CommuniCore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| CommuniCore | |
 |
|
| Attraction Logo | |
| Epcot | |
| Land | Future World |
| Designer | WED Enterprises |
| Attraction type | Pavilion |
| Theme | Science and Technology |
| Opening date | October 1, 1982 |
| Closing date | October 1993 |
| Replacedy by | Innoventions |
CommuniCore at EPCOT Center in Walt Disney World, Florida, was the ever-changing Science and Technology pavilion housed in two semi-circular buildings behind Spaceship Earth at the heart of Future World, CommuniCore East and West.
The pavilion served as EPCOT Center's version of Main Street, U.S.A., as it brought together nearly all of the sponsors in the surrounding pavilions under one roof to serve as a supplemental experience to your overall visit to Future World. If, for example, you rode the Universe of Energy, sponsored by Exxon, and wanted to learn more about energy, you could travel right next door to CommuniCore East and interact at Exxon's Energy Exchange exhibit.
Having debuted at the dawn of our modern computer era, the emphasis throughout CommuniCore was primarily on educating the public on computers. The feature exhibit was a tour through EPCOT Computer Central, the computer hub of EPCOT Center that ran every single thing throughout the park. The original version was named the "Astuter Computer Revue" with a song by the same name by the Sherman Brothers. It had the distinction of being the shortest-lived attraction at the park due to the public's unexpected non-aversion to home computers. The tour was updated and re-opened as Backstage Magic.
In the southern quadrant of CommuniCore East you could shop at the Centorium, the largest merchandise location in EPCOT Center. For breakfast, lunch, or dinner you could eat at the Stargate Restaurant in the northern quadrant of CommuniCore East, or at the Sunrise Terrace in the southern quadrant of CommuniCore West.
Other exhibits inside CommuniCore East were Compute-A-Coaster, the Great American Census Quiz, Get Set Jet and the Flag Games, all featuring the brand new touch-screen technology, the TravelPort, and the Electronic Forum, where you could take the EPCOT Poll, an interactive census on popular issues topics. You could also take a look at the Population Clock, a device that displayed the rough population of the Earth and changed accordingly with every passing second. CommuniCore East was also the residence of SMRT-1, a friendly robot who used the latest in voice recognition technology to interact with Guests. Over at CommuniCore West was FutureCom, was an exhibit sponsored by AT&T that forecast the advent of things like Internet, Expo Robotics, and an educational resource center called, at various times, EPCOT Outreach, Ask Epcot, and the Epcot Discovery Center.
In an effort to keep Epcot updated and vital, CommuniCore was closed in October 1993 to be redesigned into Innoventions, a more eclectic and wild take on a Science and Technology pavilion. Thus, in 1994, the Stargate bacame the Electric Umbrella, and the Sunrise Terrace was divided into the Pasta Piazza Ristorante and Fountain View Espresso and Bakery, and, in 1999, Centorium expanded and became MouseGear.
[edit] Trivia
- The semi-circular buildings were designed to be expanded outward so that it would be easy to add new and exciting exhibits.
- The buildings were designed to be two stories high so that a PeopleMover ride system could be used to preview the attractions inside, the ride was never installed however.
- Innoventions West still has a large section of the building unchanged from its CommuniCore days. In the glass-walled hallway behind Pasta Piazza, you will find the original large circular ceiling light fixtures, and the original carpet patterned by the CommuniCore logo in the shape of the two buildings it housed. Additionally, you can find the original EXIT signs scattered throughout Innoventions.
