Tuesday, March 30, 2010

EPCOT Center Is Still There (You Just Have To Know Where To Look)

One of EPCOT Center’s coolest little details was the circular logos that represented each Future World pavilion. They slowly disappeared during the 1990s and 2000s as pavilions were refurbished and updated, but there are still two places in Future World where you can see them, not counting the retro EPCOT merchandise in Mouse Gear.

The first one can be seen just inside the entrance to the Energy pavilion, where the old Universe of Energy logo is still incorporated into the colorful mosaic that decorates the foyer.

The second place is inside The Land, where the pavilion’s old logo still decorates the FastPass machines near the Living With The Land queue area.

This same logo also decorates the right shoulder of the uniforms for the Cast Members who work in the pavilion.

Most EPCOT visitors don’t notice little details like this, and while their presence may not seriously impact anyone’s enjoyment of the park, it’s heartwarming to see them all the same.

6 comments:

  1. In addition, a large rendition of The Living Seas logo is still up in the VIP lounge.

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  2. Nice finds!

    You just might get you Official Disney Geek Certificate soon! ;)

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  3. James, I guess I've seen a picture of the old TLS logo in that pavilion's VIP lounge, but I didn't remember it until I read your comment. Thanks for jogging my memory!

    I guess I'll have too take the Undiscovered Future World tour now so I can get a picture of it!

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  4. The Horizons logo in the gravity wheel (Mission: SPACE) is still there iirc. The EPCOT Center globe is also on some signage just outside the park.

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  5. Speaking of The Land, on my last visit to EPCOT, I was wearing my "Old School" EPCOT shirt with all of the logos on the front. One of The Land CMs stopped me to tell me how great he thought the shirt was. Good to see a CM who appreciates the way things used to be.

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  6. In addition, there are several others. The Living Seas logo is on an information panel in the lower manatee viewing area. The Journey Into Imagination logo is in the signage of the former Figment's Place meet and greet (the old Kodak store). Inexplicably, the Spaceship Earth logo is also at Imagination, in the background display of the Kodak picture purchase kiosks in ImageWorks. I believe CommuniCore is MIA, although it is proudly on display backstage in the coordinator's office in Innoventions East, in the form of the banner from the EPCOT 25 gallery. Haven't found a permanent World of Motion symbol, but until the recent past it could be found on a leather Test Track racer jacket as the logo for 'Future World Motors'. As mentioned above, Horizons is at Mission: SPACE, both in the queue in the center of the gravity wheel, and stylized on the front of the register counter in the gift shop. And I wouldn't be surprised if the Wonders of Life logo was still floating around somewhere in that pavilion.

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Thanks for taking the time to comment!