It’s been a pretty slow week around here at the DoD3. I’ve been busy with other obligations and focusing more on this site’s search engine visibility, plus a bit of writers block! But alas, the weekend is here and so is another installment of the Theme Park Crapstravaganza! To make up for the lack of articles this past week, I’ll pull out arguably the best park map I have, a vintage 1983 Epcot Center park map. Unlike the previous Epcot park map, this one  is lovingly kept in a plastic bag and put in a place where it won’t get crushed or ripped.

First let me say that this map is from the 1983 season which is one year after the park opened. I wasn’t even a thought yet in 1983 so I don’t have any stories to share from this trip!

The cover, which is made from cardboard, features an awesomely 80s design with bright retro-tastic colors. The cover simply proclaims “Walt Disney World Epcot Center.” Back then the name was EPCOT Center, with EPCOT being an acronym for “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.” Today, the park is simply known as ‘Epcot’ with the acronym notation as well as ‘Center’ being dropped.

The park map resides on the second page for easy viewing. The map is fairly utilitatian, simply showing the locations of the pavilions. Some things to notice in this map:

Two Future World pavilions, Living Seas and Wonders of Life, were not around in 83.
Horizons was there but still under construction.
In World Showcase, the Norway and Morocco pavilions have not been built yet.

Here’s a nifty little feature; it’s a cardboard wheel that can be spun to show what every pavilion has to offer. I have it stopped on World of Motion among other things.

Let’s check out the attraction pages next…