WestCOT
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WestCOT was a planned park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was intended to be a west coast version of Epcot, a park devoted to international science and knowledge which is located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. Imagineers intended WestCOT to correct any mistakes that Imagineers made in designing Epcot, while at the same time building upon the lessons learned in developing five theme parks. [1]
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[edit] History
Then-CEO of Disney Michael Eisner wanted to build something in Disneyland to compete with Walt Disney World, since he was receiving reports that families spent a week or more at Disney World, but only a day at Disneyland. He reportedly told Imagineers "Amaze me", and the now-cancelled idea of WestCOT was born.
Resorts were intended to be built on WestCOT property, a groundbreaking move for a Disney resort, since WestCOT would be the first Disney theme park of its kind to have resorts actually on its property. This resort feature, however, was later implemented into the Hotel MiraCosta at Tokyo DisneySea, and is considered to be a remnant of the original WestCOT plans. [2]
WestCOT was intended to be built on the former parking lot of Disneyland, and Disney's California Adventure was eventually built on the property that WestCOT was meant for.
[edit] Features
There would have been a shuttle system to the center of WestCOT from the parking lot, dubbed Center Court.
A replica of Spaceship Earth from the Walt Disney World Resort would have been built at WestCOT, but it would have been known as SpaceStation Earth instead. However, when Anaheim residents said they'd see the giant structure from "their backyard", (with SpaceStation Earth planned to be 300 feet tall instead of Spaceship Earth's 180 feet), plans were made instead for a giant white spire to be the center of the park.
Adventure Thru Inner Space would have been cloned to WestCOT, but it would have been known as Cosmic Journeys, and not only would it have "shrunk" guests to see what being inside an atom is like, the ride would have also "grown" guests to see the entire universe.
Improved clones of Epcot attractions were also planned: Horizons, Journey Into Imagination, and The Land, all from Future World.
One of the centerpiece attractions would have been called World Cruise, which was intended to be a boat cruise around WestCOT's planned version of Epcot's World Showcase. World Showcase would have been cloned to WestCOT, as well, but countries would have been grouped by regions, not individual countries. A clone of the attraction The Timekeeper was planned to be built in the European section.
There would have been a new hotel inspired by the Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa in Walt Disney World according to the concept picture.
[edit] Cancellation
WestCOT was announced in December of 1991 and was scrapped sometime around 1995. The cancellation of the project was due to a variety of reasons, but most likely the fact that the Walt Disney Company's Parks and Resorts division was incurring billion dollar losses in the early 1990s due to the ambitious EuroDisney Project of then-President Michael Eisner. However, concerns over the park from residents living just outside the Disneyland Resort also was part of its reasoning for cancellation, slightly similar in a way to the cancellation of Disney's America.
[edit] References
- ^ Jim Hill Media. California Misadventure: Part 3. Retrieved on August 21, 2006.
- ^ Tony Baxter. Tony Baxter...on WestCOT. Retrieved on August 21, 2006.
