Basic

CommuniCore was located in two crescent shaped buildings behind Spaceship Earth, and opened in 1982 with the rest of Epcot Center. CommuniCore stood for "Community Core". Hands-on experience with new innovations along with new electronics were available here for guests. CommuniCore was rebuilt into Innoventions in 1994, which still featured hands-on experiences.

Attraction Breakdown

The following is a breakdown of the many CommuniCore attractions. The sponsors are listed in brackets [].

CommuniCore East Attractions

Exhibits

EPCOT Computer Central [Sperry/UNISYS] - Epcot's backstage computer area had many exhibits including two different shows:

    "Astuter Computer Revue" (1982-1984) - The first backstage show featured a shrunken-down British man dancing around computers as he sung "The Computer Song."

    "Backstage Magic" (1984-1993) - The second show (replacing the Astuter Revue) featured computer operator Julie and her graphic sidekick, I/O (Input/Output). It demonstrated the process of operating the Audio-Animatronics found throughout the parks.

    SMRT-1 - SMRT-1 (or Smart One) was a small interactive robot that would play guessing games with guests. He was voice-activated.

    Great American Census Quiz - The icon for the Census Quiz was an up-to-the-minute U.S. population counter. The six different multiple-choice quizes were based on recent national demographic data: The 50 States, Population Clock, School Days, Communication Line, On the Farm, and Home Sweet Home.

    Manufactory - The computer kiosks of Manufactory had guests putting together the different parts of different American flags. When you put the flag together correctly, fun graphics, such as Mickey Mouse, would come on the screen.

    Get Set Jet Game - At the Get Set Jet Game guests would use their fingers to slide and load luggage and passengers into airplanes. The passengers and luggage would be available to load from a conveyor belt. Simulated maintenance checks would momentarily disrupt the loading.

    Compute-a-Coaster - This "build your own roller coaster" game allowed guests to pick track parts to assemble their 3-D coaster. After assembling it, it showed you a view as if you were riding it. It was hosted by a beaver sporting a hard hat.

Travelport [American Express] - Here, guests could see slide shows of various vacation destinations with touch-screens. The touch-screen booths (called "vacation stations") were near an American Express travel service office and agent.

Electronic Forum - Electronic Forum was the central news area of CommuniCore. Here guests could watch TV screens and participate in the Future Choice Theater.

    News Choice Theater - Somewhat sunken down in the ground, the round foyer area of Electronic Forum featured three hanging television banks. News, sports, business, and weather stations were displayed on two of the three banks. The third bank featured Disney and Disney park news, the same news that the resorts received. Each TV got its signal from the large satellite dishes just outside of CommuniCore East.

    There were also smaller TV consoles which guests could use to get a private showing of one of the channels with sound.

    Justs behind the hanging TVs, was a poll asking for the most important person of the 20th Century.

    Future Choice Theater - At Future Choice Theater, a host or hostess would present worldwide topics about energy, population, etc. Answer consoles were built into the armrests of each guest's chair, allowing each guest to voice their opinion about the topic.

Energy Exchange [Exxon] - The CommuniCore counterpart to Universe of Energy, Energy Exchange was accessible after walking down a ramp circling a mobile of interlocking wheels and gears called "Energy in Motion". Many machines, games, demonstrations, films, and hands-on areas were at Energy Exchange.

    Offshore Drilling - A giant model of a deep sea drilling platfrom dominated the demonstration area. There were also other smaller platform examples.

    Blowout-Preventer - An oil well blowout-preventer was on display along with details on how it prevents wasteful oil "gushers."

    Oil Shale - On display was a huge 30,000 pound chunk of oil shale. Containing 500 gallons of kerogen, the shale could provide enough oil to fuel one car for one year. Near the shale, was a giant bucket from a power shovel, and other drilling equipment.

    Coal Locator - The Coal Locator was a large series of rings - each ring was lit with a different color to represent which countries have the most coal.

    Energy Facility Models - There were scale models of energy facilities along with equipment parts used in those facilities.

    Video Bicycle - This bicycle-like pedaling machine would allow guests to feel how much energy it takes to mae a gallon of gas - it would take seven days' worth of pedaling to produce this much.

    Driving Machine - This graphical demonstration showed guests how the miles per gallon in a car varies depending on a number of factors including air conditioning and power steering.

    Hundred-Watt Bulb - This demonstration allowed guests to turn a crank to allow the bulb to glow brightly. One week of turning the crank at this rate would equal one dollar's worth of electricity.

Energy Exchange (cont.)

    Photovoltaic Cells - These cells would stop moving if guests placed their hands between the cells and the light source.

    Energy Information Terminals - These touch-screen terminals allowed guests to ask questions and then receive answers via short video presentations.

Restaurants

Stargate Restuarant (1982-1994) - Served breakfast items, including omelettes. Lunch and dinner items included hamburgers, pizza, and salad. The Stargate would later become the Electric Umbrella.

