25 Epcot Fun Facts from Disney

October 2007 marks the 25th anniversary of the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World Resort. Following are 25 remarkable facts about Epcot:

• It took nearly 3,000 designers and 4,000 construction workers to build the first phase of Epcot.
• 54 million cubic feet of dirt was excavated to build the park.
• Epcot had its soft opening Sept. 28, 1982, at 4 p.m.
• Spaceship Earth, the visual and thematic centerpiece of Epcot, weighs 16 million pounds, measures 165 feet in diameter and encompasses 2.2 million cubic feet of space. The outer "skin" of Spaceship Earth is made up of 11,324 aluminum and plastic-alloy triangles.
• At Spaceship Earth, Mickey Mouse is hidden in his own constellation just beyond the attraction's loading area.
• The fountain at Epcot Innoventions Plaza can shoot water 150 feet in the air -- within 30 feet of the top of Spaceship Earth. If all of the shooters were fired at once, there would be 2,000 gallons of water in the air.
• The ride technology for the Soarin' attraction was based on an erector set model created by Walt Disney Imagineer Mark Sumner. One million pounds of steel provides the ride structure and 37 tons are lifted during each ride cycle.
• It took more than 650 Walt Disney Imagineers more than 350,000 hours (the equivalent of 40 years of time) to develop Mission: SPACE. The Imagineers' efforts took place over a five-year period.
• At Mission: SPACE, there are 13 quotes by space explorers and visionaries on the attraction's wall of honor. The most recent was added in September 2007 by teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan, reading "Reach for your dreams . . . the sky is no limit."
• At nearly a mile long and reaching a top speed of 65 mph, Test Track is the longest and fastest ride at a Walt Disney World theme park.
• The body of water at The Seas with Nemo & Friends provides a home to 3,000 fish and other sea creatures and contains 5.7 million gallons of water, one of the largest man-made ocean environments in the world.
• More than 30 tons of fruits and vegetables grown at The Land pavilion each year are served in Walt Disney World restaurants.
• The Land has a "tomato tree" that is the only one of its kind in the United States. The massive plant has produced a world-record harvest of more than 32,000 tomatoes from a single vine.
• World Showcase promenade stretches 1.2 miles and World Showcase Lagoon spans 40 acres.
• The gardens of Epcot are among the most extensive at Walt Disney World Resort. The themed landscapes are maintained year-round by a horticulture staff of more than 50.
• At United Kingdom's Rose & Crown Pub & Dining Room in World Showcase, a specially designed ale warmer can heat your Guinness to 55 degrees, the temperature favored by Brits.
• 26.2 miles of bratwurst are served every 60 days at the Biergarten restaurant in the Germany pavilion. That, by the way, is the length of a marathon.
• The Eiffel Tower replica in the France pavilion is 103 feet tall.
• The castle in Japan is a replica of the Shirasagi-Jo, a 17th century fortress overlooking the city of Himeji, known as one of the most well-preserved castles in Japan.
• A Disney crew carried a 300-pound camera up 4,500 steps of the Huangshan Mountain in the Annui Province to film the Circle-Vision 360 film seen in the China pavilion.
• From bonsai to roses, there's something for every gardening guru at the annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival. Disney horticulturists rotate the crops twice during the festival to keep the 30 million blossoms colorful and fresh.
• Each year at the annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, more than 33,000 bottles of wine and champagne are uncorked, 1.2 million hors d'oeuvre plates are served and 100,000 miniature desserts are dished up.
• More than 26,000 feet of lights outline the World Showcase pavilions for the "IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth" nightly fireworks show -- a string long enough to stretch across the Golden Gate Bridge more than six times.
• Earth Globe is a 28-foot-diameter sphere on World Showcase Lagoon and the centerpiece of "IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth." The globe weighs 350,000 pounds and is wrapped in more than 180,000 Light Emitting Diodes arranged in the shape of Earth's continents.
• Some 2,800 firework shells are used during each "IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth" show.

-- Posted September 21, 2007