EPCOT Center Tickets & Maps
A lot changes have changed about EPCOT Center over the years. Attractions have come and gone, entertainment has changed, even Walt Disney World guests look different now than they did in 1982. Another thing that has changed is the printed material available in the park. Tickets, maps, and other ephemera have all changed. In some cases, these changes have been for the better–many old maps look archaic by today’s graphic design standards. In other cases, beautiful art on napkins or shopping bags has been replaced by generic “DisneyParks” script.
Ephemera can tell a lot about the history of a place, so I think it’s useful to look at the these old maps, tickets, and times guides and see just how much has changed over the years as EPCOT Center changed to Epcot ’94 and changed to just plain Epcot.
It’s interesting to look at these old times guides and see how many bands used to appear at EPCOT Center for the “Future World March” and “World Showcase March.” I doubt Disney paid much, if anything, for these high school bands to appear, so I wonder why they stopped the practice. During lighter seasons, World Showcase still is only lightly crowded in the early morning, so it seems this type of cheap/free entertainment could still be offered.
In other cases, it seems general entertainment has been cut from the World Showcase. Where there is typically one group per World Showcase country now, back in the 1980s and 1990s, it appears that there were 2 or 3 different entertainment acts performing throughout the day in most countries. The daytime lagoon show is also no more, but that might be just as well, as I can’t recall any of these ever being that good (although perhaps my memory is colored by being young and already bored with the World Showcase when I was young).
***IMPORTANT*** As EPCOT Center fans continue to celebrate the park’s 30th Anniversary until October 1, 2013, we will continue to share these vintage reader-submitted EPCOT Center photos from time to time. If you have EPCOT Center photos you’d like to share with our readers, please click here for details on submitting them! We *NEED* more photos to complete the series! Specifically, we need The Living Seas, Universe of Energy, CommuniCore, and Wonders of Life photos to finish out those installments. Wonders of Life just closed a few years ago, so we’re hoping some of you more recent Disney fans might at least have some photos of that one!
For photographer attribution and other information, hover your cursor over each photo. Also, be sure to check out our photo credits page. If you haven’t caught the other installments in this EPCOT30 tribute series, check them out here!
Your Thoughts…
What do you think of this EPCOT Center ephemera? Do you prefer the new maps and tickets, or the old ones? What about the differences in entertainment over the years? Share your thoughts in the comments!
In 1988, my highs chool band participated in the state band, solo and duet/trio musical competitions held there in the Magic Kingdom. Part of our participation was free entry to both MK and Epcot. If I recall correctly, we bounced between parks on the second day. We had to fund raise to get there and stay in a nearby hotel, but park entry was free.
1) they don’t pay anything for the bands. I marched at the magic kingdom once and we paid to do it. Plus tickets, food, etc. plus all our families that came. They made lots of money lol
2) the ticket is stamped June 27, 1991. No joke. I was actually there that very day. It was my 6th birthday and we spent that whole week at Disney, Epcot and magic kingdom on my birthday! So weird!!!!
All the local high school and some junior high bands were invited to play at Epcot/Magic Kingdom yearly. The students got the day off from school and several free hours to spend in the park. If your family came(for free if they chaperoned) or made arrangements to pick you up you could stay until the park closed. As a little girl it was thrilling to see my big sister marching at Disney in her fancy uniform. When she sang in the candlelight processional(@MK) she got two free tickets for family members.
I think it is a shame that there is less and less variety of entertainers in all the parks. I believe it is simply a cost/liability issue.
I think it’s sad, too, and I think you’re right about the cost/liability issue. Too bad.
I recently got my hands on an original kodak spinning map and a 1987 Epcot Center map which was tucked away in storage for years ! What a treasure, and what a treasure it was to actually be able to view these items of which i kept and have lost. Thanks for posting !
Love the picture on the All 3 Parks Passport from 1991. I love looking back to see how things have changed. Thanks
Wow, does this take me back! I have such nostalgic feelings for those old purple and green world passports. I remember getting those, and looking at the lines for the date stamp, and feeling like I had forever to tour the two parks (and then, of course, the final day of the trip, and realizing that the ticket was full). There was just something about it…
Just plain wonderful. I cannot begin to count the hours I spent through the years studying the classic EPCOT Center maps. I loved how there was a specific layout for each pavilion. And seeing the 3 and 4 day tickets along with the Delta boarding pass is just flashbacks-a-plenty for me. Great stuff. Thank you for posting these.
I like the retro look of all this. I suppose it doesn’t really fit with the theme of future world – in fact, those terms would be opposite – but I can remember this stuff from my childhood. And at 28, I’m not that old!
Fascinating. I think EPCOT needs a little attention soon. There is very little in future world that connects with the “information age”. It all seems like a trip back in time, like it’s stuck in 1997.
Disney didn’t pay High Schools to march there, it was usually the other way around if I remember correctly. There was also the rare occasion of Disney inviting schools to participate in their educational programs for free.