Hey All! Apologies for such a long break in April without content, but I hope the first part of this 2-part deep dive exploring Epcot's Abandoned World Showcase makes up for it! Originally I did intend for this to be a single episode...but I just kept finding more and more abandoned Pavilions & Attractions that went beyond the "original" version we primarily explore here, and was beginning to push over 40 minutes. So in the end it made far more sense to split it into two 20 minute episodes instead of trying to cram it all into one. That being said, Part 1 explores the Original vision (or visions) of the World Showcase Pre-Epcot Center's official opening. Part 2 will explore the Post-Epcot Center Opening abandoned Pavilions & Attractions that never came to be (and what remains of the ones explored in this video), which will arrive sometime next week! Also, a very special thanks to TPMvids for lending his glorious voice for the intro skit! If for some crazy reason you aren't already, make sure to subscribe to his channel! kzfaq.info/love/MddDi4iCT8Rz8L0JL-bH7Q

Thanks for having me on the channel!😁 Glad you FINALLY got the right script revision to me ;)

That magic carpet ride sounds like something that if it was actually used would have eventually been rebranded to an Aladdin ride.

Ah, yes, Africa is. My favorite country.

I got so confused when TPM came on I swore I clicked Yesterworld 😂😂

Imagine if Walt Disney had access to the type of money Disney has now.

It’s kinda tiring to see Africa be generalized as one place. Just like how Europe has many diverse countries and cultures, Africa does too. They could have had separate pavilions based on countries like Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, or Congo. No reason why such a diverse continent should be generalized into one thing.

It’s crazy to see how many actual attractions they were planning to put into the World Showcase!

Wow, there is so much more to this story than I ever imagined! Can’t wait for the next part.

You could shorten the title to “the troubled history of Epcot’s abandoned”

I feel really sad about Walt's dream never coming close to reality.

It really makes you wonder about how different EPCOT would have probably been had Walt lived long enough to oversee its final design. Maybe then we would've gotten that Rhine River Cruise.

TPMVids in the intro? What a crossover! While having all the pavilions in one building promoted the unity theme, I prefer the separate pavilions as each one is unique and stands out in their own way. And for me it looks better that way too. While I love the American Adventure show, the idea of it as a ride sounded and looked cool. A bullet train or the Mt Fuji coaster idea would've been great for Japan. Epcot needs its own mountain

That japan bullet train would be INCREDIBLE.

I immediately thought: “Welcome to TPM Vids Disney Beat where we talk about all things Disney!” Edit: nuuuu I don’t wanta wait another week!!!

And now Disney is essentially turning the world showcase into rides from movies (Frozen, Ratatouille, Mary Poppins, and I suspect Coco, Mulan, and others down the road). It may just be me, but the rides feel like sell-outs to the original ideas of the World Showcase where you could explore what other countries had to offer and not what Disney movies are at the theaters.

Oh cool, a TPMvids cameo!

What I love is how this proves Imagineers never throw anything away as Africa stuff used for Animal Kingdom and you can see other rides adapted for later parks.

As a Venezuelan, the description and concept art of the pavilion made me cry, it's so beautiful! I'm sad it didn't come to fruition.

In 1999 Epcot had a Millennium Village exhibit that had attractions for Israel, Brazil, Scotland, Chile and a World Marketplace. It was cool.

I remember huge drawings in Epcot advertising “ new” countries like Israel and Spain back in late 1980s or early 1990s long before they built Morocco. They were huge wooden signs so plans were scrapped for them far along in the planning.

We usually have dinner in Germany at Epcot. The German sausage buffet with the live music is pretty cool, especially during Oktoberfest! If you hit it during the wine and food festival with the dining plan, you can use your quick service snacks for the food they serve around the world showcase in each country.

Oh, man. I miss the old EPCOT. :( This is just depressing.

"I got an Africa!" "I got a Portugal!" "I got a giant hill."

I really liked that bit in the beginning the guy you brought in to do the voice over did a really good job portraying someone slowly losing their patience.

No matter how much I think I know about Disney, I always learn something on this channel.

i knew there were concepts that were abandoned but i didn't know there were 30 OF THEM...

Epcot is definitely one of those parks that I did not truly appreciate until I was older! It's sad to see it change into more of a thrill seeking park instead of a nice change of pace.

LOVED the TPM crossover !!! Also the potential Germany pavilion makes me sad. Always so informative and entertaining.

I’m from Venezuela, and in love with Disney since I visited it for the first time in 2005 (I was 4 years old, hehe). When I learned that Venezuela was going to be part of Epcot I got so frustrated, and seeing the conceptual art brought tears to my eyes. I wish I could do something, anything, to garantee that it will be a part of Epcot in my lifetime or in the future (we could brand it with Up. The Angel Falls are an inspiration for the falls in the movie, and you can even see that Carl bought tickets for Venezuela before Ellie got sick), but for the mean time it will remain my most earnest and profound wish

I'm about as big a classic EPCOT fan as there is, and there was still stuff here I wasn't aware of, awesome. I love looking back on all these concepts and how "Disney" they still felt despite not including characters from any movies or other properties; makes me kind of sad to consider most of the changes to World Showcase in the past few years, especially since today's Disney wouldn't really need the sponsorship money to create something jaw dropping and original like the originally envisioned rides for Germany, Japan, Italy, UK, etc.

7:26 Ray Bradbury was involved with EPCOT?!?!

I’m starting to notice a running theme with Disney and it’s quite troubling. They are making me question if it’s possible to be way too ambitious.

My first ever trip to Disney was back in September of 2019, and Epcot was the first place we went and spent the whole day there. Having been in love with exploring world cultures since I was little, I love the world showcase dearly (and I was there during the international food and wine fest, so I had a LOT of international food treats), but I worry about Disney's reliance on IPs influencing what countries will stay or go in the future.

I’ve been waiting for this history! The World Showcase is my favorite part of EPCOT. Considering how involved so many countries were in the old Expositions and World’s Fairs of the 19th century, it’s interesting how diminished the concept became.

I can't wait for part 2. It sounds like there would have been a TON of stuff to do, if they got all that built. It would have looked amazing to.

I love 1960s architecture.

This is why I love your channel. You put so many hours and effort into these, that it shows your passion for Disney and theme parks in general. Keep up the good work.

Can’t wait for Part 2! Haven’t watched the channel in a while, so tonight we binge!

What's the deal with KZfaq's new comment layout. I hate it. They need to go back to the old one. Video is great as always.

Some of the planned stuff for the world showcase sounds really incredible. I kind of would like to see Disney incorporate some of them when they can get around to safely reopening and renovating EPCOT like they were planning to do.

Still waiting for part 2

THANK YOU!!! I love your vids and personally can't get enough of Epcot, I grew up going year after year since the opening and it's my favorite of all the parks. I'm glad you have so much more coming and hope you discover other parts of its history to do more videos on. :)

Since the last 3 weeks I watched half the videos from your channel, thanks for bringing back all the memories. Sometimes is very weird watching old and new videos hearing your past and present voice. Great channel an videos

Everybody gangsta til TPMVids starts talking in the intro

It's so sad seeing what the world showcase would've been. I would love to see all these countries at Epcot, especially the Phillipines!

I'd really love to see the Philippines come into realization. And now more than ever some more representation for African countries like South Africa, Ethiopia or Nigeria. And more South American countries. The Venezuela and Brazil pavilions also need to be built. World Showcase is lovely but there's more to the world than Europe, Asia and our neighboring countries.

11:52 I was very suprised to see the Woodys here. I had to laugh so much.😂😂😂 Greetings from Germany

I always appreciate how thorough and detailed your videos are. You can really see the amount of hard work that you put into them. Your channel is definitely one of the best, keep up the awesome work, friend!

TPM and Yesterworld! What a great collab! The past meets the present.

I was a kid in 1984 when we went to Epcot . And it felt like we ate breakfast in France . Lunch in Japan . And dinner in Morocco. And that was just the first day . It was still a great place in the 80s

Brilliantly researched and I’ve learnt a great deal. Really looking forward to Part 2. Great work, as always. Keep it up!

Ill never forget when I started singing this in a liquor store, someone sang it with me. We then began singing in unison as we both went to the easier. What a merry occasion it was!

In 1978 I was an Advanced Baker in Central Foods of Disney World. My initial job as to cook 500 lbs of apples, 250 lbs of cherries and 100 to 250 lbs of strawberry melba every night which involved stirring, with a metal oar, in three steam vat cookers. I actually split the sleeves of my shirt one night at a certain point. (No lie, it really happened.) Eventually I ran the ovens, and baked every bread consumed at Disney World. One night we were told to go to the employee center, about a block away, for some sort of next step orientation. We went into a room and we had the head of Benjamin Franklin on top of a clear plastic block. It was eerily lifelike. Each hair was combed into place, and the bodiless face kind of sagged. There was no announcement, just the lights dimming. Then old Ben came to life, the sagging want away, and he was looking at each of us and talking about Epcot that was soon to come, this was in 1979. I was really freaked out by the lifelikeness and the animation. It was unreal. (Bear in mind, modern computers were unheard of back then, and there was none of the disjointed shit Lincoln had at Disneyland.) The whole subject of Epcot was minor bearing what I witnessed. By the way, across the street from Central Foods was the lot of the Super Secret Squirrely Imagineers. It was enclosed in an eight foot chain link fence. They had laid down a network of yellow, red, green and blue lines that paralleled each other in a wild twist of right angles, circles, and curves. Watching them on a smoke break, They took a big piece of what looked like plywood with wheels and rolled it around the lot, following the lines. I think that was the beginning of those dark ride splits we now see. Met my wife there, the Executive Chef Baker of Disney World (our boss) Karl Seal, a German guy, "Vouyll need zat German Vazeline", made our wedding cake, then helped us steal it by handing over the chain link fence at the Employee Center parking lot on 02/13/79, wedding was the next day. The damned cake was worth about $3,000 at that time. Wife's cousin is the guy that was killed at Epcot when a manlift tipped over about two or three years ago. He had retired from Disney World. We both think Walt would be spinning in his grave over what Disney has become.

