For years after the announcement, the press, public, government officials and cast members all hounded Disney CEO Donn Tatum and President Card Walker about EPCOT Center.

Where was it? When would it be built? When could people move into Walt’s vision of a utopian city?

The constant refrain from Walker and Tatum was that everything about Walt Disney World and the Vacation Kingdom of the World was EPCOT Center, especially the development of Lake Buena Vista.

, The Original EPCOT Center?

Why Lake Buena Vista?

Lake Buena Vista is more than just the host community for Walt Disney World, it was also going to be central to the ultimate vision that Walt Disney had for the planned community of EPCOT. Well, not really Walt’s vision, but easiest way the Company leaders could figure it out, post-Walt. As we jump back in time, imagine the entire area we’re looking at is the area consumed by Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort, today.

Known by many names over the ensuing years, the Lake Buena Vista Resort started out with an entirely different focus–even after construction began.

, The Original EPCOT Center?

Originally, the 1973 plans called for a residential development with four different community themes based on golf, tennis, boating and western. A lot of construction took place in 1974: 133 townhomes and 4 model homes. The following year, Disney announced a retirement community, additional townhomes and residential apartments for Lake Buena Vista. The 60 Treehouse homes were finished by 1975. Then Disney changed plans.

You can check what happened in my video…

The Original EPCOT Center Video

What Do You Think About the Original EPCOT Center?


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George Taylor
George has been obsessed with Disney theme parks since the first time he saw a photo of the Haunted Mansion in the early 70s. He started writing about Disney in 2007 and has amassed one of the world's largest Disney-related libraries.