Where were you on Jan, 06 1999?????

[Elgin Clock]

Looks like the Disney staff was a little busy building a little "village" for us!!!


Aerial View of Something Taking Shape


Notice Spaceship Earth in the lower left hand corner!

As soon as I find some more stuff like this I'll post them!

[Clark Gilbert]

Wasn't January a little early to begin building?
or
Do does it really take that long?

[Elgin Clock]

I think last year at Nats Dean said something about it taking 6 weeks to build it. True Jan is a little more than 6 weeks but......

[Joe Johnson]

For reasons that are not entirely clear in my brain, I think that a GM driving clinic is held at EPCOT just prior to our event. If the random bit of information tucked in my head is actually true, then this could be the tents needed to perform the clinic.

As to set up for the FIRST Nationals, a few years back I spoke to one of the first people on site a EPCOT. She was like the project manager or some such thing. Anyway, she said she moved to the EPCOT parking lot in Feb. -- I think that was the year the Nationals were in late April (and it was HOT by the way -- FYI to teams used to early April Nationals).

For what it's worth....

Joe J.

[BSMFIRST]

I think you're right Joe... (see below)

BTW, my friend used that satellite image of Disney on the inside of his album cover, it sure looks like the Deathstar from space...

--------------------------
Dateline, January 1999

Test Track Takes Inspiration From GM Proving Grounds
- LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Test Track -- a partnership of Disney imagineering and General Motors engineering -- opens in Epcot and invites guests to buckle up and brace themselves for the longest, fastest theme park ride in Vacation Kingdom history. This exhilarating, nearly mile-long Epcot attraction will allow parkgoers a rare sneak peek inside the long-exclusive world of automobile testing, as riders get a firsthand look at how GM cars and trucks are tested. Test Track climbs, spirals and snakes through the 150,000-square-foot pavilion, including areas simulating arctic cold and desert heat. The rigors that test vehicles go through include road handling, impact testing and suspension testing.

[Madison]

Originally posted by BSMFIRST
I think you're right Joe... (see below)

<snip>

Dateline, January 1999

Test Track Takes Inspiration From GM Proving Grounds
- LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Test Track -- a partnership of Disney imagineering and General Motors engineering -- opens in Epcot and invites guests to buckle up and brace themselves for the longest, fastest theme park ride in Vacation Kingdom history. This exhilarating, nearly mile-long Epcot attraction will allow parkgoers a rare sneak peek inside the long-exclusive world of automobile testing, as riders get a firsthand look at how GM cars and trucks are tested. Test Track climbs, spirals and snakes through the 150,000-square-foot pavilion, including areas simulating arctic cold and desert heat. The rigors that test vehicles go through include road handling, impact testing and suspension testing.

Well, this is a press release discussing GM's Test Track, an attraction in Epcot's Future World. It has been there since 1997, though it's been operating only since 1999. It occupies the former home of the World of Motion pavilion.

So, that's not it.

[Elgin Clock]

I thought maybe most of you were attending a FIRST Kickoff on Jan 6, 1999 but that date was a Weds. Oh well!

[DaveyPotter144]

Yep...it was a wednesday and my birthday!

[Nate Smith]

Originally posted by Elgin Clock
Looks like the Disney staff was a little busy building a little "village" for us!!!


Aerial View of Something Taking Shape


Notice Spaceship Earth in the lower left hand corner!

As soon as I find some more stuff like this I'll post them!

Dates aside, I don't think this was our "village"...it looks too far away from the Epcot entrance(notice the monorail track near the center of the picture...we were right next to that track at closing ceremonies last year(or at least a lot closer than the tents in this pic are)