May 12 - Reedy Creek Improvement District

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On this day, in 1967, the Governor of Florida, Claude R. Kirk Jr, signed legislation creating the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the governing jurisdiction for all of Walt Disney World. As Walt began planning his East Coast park, he knew it had to be different from Disneyland in couple of key ways. For one, it had to be bigger, big enough that outside businesses couldn’t be seen from inside his park. Not only would it be bigger physically, but it would also be bigger in scope. More hotels, more restaurants, more shops, more of everything guests could need for an extended stay. But the more important distinction between east and west was going to be his futuristic city under a dome. EPCOT was the culmination of all of Walt’s dreams and ambitions, the banner under which the world was going to become a better place. It was going to need all sorts of specialized buildings and infrastructure, which presented a multitude of problems for Walt. His main obstacle: the fact that, under current governmental conditions, it might prove impossible to build.

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As the Walt Disney Company went through the highly secretive process of acquiring land for the Florida Project, they ended up creating a potential headache for themselves by owning a parcel of land that straddled two Florida counties, Orange and Osceola. Dealing with one county government to obtain all the permits needed for major construction projects can be difficult enough. Having to remember two different sets of rules depending on where you’re building on your property, is a nightmare. Luckily, Disney had some pull as a corporate behemoth and was able to make that problem go away, albeit in stages.

The first step came in March 1966. All of the holding companies who had officially purchased all the central Florida land banded together and asked the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court to create the Reedy Creek Drainage District. (This is where the ethics of the whole deal begin to get murky, since those holding companies were already banded together, each being wholly owned by Disney, but that distinction pales in comparison to later ones.) A drainage district is ostensibly formed to maintain the drainage systems for an area. It’s overseen by a board and generally has the power to levy taxes in order to pay for those systems. They also have the power (at least in Florida) to use eminent domain to condemn and absorb land outside their boundaries as long as it’s for “public use.” Reedy Creek has only used this power once, to gain land along Bonnet Creek. That land is now part of the Bonnet Creek Resort, which is partly a “nature preserve” (which could be considered public use) but mostly a collection of privately held hotels (which, in my opinion, could not). The waters have become even murkier, but you ain’t seen nothing yet.

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Realizing that a drainage district wasn’t going to give the Florida Project the independence it needed to do the things Disney wanted to do quickly, the company (under Walt’s guidance although he would die before his plans were finalized) petitioned the Florida State Legislature to change the drainage district to an improvement district. The distinction between the two is like night and day. The Reedy Creek Improvement District would only be beholden to the state or surrounding counties in two ways: property taxes and elevator inspections. In every other way (including land use and planning, utilities, roads, emergency medical services, waste treatment, etc.), the board of the district (which would be controlled by Disney) would have control. The State of Florida, with dollar signs in its eyes, agreed that this was the best way to go. Lawsuits against the formation of the district were of course immediately filed. At least one reached the Florida State Supreme Court, who ruled that the district did not violate Florida’s constitution, was exempt from all current and future state land use laws and could move forward.

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Reedy Creek Improvement District is run by a five member board that is independent on paper only. The board members are duly elected by the landowners within RCID, but what does that mean exactly? The same time Governor Kirk created the district, he also signed legislation chartering two cities within the district, Lake Buena Vista (originally known as the city of Reedy Creek) and Bay Lake. Calling them cities is being kind. Lake Buena Vista has about 16 residents and Bay Lake has around 23. The problem with those residents isn’t that they are all company employees or immediate family members (which they are), the problem is that none of them own the land they live on. Therefore none of them get to vote on board members, even though it can be assumed that they would be 100% for whatever Disney wanted, considering they don’t get to live where they do without the company’s consent. The real problem here is that there are exactly five landowners within the boundaries of RCID, each owning 5 acres of land. All five are senior Disney employees and basically get to handpick their representative on the board. Naturally the person they pick is going to be someone who will do exactly what the company wants. As one of these five people, can you guess what you get to do with “your” land when you retire? That’s right. You “get” to “sell” it to the next senior employee in line. And when you receive one of the 5 acre parcels, you get to vote your proxy onto the board.

