Flea Market Find: EPCOT Center Ornament

By Nick

I bought this glass ball Epcot Center ornament from 1985 at the Columbus Flea Market a couple of years ago.

I am constantly on the lookout for reasonably priced Epcot ornaments on Ebay, but this is the first time I’ve found one at the flea market. And at a price that I couldn’t believe. More on that later.
First let’s take a look at the ornament.

Not the most colorful of ornaments, but I love the graphics, which depict the pavilions existing in Future World at that time.

Here we have, of course, Spaceship Earth with the Monorail going by.

As we turn the ball, we have the Journey Into Imagination…

… and next to that, the Universe of Energy.

Then, maybe the artist realized he was running out of room, so put The World of Motion, and my beloved, and much missed, Horizons, pretty much on top of each other. Next to that is The Land.

A terrific addition to my Epcot collection. And the cost? $.50!

Epcot Center Opening Day Guide

by: Nick

I've seen this guide book listed on eBay as the Opening Day Guide, although there is nothing on the cover to indicate as much. When I bought it at an antique store many years ago, the white label that someone annoyingly put on the cover, and which, as you can see, I unsuccessfully removed, stated that it was a pre-opening guide. I payed $10 for it.


The inside cover.


Page 1.


The back cover.


Regardless of what it is, I love it. It is like a time capsule, showing many beloved attractions, some still with us, others changed or extinct, pavilion sponsors, and those terrific Epcot Center logos.



Some of the companies that were sponsors don't even exist any longer.


I miss Dreamfinder. Who am I kidding, I miss the whole original ride!


And perhaps my all time favorite ride, Horizons.



On the World Showcase side, the artwork is even more stunning.





There is even a preview for 3 nations that were planned, announced, but never made it.



Finally the book ends showing some of the workmanship that went into what I consider a Wonder of the World, Epcot.



Because of the wonderful photos, and a glimpse back at classic Epcot Center, this is one of my favorite pieces of Disneyana.

Epcot's Figment PVC Figures

A couple of weeks ago, I shared some Disney PVC figures I discovered at the Flea Market. I thought I'd share my entire Figment PVC collection today.

 

Back in the 90's, my favorite ride in all of Walt Disney World was Horizons. My next favorite ride was Journey Into Imagination. It has of course changed over the years, and definitely not for the better. But even in its current, much less imaginative state, we still try to ride every trip, just to see Figment, and sing "One Little Spark" along with him.

On my first trip to Disney World in 1992, I picked up the 6 figures pictured above. If I'd known how hard they would be to come by in the future, I may have ponied up the dough to buy them all.

The figure below seems to be one of the most common. It has a 1 at the bottom, does that mean it was the first released?

These next few, I've seen on eBay and antique stores, but few and far between.





The next one however, an Italian Figment, seems to be rare. I have seen a few doing Google searches, and there are other World Showcase pavilions represented, such as the United Kingdom, France, America, and Germany.



The search continues.

Disney Memories

Guest Writer Wednesday

Disney Memories By: Rebecca Kingsley Gonzales

When I was an infant my family started going to Disney, so my love of Disney started at a very young age and I have so many great memories. Disney has always brought me such happiness.  As soon as I drive under the Disney arch I tear up and I am so happy to be “home”. The arch is kinda like a time machine that takes you back to when you were young, or for me it is.

Choosing which rides you love at Disney is like having to choose between a Mickey’s ice cream bar and a Dole Whip, because they all have such special meanings. Like the Haunted Mansion, I remember when I was five I would cry and cry when we would ride it because I was afraid of the hitchhiking ghosts, but every time we got off I would cry because I really wanted to ride again. It’s one of my favorite rides. Riding it now just makes me feel happy!  I do however miss Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and Snow White’s Scary Adventure, they also scared me but were my favorites

Being a child back when Disney opened Epcot I really miss a lot of the old rides. Horizons and World of Motion were always my favorites. While visiting the Land Pavilion we loved eating at The Good Turn, which is now The Garden Grill; I must say I still love eating there.  It brings back such wonderful memories. I love when we pass by the old farm house!

 

I, like many, many others am so very blessed to have been able to go to Disney multiple times.  I am so very glad that Walt Disney had a dream, and he made that dream possible.   I would like to end with one of my most favorite Walt Disney quotes:
 “I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse.”~~ Walt Disney