WDW Millennium: Wand Lighting Ceremony
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EPCOT 2000 Logo Illumination Ceremony

On September 29, 1999 the wand atop Spaceship Earth at Epcot was lit. In this article, the first in our Walt Disney World Millennium series, we'll take you through the ceremony and give you some of the details about the wand.

EPCOT's millenium icon, pictured at left, measures over 25 stories tall. The numerals themselves are each 36 feet tall. The numerals are covered with more than 250,000 reflective eye-catchers. They catch the bright Florida beautifully by day and are illuminated by various spotlights at night. Creating this icon was not easy because Spaceship Earth's outer layer could not handle any additional weight. Imagineer Roger Holzberg, senior show producer and director of the project, hopes the icon will ignite feelings within park guests that "the future holds promise for them and their children -- that the journey into the future will always hold pockets of magic and moments of fun."

On the night of September 29, 1999 Paul Pressler, president of Walt Disney Attractions, and Al Weiss, president of the Walt Disney World Resort, walk on stage. Paul Pressler welcomes the audience who have gathered to witness the icon's illumination, "It is great that we can have you here this evening for this very special moment as we begin our 15 month long millennium celebration. Spaceship Earth is probably the best symbol as we invite our guests from around the world to join us in this celebration."

Al Weiss continues, "and it has certainly been a celebration about a 1000 years in the making and our great teams are putting the finishing touches and all the enhancements on the attractions that you're going to have a chance to see over the next three days. We've invited special guests from all over the world to help us light the way to a new millennium."

Paul Pressler adds, "Al , Futureworld looks great! I think we're ready. All we need is a little magic." Paul picks up a magic wand and raises it high above his head, "Let the Millennium Celebration Begin!", he declares. Sparks fly around the stage but fizzle into nothing. "Al, there's a problem." Al Weiss takes the magic wand raises it into the air and announces, "Let the Millennium Celebration Begin!" Once again sparks fly but fizzle. The high level executives decide to call an expert on magic. An instantly recognizable voice chimes in, "Did somebody say magic?" and in a puff of smoke Mickey appears appropriately decked out in his Sorcerer's Apprentice outfit. Cheers can be heard throughout the crowd.