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The end result is that there is no real oversight of anything that happens within the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Now Disney will swear up and down that the board is independent (just don’t ask how that’s possible given its election process) and doesn’t just rubberstamp all their plans. It is true that they occasionally issue a token no vote on something, but I guarantee the situation is not what Florida lawmakers envisioned when they gave their consent to the plan (something current lawmakers in Orange and Osceola counties probably regret at least once a week if not once a day). Especially since Disney officials spent all their time drumming up support for the plan by invoking how great EPCOT was going to be and how the only way to make it happen was to create this special area. Walt, however, was barely in the grave before the company abandoned all plans for city building (notice how they waited a few months for a signature on that resolution though).

Would things be less underhanded (an inflammatory but not untrue adjective) in how Walt Disney World was constructed if Walt had lived longer? That’s hard to say. Plans for EPCOT would have moved forward, bringing in actual residents that would have had a say in who was on the board, so maybe. But then again maybe not. When the town of Celebration was built, all that land was deliberately removed from the RCID so the town’s residents wouldn’t have any control over the board (although Celebration does enjoy a thin line of RCID controlled property all around it as a buffer with the outside world). The bottom line is that, love it for being instrumental in creating a play land like no other or hate it for being a textbook marriage of corporate greed and governmental corruption, Disney got the deal of the century in the Reedy Creek Improvement District, they use it to their full advantage and would be remiss if they didn’t. Just notice that the government has never extended the same deal to anyone else (I think I just heard Universal snort) and they would be remiss if they did.

March 5 - Journey into Imagination

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On this day, in 1983, Journey into Imagination began delighting guests in Future World at Epcot Center. The Imagination pavilion was not one of the five that opened October 1, 1982 (although the 3D movie Magic Journeys which played on the side of it did) but, less than six months later, was the first new pavilion. The whimsical design of the area highlighted things most guests had never seen before: a ‘waterfall’ that flowed up instead of down, a fountain that jumped across walkways and a weird purple thing (is it a dragon? Can’t be, doesn’t breath fire. Then what is it? I dunno.) beckoning them inside a double pyramid shaped steel and glass building. Once inside, the journey could begin on one of my most favorite Disney rides to ever exist.

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Journey started with a marvelous Sherman Brothers’ song, One Little Spark, which not only had a new character, Dreamfinder, musically describe all the ways that imagination works but defined just what a Figment is. (So it is a dragon. No, it’s a figment of your imagination, weren’t you listening? I’m gonna call it a dragon.) After inspiring riders with rooms based on everything from movies to books to science experiments, Journey ended by letting guests out into the best part of the pavilion: the Imageworks. Filled with pin tables, blue screens, magical orchestras, musical stepping stones and all sorts of other imagination sparkers, the second floor of the pavilion could entertain kids for hours (and with plenty of benches to sit on, parents didn’t mind the rest stop). All was well in Future World, until dark clouds rolled in on October 10, 1998, shutting out the light of Journey into Imagination forever.

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Things rarely ever stay the same forever, I know that, including classic attractions. After all, The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean have changed over the years (even It’s a Small World gets a holiday makeover each November in Disneyland). But it’s pretty easy to argue that the changes in those rides made them even better. The same cannot be said about what happened to Journey. The Magic Journeys movie next door had been replaced with Captain EO which in turn was replaced by the popular 4D movie Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. In an effort to unify the pavilion, the decision was made to change the theme of the ride to be a tour through the Imagination Institute, an element of Audience. Dreamfinder was completely cut out, Figment was relegated to the barest of cameos and the Imageworks was severely truncated and moved to the ground floor. The length of the ride was significantly cut because of budget constraints and, to be frank, I’m pretty sure I could have done rooms of that ride better with only cardboard and poster paint at my disposal (the pitiful upside-down room, anyone?). When the ride re-opened on October 1, 1999, as Journey into YOUR Imagination (if you have to put one of the words in the name in all capital letters, that should be a big red flag for you), it was an instant bomb. Guest reaction was overwhelmingly negative (Is it just me, or did this ride used to not suck? Yeah and what happened to that little dragon guy? Don’t start with that again.) and the new version limped along for two years, finally gasping its last awkward breath on October 8, 2001.

