The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, shortened to EPCOT or E.P.C.O.T., was an unfinished concept for a planned community, intended to sit on a swath of undeveloped land near Orlando, Florida. It was created by Walt Disney in collaboration with the designers at Walt Disney Imagineering in the 1960s. Based on ideas stemming from modernism and futurism, and inspired by architectural literature about city planning, Disney intended EPCOT to be a utopian autocratic company town. One of the primary stated aims of EPCOT was to replace urban sprawl as the organizing force of community planning in the United States in the 1960s. Disney intended EPCOT to be a real city, and it was planned to feature commercial, residential, industrial, and recreational centers, connected by a mass multimodal transportation system, that would, he said, "Never cease to be a living blueprint of the future".
Audio-Animatronics is the registered trademark for a form of robotics animation created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequently expanded on and used by other companies. The robots move and often synchronise with audio by the assistance of an external sound system on the stage.
"It's a Small World" is an Old Mill boat ride located in the Fantasyland area at various Disney theme parks around the world, including Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California; Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida; Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland. The inaugural version of the ride premiered at the 1964 New York World's Fair before permanently moving to Disneyland in 1966.
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress is a rotating theater audio-animatronic stage show attraction in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida just outside of Orlando, Florida. Created by Walt Disney and WED Enterprises as the prime feature of the General Electric (GE) Pavilion for the 1964 New York World's Fair, the attraction was moved to Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California as Carousel of Progress, and remained there from 1967 until 1973. It was replaced in Disneyland by America Sings in 1974, and reopened in its present home in the Magic Kingdom in 1975.
The PeopleMover is an attraction in Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida just outside of Orlando, Florida. Designed as an urban mass-transit system of the future, vehicles take passengers on a grand circle tour of the realm of Tomorrowland that provides elevated views of several other attractions.
Rocket Rods was a high-speed thrill attraction located in Tomorrowland at Disneyland, Anaheim, California. The ride was themed around a hypothetical “drag race” of the future, as well as a futuristic rapid transit system. The ride opened in May 1998, utilizing the existing PeopleMover track and infrastructure as part of the New Tomorrowland refurbishment project. Plagued from its inception with technical problems and mechanical repairs, Rocket Rods was shut down indefinitely for renovations in September 2000; ultimately, the ride would be fully shut down, as confirmed via an official press release in April 2001, after two years of sporadic operations. While Rocket Rods' queue was replaced with the Toy Story-themed dark ride Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters in 2005, the majority of the track infrastructure utilized by both the attraction and its predecessor still sit, visibly derelict, throughout Tomorrowland as of 2024.
Tomorrowland is one of the many "themed lands" featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions that depict views of the future. Disneyland Park in Paris includes a similar area called Discoveryland, which shares some elements with other Tomorrowlands but emphasizes visions of the future inspired by Jules Verne.
Horizons was a dark ride attraction at Epcot, a theme park at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida. Located on the eastern side of the Future World section of Epcot, the attraction used Disney's Omnimover system, but unlike most omnimover systems, it was suspended from a track above, which took guests past show scenes depicting visions of the future. It is believed to be the sequel to Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, an attraction in Tomorrowland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Horizons was the only attraction in Future World to showcase all of Epcot's "Future World" elements: communication, energy, transportation, anatomy, along with humankind's relationship to the sea, and the land.
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln is a stage show featuring an Audio-Animatronic representation of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, best known for being presented at Disneyland since 1965. It was originally showcased as the prime feature of the State of Illinois Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair. One year after its debut at the World's Fair, the show opened at Disneyland, where it has undergone several changes and periods of hiatus over the years. Today Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln is an element of the Disneyland attraction The Disneyland Story presenting Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, which opened in 2009.
World of Motion, presented by General Motors, was the former occupant of the transportation pavilion in Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort. It was an opening day attraction at EPCOT Center in 1982 and it closed in 1996 to make way for Test Track, a new thrill ride through a GM testing facility.
America Sings was an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, United States, from 1974 to 1988. It featured a cast of Audio-Animatronics animals singing songs from various periods in America's musical history, often in a humorous fashion.
Meet the World was an attraction at Tomorrowland in Tokyo Disneyland that operated from 1983 until 2002. It was a show that explored the history of Japan over the course of 19 minutes, focusing specifically on the history of Japan's engagement with the outside world. The show featured an animated crane explaining Japanese history to a young boy and girl from Yokohama. The show featured dialogue between a number of audio-animatronic figures and a movie screen in the background. Park guides and maps said "explore Japan's heritage in an incredible time-travel adventure!"
Magic Journeys was a 3D film created by WED Enterprises for presentation at Disney theme parks. It was featured at four different parks over the course of its 11-year run.
"The Best Time of Your Life" is a song written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman in 1974 as a new theme song for Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. The attraction was being moved from Disneyland to Walt Disney World, and a replacement was sought for the original song, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow".
Innoventions was a two-story exhibit in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Opening on July 3, 1998 as part of the New Tomorrowland, it featured rotating exhibits focusing on near-futuristic technologies. The attraction operated for nearly 17 years, closing on March 31, 2015. It occupied the Carousel Theater, a round two-story building in which the outer half of the first floor rotates. A similar attraction of the same name existed in Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort until 2019.
Innoventions was an ever-changing collection of exhibits at the EPCOT theme park in Walt Disney World, Florida. It focused on technological advancements and their practical applications in everyday life. Innoventions is a portmanteau of the words "innovation" and "invention".
Tomorrowland is a 2015 American science fiction film directed by Brad Bird, with a screenplay by Bird and Damon Lindelof, based on a story by Bird, Lindelof, and Jeff Jensen. It stars George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Tim McGraw, Kathryn Hahn, and Keegan-Michael Key. In the film, a disillusioned genius inventor and a teenage science enthusiast embark to an intriguing alternate dimension known as "Tomorrowland", where their actions directly affect their own world.
Walt Disney and the 1964 World's Fair is a 2009 five-CD box set compiling music and audio from Disney's attractions at the 1964 New York World's Fair:
