As outlined by Walt Disney himself in a 1966 short film describing some of his plans for the Florida project, EPCOT stood for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Shortly after opening in October 1982, however, Cast Members at Disney's newest park came up with some tongue-in-cheek alternatives:
Everyone's Paycheck Comes On Thursday
Experimental Polyester Costumes Of Tomorrow
Yes, in the early '80s vision of the future, everyone would be wearing fabulous jumpsuits made of the miracle product, Polyester. While they may have looked sleek and futuristic (for the time, anyway), the bigger "experiment" was seeing how Cast Members fared wearing these heavy garments in Florida's summer heat. As it turns out, they didn't fare so well. By the '90s, most of the 100% Polyester costumes had been retired and replaced by more comfortable cotton blends.
The costumes seen here were on display as part of the Epcot 25th anniversary exhibit hosted at Innoventions in 2007. Take note of the 1982-era name tag, too. The first "bubble" name tags didn't appear until the 15th anniversary of the Walt Disney World Resort in 1986. Today, the larger size is the standard. The name tag pictured above is from the personal collection of Gary Landrum, an original EPCOT Center Cast Member who today is the Manager of Show Awareness Programs for Walt Disney Imagineering.
Every pocketbook cleaned out thoroughly
ReplyDeleteEvery parent comes out tired
And there was one about Eisner's paycheque back in the day, but I can't remember the end of it...
Great site, by the way!!
Can't imagine walking around in those in the Florida heat!
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