The New Global Neighborhood, EPCOT, at the Walt Disney Resort, closed in 2004

And there was the Network Tree, a sculpture with multiple trunks comprised of 111 miles of fiber optic cable!

Walt Disney died while Magic Kingdom was being built, but he wanted a different park built first instead of Magic Kingdom.

EPCOT.

He planned that EPCOT would be a place where new technology was developed, people lived in harmony, and new things were being tried everyday. Or in his words, 'EPCOT... will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise. It will be a planned, controlled community, a showcase for American industry and research, schools, cultural and educational opportunities. In EPCOT, there will be no slum areas because we won't let them develop. There will be no landowners and therefore no voting control. People will rent houses instead of buying them, and at modest rentals. There will be no retirees; everyone must be employed.'

Beautiful words Mr. Disney. Beautiful.

Well a few years after his death, his Imagineers thought of making a new park. They wanted to make one that showcased the world and it's culture but also exhibited the technology of the future. After much deliberation one Imagineer said, "Why don't we put those ideas together?!" I'm sure everyone had a duh, why didn't I think of that moment.

In 1982 with Spaceship Earth as the main attraction, inside the Giant Golf-Ball looking sphere, it was immensely popular. Besides all the old technology to the new, you could also travel around the world all in one afternoon. Which made EPCOT into some type of World Fair, combining technology  from new and old and showing off various cultures. 

Wow!

At first Spaceship Earth was sponsored by The Bell System. The Bell System had a monopoly on telephone use and service across the USA. In 1984, AT&T was born as The Bell System was broken into smaller companies. It's parent company became AT&T. Of which would continue to sponsor Spaceship Earth from 1984-2004.

Where's the scary? The abandoned? The creepy?

I'm getting there, don't worry. 

When the Global Neighborhood first opened, it replaced and remodeled the entire ride. The theme song was revamped, script rewritten, and Jeremy Irons brought in to narrate. Also being replaced, was the original 'Earth Station' or the post-show area. 

I know I know. All I'm giving you is Disney facts.

The Global Neighborhood included all of the rides listed below, except the last one was replaced when the New Global Neighborhood was introduced. 

-Interactive Wonderland: Welcome to your tour of Wonderland! Led by the oh-so-clever Cheshire Cat! Here in this 'future of television' introduction, you can tap on various icons in Wonderland to watch videos, activate commands, play games, and shop. 

-You Don't Say: Explains idiomatic expressions and what they mean in other languages.

-Communication Breakthrough: You can break down the walls of communication with a virtual paddle via video-link, and then can see who you're playing with.

-Story-Teller Phone: Story-Teller Phone lets you chose the background, so it sounds like you are calling from another place

-Ride The AT&T Network: Hope aboard this simulated ride where all you have to do is hang on tight! Join Cassie as she 'surfs' the fiber optic superhighway of information, no passport needed! All you have to do is prepare to be faxed, researched, talked about, x-ray-ed, and watched on-demand. 

The last ride (Ride The AT&T Network) was replaced some years later with the The Network Tree, a fake tree made all from wires and cables. Included in the tree was holes for you to take your picture in and have it displayed on the branches TVs, Falcon's Treehouse, and a 3-D experience of new rides coming to EPCOT. 

Finally, the time has come for the scary!

In recent years, The New Global Neighborhood has been explored by some, if not many. When AT&T closed their contract with Disney in 2003 (Officially closed in 2004), the Neighborhood was closed down and boarded up and over. 

In other words, everything is still there.

When you sneak in, I mean 'enter' (See Warning), what awaits you is darkness. The once colorful tree, no longer shines. The old video monitors and touch-screen computers are all dusty and dirty. Falcon's Treehouse is closed off from the world and most of it's 'wire bridges' have been removed. It seems like you have to watch where you walk, but that's just the floor and the lack-of descent light, playing tricks on you. Since of course, the floor is see-through allowing the tree's 'roots' to be exposed to the curious eyes of young and old. 

Yes, the once magical place of play-fun is now a dark dungeon of ruin. 

But that's why you're reading this....

To find out about those kind of things.... 

WARNING:

I highly do not suggest trespassing or sneaking into any place in or on Disney property. Or anywhere else for that matter. 

The conciquences are at least, 4 years park banishment and multiple fines. And if you're lucky, a warning may be issued. But that is unlikely.