This year, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) will celebrate EPCOT’s 40th Anniversary at the Legends 2022: Epcot, 40 Years in a State of Becoming panel at the upcoming expo.
The panel, which will be held on November 16, 2022, from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m., will explore the past, present, and future of EPCOT. It will delve into the kinds of tools and lessons Disney Imagineers and management learned from the creation and continuing evolution of EPCOT. In addition, it will examine “how its core identity evolved,” how Disney “tried new things” and continues to reinvent the theme park.
The panel will be led by Bob Rogers, who began his career in themed entertainment in 1968 as a magician in the Magic Shop at Disneyland. In 1981, he founded BRC Imagination Arts, a themed entertainment strategic design and production company.
Rogers has worked on a number of projects for Disney, including producing “Impressions de France” for EPCOT Center, the World of Motion attraction post-show, the original “Magic of Disney Animation” show at the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park, and the post-ride Assembly Experience and Driving Technologies Laboratory at Epcot’s Test Track.
On stage with Rogers will be Bob Weis, Walt Disney Imagineering Global Ambassador; Jodi McLaughlin, Walt Disney Imagineering Executive Portfolio Producer; Kartika Rodriquez, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Vice President, Epcot; and Rick Rothschild, founder and chief creative officer of Far Out! Creative Direction.
Rothschild, a former Disney Imagineer, spent over 40 years at Disney and was responsible for 25 separate Disney attractions (many of which were film-based, including unique IMAX-scale flying rides), including Soarin’.
The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions is an organization that represents over 6,000 amusement-industry members in more than 100 countries worldwide.
The IAAPA Expo conference, which will be held at the Orange County Convention Center, runs from November 14-17, and the trade show runs from November 15-18, 2022. For more information, visit IAAPA.
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