to hop the fence and go in there or anything because that is obviously illegal but just know it feels very late 80s inside that faded yellow golden dome just a reminder of yester year here at Epcot and its future well you could watch my previous video to get a little bit more information on that but just know that uh I don't think they have any plans I don't think it's looking good for the Wonders Of Life pavilion right now now from old abandoned and forgotten Epcot history to Old Epcot history that isn't quite abandoned but it doesn't really kind of know what it wants to be Epcot history we head on over to the Odyssey known at opening as the Odyssey Restaurant it is no longer a restaurant it serves food sometimes but it's not a restaurant now the Odyssey is a very interesting Flex space that has sort of been used as a festival stall the Epcot experience and then just on and off as bathrooms and a first aid center after the restaurant ended up closing in 1994 now it's just sort of a place where people can hang out try a snack go to the restroom and point out the odd figment here and there sometimes there'll be a figment this is the only footage I have of the Odyssey as of me recording this at home nowadays the interior of the Odyssey is very modern but back in 1982 when was a restaurant was it was very earn it was full of tiles and warm earth tones in a sort of weird and roundabout way it evoked the land more than the land Pavilion did more than it still does I would say except obviously now they've changed it they've changed the entire interior of the Odyssey except for one part and that part is very important probably the most important part of the Odyssey the restrooms and no before you ask I'm not going to talk about the restrooms outside of the Odyssey the new refreshed ones the ones with the really cool sign on the outside near the first aid station those aren't important those are brand new they're great we're talking instead about the restrooms on the inside of the Odyssey and now I am going to run really quickly to Orlando so I can film the inside of a restroom yeah you know I don't know what I was thinking I'm not going to go film inside a restroom but I will however show you pictures notice the Earth Tones the tiles that you can find inside of these restrooms that's because these restrooms remain essentially very largely untouched since the restaurant opened in the'80s it's very very 80s in there it actually matches this wall behind me very nicely just a little piece of Epcot suspended in the 1980s where it just so happens you can uh you know do your uh your business but now we move further through World Discovery to one of my favorite attractions that I never ended up getting to ride my friends Horizons is one of the most iconic dark rides one of the most iconic attractions at all of Epcot even though it hasn't been in operation for like 25 years people who remember original Epcot remember Horizons and they remember it fondly sure maybe it was a slow moving omnimover Dark Ride maybe it wasn't a roller coaster or a space simulator but it was one thing and that thing was creative and fun and even though the Horizon's building itself was completely demolished when the attraction closed for Good in 1999 there is nothing nothing at all left of that building there are still a few references a few homages to the best Epcot attraction that no longer exists at what replaced it mission space mission space is one of my less often uh experienced attractions here at Epcot it's not to say that it's a bad attraction it's not it's just not for me it does have its dedicated fan base of people who love it that's not me though however in order to check out some remnants of Horizons we are going to have to get closer so what we are going to do is walk as if we were going to board Mission Space we're not obviously that's too scary I just ate but we are going to enter a sort of Hub that they have where you get to choose between orange and green team and there will be a little display for us you see Horizons brought us to the bottom of the ocean but also to the depths of outer space more specifically to a space St called brav centuri that you can see right there but a little piece of bra centuri still exists here right here actually by Mission Space right there there it [Music] is it may be a little covered up it may be a little hidden but it's still there a little piece of Horizons painted onto the wall of mission space you can see now that I'm walking away from the attraction because no way in hell am I going to ride it what's next at the beginning of this video we discussed the ship of Theus thought experiment if you took a broken and rotted board off of a ship and replaced it with a brand new and pristine board and did that over and over year after year until you were left with a ship made out of completely new and restored boards was that still the ship of thesis in the same way that if you to take a theme park that opened in say 1982 and slowly changed out some of the attractions some of the restaurants added new attractions where there weren't some before and the few standing original 1982 attractions were re-themed to have different messages or different scenes is that still the same theme park that opened in 1982 I guess you could call it the Epcot of thesis or the ship of Epcot I I don't know that's got to be up to you to decide would you still consider the park that exists today Epcot or is it something a little different is it something a lot different I mean for crying out loud they even changed the name from Epcot Center to Epcot it doesn't even have the same name anymore but is it still at its heart the same theme park and what if something completely different happens what if this year in August at d23 Expo Bob Iger gets up on stage