The transformation of EPCOT continues with new announcements for the core of the old Future World area, now known as World Celebration. The new name now now makes a lot more sense, since that is where a lot of the park’s expanded festival calendar will… Read More »EPCOT Announces New Festival Center and Central Hub Gardens
After Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, EPCOT is the next Disney theme park due for a major transformation. Part of the work is actually underway right now and some of it is still in planning phase. We’ll take a look at… Read More »EPCOT – What’s Next and what could be?
We’re just a few days away from the 35th anniversary of EPCOT’s opening day on Oct 1, 1982. To promote the idea of EPCOT to visitors to the Walt Disney World visitor center, Disney created a film called “The Dream called EPCOT.” The film offers… Read More »The Dream called EPCOT – 35th Anniversary Flashback
It was the second gate to open at Walt Disney World, but the original concept for EPCOT was the driving force behind Walt Disney’s decision to build the resort. It’s now been almost 35 years since EPCOT Center opened and the park is sadly being… Read More »EPCOT rumors are growing. We run down the most popular.
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Disney is currently trying out a “tiered” Fastpass+ system at Epcot. The idea behind it is simple, in that you’re limited as to how many major attractions you can choose a Fastpass for. It works like this:
Choose one Fastpass from the following:
And then two Fastpasses from the rest:
This is clearly a response to guests choosing all “e-ticket” rides for their three Fastpass selections and none being available for off-site guests. It’s rumored (key word) that it will be implemented resort-wide during Christmas week, at the very least. The good news is that if you already have Fastpasses chosen, you won’t be effected by this new change, at least during this initial period of testing.
This week crazy-like-a-fox billionaire businessman Elon Musk introduced his latest revolutionary concept, the Hyperloop, and then gave it away to the masses as an open source project. Musk’s previous successes include Paypal (without which much online transactions wouldn’t happen), Tesla (an electric car company that’s profitable for a change), SpaceX (a private company that is helping NASA get payloads into space with an eventual goal of Mars(!)), and SolarCity (affordable solar panels for home and business; It remains to be seen if this will fall into the success category, but it seems likely with a net positive in the profit column last quarter).
Hollywood director Jon Favreau has said he modeled his version of Tony Stark, aka Marvel’s Iron Man, at least in part after Musk. But I think Tony Stark is the wrong model. Musk reminds me more of late period Walt Disney, when Walt had his eye on the future, not just of entertainment and the Disney Company, but of the planet as a whole and improving the lives of those who live on it. His gained steam with Monorails (mass transit), moved onto PeopleMovers (person rapid transit (PRT)), and dabbled in energy efficiency and recycling. Then Walt united all his theories and took on the mother of all urban planning projects – EPCOT, the experimental prototype community of tomorrow. With EPCOT, Walt wanted to build a working community where he could partner with industrial explorers with a similar vision for the future.
That is essentially the same vision as Elon Musk; which is why I think there is a natural partnership between Musk, his companies, and The Walt Disney Company. To get started, create the partnership for the purposes of building a working prototype of the Hyperloop at Walt Disney World. Musk, or his team, would be involved enough to oversee things, but most of the R&D would be left to Walt Disney Imagineering. The resulting prototype would be a great first step to making a full scale Hyperloop a feasible project to get past local and state governments.
Disney’s Imagineers already have much of the expertise needed to build such a system. They have experience with air-bearings (from the Flying Saucers ride in 60s to the revisited version at DCA), mass transit systems (Monorail, PeopleMover, etc.) and for years they used a garbage disposal system at the Magic Kingdom that magically whisked away trash right from the curb side down an air pressure driven pipe. They also have good contacts in the coaster and mass transit construction industries, so finding suppliers would not be difficult. Read More »Bring to Walt Disney World: The Hyperloop
Want to know what delicious goodies are being cooked up for the 18th EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival marketplace kiosks? Disney has released what looks like a complete list of all the marketplace menus. I remember reading somewhere that we were getting scotch eggs, but I don’t see them on the list. Anyone know what happened there?
The Kalua Pork Slider (not the liqueur Kahlua but the Kalua barbecue method of cooking) returns to the Hawaii tasting marketplace
Seared Scallop with Ragout of Tomatoes, Peppers, Hearts of Palm and Steamed Rice
Crispy Pork Belly with Black Beans, Onions, Avocado and Cilantro
Cerveharias Kaiser Brewery Xingu Black Beer
Carnaval Moscato White
Frozen Caipirinha featuring LeBlon Cachaça
Seared Scottish Salmon with Cauliflower Puree, Watercress and Malt Vinaigrette
Vegetarian Haggis with Neeps and Tatties-Griddled Vegetable Cake with Rutabaga and Mashed Potatoes
Scottish Banoffee Tart with Bananas, Scottish Whisky Toffee, Walkers Shortbread Crumbles and Sweet Cream
Innis & Gunn® Original
Loch Lomond featuring Glenfiddich® 12 year
Glenfiddich® Scotch Flight (12, 15 and 18 year)
Read More »18th EPCOT International Food and Wine Festival – The Marketplace Menus
Over the last few years The Daily City has grown into one of Orlando’s real treasures. It’s as close to a hyper-local news blog as we’ve got in the town and it continues to deliver great content on a daily basis (not to mention its… Read More »Why do you love EPCOT Center?