EPCOT (not to be confused with the theme park of the same name), or the Florida Project as it was known at WED, was Walt's brainchild. All the lessons he learned from designing, building, and operating Disneyland had prepared him for something greater than just his flagship theme park. The lessons he learned from designing the four pavilions for the New York World's Fair had influenced the direction of not just his theme park in Southern California, but a whole new concept in urban planning.
Granted, the "Garden Cities of Tomorrow" had been conceptualized in the early-1900's, way before Walt's adventure in urban planning, but the EPCOT plans were not just for a futuristic metropolis based on free enterprise, American industry, technology, and efficiency, it was a starting point for a new brand of social engineering that Walt had been toying with since he designed Disneyland in the 1950's.
Of course, this Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (wow, that's mouthful) was going to incorporate what Walt wanted in not just his theme park, but in the cities that his grandchildren and their children would inherit.
Unfortunately, he passed away before the Florida Project could be realized in his vision and this meant that the team of Imagineers who had designed and improved his park as well as expand his brand had to start from scratch. In fact, one of the most articulated ideas for EPCOT was not just the city itself or the use of mass transportation, but the inclusion of a theme park resort on par with Disneyland. Of course, this was meant to be an improvement to what was done in California and Walt's desire to build a second theme park or at least a facility on the East Coast was a factor into the development of EPCOT.
While Walt never really expressed what he wanted in the East Coast Disneyland, he expressed that he wanted it to be special. Heeding the requests of their late boss, the Imagineers knew the park in Florida was not going to be a carbon copy of the original. They planned to recycle concepts that were too ambitious during Walt's time into new attractions and include classics.
For context, the preliminary design stage for the Floridan Magic Kingdom began in 1967 and lasted about a year-and-a-half when the plans for the park were somewhat solidified and construction really took off. Florida was to receive a number of the most popular attractions from Disneyland as well as the rides that were being designed for Disneyland at that time. This meant that the landscape and layout of the park would be similar to the one in California, but there were exceptions.
In March 1967, the Pirates of the Caribbean opened to Disneyland guests and immediately became the Park's most popular attraction. At the same time, WED was planning the Florida park and they hit a roadblock when it came to the Pirates. First of all, despite the popularity of the ride in California, the designers thought that New Orleans would've been too redundant for the landscape of the park (Walt's Liberty Street plans for Disney were revisited and expanded into Liberty Square). Second of all, the proximity to the actual Caribbean along with the pirate lore of Florida determining that the ride might not be as successful with the projected audience of locals. Third of all, it would've cost too much to replicate the ride, so another ride concept was brought to the attention of Disney management.
The Western River Expedition began its life sometime in mid-1967 when Marc Davis began designing a ride that would replace the Pirates, but incorporate similar themes and elements as that attraction on a grander scale. When plans regarding the Florida Park were elaborated in 1968, Disney publicity focused on what would be different from the original Magic Kingdom, such as those new attractions that would be either exclusive to Florida or at least refined concepts and attractions from Disneyland. So attractions like the Country Bear Jamboree (frequently referred to as Bear Band or Country Bear Band), the Hall of Presidents (an old Walt-era idea for Disneyland that spawned the Lincoln show), the Tropical Serenade (an enlarged version of the Tiki Room), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (a re-themed take on the Subs), and Space Mountain (an intergalactic Matterhorn originally planned for Disneyland's 1967 Tomorrowland expansion) were the main items Disney shed light upon. Of course, there was Thunder Mesa...
It was promoted heavily in early WDW concept art as being a vital part of Thunder Mesa, a large Southwestern mesa that would've not just contained the boat ride, but a number of other attractions.
It was promoted on the fact that it was supposed to be the Floridian counterpart to the Pirates in California and it even went into the production stage.
Unfortunately, the guests visiting Walt Disney World had something else on their minds. Upon opening in October 1971, guests found themselves in a Magic Kingdom where they could fly with Dumbo, tour a Haunted Mansion, cruise down the rivers of the jungle, sail with the children of It's a Small World, and sing with the birds of the Tropical Serenade just like at Disneyland. However, they were understandably disappointed and upset when the infamous buccaneers hadn't made the trip back east. Another key concern was that the frequent over-crowding in November 1971 necessitated more attractions in time for the Summer 1972 season, namely people-eaters, and this meant a number of concepts and rides were under consideration.