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The current version of the ride, Journey into Imagination with Figment, is an improvement over the last one, but still pales in comparison to what once was, in my opinion. It’s still a tour through the Imagination Institute (although Honey, I Shrunk the Audience doesn’t exist anymore, so that reference is no longer valid) and Figment is in every scene. But the scenes still lack oomph , the ride is still short and Dreamfinder is still missing. And, to top it all off, the grand old Imageworks on the second floor is still gone (well, at least walled over and gathering dust). What used to be a must do attraction on every tour of Epcot has become a ho-hum area that can generally be skipped in favor of other things. So, if everyone could doff your hats (or raise a glass or something else imaginatively appropriate) and sing along with me, in remembrance (and yes, I know a version of this song is still used but it isn’t the same and you know it): One little spark… of inspiration… is at the heart… of all creation…

January 9 - Card Walker

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On this day, in 1916, Esmond Cardon Walker was born in Rexburg, Idaho. Card first arrived in the Los Angeles area at the age of 8 and, in 1934, began life as a freshman at UCLA. When he graduated four years later, he landed at job at the Walt Disney Studios in the mailroom. That’s right, folks. Card’s story is a classic tale of one man’s rise from the proverbial lowly entry position to the vaunted corner office. Lucky for us, it’s generally reported that he was an all-around good guy.

Card’s first job with the company was affectionately known as a ‘traffic boy.’ He spent his days moving drawings around the studio between the different departments, from an animator’s desk to Ink and Paint to the Camera Department and so on. From there Card moved up into the Camera Department and then the Story Department. At that point, in 1941, his career was interrupted, like so many other careers, by the start of World War II.

Card stepped up and fulfilled his patriotic duty, joining the United States Navy. He was eventually assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill where he served as a flight deck officer from 1943-1945. Card would fight in eight major battles in the Pacific Theater of the war, survive the deadly attacks (the only original flight deck officer on the Bunker Hill to do so) and, in the end, return home to his place at Disney.

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After the war, Card continued to both steadily rise within the company and gain an almost encyclopedic knowledge of it. At one point he became a unit manager in the Shorts Department and by 1956 he claimed the title of Vice President of Advertising and Sales. His vast knowledge about everything going on in the studio made him invaluable to Walt and the two enjoyed a close friendship. In 1960, Card was elected to the Board of Directors for the Studio for the first time. He would remain a member of that body for the next four decades.

When Walt died in 1966, Roy O. Disney became the company’s President and Card became the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Card was instrumental in helping Roy bring his brother’s final dream, Walt Disney World, to  life. With Roy’s passing in 1971, Card moved up to company President, serving as second in command under Donn Tatum, the company’s first CEO whose last name was something other than Disney.

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As time went on and Donn relinquished his titles one by one, they all went to Card. In 1976, Donn stopped being CEO, but stayed on a Chairman of the Board. Card remained President and added the position of CEO. When Don fully retired in 1980, Card became Chairman of the Board as well as CEO. Card retired from the CEO position in February of 1983 and retired as Chairman in May of the same year. He stayed on with the company as a consultant for several more years and ended his run as a member of the board in 2000.

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After 45 years of steady active leadership, Card left behind a mixed legacy. On the plus side, he made sure Walt Disney World happened (something I can never be thankful enough for), he expanded Disney theme parks into international waters with the opening of Tokyo Disneyland and he got the company into the cable business with the launch of The Disney Channel. He was also the driving force behind EPCOT Center, doubling the number of parks at the Florida Project. Which all sounds great until you flip the coin and look at the negative side.