and Disney announces that you know they need to win back some of the theme park purists some of the Epcot purists and they're deciding to build a one toone exact replica of Epcot Center the day it opened in October of 1982 Elsewhere on property keeping the current Epcot that we have today maybe this Epcot 1.0 vintage Epcot Park would go on the west side of the park by Animal Kingdom would that be more of the original Epcot than what we have today currently Epcot 2.0 3.0 are both of them technically the original Epcot are neither of them technically the original Epcot it really comes down to whoever is experiencing the park whoever is watching this video right now I would assume that a lot of you would have differing opinions some people would say that the Epcot 1.to that they're building elsewhere is going to be more of the original Epcot than what we currently have some would say that since the Epcot we have now is on the same land and built from the same bones as Epcot 82 maybe that would be the original Epcot it really just depends on who's thinking about this this uh awesome Walt Disney World where the fifth gate is just Epcot but again is this the original Epcot hot Center Fountain some people might say yes others might say no but there are still pieces bits and pieces of that original ship of thesis that remain in the park today it's not completely restored yet and while there are very few remnants of the original Epcot Center remaining they are still there evoking fond memories of the past or future and so if you have a friend out there who's an Epcot purist and you say that you like Epcot you think epcot's all right and they say it's not Epcot anymore don't call itep Epcot because it's only Epcot in name you can tell them is it really still Epcot maybe it hasn't been Epcot for decades maybe the original Epcot died somewhere in the'80s and we've just been walking around a corpse of a park ever since then or maybe it's more Epcot right now in this current moment in this current second than it has ever been before the truth is probably down in the comments for you all to discuss amongst yourselves maybe I'll pop in and talk with a few of you about why Epcot is great and why it also sucks and why new Epcot is great but also kind of sucks in its own couple of ways all I'm trying to say is there's Nuance here that's the that's the the point of this video is there's a little bit of nuance so just like Disneyland over in Anaheim California Epcot will always be in a state of becoming there will always be new things being added old things being removed or re-themed and all we can do right now today is visit those parts of the park that evoke those fond memories for us of the past and hold on to them while we still can because we never know when Disney's going to announce a play Pavilion or a or a Mary Poppins attraction cuz that's totally going to happen and then someday we'll look back and realize that we're left with something that is not Epcot not Epcot at all or maybe more Epcot than we've ever had in the history of the Disney parks the choice the answer my friend is up to [Music] you hey there everybody now I can finally play some living with the land footage I've been trying my best not to sneak any living with the land footage in this entire video it's like a big weight off of my chest now that I could show it thank you all so much for watching this video this video was a bit of a of a challenge to put together I did a little uh pre-recorded you know classic offhe Disney sort of Style video at home and then later this week as I'm recording this it's Wednesday on Thursday night I am leaving for I guess it' be tomorrow night leaving for Walt Disney World so I'll film the Imp Park sections there and then once I get home from Epcot that night I'll cobble something together in my Coronado Springs hotel room and hopefully you all enjoyed it thank you all so much if you've seen this video on YouTube that means that I have had a teep and ETO dinner and I am the happiest I have ever been in my life I oh I love Epcot if you're interested in getting early access to videos and some exclusive videos that you can't see anywhere else head over to the link in the description to my patreon.com uh patreon P Patron page yeah the patreon patron page there for even just $1 a month you can get access to most of the perks you'll get your name and the credits at the end of the month you'll get early access to videos and you'll get exclusive access to I believe two or three videos that are currently only available to patreon members a video All About window displays at Disneyland I'm very very proud of that one actually like I said it's just $1 however if you would rather not spend a single Cent understandable that's totally fine you can follow me on my other social media accounts Twitter Instagram and Tik Tok I am @ offhand Disney on all of those websites to make it a little easier to find me but that everyone I am really busy as you're watching this if this is on Saturday the day I usually upload my videos because I will be doing a four parks in one day sort of mini Extravaganza I'm only going to Disney World for 3 days I'm going for the weekend so we're going to try and do all four parks in one day I may or may not film it maybe I'll film aspects of it we'll see what happens we'll see how fast we're going if I feel like filming it at all but maybe I'll just take my time off and enjoy it have fun with my fam that remains to be seen but at least he did get a little and half video here with the Epcot remnants everybody thank you all so much for watching I will see you next week in the next video goodbye

Channel: Offhand Disney

Views: 69,325

Keywords:

Id: WSs_zYt16fk

Length: 20min 10sec (1210 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 02 2024