EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) will be an experimental city that would incorporate the best ideas of industry, government, and academia worldwide, a city that caters to the people as a service function. It will be a planned, controlled community, a showcase for American industry and research, schools, cultural and educational opportunities. In EPCOT there will be no slum areas because we won't let them develop. There will be no landowners and therefore no voting control. People will rent houses instead of buying them, and at modest rentals. There will be no retirees; everyone must be employed. One of the requirements is that people live in EPCOT must keep it alive.
Walt Disney's original plans for EPCOT [1]
It's scary to me that Walt Disney's vision of living is actually comming true in this day and age. While his actual vision wasn't implemented, most of it has, in fact, come around to being true. And not just in Celebration, Florida. [2] Now, I thought this condo association [3] was tough—it's nothing compared to what Walt Disney wanted:
Because EPCOT, like Disneyland, was to be open to paying visitors, however, Disney intended to regulate the lives of the city's residents almost as thoroughly as the climate in the dome. Representative local government was ruled out. No residents were to be permanent. Pets would be forbidden, dress codes would be enforced, and residents would be expelled for unbecoming conduct ranging from drunkenness to unmarried cohabitation.
Disney is showing us the future all right: The future of government. They already have their own currency, [4] their own cruise line and islands [5] and they even have passports [6] (although they're not quite like passports as the U. S. Government issues, they're still called passports).
I wonder if one can seek political asylum at Disney? Perhaps if you work for Six Flags you could swing it.
Reading through the site, I'm awed at the vision, yet repelled by the control Disney wanted over the people living there; this is worse than any condo association I've ever heard of. Everyone must be employed? By whom? I'm guessing Disney (or the city, but is there any difference?) What about artists? Free lancers? The idle rich?
That's one hellacious company town to me.
Clean streets? Low crime rate?
I think I'll take my chances on the outside.
[2] http://www.celebrationfl.com/
[4] http://www.perrific.com/disney/money/money.html
[5] http://www.disney.com/DisneyCruise
[6] http://www.collectiques.net/collectables/august1999/disneypassports.html