Creativity was never Card’s strong suit. As Disney historian Jim Hill once noted, throughout the Seventies, when filmmakers who’d grown up on Disney fare were making pictures like Jaws and Star Wars, the company under Card’s leadership was churning out movies like Herbie Goes Bananas and Gus. While those pictures aren’t inherently bad, they are clearly out of place for their times. Card spent much of his time as President and CEO asking the age old question ‘What would Walt do?’ without realizing that the answer was innovate, take risks and constantly push the envelope of what entertainment could be. By trying to stay family friendly in a mid-Sixties kind of way during the Seventies and early Eighties, Card nearly destroyed the very company he loved. As Disney’s fortunes declined and its assets remained lovingly wrapped up in storage, the vultures began to circle. Card managed to retire before the crisis came to a head and his successor, Ron Miller, gets most of the shame for being removed from office to make way for Michael Eisner, but it was Card’s decisions that brought the company to the brink.

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In the end, I think Card comes out on top, if only because things turned out okay. While the creative side of Disney suffered under his leadership, the business side was blessed with firm foundations. Epcot, Tokyo Disneyland and the Disney Channel were all projects that benefited the company immensely in the long term and were executed very well. Card’s chief strengths were dual and embodied in a story from Epcot’s opening. He was asked why the company had named their new park such a cumbersome, odd sounding name.  His response was simple: it was inspired by Walt and he was confident people would get used to it. This dedication to legacy and sure, steadfast optimism about the future are what earned Card the honor of official Disney Legend in 1993.

Card passed away from congestive heart failure at his home in La Canada Flintridge, California on November 28, 2005. He was 89.

January 3 - Kitchen Kabaret

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On this day, in 1994, the final notes of the Kitchen Kabaret show, located in the Land Pavilion in Future World at Epcot, drifted into the ether. As part of Epcot's opening day offerings, this 13 minute Audio-Animatronic show centered on teaching guests about the four food groups and the importance of a balanced diet. The main thing anyone remembers from it, however, are the four words "Veggie, Veggie, Fruit, Fruit" (and for those of you who do remember, that will now be in your head for the rest of the day, you're welcome).

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The show was hosted by Bonnie Appetite, a combination of a Fifties housewife and a cabaret singer. She was voiced by Jeanine Brown, a studio musician and member of the country-swing group The Doo-Wah Riders. Bonnie starts out being less than enthused about cooking dinner and sets out on a journey meeting members of each of the food groups for inspiration. The highlights included a trio of grains who parodied the Andrews Sisters with Boogie Woogie Bakery Boy, a vaudeville type act featuring Mr. Hamm and Mr. Eggz and a group of broccoli, bananas and tomatoes chanting the earworm known as Veggie, Veggie, Fruit, Fruit.

The show was sponsored by Kraft Foods, who also sponsored the entire Land Pavilion for the first decade it was open. When the initial sponsorship deal ended in the fall of 1993, Kraft declined to renew. Nestle became the new sponsor and, naturally, wanted a new show that wasn't connected to Kraft. Kitchen Kabaret would survive a few more months while it's replacement was in development.

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The replacement show was called Food Rocks. It was also about 13 minutes long, also featured a cast of Audio-Animatronics, also centered on nutrition and, coincidentally, also closed on January 3, exactly one decade after Kitchen Kabaret. Food Rocks was, in my opinion, less memorable than its predecessor. It was staged as a benefit concert promoting healthy eating that was hosted by Fud Wrapper, voiced by real-life rapper Tone Loc. The show featured several parodies of actual songs and bands (The Peach Boys singing Good Nutrition, that sort of thing). Several of the parodies were voiced by the real performers including Neil Sedaka as Neil Moussaka, Little Richard, the Pointer Sisters and Chubby Checker as Chubby Cheddar.

Food Rocks closed in 2004 to be replaced by Soarin'. Nestle renewed their sponsorship of the Land Pavilion for a while but stopped in 2009. The pavilion has lacked sponsorship since then.

January 2 - World of Motion

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On this day, in 1996, the last guests rode the World of Motion attraction in Future World at Epcot. Built as one of Epcot's opening day attractions, World of Motion had some heavy hitters behind its development. Animator Ward Kimball, one of Walt's Nine Old Men, actually designed the attraction. If you didn't know that Ward dabbled in ride creation that would be because this was the one and only time he ever did. His brand of humor was evident throughout, from cavemen blowing on their overheated feet to the world's first traffic jam involving a horse and an ice truck.

