Editing EPCOT (concept) (section)

==Master plan and community site==
{{Routemap
|title=1966 proposed<br/>monorail route
|map=
KBHFa~~[[Magic Kingdom]]
BHF~~EPCOT city
BHF~~EPCOT Industrial Park
BHF~~Welcome Center
KBHFe~~Airport of Tomorrow
}}

Disney personally sketched a master plan for the Florida property known as the Seventh Preliminary Master Plot Plan, in 1966, the year of his death. The main features of the plan included the [[Magic Kingdom|theme park]], hotels, campgrounds and motels, convention facilities, the EPCOT city and a satellite community, a [[golf course]], a "swamp ride", an industrial park, a tourist trailer camp, a main entrance, and a "jet airport". In addition, a monorail would run the length of the property, north to south.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mannheim |first1=Steve |title=Walt Disney and the Quest for Community |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |location=Oxfordshire and New York |isbn=978-1-138-26968-2 |pages=4–5 |edition=First}}</ref>

The EPCOT city, according to the concepts presented in the EPCOT film, was based on a radial plan, a design inspired by the [[Theories of urban planning#Garden city movement|garden city movement]] of urban planning. Based on a concept similar to the layout of Disneyland, the city would have radiated out like a wheel-like spokes from a central core.<ref name=":1" /> The [[urban density]] of the area would decrease as the city stretched out.

Visitors would enter at the southern end of the Disney World property and be shuttled by monorail to the Welcome Center.<ref name="florida film" /> There, they would be welcomed by Disney employees able to speak the guests' languages. Visitors would re-board the monorail to arrive at the industrial park.<ref name=":1">{{Citation |title=Defunctland: Walt Disney's City of the Future, E.P.C.O.T. | date=12 October 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKYEXjMlKKQ |access-date=2024-02-03 |language=en}}</ref> There, guests would ride people-movers to see warehouses and research and development laboratories from American industry.<ref name="florida film" /> Walt hoped visitors could take ideas back home to improve their communities.<ref name=":1" /> After visiting the industrial park, the monorail would take the guests to EPCOT, where they would arrive at the central city.<ref name="florida film" />

===Transportation===
{{See also|Monorail|WEDway}}
The city would be connected to the other points in Disney World with a main line of transportation—the monorail.<ref name="florida film" /> Walt Disney introduced the [[Disneyland Monorail System|Disneyland Monorail]] in 1959. The monorail would cut through the center of the city, connecting EPCOT with the northern and southern points of the Disney World property.<ref name="florida film" />

Internal transportation would be provided by a new Disney transportation concept, the [[WEDway|WED way]] [[PeopleMover (Disneyland)|People Mover]]. The system uses motors located between the tracks to propel vehicles along a pair of steel rails. People Mover cars would transport residents from the metropolitan center to the outer residential areas. The People Mover concept was first demonstrated at Disneyland's [[Tomorrowland (Disney Parks)|Tomorrowland]] in 1967. The People Mover was also installed at the Magic Kingdom as the WED Way People Mover in 1975.

Because of these two modes of transportation, residents of EPCOT would not need cars. If a resident-owned a car, it would be used "only for weekend pleasure trips."<ref name="florida film" /> The streets for cars would be kept separate from the main pedestrian areas. The main roads for both cars and supply trucks would travel underneath the city core, eliminating the risk of pedestrian accidents. This was also based on the concept that Walt Disney devised for Disneyland. He did not want his guests to see behind-the-scenes activity, such as supply trucks delivering goods to the city. Like the [[Magic Kingdom]] in [[Walt Disney World]], all supplies are discreetly delivered via tunnels.

The two systems, the monorail, and People Mover, would come together at the EPCOT Transportation Lobby. The Transportation Lobby would be located at ground level, above the busy automobile/truck roads. From the Lobby, a passenger riding the monorail from the Magic Kingdom Park to their home would disembark the monorail and transfer to the appropriate People Mover station.

