Take the Trip You've Always Dreamed of . . .

Gateway Gifts 2015

One of the quainter shops in Future World, Gateway Gifts more than makes-up for its miniscule Square Footage with its location — in both architecture and proximity. If one can look past the merchandise, Gateway Gifts possesses intriguing design. From its multi-level future-industrial ceiling treatments to its impressive view of the geosphere it supports, the shop itself is a subtle but prime example EPCOT Center’s unique architectural achievements.

Quite recently, Gateway Gifts began shifting its color scheme from bright oranges and electric blue to a more subdued teal-green and blue. This transformation reached completion with the installation of a new carpet that maintained the same design as the original. 

Take the Trip You've Always Dreamed of . . .

 

Logo Series - Cranium Command

One of the most beloved of all EPCOT Center’s “Lost Classics”, the chaotic inner workings of a 12-year-old boy’s mind was the subject matter of the humorous presentation of Cranium Command.  A multi-media presentation featuring a plethora of comedians, superb animation and the adorably overwhelmed animatronic “Captain Buzzy”, this attraction jump-started the careers of animation directors Kirk Wise & Gary Trousdale (who went on to create such classics as Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire). And most recently, this attraction became the direct inspiration of Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out. 

As part of E82’s “Logo Series” this background features the final iteration of Cranium Command’s logo set against a background directly inspired by the multi-colored carpet walls of the attraction’s preshow.   

E82 on ID4

Tomorrow will be better as long as America keeps alive the ideals of freedom and a better life.

— Walt Disney

Celebrating the Birth of Our Nation is, to me, one of the most important holidays of the year and second ONLY to honoring the Birth and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. For in the course of human events, nothing has affected the progress of life on this Earth more than that life and this republic.

To spite its constant presence in our daily lives, the mere existence of an entire country founded solely on ideas becomes more miraculous with each passing year. A land based on potential rather than parentage is a remarkably forward-thinking concept that empowers its citizens to create their futures instead of confining them to their past.

It is in this spirit that America has revolutionized most of our planet, for which every innovation of the last 200+ years is due to the principles brought forth by our founding fathers. From the Industrial Revolution to the Digital Frontier, all of our collective progress originates from, what Abraham Lincoln called: “our experiment in popular government” for which the entire world has looked to for inspiration.

It is quite clear and irrefutable that without our nation’s embedded innovative spirit we would have never seen the likes of Franklin, Edison, Einstein, Lamarr, Disney, Lucas, or Jobs (just to name a few). And it is because of this that I feel truly blessed and most grateful to live in a time and place were I can humbly stand on the shoulders of many giants and endeavor, always, to live up to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created this land — and to inspire others, as best I can, to restore faith in our ability to shape a world that offers hope to people everywhere.

Among the many quotes encircling the Great Hall of The American Adventure, the most centrally located is by a woman who taught me the most about what it means to be an American individualist. Directly across the Rotunda and embossed in gold letters it reads…

“Throughout the Centuries
There Were Men
Who Took First Steps
Down New Roads
Armed with Nothing
But Their Own Vision.”

— Ayn Rand