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be reproduced in any form on the Internet or any other medium without
express written permission from EDCConcepts and Construction Page
© Disney
This picture shows a wire frame model of the pavilion.
Pavilion Construction Pictures
The following pictures show the construction of the pavilion from
the steel framework to completing the installation of the triangular
panels. (Photos © Disney)
Pre-Opening Publicity
1980
The following is from a 6 page booklet
entitled "Walt Disney World EPCOT Center".
The book provides brief summaries of the attractions at the new park.
Here is the complete text for the Spaceship Earth
pavilion.
"Spaceship Earth," planned for presentation
by AT&T, will be Future World's introductory theme show. Here
guests will board "time machine" vehicles and journey
into the past to trace the evolution of human communication.
Visitors will travel into dimensional scenes depicting
milestones in communication, "brought to life" through
the Audio-Animatronics process and Disney special effects.
An encounter between a group of Cro-Magnon hunters
and a Woolly Mammoth will show guests how man's ability to communicate
gave him a distinct advantage in assuring his survival. Communication
through cave art will lead to the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt
and the creation of the modern alphabet in Phoenician times. Guests
will see communication networks begin to spread across the empires
and boundaries of the world.
Continuing this journey through time, guests will
witness the invention of the printing press, and then travel on
to see an explosion of communication innovations ... from the Industrial
Revolution to the current Information Age.
The voyage will show how emerging information and
communication networks will help us chart our destiny on this, our
"Spaceship" Earth.
1982
Two years later, with construction nearing completion, Walt
Disney's Magic Kingdom Club put out a publication with the
same name, "Walt Disney World EPCOT Center",
but in color and over 50 pages long. It is filled with concept art
for the new attractions coming to Walt Disney World. This is what
it has to say about Spaceship Earth:
"The architecturally unique Spaceship Earth
globe forms a breathtaking entrance to Epcot Center. Entering Future
World, visitors pass directly beneath this glistening geosphere
which reaches a height surpassing that of the Walt Disney World
Contemporary Resort Hotel. Within this theme structure, a swirling
time journey retraces the increasingly important role of communications
in mankind's survival.
Upon entering Spaceship Earth,
guests become time travelers taken back to the age of Cro-Magnon
man. The caveman's attempts to record his experiences are seen as
the earliest contribution to the development of written communication.
We'll survey other communication milestones such as the Egyptian's
development of hieroglyphics and the Phoenician alphabet which established
the foundation of modern alphabets.
Dramatic communication is born in the Greek theater,
becoming a poetic expression of ideas and philosophy. Another stopping
point in the journey, Gutenberg's 15th century print shop is the
setting for a communications revolution.
More centuries pass and we're propelled into the
Age of Invention. A stream of inventions - the telegraph, telephone,
radio, motion pictures, television - bring the dream of instant
communication to reality.
Accelerating into space-age technology, we find
ourselves within a maze of computer impulses and are electronically
transmitted into space aboard a burst of telemetry. Momentarily
suspended in the heavens, we gaze down upon our small planet, our
Spaceship Earth, adrift in the midnight sky. Having
re-lived our past and eyed our future, we time passengers are now
ready to become captains, to chart our earth's course toward tomorrow
and determine our own destinies."
You can also read an excellent article from May 1982's "Orlando
Magazine" about Spaceship Earth under construction. It is entitled
Spaceship to Tomorrow.
Spaceship Earth Introduction | Spaceship
Earth Script - Original ('82-86) | SE
Script - Cronkite | "Tomorrow's Child" Lyrics
Spaceship Earth Script - Irons | Global Neighborhood | Spaceship Earth Fact Sheet
'Spaceship to Tomorrow' Article | SE Concepts and Construction Page
AT&T Press Releases regarding Spaceship Earth:
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© EPCOT Discovery Center
Created October 1, 1996 / Last modified
December 19, 2001
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