In December 1971, Pirates was quickly greenlit on a list of projects that were set for the next year and the attraction opened two years later in December 1973. This jeopardized the fate of Thunder Mesa to an extent. After all, the Western River boat ride was designed with the intent of upstaging the Pirates in mind and even when the Pirates got reconfigured in 1972 for the East Coast, Marc Davis eliminated the elements he didn't want in the original Pirates from the Florida installation and included them in the plans for the Western River attraction.
 |
| The 1972 Annual Report. Courtesy of the Disney Company. Notice how Pirates, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder were all planned around the same time to be added to the park, despite the fact that the Pirates debuted in 1973, Space Mountain opened in 1975, and Big Thunder finally began operation in 1980. |
The Big Thunder Railway was a runaway mine train roller coaster that was designed to entice guests towards Thunder Mesa and it was given the green-light in about 1973 as a stand-alone project that was worked on by a young Tony Baxter.
Big Thunder Railway, as it was called, was supposed to be built in 1974 according to the 1972 Annual Report that was published around February 1973, which is curious given the fact that the Walt Disney Story post-show had an exhibit for the Western River Expedition that would debut in April 1973. So would the Big Thunder Railway serve as a thrill ride designed to entice guests to the area? Why wasn't the Western River Expedition included as a definite addition to the park on par with Space Mountain, the Pirates, and Big Thunder? After all, the Big Thunder Railway was marketed as "the first step towards the completion of Thunder Mesa"in 1973, so was there still hope for the Western River Expedition?
Consulting a February 1973 schedule of attractions that were projected opening in both Magic Kingdoms, the Big Thunder Railway was slated to debut in November 1974 and the Western River show (the nickname for the WRE) was set to open in April 1977 alongside the Mesa Cafe and Terrace (Thunder Mesa's take on the Blue Bayou). Notice that the opening date for Pirates and Caribbean Plaza was set accurately for December 1973 and how Space Mountain was set to open in April 1974 (instead of January 1975).
 |
| Feb. 1973 Project Completion Schedule for Walt Disney World, courtesy of Disney. Look at those planned attractions. Of all the E-Tickets, the Pirates of the Caribbean came right on-time because they didn't drive to Florida, they sailed the high seas. |
 |
| Planned amenities from the February 1973 project schedule for WDW, courtesy of Disney. Look under "Food and Merchandise" and you might see "Mesa Restaurant & Shops" with an expected opening date of April 1977, which would've been the same opening date for the "Western River Show" (Western River Expedition). The Mesa Restaurant would've been the WDW equivalent of the Blue Bayou Restaurant in Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean. After all, notice how there wasn't a Blue Bayou added to the WDW version of the Pirates? That was curiously part of the initial plans for Thunder Mesa about six years prior. |
Interestingly, this shows us not only what could've been had the oil embargo hadn't affected the United States in late-1973, but it shows us that the Pirates had not completely killed off the WRE project like commonly stated and that Thunder Mesa was a realistic project that would've happened in stages much like the plans for Tomorrowland in February 1973.
The fate of the Western River Expedition wasn't decided by the addition of the Pirates to the roster of attractions in Florida, but a roller coaster that was planned during Walt's time. You read that right, Walt Disney was alive when the second roller coaster in Disneyland history was plotted out.
After the success of the Matterhorn Bobsleds in 1959, Walt came to realize that roller coasters had a place in his park and he approached John Hench to design a new roller coaster for Disneyland. At the same time, Walt wanted to update Tomorrowland and with the lessons learned in New York, he returned with new ideas for the project. Not only would a new attraction sponsored by Monsanto would be on the list, but the Carousel of Progress would return to California and the Flight to the Moon would be modernized.
In June 1966, the roller coaster planned for New Tomorrowland was given the name "Space Mountain" and it was set to be opened in 1968 during the project's second phase.
After Walt's death in 1966 and the resources were redirected to planning the Magic Kingdom in Florida, the idea of Space Mountain appeared on the preview maps and concept art for that park. The construction would be too costly for a 1971 opening, so much like the WRE, it was scheduled for Phase II. The projected opening dates for Space Mountain were delayed several times. Even with the 1973 oil crisis, Space Mountain resumed construction and eventually premiered in January 1975.
However, let's revisit the reason why New Orleans Square was dropped in favor of Liberty Square. They both have an anchor attraction, an appropriately-themed Haunted Mansion, and a network of shops and restaurants.
Of course, New Orleans is close to Florida and a recreation of America's colonial past would do one of Walt's greatest concepts justice and then would be fitting for the patriotism of the Bicentennial, but why did Caribbean Plaza get built? After all, the Caribbean is closer to Florida than New Orleans and there isn't an ounce of New Orleans theming in the Magic Kingdom, let alone a land.
Even look at the panorama of Liberty Square to Frontierland, there aren't any distinctly Southern structures beyond the antebellum facade of the Liberty Tavern. In fact, the closest thing is the Diamond Horseshoe, which evokes the frontier heritage of a saloon in St. Louis, but even the iron-work on the balconies of Adventureland can't be attributed to the Dixieland look, but colonialist styles of architecture. Heck, the Old New Orleans scene in Tomorrowland's "If You Had Wings" (1972-1987) was actually the closest direct reference to the Big-Easy at the Magic Kingdom.
