Whoever once owned this souvenir travel plate, visited Epcot in 1982, the park's opening year. They visited a park that was incredibly unique and could only have been a product of Walt Disney's imagination.
Walt Disney originally wanted create a utopian city of the future that people would actually live in. He said, "EPCOT will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing, and testing, and demonstrating new materials and new systems."
Disney died however before the completion of the park. His engineers did not feel comfortable opening a park where people lived without Disney's guidance and they disagreed over the park's purpose. Some Imagineers wanted it to represent the cutting edge of technology, while others wanted it to showcase international cultures and customs. Eventually the park became both- a celebration of technology and globalism.
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| Visitors enjoying the park in the 1980's Image from: |
On Epcot's opening day, dancers and band members performed We've Just Begun to Dream. Performing groups representing countries from all over the world performed in World Showcase. Water was gathered from major rivers across the globe and emptied into the park's fountain of nations ceremonial containers to mark the opening.
Visitors would have been mesmerized by attractions such as The World of Motion, CommuniCore, Universe of Energy, and The Land. The only original attraction that remains in the park today is The Land. Visitors would have also feasted on foods from Mexico, China, Germany, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Morocco and Norway were later editions.
I hope that whoever once owned this plate had the trip of a lifetime. This commemorative plate is available in my Etsy shop East West Trade Route.
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