It fascinates me to hear stories about the construction of EPCOT Center, which was a mad dash nearly on par with the original Disneyland. Some attractions failed to make the opening date of October 1st, 1982, while others barely reached it. Engineers and countless other staff members worked around the clock to build this incredible new theme park. Unlike The Magic Kingdom, Disney was not building a larger variation of a park that was already in place. EPCOT Center’s attractions were all customized projects that did not have an obvious connection to previous work.

My guest on this episode of The Tomorrow Society Podcast is Steve Alcorn, who worked as an engineering consultant for Disney in 1982. His primary assignment was The American Adventure, which used an extremely complex show system unlike anything ever built. Steve has remarkable stories about the chaos of the construction during that time period. The young team dealt with huge odds against them and succeeded despite the challenges. Steve also worked on the Imagination pavilion and Horizons prior to their openings in 1983.

Steve is also the CEO of Alcorn McBride Inc., which has provided video, audio, and show control systems at theme parks for more than 30 years. Our fun conversation includes a discussion of these topics:

How did Steve get started in theme parks and working at Disney?

Why was The American Adventure such a complicated system to develop?

How chaotic was the EPCOT Center construction site in the summer of 1982?

What was the big challenge in making the Journey Into Imagination ride work?

How has the theme park industry changed in the past 30 years?

What are the ways to keep screen-based attractions from becoming obsolete?

It was a real treat to speak with Steve about his experiences working on EPCOT Center and in the industry beyond that park. You should definitely check out his books, Building a Better Mouse: The Story of the Electronic Imagineers that Designed Epcot (which focuses on EPCOT Center’s construction) and Theme Park Design: Behind the Scenes with an Engineer.

Show Notes

Learn more about Alcorn McBride Inc., all of Steve Alcorn’s books, and his Imagineering class.

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