By Brittany Bell

In the 1980s and 90s Walt Disney World was booming. Now boasting 3 immensely popular theme parks and new hotels popping up on property, Disney World was achieving its goal of becoming an international tourist destination. However, over on the West Coast, Disneyland still sat almost the same as it had when Walt opened the park in 1955: one park with one hotel. Michael Eisner and Frank Wells had recently taken over the Walt Disney Company, and set their sights on developing Disneyland into a multi-day international destination much like its Florida counterpart. The idea that sprang from this: a California version of Walt’s vision of EPCOT: the (West Coast) Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. However, with budget constraints and the recent failure of Euro Disneyland (now Disneyland Paris) and complaints from the surrounding community, the WestCOT plan was abandoned. Though it may not have become a reality, some of the ideas and themes from the planned park did make their way into the Disney parks around the world. Let's discover where some of the best ideas for WestCOT are alive and well today in the Disney Parks…

By Keith Mahne

In 1991, Disney announced plans to build WESTCOT on the site of Disneyland’s original parking lot. It was to be themed around a Utopian vision of the future, similar to Epcot at Walt Disney World. Aside from some of the most beautiful concept art I've ever seen, this park never made it off the drawing board and the site location is where Disney’s California Adventure sits today. But what if Disney had went forward with the plains to build WESTCOT? What would that have been like? Let's find out in today's new article...