U.S.A. Pavilion (DEDICATED OCT 11, 1982)
A Georgian mansion (colonial style structure) featuring the 
Audio-Animatronic attraction the American Adventure, the Liberty 
Inn restaurant, and the America Gardens Amphitheater.
United Kingdom Pavilion (DEDICATED OCT 19, 1982)
British streets featuring the Rose & Crown Pub & 
Dining Room restaurant, Pringle of Scotland shop, His 
Lordship shop, Toy Soldier shop, and 
Biscuit Barrel shop.
Mexico Pavilion (DEDICATED OCT 21, 1982)
A Mesoamerican pyramid featuring the El Rio del 
Tiempo attraction, the Artesanias Mexicanas shop, 
and the Cantina de San Angel restaurant.
 German Pavilion (DEDICATED OCT 15, 1982)
 An old German town platz with a risen statue of 
St. George and the Dragon featuring Glas und 
Porzellan shop, Biergarten restaurant, 
Süssigkeiten shop, Der Bücherwurm shop, 
Weinkeller shop, and the Der Teddybär shop.
 Italy Pavilion (DEDICATED OCT 14, 1982)
The city of Venice housing the Arcata d'Antigian 
shop, the Il Bel Cristallo shop, and the L'Originale 
Alfredo di Roma Ristorante restaurant.
Japan Pavilion (DEDICATED OCT 20, 1982)
The torii (gate of honor) and the goju-no-to (five-story 
pagoda) including Mitsukoshi Department Store, 
Teppanyaki Dining Rooms restaurant, Yakitori House 
restaurant, and the Mitsukoshi Restaurant.
  France Pavilion (DEDICATED OCT 20, 1982)
The Eiffel Tower, sitting beyond the entrance to the Palais 
du Cinema, featuring the film Impressions de France, the 
Plume et Palette shop, the Boulangerie Patisserie pastry 
shop, La Maison du Vin shop, Les Chefs de France 
restaurant, and the Au Petit Cafe restaurant.
China Pavilion (DEDICATED OCT 3, 1982)
The Temple of Heaven featuing the Circle-
Vision 360 film Wonders of China.
Canada Pavilion (DEDICATED OCT 13, 1982)
The Hotel du Canada's French Gothic including the 
Circle-Vision 360 film O Canada!, the Northwest 
Mercantile Trading Post shop and Le Cellier restaurant.
World of Motion Pavilion 
housing the General Motors Transcenter 
auto display, and the animated film 
The Water Engine.
Universe of Energy Pavilion 
featuring Universe of Energy film, Mirrored Theater
 film, Energy Creation Story film, and Energy, You 
Make the World Go 'Round film.
Earth Station 
information and guest services presenting
The EPCOT Earth Station Film.
Spaceship Earth 
the park's 18-story iconic sphere (sponsored by the 
Bell System) housing an attraction designed with 
the help of science fiction writer Ray Bradbury.
 Communicore West
 featuring the FutureCom display, sponsored by Bell.
Communicore East  
including the Stargate fast-food facility, Centorium shop, 
TravelPort attraction, Energy Exchange display, EPCOT 
Computer Central display of computers, and Astuter 
Computer Revue show in EPCOT Computer Control.
Land Pavilion 
Sponsored by Kraft & housing the Listen to the Land 
attraction, Tomorrow's Harvest tour, the Farmers 
Market food court, the Kitchen Kabaret audio-
animatronic show, the Harvest Theatre showing the 
film Symbiosis, and the Good Turn Restaurant.
Journey into Imagination Pavilion 
including the Image Works area, and the Magic Eye 
Theater showing the 3-D film Magic Journeys.
                    EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World opened on Friday  
                    October 1, 1982. It was Disney's second theme park in  
                    Florida and, based on square footage, was the largest    
                    Disney theme park in the world at 260 acres (until 1998, 
when Disney's Animal Kingdom opened). EPCOT Center was named 
to reflect the ideals and values of EPCOT the city. (By 1995-96, the 
name EPCOT Center was shortened to simply Epcot.)

