Commemorative Pre-Opening Guide to Epcot Center

During our vacation in the summer of 1982, guests got to take a ride on the monorail over to a new theme park opening later that year. The new park was to be called Epcot Center. Besides the ticket and a brochure we received, guests also were given a magazine called The Dawn of a New Disney Era...A Commemorative Pre-Opening Guide to Epcot Center. It is filled with tons of concept art, construction pictures, pre-opening pictures, and descriptions of the various attractions and lands in this future theme park. Now, somewhere I have some pictures my parents took. I'll have to see if I can find them along with my ticket and brochure. I'll save those for a future post.









On the back cover is a quote that illuminates what was to be Epcot Center:

If we can bring together the technial know-how of American industry and the creative imaginatioin of the Disney organization, I believe we can build a community that more people will talk about and come to look at than any other area in the world. --Walt Disney

Test Track Safety Postcard...FREE

One piece of Disneyphemera I really like are postcards, especially free postcards from the parks. Here is a free postcard from Epcot's Test Track. You can pick this up at the GM information desk in the showroom at the exit of the ride. The front has a cool picture of the attraction's vehicle.

On the back it has a little safety reminder, actually, more like a contract with drivers. Then, when you mail your card to your family or friends, the safety message is passed on, along with an advertisement for Epcot and GM of course. This makes a great souvenir and scrapbook piece from the most popular ride in Future World.

Coral Reef Restaurant 1987

In June 1987, my family visited Walt Disney World. This was our first trip to the WDW since it added a second theme park, EPCOT Center. One of the places we ate at was the Coral Reef Restaurant which was located at The Living Seas pavilion in Future World. The restaurant opened on January 15, 1986, so, it had only been open roughly a year and a half when we visited.


What was so unique about this restaurant was the huge glass windows which allowed guests to view the underwater world as they dined. I remember when we first sat down at our table, I thought of the scene in Jaws 3-D where the people were eating, drinking, and socializing oblivious to the behemoth shark that was about to change their experience. Of course, this had no giant fish, but, it did have many sharks for my brothers and I to gasp over, especially the bull sharks. The above picture is one we took of the bull shark, but, as you can tell, ya can't really see the shark. But, you can get an idea of the decor and the size of the windows for viewing the aquarium.


We did get a couple of Disneyphemera items from this lunch. The first item we received was the host card stating our name, party size, and time we arrived. This also doubled as an identification guide for the different sea life that we could observe while we dined.


The next item is a foil wrapper from one of the after dinner chocolate dessert mints we received. The mints were actually round coins, about the size of those you can find today at the various Disney shops with Mickey, Minnie, and others on them. I have three of these, but, this one has been flattened the best to show the design which includes EPCOT Center's Spaceship Earth.


Now, if I could just remember what I had? I wonder if my parents kept that receipt?!