Beverage Base - Located near the Stargate, Beverage Base featured popcorn, fresh fruit, dessert cups, and of course beverages.

Shops

Centorium (1982-1999) - The Centorium was Epcot's largest shop, containing two levels. In 1999 it was temporaily moved to Innoventions West while Mouse Gear was being built in its original location.

    Level 1 - The first floor of the Centorium featured a large assortment of Epcot and Disney character merchandise. Items included books, puzzles, stuffed animals (plush), buttons, patches, jewelry, records, cassettes, posters, t-shirts, and hats.

    Level 2 - The second floor of the Centorium could be accessed by a glassed-in elevator. From here, you could look down at the first floor. Items originally included various electronic gadgets, such as watches, model vehicles, and tape players. Team Mickey sports clothes would later be for sale up here. Even later on, the second floor would feature Art of Disney merchandise.

CommuniCore West Attractions

Exhibits

FutureCom [Bell System, then AT&T] - FutureCom was a vast communications themed area with a small sales area in the back left.

    The Information Fountain - The Information Fountain was composed of several types of communication media, including televisions, radios, records, video, laser and audio discs, newspapers, telephones, traffic signs, film, books, magazines, and more.

    The Age of Information - The Age of Information was a large animated mural with wooden figures. Computers and hands-on games surrounded the mural. One game was called Network Control and allowed guests to simulate the management of the flow of long-distance U.S. calls on a map. A second game, called Phraser, would "speak" the works that guests would type on a keyboard.

    The Intelligent Network - This was a vast 20 by 30 foot fiber optic map of the U.S., displaying long-distance telephone routes.

    Teleconferencing - This was a series of monitors demonstrating teleconferencing. The guests watching them were filmed by cameras, which fed to a hidden Cast Member. Through the monitors, the Cast Member would banter with the guests.

    Face-to-Face - This was an interactive color Picturephone screen.

Expo Robotics - Expo Robotics was a show featuring industrial robot arms performing many stunts. Many stunts included precision top spinning (such as spinning a top on the edge of a sword and along strands of wire). The star robot arm was named Pixel, and the act was accompanied by circus music.

    Portrait Robots - These were robots that would sketch your portrait for you.

    T-shirt Robots - These were Team Radius robots that would airbrush Disney characters on t-shirts for sale. Also near here, was a small shop that sold robotic toys.

Services

EPCOT Outreach - This display featured plans and concept art for future pavilions and exhibits. Also here were posters and photos of the various Future World themes - energy, agriculture, transportation, etc. At a counter in the back of Outreach were pamphlets and fact sheets. You could also buy guest convenience items and Epcot Center and general Disney merchandise.

Teacher Center - Study guides and EPCOT educational materials were sold here. One such item was a film about agriculture called "Harold and his Amazing Green Plants."

Restaurants

Sunrise Terrace Restaurant - This eatery featured fried chicken, seafood, and salads. It would later become Pasta Piazza and Fountainview Expresso & Bakery. Both of these would close, with the Fountainview turning into an ice cream shop.

Mouse Gear, Innoventions, & Pasta Piazza

The main shop of Epcot, located inside CommuniCore, the Centorium, remained open even after CommuniCore had become Innoventions. In late 1999 it then shut down and became Mouse Gear. The shop is only one level and uses up less floor space. Tall display racks replaced the older shorter racks making Mouse Gear hard to look around.

CommuniCore closed in 1994 and was rebuilt into Innoventions, West and East. Innoventions has housed different exhibits over the years from LEGO, Sega, GE, Xerox, Lutron, Disney Interactive, IBM, Motorola, and Compaq, and also has explored areas of health and nature. The House of Innoventions and the Ultimate Home Theater Experience have also been featured at Innoventions.

Throughout the years Innoventions has had its share of changes too with exhibits moving in and out. At one time GE sponsored a super-oven exhibit where guests could get free freshly baked cookies. For a few years Innoventions seemed dominated by Sega as Sonic the Hedgehog stood amid many game systems. Prior to the opening of Mission: Space there was also a preview center located at Innoventions. Not seen as often is Innovention's mascot Tom Morrow 2.0.

Around the year 2000 the Pasta Piazza restaurant located in Innoventions closed down. It served up pizza, pasta, bread sticks, salads and other Italian meals.

Ice Station Cool

Ice Station Cool was an arctic themed Coca-Cola shop and soda fountain that opened around the year 1998 in the Innoventions area. The soda fountain offered free samples of Coke from around the world. The entrance to Ice Station Cool appeared to be carved out of ice with a snow-cat standing to the side. After entering you would travel through an ice tunnel with real snow swirling down to the ground. It closed down for 2005 and reopened as Club Cool. Club Cool still offers free Coke samples but with a different atmosphere. Instead of snow and ice, Club Cool has tall tables and music.

Created April 2001
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