Located at the front of the park is a plaque bearing Disney chairman and CEO 
E. Cardon Walker's October 24, 1982 official dedication:


To all who come to this place of Joy, Hope and Friendship - Welcome.
EPCOT is inspired by Walt Disney's creative vision. 
Here, human achievements are celebrated through imagination, wonders of 
enterprise and concepts of a future that promises new and 
exciting benefits for all.
May EPCOT Center entertain, inform and inspire and above all, 
may it instill a new sense of belief and pride in man's ability to 
shape a world that offers hope to people everywhere.
    The park's name derived from the acronym EPCOT (Experimental Prototype 
Community of Tomorrow), a utopian city of the future planned by Walt Disney. (He 
sometimes used the word "City" instead of "Community" when expanding the 
acronym.) Walt's original vision of EPCOT was for a model community, home to 
twenty thousand residents, which would be a test bed for city planning and 
organization. This vision was never realized. Walt wasn't able to obtain funding and 
permission to start work on his Florida property until he agreed to build the Magic 
Kingdom first - and he died 5 years before its opening day.
                      Instead of being a community consisting of homes and 
                      businesses, the $1.2 billion EPCOT consists of Future 
                      World and World Showcase. They feature the kinds of 
exhibits which were popular at World's Fairs in the first two-thirds of the 
20th century - in particular the 1939 New York World's Fair.
    Many of the opening day attractions are still running today and of 
course much has been added to Epcot since 1982 (such as the 
Morocco & Norway Pavilions, Living Seas, Test Track, and Mission: 
SPACE). Epcot may be the only place on Earth where you can 
explore the whole world ... in just one day!
 Future World Opening Day Pavilions -
showcasing the land, communication, imagination, energy & technology:
World Showcase Opening Day Pavilions -
a kaleidoscope of 9 nations from throughout the world brought together to 
celebrate their cultural heritage, arts and entertainment:
OCTOBER 1, 1982 - THE DAY THE 21ST CENTURY BEGAN

    Today Epcot has two entrances. But in 1982 only the entrance convenient to 
the park's 162-acre parking area (which holds over 11,300 vehicles) and the 
Epcot monorail station existed. The International Gateway entrance opened in 
January 1990 near the France pavilion in World Showcase, providing park 
access to guests staying in Epcot resort area hotels.
    The television special 
EPCOT Center: The Opening Celebration 
aired on CBS October 23, 1982 (the night 
before the park's official dedication). 
It was hosted by legendary 
actor-singer-comic Danny Kaye.

THE GRAND 
OPENING OF 
"EPCOT will be an experimental prototype community of tomorrow that will take its cue from the new ideas and new 
technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that 
will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT 
will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise." - Walt Disney
"On the banks of the 40-acre World Showcase Lagoon are Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, The 
American Adventure, Japan, Morocco, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Young adults from each 
nation represented in World Showcase are among your hosts making this a true international exchange."
-Walt Disney World Monorail
Opening-day Cast Members received a packet with a commemorative coin 
displaying Spaceship Earth and the text "The dawn of a new Disney era."

The park's October 1 debut was actually considered a "soft opening" and only 
Spaceship Earth was dedicated on that day.
A Grand Opening Week was held from October 15 - 27 for celebrities, key press 
and VIPs, and top executives from the corporations that sponsored attractions.
DID YOU KNOW ...
Walt Disney originally envisioned a 
dome over the entire Epcot city in 
order to have complete control over 
the weather.
DID YOU KNOW ...
There is a marker in Epcot showing the 
exact center of the park. It is located 
to the west of Innoventions West on the 
path that leads to the Land.
THIS SITE MADE          IN THE USA

FUTURE WORLD WAS DEDICATED OCTOBER 22, 1982
WORLD SHOWCAES WAS DEDICATED OCTOBER 23, 1982
Epcot Grand Opening
DID YOU KNOW ...
Epcot took three years to build -
at the time the largest construction 
project on Earth!
DID YOU KNOW ...
Unlike the Magic Kingdom, Epcot only 
contains tunnels underneath the buildings that 
contain Innoventions East, the Electric 
Umbrella, MouseGear, Innoventions West, and 
the building housing Club Cool and Fountain 
View Ice Cream.
""We know what our goals are. We know what we 
hope to accomplish. And believe me, it’s the most 
exciting and challenging assignment we've ever 
tackled." -Walt Disney (1966)
"EPCOT is truly a doorway to the 21st Century." -U.S. President Ronald Reagan 
"But the most exciting and by far the most important part of our Florida Project...in fact, the
heart of everything we'll be doing in Disney World...will be our Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow! We call it EPCOT." -Walt Disney
To open EPCOT in 1982, Disney World revolutionized public relations by providing free satellite uplinks 
for local TV stations all over North America to broadcast live from the event. Only the networks used 
satellite feeds back then, mostly for sports and political conventions. But local stations were starting to 
acquire their own downlinks for syndicated program feeds. So Disney rented uplink dishes, provided 
camera crews and invited broadcast stations to send reporters and producers.