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Ward got some help from a couple more Disney Legends for the ride's theme song. Buddy Baker composed the music and Imagineer Xavier Atencio wrote the lyrics to It's Fun to Be Free. One of the unique aspects of Free is that unlike most attractions where the same version of a song might get repeated at different points (think about Pirates of the Caribbean), for World of Motion the song kept changing to suit the changing periods in history. It had a ragtime feel for one scene, an Asian sound in another and at one point was played exclusively on a kazoo. All due to the genius of Buddy.

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The ride itself took guests on a tour through the history of transportation narrated by Gary Owens, best known as the announcer on Laugh-In. World of Motion boasted on of the largest casts of Audio-Animatronic figures ever assembled with a total of 188 characters. At the end of the line, literally taking a page from the Haunted Mansion, guests saw their Omnimover vehicles transformed into cars of the future through a Pepper's Ghost illusion. After disembarking, guests moved into a mini Innoventions type area dedicated almost exclusively to cars. Exhibits spanned topics on everything from how wind tunnels help make cars more fuel efficient to an Audio-Animatronic show about assembly lines. The most popular part was, as always, the concept cars on display.

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The whole shebang was sponsored by General Motors from its opening to its closing. After Ford's successful sponsorship of the Disney produced Magic Skyway ride at the 1964 World's Fair, GM wasn't about to miss out again. They signed a 10 year deal just to begin with, renewed several times and still sponsor the replacement attraction today.

Speaking of the replacement attraction, it was GM who would ultimately spell out the demise of World of Motion. In the early Nineties, sales began to slump for them and they felt a new attraction devoted to cars and cars only, not the whole of transportation, would be a better use of their sponsorship money. Since World of Motion was beginning to show its age at that point, Disney agreed and Test Track was created. Even though I personally miss the charm of the old ride, it was ultimately a smart move. While Test Track was plagued with problems and delays in its early days, it is now one of the most popular rides in all of the Florida Project, although the concept cars at the end are still, arguably, the best part.

December 18 - Candlelight Processional

On this day, in 1971, the first Candlelight Processional made its way down Mainstreet USA in the Magic Kingdom of the Walt Disney World Resort. Modeled after the event at Disneyland that debuted in 1958, the Candlelight Processional has grown by leaps and bounds since that Florida night 47 years ago. It started at the Magic Kingdom (obviously, because that was the only park at the Florida Project then) as an actual processional. Performers carried candles from Town Square, down Mainstreet USA to amass in front of the castle. The show was performed once each of two nights and that was it. That’s still how it goes down at Disneyland, generally just one weekend a year. Walt Disney World, of course, has to do things bigger and better than that.

The Candlelight Processional got a big boost in 1994 when it was moved from the Magic Kingdom to Epcot. Instead of having guests stand along the route with very limited seating near the stage (the seats available at Disneyland are by invitation only), guests now get to sit in relative comfort in the America Gardens Theater at the American Adventure Pavilion. And instead of just one show a night for a single weekend, the processional is performed three times a night throughout the holiday season (which somehow doesn’t make it much easier to get in). The Christmas story is still narrated by various celebrity guests (Neil Patrick Harris, Jodi Benson and Whoopi Goldberg are perennial favorites), still has hundreds of singers made up of cast members and local choirs, and still has a full orchestra underscoring the whole thing. And, yes, it is still a powerfully moving experience that everyone should see as many times as they can in however many years they have on this earth. I’m not kidding; it really is that good. You might still be able to catch a show this season if you leave right now...

October 19 - Body Wars

On this day, in 1989, Body Wars began sending Epcot guests on a rescue mission inside the human body. Body Wars was located in the Wonders of Life pavilion in Future World, which opened the same day. It had been the intention all along to have a pavilion which centered around health, but it took several years to find someone to sponsor (i.e. foot the bill for) its construction. Finally MetLife stepped up and the 100 million dollar pavilion took shape. Body Wars was part of a collection of now defunct classic attractions in the Wonders of Life which also included Cranium Command and The Making of Me.

