Now that google has made cartography more enjoyable many of us are posting screenshots of locations across the country. Being a Disney Geek, I figured I would have to check out Disney World. What I was interested in this time was the behind the scenes area. Cast member parking, maintenance buildings, and possibly a construction zone or two.

It seems that one of the largest of the backstage areas is actually north east of the Magic Kingdom. I think there are several backstage roads as well, although I’m not and have not been a cast member so I’m just guessing. But I have not seen delivery trucks drive through the front gate of the Magic Kingdom parking area either.

I know I’m not the only one to share in these voyeuristic activities. Pop a link in the comments to someplace you found inspiring to view from the top.

When I was a youngster, elementary school age, EPCOT was my favorite park. I wasn’t into the
roller coasters or ‘scary’ rides at the Magic Kingdom. No, I loved Seabase Alpha,
riding the Hydrolator
to the depths of the ocean, and listening to The Land. EPCOT has always been
more than a zoo or some type of technology convention; it’s an educational place
to learn and have some fun. Granted, now that I’m older I don’t view the attractions
as I used to and they are changing too. Test Track was a great addition to the
park, and I still enjoy zipping around in those spiffy cars.

Technology has been the theme of EPCOT’s Future World, displaying the
robotic lawn mower and utilizing hydroponics. With such a unique concept for
a theme park, or portion of one, these pavilions required some unique graphical
representations. The logos needed to unify the various pavilions yet differentiate
their technological focus. The designers assigned to that project came up with
some fantastic work that remains an excellent example of graphic design. They
should be freely seen and analyzed.

After displaying my Retro
Disney Resort Logos, I had received some inquiries on where more of these
retro logos could be found or when I would be redrawing some more. Well, I haven’t
redrawn any logos yet but I have found an excellent source for your
favorite Retro EPCOT Logos.

I’ve known about Mickey
Avenue’s Disney Fonts for about a year now. In fact I created an Alien
Encounter desktop wallpaper using one of their typefaces based upon that
used at the Alien Encounter attraction.

One of their fonts, Prototype
Community, includes every one of the original EPCOT Future World pavilion
logos, some of which are pictured above. The nice thing about having them as
a downloadable True Type font is that anyone can download and use them in just
about any program, from Text Pad to Illustrator. All of the logos are high quality
accurate renderings.

I’m honestly not sure how many people know about the Disney
Fonts site, but they have some really fun stuff, including more great vector
art. If you like what they have provided, please send them an e-mail with your
comments. I’m sure they would greatly appreciate the recognition.

If you do happen to produce something with any of these Disney logos, including
the previous Retro Disney Resort Logos, please let us know in the comments.
Show off your creative Disney related work!

The Contemporary and Polynesian Resorts were the first to open at Walt Disney.
Many things have changed since the beginning. Quite a debate/discussion could be started
on that topic alone, Change at Walt Disney World.

To dabble a bit in the nostalgic past of Disney World I recreated a couple
of what I think are the original resort logos (if anyone actually knows for
sure, please confirm). “Where did I obtain the reference for these logos?”
you ask. Matchbooks. I found them quite worn and wanted to capture the glorious
art to be seen for all time.

I scanned in the matchbook covers and traced the logos in Illustrator, being
careful to keep the original art intact. After I finished it, I displayed it
on Flickr, the web’s newest toy, and posted
it in the Disney Geeks group.
Someone recommended I put the Illustrator file up somewhere on the web. “Great
idea,” I thought.

Feel free
to download the Illustrator file (v 10.0).

No. I have found a really good professional quality site filled with Disney Fonts! They have many of the fonts and things (vector art in .ai format, well done) to wet your appitite with disney design and creativity. Keep up the good work and if you want any help/suggestions drop me a line.

‘Till next, speak graphically!