With contributions from Chris Bales and Yesterland Curator Werner Weiss.
EPCOT
in 1982, EPCOT Center opened. While uppercase EPCOT mixed-case Center was a wonderful place, I sure would have loved to see acronym E.P.C.O.T. (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) that Walt Disney wanted to build. But at least the Every Person Comes Out Tired version we got lived up to its unofficial acronym.
For 1994, Walt Disney World decided that EPCOT would become mixed-case Epcot ‘94. This required changing many of the signs on property.
For 1995, the name was changed to Epcot ‘95.
Today, the park name is back to EPCOT. It was all a dream, and nothing changed.
I guess.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
In 1989, Disney-MGM Studios opened (possibly officially “(The) Disney-MGM Studios Park” or “(The) Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park” depending on what source you look at). In 2008, the park was renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Disneyland Paris
In 1992, Euro Disney Resort opened. It was quickly renamed to Euro Disneyland Paris. And then to Disneyland Paris when “Euro Disney” became a punchline (speculation on my part). In 2002, it was renamed to Disneyland Resort Paris and in 2009 to simply Disneyland Paris.
Paris’ Walt Disney Studios Park opened in 2002. In 2024 it was announced the park would be renamed Disney Adventure World. (Was this a joke?)
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
In 1995, Disney’s Wild Animal Kingdom was announced. By the time the park opened on Earth Day in 1998, the name had been changed to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Those of us who are old enough to remember watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom may be surprised to know this old show was the reason for this name change. Thank you, Marlin Perkins! (I honestly did not know that TV show continued with different hosts and is apparently still being made to this day.)
Disney California Adventure
In 2001, Disney’s California Adventure opened. After a major park update in 2010, the apostrophe and “s” were let go, and the park was renamed Disney California Adventure. With the new entrance theme representing California when Walt first arrived there, it seems the original name would have been a better fit.
Magic Kingdom
And, to add further confusion, the official name of the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom has changed over the years, too — Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Magic Kingdom, and even Magic Kingdom Park. You might even find The Magic Kingdom if you look hard enough. I am a bit unclear on how many of these were official name changes over the years, or just changes made to the big sign on the train station at the entrance.
Side note: As of this writing, the official names as listed on the official Walt Disney World website are: Magic Kingdom or Magic Kingdom Park (depending on where you look), EPCOT (uppercase), Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Bonus Round
Many lands of the Disney parks have also gone through name changes.
- Disneyland’s Indian Village turned in to Bear Country which turned in to Critter Country and, since I first wrote the draft of this article, is now Bayou Country.
- DCA’s Bountiful Valley Farms turned in to Flik’s Fun Fair which turned in to Avengers Campus.
- DCA’s Paradise Pier turned in to Pixar Pier.
- TMK’s Mickey’s Starland became Mickey’s Toon Town before becoming Storybook Circus (though this is not a separate land, but a part of Fantasyland ).
- DCA’s Pacific Wharf became Sanfransokyo Square.
- …and I am sure there are more.
Help me continue to evolve this list. Leave a comment with any others you know of.
To be continued…