Constructing... Prophetic Technologies

Commentary

 Is anyone else as jazzed about spending six hours in one of the world’s most elaborate omnimover attractions!? And there’s dinner too! But, before you jump up and try to call the extension, I think we are all about 30 years too late to volunteer.

The statistics listed on this sheet are only a small sampling of the deluge of record-breaking, mind-blowing, and awe-inspiring facts that comprise the EPCOT Center construction project. Even in today’s standards, this three-year construction/production period is unparalleled in scale and complexity. To help bring this plan to fruition, new technologies were developed that were so advanced it was simply impractical to explain them to a 1982 audience.

One of these advancements was the utilization of wireless modems to control figure movements for “Journey into Imagination”. The opening scene turntable, which contained five continuously-rotating Dreamcatchers with multiple moving parts and two Audio-Animatronics for each, necessitated as much off-board control as possible. As a result, the computer-controlled/executed systems were kept off the turntable, with each of the identical scenes receiving electronic relays to perform the three-minute show.  This means that Figment and Dreamfinder were among the first Wi-Fi devices created  - three years before the term was invented in 1985! Yet another example that the 21st Century really did begin in 1982. 

© Disney All Rights Reserved

Photo Caption:

Dated “June 1st 1982”, this photo commemorates the opening of the EPCOT Center Line to the WDW Monorail System. You might be thinking opening the monorail four months before opening would create a “beam to nowhere”, but the system was immediately pressed into service.  The ‘EPCOT Center Monorail Preview’ became a wonderful opportunity for regular guest to visit the construction site. The visit included a slow-speed trip through Future World and the chance to depart the train at the EPCOT Station.  Upon arrival, guests could view the 300-acre expansion from the (still) massive exit ramp. Here, tour guides were on hand to answer questions aided by large concept renderings and maps of what was quickly becoming the “eighth wonder of the world”.