But I digress.
The point is that Caribbean Plaza was an obvious afterthought in terms of the landscape of the park. Its purpose was to house the Pirates of the Caribbean and unlike the predecessor in California, the Pirates attraction was planned before the land. It's no secret that New Orleans' representation at Disneyland had been omitted when Florida was considered and it's no secret that this was the brand of representation that gave way to the Pirates instead of building a land themed to the Caribbean aspect of the Pirates ride.
Clearly, this is another sign that design decisions made by WED had been made with the intent to make Disney World vastly different than the original.
Let's look into the plans for Fantasyland at WDW. In fact, the Submarine Voyage ride was given a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea theme and placed in Fantasyland instead of Tomorrowland to satisfy the requirements for what makes a Magic Kingdom magical. So in the plans, three dark rides and a theatre attraction were considered for Florida. Based on the atmospheric themes of the trinity of dark rides that were present in 1955, alternatives were considered. Ichabod Crane was going to be the counterpart to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Mary Poppins was to replace Peter Pan's Flight, and Cinderella took Snow White's Adventures' place.
This was reportedly the plan until Roy Disney urged them to change to the three rides that debuted in 1971 because he knew that Disney World guests would likely never go to Disneyland and thus they would be cheated out of seeing the rides that were a defining part of the Disney park. Then again, Rolly Crump did clarify that management wanted those three rides in the new park because of their popularity. By that logic, I'd imagine that the omission of the Pirates would seem illogical because the Pirates was a defining part of the Magic Kingdom, but there are clear-cut differences. After all, the dark rides in Fantasyland were not only relatively inexpensive compared to the Pirates ride, but they were pretty simple in their construction. The Fantasyland dark rides didn't require elaborate sets, props, Audio-Animatronics, or the massive space needed to build an attraction on the scale of the Pirates of the Caribbean.
Speaking of the most magical kingdom of them all, the Floridian Fantasyland was a step-up from the medieval circus at Disneyland. It still retained some of the medieval facades from Disneyland, but it had a taller castle and themed structures. As a matter of fact, the Skyway Chalet in Disneyland's Fantasyland was erected in 1956 and yet 1970 aerial photos shows exactly where the WDW Skyway stood. Clearly, its inclusion was destined for Florida (sadly until 1999).
Another themed area was the Pinocchio Village Haus Restaurant (initially known as the Small World Village in 1970) and this area was based on the 1940 classic, "Pinocchio", and the Italian storybook village in the film. It was one of the few restaurants that operated on Opening Day, 1971. Certainly, one of the only to still serve guests, as of 2018. This wasn't the only time Pinocchio would appear at the Magic Kingdom around this time.
Some WED literature dating from 1969 to around 1972 have labeled the area between the Pinocchio Village House and the Skyway Chalet, "Pinocchio Street".
The architecture then takes on an English Tudor flavor that changes into early-American Colonial with the Columbia Harbour House and the nearby Haunted Mansion is changed from the Antebellum Manor of New Orleans Square into a Dutch Gothic Revival, based on the manors of the Hudson River Valley in New York. Of course, this means that the architecture is based on styles indigenous to certain regions in the Northeast and then it gradually transitions to Philadelphia (the Hall of Presidents), Virginia (Liberty Tree Tavern), and St. Louis (the Diamond Horseshoe).
The border of Liberty Square ends with a symbolic "crossing" of the Mississippi River stream into Frontierland. Oddly, the Frontierland Shooting Arcade is a part of Liberty Square by default and the architecture continues with the Frontierland Trading Post, Grizzly Hall, and Pecos Bill representing a frontier town with various vernacular styles.
Oddly enough, the Country Bear Jamboree is housed in Grizzly Hall, which is described in the inaugural issue of Florida's "Vacationland" magazine as a "pine-walled northwoods theater", and that description evokes the locale that Disneyland's Bear Country created, which I had talked about in my essay on the narrative of westward expansion at the original Frontierland.
West of Grizzly Hall, the facades of the town included a bar (Mile Long Bar), the town hall, a Chinese laundry, and a Southwestern hacienda of sorts (Pecos Bill).
The transition ends with the junction where the former Frontierland Depot (1972-1991) stood and this is where Thunder Mesa would've sat. Of course, there is a flume ride in that spot, but it wasn't exactly what Marc Davis thought up in the 1960's, and the adjoining runaway mine train. South of the junction is the gateway to Caribbean Plaza, the very reason why I started studying Disney theme parks to this extent and the very basis for this article series.
THE END...FOR RIGHT NOW
No comments:
Post a Comment