A Night at Epcot in 1999 for the Millennium Celebration

Can you go back that far? I can- I was there. Epcot was the focus of the Millennium Celebration, and what a wonderful season it was. Granted the "wand" overstayed its welcome, but the actual festivities and the music were some of the most inspired and creative decisions the Imagineers and suits at The Walt Disney Company devised and funded.

The centerpiece of an evening at Epcot was the amazing Tapestry of Nations parade. But concept art has been hard to come by. Here's a piece that shows the magnificent moving clocks that also functioned as drums. The style was somewhat Steampunk which I love. (Looking at you Disneyland Paris and your incredible Discoveryland!)

The musical pieces were recorded in London's famous Abbey Road Studios and included and "Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand", "Reflections of Earth",  and "We Go On".  This was the true forerunner of the park's current Harmonious, with its Earth Globe making its debut- but on a moving barge instead of permanent fixtures which ruin the World Showcase Lagoon. If you don't have this music, you have to get it!

We loved this Millennium Celebration so much, that our family's annual Christmas card photo was us standing in front of Spaceship Earth. All said, 1999 was a great year to visit what once was Walt Disney World's most innovative and inspiring theme park. 

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)