Reach for hope and desire

It doesn’t take much to harken back to your childhood days in Walt Disney World. An old brown on brown identification card, a postcard, pin or even a thick, land-by-land guide map could all lead to a walk down memory lane. While a picture can say a thousand words, it is rare to find a collage of images that succinctly sum up an entire park or area.

The patchwork of images below is from the 1983 Walt Disney World Vacation Guide. While the images from World Showcase are just as compelling, the backside of Epcot has seen substantially fewer changes in the past three decades than its futuristic counterpart, Future World. In just a few images the wit, forethought, and awe of Future World is forever captured.

Clockwise, starting at the top left:
AT&T WorldKey Information System
Listen to the Land boat
Used chariot salesman from World of Motion
Universe of Energy dinosaurs - note the harsher color palate than the current incarnation
Transcenter’s Aero 2000
Imagination’s Rainbow Corridor
Kitchen Krackpots featured in Kitchen Kabaret
Earth Station
World of Motions view of the city of tomorrow (background)

Absent are any images from Horizons or The Living Seas, both forthcoming in early 1983 (Horizons would open later that year and The Living Seas would follow in 1986), but the spirit of Future World is easily conveyed in this collection. I may have added height, weight, and years to my life, but these glimpses to my formative years in EPCOT Center still set my heart aflutter.