Showing posts with label Millennium Celebration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Millennium Celebration. Show all posts
October 3, 2025
Images of Disney's Israel Showcase at Epcot
The Millennium Village contained a small exhibit highlighting the country. That's a photo of it from the turn of the century. (That sounds funny to say as in Disney speak, it's come to describe Main Street U.S.A!)
But what the Imagineers designed could have been really beautiful! There's a common thought that some of the very best work these artists have ever done still sits locked away in the vaults of Burbank. Never built but never forgotten.
Announcements and advertisements, concept art and billboards, even the beginning of construction means nothing these days. Can you list the projects that never materialized? Of course you can. That's what we fans do!
Will plans ever be considered in the future? Who knows? This is the company that builds theme parks in places we'd never imagine 50 years ago... like Mainland China (Shanghai Disneyland) and now in the Middle East with Disneyland Abu Dhabi.
(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)
January 14, 2022
A Night at Epcot in 1999 for the Millennium Celebration
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.)
July 13, 2020
What Epcot's Japan Showcase Needs
It's late at night at Epcot. The nighttime show has ended, and the crowds are thinning out, making it the perfect time for a leisurely stroll. Ever wander into the small hidden gardens and find Katsura Grill? It's a gem! A lovely place for a snack or quiet meal or even just a perfect spot to stop and reflect on life.
These two photos of Katsura Grill
are official Disney shots.
Although Japan's showcase seems close to perfect with its great dining options and extensive shopping and entertainment, there's so much more that could be done- even going beyond what will be the inevitable Big Hero 6 attraction. Here's a few things- several attractions- that never saw the light of day:
We all know about the cancelled projects like the Mount Fuji bobsled run, Meet the World carousel theater project, and perhaps even the bullet train attraction seen above.
Imagineering's Joe Warren produced
this piece for Disneyland's 50th anniversary celebration
and how it would be celebrated at Epcot.
But have you heard about Collin Campbell's omnimover attraction? In this piece of concept art below, we can see the Imagineers created a visually stunning conclusion to the ride- ready with sponsorship symbols for Japan Airlines (JAL). Eventually, grand ideas gave way to more shopping and dining, but with a different focus than what is already there.
How about something classic and feudal in look? Here's the plan to add an old world shopping district to the existing pavilion:
This was one of many proposed ideas to spruce up and refresh the World Showcase pavilions for the park's Millennium Celebration. Doesn't this look like something you'd find in the ancient city of Kyoto. The very top photograph of this post shows the real Kyoto, a place I had the opportunity to visit as a very young man. The country is stunning, but this ancient city is the place everyone has to go if they visit Japan!
(Concept art copyright The Walt Disney Company. Top photo of Kyoto by Oscar Boyd.)
January 1, 2019
Happy New Year and New Century from Epcot
Hard to believe the New Millennium was almost 20 years ago! Walt Disney World was prepared to celebrate with Epcot Center being the main park to keep the focus on the future.
A splashy new logo was prepared...
A new CD shared the amazing celebration music with us...
Even T-shirts had the cool Tapestry of Nations parade logo on them!
From brb1006 at WDWMagic.
Best of all was. this incredible commercial capturing all the excitement. And the reality was as good as the promotion.
As for us, it's a New Year- and the best promises Come from God Himself-
Here's His Word from the prophet Isaiah, in Chapter 43:
19 “Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen! Do you not recognize it?
Yes, I will make a road in the desert
and paths in the wilderness.
20 The wild animals of the desert honor me,
the jackals and ostriches,
because I put water in the desert
and streams in the wilderness,
to quench the thirst of my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself,
so they might praise me.”
As for us, it's a New Year- and the best promises Come from God Himself-
Here's His Word from the prophet Isaiah, in Chapter 43:
19 “Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen! Do you not recognize it?
Yes, I will make a road in the desert
and paths in the wilderness.
20 The wild animals of the desert honor me,
the jackals and ostriches,
because I put water in the desert
and streams in the wilderness,
to quench the thirst of my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself,
so they might praise me.”
May your New Year begin wonderfully with lots of praise to God, followed by plenty of blessing throughout the year!
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