The year 1975 was a turning point for the Walt Disney World Resort. After completing Phase One, the company studied the economic and creative feasibility's of building Walt’s ultimate dream. On July 14, the Disney company announced plans to build an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT). However, this project would be different from the original plans Walt had envisioned.

Instead of an actual working city of the future, EPCOT would be a showcase of ideas, a place for people to come and learn about themselves and the world around them, through the use of Disney technology and entertainment. Two key points of Walt’s beliefs would remain constant. First, the past would be explored as well as the future, for the past taught mankind where it had been and where it could go. Second, there had to be an "international neighborhood," where an atmosphere of understanding could promote communication, peace, and prosperity between all the cultures of the world.

Epcot: Spaceship Earth

EPCOT Center was the chosen name given to the second theme park. In early planning stages, World Showcase, the salute to countries around the globe, was tofirst, followed by Future World. Soon, though, it was apparent the futuristic side to the EPCOT Center attractions could and shouldsimultaneously. The design of the park went through countless changes before its current form was selected. One of the original concepts was to house all of the attractions from Future World and World Showcase in one gigantic building.

Meanwhile, a beautiful new landmark for the Walt Disney World Resort was unveiled at the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village in 1977. The Empress Lilly, an historic replica of a three-decked Mississippi sternwheeler, was "permanently docked" at Lake Buena Vista to provide a whole new restaurant/lounge complex for the shopping village. Measuring 220 feet long and sixty-two feet high, this riverboat took just over a year to construct, but it was quite a task. First, the area where it would be docked was dredged and barriers were put up around thespace. Pumps kept the land dry while workers built the foundation, or "hull" of the boat, then the rest of the body. The same elegant interior detailing found on steamers of old were re-created here in grand style. Eventually, the earthen barriers between the Empress Lilly and the lake were removed, giving the ship the appearance of being moored to a dock. In a dedication ceremony held May 1, 1977, the boat was christened by Walt Disney’s widow, Lillian, for whom it was named. The Empress Lilly riverboat was later refurbished to become Fulton’s Crab House in 1996.