The City of Tomorrow: The Original EPCOT

The city of tomorrow that never happened! 

Watch the video where Walt Disney presents his plans after the jump.

A Brief History of Walt Disney and The Florida Project

Epcot was never meant to be a theme park but a real living community! The story of EPCOT is a somewhat fabled one. In the early 1960's after having been incredibly successful with Disneyland in California, Walt Disney decided to expand creating a new location on the eastern seaboard of the United States. Disney opted to setup shop in a small citrus growing town in Central Florida called Orlando. He began buying up vast tracts of land in the reedy creek area of Orange and Osceola counties through several dummy corporations. Once all the land acquisitions were complete the new Disney World was announced and construction began soon thereafter.

Walt's intent for the Florida Project (as it was called early on in the development phase) was far more ambitious than that of Disneyland in California. Disneyland had many limitations most notably the lack of additional land to expand. Disney had always lamented the fact that he could not have secured more land surrounding the original Disneyland. As it quickly grew into a tourist destination, other developments such as hotels, motels, and restaurants encroached on the park until it was landlocked. This not only prevented expansion but also affected the magical experience that Disney wanted to impart on his guests.

As a result of this issue, for the Florida Project, Disney bought over 27,000 acres of land. The original plan was to build an airport (because Orlando didn't have one at the time) a new theme park called The Magic Kingdom, a community for the Disney employees and locals called EPCOT, and a modern industrial complex to showcase emerging technologies and industries. Unfortunately, only the theme park was ever realized due to the death of Walt Disney in 1966. The Magic Kingdom opened in 1971 but the rest of Disney's plans were swept under the rug and forgotten about.

Walt Disney's Original Intent for Epcot

What remains are the amazing plans, illustrations, models, and a wonderful film that Disney produced of EPCOT. The name EPCOT is an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. What is fascinating about the concept of EPCOT is how Disney responded to the problem of developing a community. After World War II, city design shifted radically from denser pedestrian friendly urban environments to vast sprawling developments accessible only by the automobile. Disney recognized that the automobile had displaced the pedestrian as king of the city which greatly affected the fabric of community. 



EPCOT at night (1)




EPCOT at night (2)




EPCOT at night (3)



EPCOT at day



The City was Carefully Planned: The Radial

Disney carefully considered how the new city would be laid out. The result was a radial design that took its inspiration from a wagon wheel. At the center of the wheel is the hub. Radiating from the hub are spokes. Disney took this idea from the original Disneyland park which had a center hub, known as the plaza, from which the four themed lands radiated.



Plan of EPCOT 




Detail of one of the spokes



The City had a Center: The HUB.

The original design of the city was to be laid out in a radial system whereby the city would have a clearly defined center called the Hub. In the center of the Hub, a 30 storey landmark high rise hotel was planned. Also within the HUB was to be the central business and commercial district where residents and visitors would experience world class amenities, shops, restaurants, and a night life within a space that was roughly 50 acres. Perhaps the most amazing part of this space was that it was to be entirely enclosed barring inclement weather from ever affecting residents liesure and business activities.



The Hub with parts of the roof cut away

Night time view of the Hub

Plan of the Hub

View of the centrally located hotel and conference center acted as the visual center and landmark

Hotel and conference center with a section thru the transportation lobby below



The City and its Zones

There were 4 zones radiating from the center of the city each with a specific purpose. 

1. The Hub: The commericial, business, transportation, and communal center of the city.
2. High Density Residential. Surrounding the Hub was to be many low-rise high density buildings such as apartments and condominiums.   
3. The Greenbelt. Surrounding the Hub and the High Density Residential areas was the Greenbelt where residents would play and relax in parks and recreational areas.  
4. Low Density Residential. Extending beyond the broad recreational lands and parks of the Greenbelt were the low density residential neighborhoods.  



View of the international shopping district



The City had many Transportation Options

In EPCOT, Disney acknowledged the importance of modern transportation choosing to integrate and interconnect several types within including (In order of importance):

1. Pedestrian foot paths. Throughout the entire city, the pedestrian would be able to stroll without ever having to worry about the dangers of being hit by an automobile. 
2. A scaled-up version of the Disneyland Peoplemover. The Wedway Peoplemover, designed and implemented at Disneyland in California was to be used as the primary intercity transportation system. Each spoke of the radial of the city would have its own Peoplemover line extending from the farest reaches of the low density residential area to the very center of the Hub in the Transportation Lobby.  
3. An electric monorail system. For longer travel distances to the Disney World Visitor's Center, Magic Kingdom, the Industrial Complex, and the Airport residents and visitors would use the Monorail.  
4. A muti-tiered road and highway system. Disney did not bar the automobile from EPCOT. Because the city was so pedestrian friendly and employed the use of the Peoplemover and Monorail systems, the automobile was intended only to be used in trips that would exceed beyond the boundaries of the Disney property. Since the need for the automobile was so effectively reduced, so too were the actual roads intended for them. Below the center of the city in tunnels were the actual roads and parking lots for automobile traffic. It was only in the low density areas of the city where automobiles returned above ground.   



 Transportaion Lobby and automobile tunnels beneath the city (1)



 Transportaion Lobby and automobile tunnels beneath the city (2)



 Transportaion Lobby with the Peoplemover and Monorail



 Peoplemover (version 1)



Peoplemover (version 2)



Monorail





Section thru the Hub of the city showing many layers of transportation



Epcot was the Center of a Larger Master Plan 

The Florida Project involved the idea of creating not a theme park but a theme life. A community where people would work, live, play, and visit. There were 5 parts to the master plan:

1. An Airport. In the early 1960's, Orlando was a small town that did not have a major airport so Disney proposed to build one that woud bring people from all over the world. After exiting an aircraft, people would board the Monorail.
2. A Visitor's Center. The Monorail would bring everybody from the airport through the Walt Disny World Visitor Center.
3. An Industrial Complex. Disney sought to partner with major American corporations to showcase American ingenuity and industrial processes. The industrial complex was intended to be itself a major destination for visitors. 
4. A City (EPCOT). Here, everyone who worked within the entire Disney property and beyond would live. 
5. A Theme Park (The Magic Kingdom)    



Master plan of the entire Florida Project drawn by Walt Disney




Master Plan




Aerial view of the industrial complex




Plan of the industrial complex



Via: The Original Epcot

Short films and photos by Walt Disney Productions and copyright of the Walt Disney Company.