The film part of the attraction was directed by Leonard Nimoy, of Star Trek fame, and starred Tim Matheson, Elisabeth Shue, Dakin Matthews and an uncredited Jane Curtin.

Body Wars was the first thrill ride for Epcot. Although it used the same ride system as Star Tours over in Hollywood Studios, because of its content, Body Wars tended to cause more motion sickness in its riders. Guests had to be warned that if blood and other bodily fluids made them squeamish, this wasn't the ride for them.

The journey guests took through the human body went through most of the major biological systems, including the heart and brain. The basic plot was that Elisabeth Shue had gotten stranded inside a test subjects body while conducting research and Tim Matheson was leading an expedition to find her and get her back out. All of this of course included shrink rays and other incredible technologies that allowed your vehicle to fight off white blood cells without causing further damage to the unsuspecting person you were inside of. Luckily, when your vehicle started running low on power, it turns out the human body is also an electrical generator that's easy to tap into, at least from the inside, and all turned out well in the end.

Sadly, when MetLife ended its sponsorship of the Wonders of Life pavilion in 2001, it spelled doom for Body Wars and the other attractions. Over the next several years, the area would be operated on a seasonal basis, meaning whenever Epcot got full and guests needed something additional to do. The last guests to save day did so on January 1, 2007. The building is still used occasionally for conventions and a presentation space during the Food and Wine Festival, but the simulators have been dismantled, the signage removed and the Body Wars have ended, fading into mere

stories we can tell our children.

Also on this day, in American history: Anna Lee Aldred

October 5 - Maelstrom

On this day, in 2014, the last guest rode the Maelstrom into the heart of the Norway Pavilion at Epcot. Originally signs announcing the coming attraction called it SeaVoyage, but by the time it actually began operating on July 5, 1988, its name had changed to Maelstrom. Part log flume ride, part crash course in Norwegian culture and history, Maelstrom became an incredibly popular part of World Showcase.

The ride itself seemed, to some, to lack coherency. Riders started out in Viking villages. The very presence of longboats full of strangers angers the trolls, who make the boats reverse direction. Polar bears and outdoor scenes fly by. Guests are barely saved from going over the falls before plunging down the rapids towards a modern day oil rig. The whole thing ends in a quiet fishing village. To me, even though each part seemed to have nothing to do with any of the others, the whole thing came together in a glorious whole and, right or wrong, declared that Norway was indeed a marvelous place. I even watched The Spirit of Norway, the film after the ride, every time I rode it.

In my opinion, Frozen Ever After, the ride that replaced Maelstrom, will never live up to its predecessor. While I applaud the fact that it isn’t a retelling of the movie, it also isn’t a celebration of Norway. Parts of the attraction also seem bare to me, like when you’re traveling backwards through the castle and there is literally nothing happening. The queue is fun, but the ride isn’t something I’d be willing to wait hours for. Of course I fully admit I’m biased and will always miss the cast members greeting us after getting off the boats with “Welcome to Norway!”

Also on this day, in American history: Earl Tupper

September 15 - Ellen's Energy Adventure

On this day, in 1996, Ellen DeGeneres began having an Energy Crisis in the Universe of Energy pavilion at Epcot.

You heard that right. When the revamped ride reopened that fall, Ellen's energy was in full crisis mode. It didn't last long. Almost immediately, she got her act together and Ellen's Energy Crisis was renamed Ellen's Energy Adventure. No explanation was ever given as to the nature of the crisis, we're just glad it got resolved.

The original Universe of Energy was fairly serious and utilitarian. Educational films informed guests about different kinds of energy and a trip through prehistoric times let everyone know where fossil fuels came from. It even got not one but two songs. Straightforward, not terribly exciting stuff. That all changed in version two, mostly due to a bad wig but I'm getting ahead of myself.