Beyond EPCOT, the Airport of Tomorrow, situated opposite the Main Entrance, was planned to connect to the park via a monorail station.

The planned airport would have had a general aviation area with an executive terminal, and another for regional passenger travel with a large terminal building.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/FL/Airfields_FL_OrlandoSW.htm|url-status=live|title=Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Florida, Southwestern Orlando area|website=[[Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240308061938/http://www.airfields-freeman.com/FL/Airfields_FL_OrlandoSW.htm|archive-date=2024-03-08}}</ref> Plans identified the airport in 1966 but were not present in the revised plans in the later 1970s.

===City center===
EPCOT's downtown and commercial areas would have been located in the central core of the city, away from the residential areas. The entire [[downtown]] would have been completely enclosed, unaffected by the outside elements. [[Roy O. Disney|Roy Disney]] stated that "The pedestrian will be king"<ref>{{cite book |title=Engineering News-record, Volume 179 |date=1967 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |page=19 |language=en |quote=The pedestrian will be king, says Roy Disney}}</ref> in this area, free from the danger of cars and other vehicles.

At the center of the area would be a 30-story Cosmopolitan Hotel and [[Convention center|Convention Center]]. This building was to have been the tallest in Disney World and could have been seen for miles. The parking lot for hotel guests would have been located underneath the city core, right off of the vehicle throughway.

On the "roof" of the enclosed area would be the recreational area for hotel guests. The pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, [[shuffleboard]], and other activities would have been located here. According to Imagineer [[Bob Gurr]], Walt Disney pointed to one of the benches on the scale model of the area and declared, "This is where Lilly [his wife] and I will sit when this thing is finished, taking everything in".<ref name=":2" />

Surrounding the hotel, inside the enclosure, would have been "shops and restaurants that reflect the culture and flavor of locations 'round the world."<ref name="florida film" /> According to the concept art, these areas would be themed to resemble each [[country]], having the look and feel of each of the exotic locales. This concept eventually evolved into the [[World Showcase]] area of the [[Epcot]] theme park. The PeopleMover track would travel above these downtown shops and streets similarly as the system did in Disneyland. The preliminary plan indicated that the people who would have worked in these shops would have also lived in the city.

===Green belt===
Separating the city core from the [[Low density housing|low-density residential]] area would be an expanse of grass areas, known to the planners as the "green belt." This is where the city services would be located. Establishments such as parks with playgrounds, community centers, schools, stadiums, and churches would be located here.

===Residential areas===
On the rim of the city core would have been [[High density housing|high-density apartment housing]]. This is where most of EPCOT's 20,000 citizens would have lived. Not much is discussed about the apartments themselves, although Walt Disney stated that no one in EPCOT would own their land. There would be no difference between an apartment and a home. All renting rates would be modest and competitive with the surrounding market. Housing would be constructed in such a way as to ensure ease of change so that new ideas/products could be used. A person returning from a hard day's work could very well come home to a kitchen with brand-new appliances in it.

Beyond the Green Belt were the low-density, single-family house neighborhoods. These areas would have resembled the petals on a flower, with the houses located on the rim of each "petal". Inside the "petal" was a vast green area. The area would have had paths for electric carts, light recreation areas for adults, and play areas for children. The People Mover station for each area would have also been located in the green area. The resident could simply walk to the station from their home and on to work. As with the apartments, the houses would be built to be easily changed.

===Living and employment===
As no one living in EPCOT would own their own land or home, residents would have no municipal voting rights (bond issues, etc.). Walt Disney wanted to exercise this control only to be able to change technology in homes easily.{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}

According to the film, all adults living in EPCOT would be employed, thereby preventing the formation of [[slum]]s and [[ghetto]]s. There would be no retirees—everyone would be required to have a job. Residents would be employed at the [[Magic Kingdom]] theme park, the city's central core shopping areas, the hotel/convention center, the airport, the Welcome Center, or the industrial park. As the film states, "Everyone living in EPCOT will have the responsibility to maintain this living [[blueprint]] of the future".<ref name="florida film" />