EPCOT Center Calendar - October

Aside from the innumerable hours of planning, construction, testing, and retesting there is quite a lot of work that goes into the opening and dedication ceremonies for a new park. When the second park was opened in Walt Disney World, what could have been a single ceremony for EPCOT Center became ceremonies due in part to the fact that each pavilion within Future World and World Showcase had sponsors.

Rather than attempt to plot, plan, and coordinate seventeen dedications on a single day, each pavilion was given its own day of honor, save for Japan and France which shared October 20th. Over the course of the first 24 days in October 1982 every pavilion that was completed, Future World, World Showcase, and EPCOT Center itself had their dedication. Surprisingly, EPCOT Center’s ceremony did not happen on October 1st, a day which held the dedication for Spaceship Earth. In fact, EPCOT Center’s day in the sun did not occur until the proceedings for every other pavilion had been completed on October 24th.

For a sense of schedule and scope of the first month of EPCOT Center, below is the calendar from the October 1, 1982 edition of Eyes & Ears.