As attraction updates began to focus more on humor and celebrity faces, the Universe of Energy was ripe for an overhaul. And who better to use than folks with current hit projects. Bill Nye, the Science Guy would lend credibility to the presentation and Ellen would provide a perfect comic foil to all the sciency stuff. Add in Alex Trebek and Jamie Lee Curtis for a Jeopardy showdown like no other, and you get the adventure we'd been waiting for. Don't get me wrong, Ellen's Energy Adventure was still quite informative, as Future World pavilions should be.

The ride system itself didn't change from the original. Guests watched a short preshow in which Ellen dreams she's on Jeopardy losing against her old college nemesis and Albert Einstein. That led into a theater with four large ride vehicles. After getting seated, the vehicles rotated for another movie that showed Bill Nye offering to help Ellen learn a few things during the commercial break. The vehicles then moved through the area with dinosaur animatronics, again letting guests know where fossil fuels came from. The experience ended back in the theater it started in with Ellen using all her newfound knowledge to totally kill Final Jeopardy.

It was in the area with the dinosaurs that the real highlight of the attraction was found. No one knows for sure who dressed the Ellen animatronic figure, but it quickly passed into the hall of fame for unintentional guest favorites. Whether it was the absolutely terrible wig or the fact that Ellen was trying to fend off a dinosaur by poking a stick at it, a little part of all of us died when the figure stopped working and was removed from the ride in 2014. The adventure stopped altogether on August 13, 2017 as the Universe of Energy pavilion went dark in anticipation of version three featuring the Guardians of the Galaxy. No word yet if the dinosaurs will still be a part of it, but we can always hope.

September 7 - Morocco Pavilion

On this day, in 1984, the Morocco Pavilion opened in World Showcase at Epcot.

When EPCOT Center opened in October of 1982, there were nine countries represented with their own pavilions around the World Showcase Lagoon, although space existed for more to be added as time went on. Well, almost 36 years have gone by and only two more pavilions have opened. Two and a half if you include the African Outpost merchandise area, but I don't. And things started out so promising with those two pavilions coming within the first six years. Considering there is still room for nine more... but I digress.


Less than two years after the park opened, the empty area between Japan and France took on a decidedly north African look as a pavilion fit for a king sprang into being. Most Americans might be confused as to what country they were stepping into if it weren't for the movie Casablanca, and even then the first thing they want to see is Rick's. Hint: it's not here.

Sponsored by the Kingdom of Morocco, instead of the usual corporation, the new kid on the lagoon was a bit different from everyone else in other ways. For one, it's the only country in World Showcase that had its host government help design it. Second, since so many of it's buildings have a religious significance to them, Morocco isn't lit up during Epcot's night time show, Illuminations. Third, it's influenced attractions that have come after it. Since the top Hollywood Studio's Tower of Terror can be seen looming behind Morocco, it was designed to blend in with the architecture of the pavilion.

The focal point of the Morocco Pavilion is its minaret, the tall tower that sits front and center. Minarets are traditionally located next to mosques, although there isn't one here, and are used in the Islamic call to worship. Epcot's is a replica of the Koutoubia minaret in Marrakesh. Also prominent is a replica of the Chellah, or fortified cemetery, of Rabat. Wander further into the pavilion and you can see the Fes House, representing a traditional Moroccan home. Throughout the area, citrus trees, date palms and olive trees make it feel like the Sahara Desert could be just over the next rise. Or maybe that's just the central Floridian heat.

One of the things that shouldn't be missed about Morocco are the mosaics. King Hassan II sent artisans to design and create them and they are absolutely beautiful and absolutely everywhere. The other thing that shouldn't be missed is the food. I've only ever eaten at one of the three restaurants, the Tangierine Cafe. It's a basic counter service place, but the hummus and the chicken kabobs were both delicious. If shopping is your thing, you can find everything in Morocco's bazaar from decorative tiles to mirrors made from camel bones. If you must, you can meet Aladdin and Jasmine but you should also check out the musical act and, if you're there at Christmas time, listen to the Storyteller share the custom of Ramadan.