The Imagination Pavilion (7:17) is, to me, still one of the best looking buildings in the world. It's what I hoped the future would look like, and still do.

This is fascinating stuff dude. Wow, I find it inspiring to see the original vision of one of my favorite parks in the world, not to mention all of the changes it went through after it opened and the big changes it's currently going through. This gave me a cool idea though, what if someone could recreate the original vision in a modem world. A new model or even a virtual experience, taking into account that it was in a world where all the countries accepted and supported Walt's proposal.

Do the history and changes of the JUNGLE CRUISE at DISNEYLAND (-1955)

I love Epcot and the world showcase but man the original vision sounds incredible! So many rides and so many more interesting countries!

My Mom asked me what I was doing and I told her I'm watching an educational video.

It's sad and disturbingly disappointing what's happened to world showcase. I hope they add more countries, but we know they'd rather add IPs

This was fantastic! So excited for Part II

I missed Disneyland i hope we will be with Mickey and tiana soon..

Wow! One of your best! Possibly the most interesting What if.....

Finally, i was waiting for another video

Omg the redos of epcot😅. The guy doing the voice narration is gonna get pissed off lol

Aw I love how all you guys work together and feature on each others videos, All such great content and I’m so DIsney Smart cause of you haha

Pleaseee make a deep dive into Epcot's original vision next!

Your videos are always fantastic really interesting loads of great old footage and pictures brilliant narration very entertaining I just had to tell you 😁👍

Just watched the themed alternative spoof of the epcot opening. This is synergy right here. 😄

Loved this video! i know it's only part one, but honestly we need more videos about World Showcase. Everyone focuses on Future World, whereas no one talks about World Showcase. Also I can't wait till you go into detail about the Russia/USSR pavilion :P

I seem to recall some of the concept art was part of the exhibit on Disney at the Nelson Gallery some years ago.

Awesome! Love these vids. Cheers!

TPVIDS!!! I knew it!!! ... sad to admit but i do .. get you guys confused for a moment.. and i wasn't paying attention to the icon of the channel! lol Thank you for the Collab! I love you both!

Always a pleasure to listen to your witty narrative.

Theoretically speaking, once you post the video all views are in the future, so... no. No the parks are not open yet. EPCOT has always been a thematic mystery to me, so I really enjoyed this and will impatiently wait for the next part!

I so thought I clicked on the wrong video when I heard TPM vids. Great video and collab!

I'm glad I subscribed to this channel.

Great content as always and a fantastic intro. Solid laughs.

The history behind the Philippines Pavilion is actually pretty fascinating. The ambassador was very impressed by the idea, but the First Lady was not; when Imagineers said it would cost 9 million dollars, she responded with "That is an astronomical figure for us. If I had that much money, I would not spend it on a pavilion in Florida to try and attract more tourists to Manila. I would use it to build sanitation facilities and schools and such for my people." Totally reasonable response, even if it's sad to think about what could have been!

Love how the Japanese ride just has a big sign that's says "sponsor"

Great video as always Mark!! Loved that Fichtl’s Lied reference btw lmao

It feels like it’s been forever! Pleassssse post the second part lol

Dude you are making quarantine so much better!

But I want Part 2 now!! And while we are at it, give me a Part 3!

So all but one (nine and one third, in this case) of the pavilions in World Showcase were imagined in the original concept, eventually all of them would be built (in Scandinavia's case, just Norway was the finished one). If South Korea were a pavilion in Epcot today, there would be KPop apparel and stuff now, or even its so called KDrama shows that people see on Netflix would be included as merchandise or something. And being Filipino, I am pretty surprised seeing my country getting an Epcot pavilion at the time. If that was built, we would not have a problem speaking to the cast members in our own language.

Only now at the intro and I’m already loving this 😂❤️

I was so confused in the beginning! 😂 I thought it was a tpm video

The music at the beginning is from WPIX-TV’s “Sunday Movie Special” with four times the charm.

When I saw this I was like I gotta press this because I love DisneyWorld and I love Walt Disney himself. Love your videos.

Plans change. And thank you for splitting this into 2 videos.

Yasss I missed you so much

I only go to Epcot during the food and wine festival because the food is so good.

Here’s my list of countries that should be part of Epcot’s World Showcase in the future! - Brazil - Costa Rica - Australia - India - Ireland - Egypt - Greece - South Africa - Polynesia

I love all these videos👍🏻

Just what I needed today! Need a break from staring at my assessment until I hate it hahah

I hate how people group African countries together and just label it “Africa.” Africa is not a country. There are so many different cultures and traditions in every African country.

I remember when I was a kid I always wondered why Greece wasn’t in the world showcase

Great to see all the "What if's" Epcot could have been.

The Japan Pavillion was supposed to have a Godzilla animatronic in the show or bullet train ride.

Maybe my answer is in part 2, but it sounds like the Africa pavillion was a starting point for Animal Kingdom.