Leave A Legacy: Disney's Controversial Epcot Monument

[@Planetvorton]

I always found it amusing how the Kingdom Keepers books referred to the monuments as, and I quote, “instead of feeling futuristic, it felt more like the cemetery where the ashes of Finn’s [the protagonist] grandparents had been buried.”

[@thealabamiangirl]

I honestly forgot about that line but I died laughing when I read that, I absolutely love the kk novels and before I even read the kk novels I always hated the leave a legacy monument

[@keijijohnson9754]

@@Planetvorton Well that's a series I haven't heard of in a long time.

[@deeheber]

My family uses the term "leave a legacy" as a nice way of saying pooping. Inspired by this monument.

[@nelle1899]

😂😂😂

[@MaxEverywhereSystem]

i dont know if this is a controversial take, but i thought thematically this fit pretty well w/epcots themes of multiculturalism shown in world showcase. maybe if they put it over there and designed it a little less tombstone-esque it would be a cool visualization of the diversity of people we share our planet with.

[@CSReed]

I completely agree! Leave a Legacy was a perfect thematic match for Epcot.

[@MrWosull]

Also I feel like it would have helped if the quality of the images was much better. Alot of them just end up looking down right creepy. I guess it would be hard to create photographs that wouldn't fade due to exposure to the elements.

[@MikeOxlong-mo8oh]

I think the whole ‘gravestone’ aesthetic definitely made walking into the park feel like some memorial or something. I think when I was young, me and my family went to Epcot around 2009 and I remember one of my parents said something like “Is this a 9/11 memorial”. Looking back, it definitely had a poor execution.

[@davemccage7918]

My dad, being the ever enthusiastic troll that he was, decided it would be funny to tell us that the wall was a memorial to all the people that died on Test Track last year. 😳 That really helped sell the Semi Truck collision fake out on the ride. 😂

[@MikeOxlong-mo8oh]

@@davemccage7918 Damn that would scare me too

[@marknason4572]

My wife and I purchased a Leave a Legacy when we were on our honeymoon in 2000. I still have the souvenir printing of the image of us.

[@kevinmsmith61]

My sister and I got a tile because Disney gave it for free as part of our vacation package. They must have been desperate to fill tiles when we got it done.

[@PencilStash]

Had two tiles done around the 2001 timeframe. Execution totally looked like a tragic war memorial. Not only the granite structures, but the tile faces themselves were sooo creepy! Glad they are gone.

[@bunniesbunniesbunnie]

honestly, that's why I liked them. I gave them ironic salutes every time I went past and cackled.

[@CSReed]

I liked how the rocks complimented the supports to spaceship earth.

[@Chowderchef]

My parents actually bought a walk around the world tile!! It was before my one brother and i were born, so its just my parents and our oldest brother. We go and find it everytime we've gone :)

[@becklarkin]

my grandparents and sisters did this in the year 2000! my grandma is dead now, so it's a little comforting that part of her is on display at her favorite place on earth...and also my sisters as very young children.

[@tufab3494]

I think they should make a small square just outside EPCOT with those photos scattered around stone pillars, in simmilar fashion but also in their own area. But all we can do is wish...

[@zacr7698]

Yo, I never would have thought Jeff from Kansas would make it to Disney in 2000. I never thought he'd aspire to much but here he is at the top of the world

[@zamgion]

I liked them a lot. I think they would have been cooler if they had their own subdued area originally and it didn't bring as much traction as it was quite literally right in front of the Epcot Sphere.

[@scooter1737]

The EPCOT fountain is not glass, it's acrylic. Also, people got burns from the metal plaques sitting in the Florida sun

[@cg6711]

I really like the new entrance of EPCOT myself. The return of more greenery, the iconic fountain look and even the pavilion flags at the front are all great. Can’t forget the way the new Spaceship Earth lights and general perimeter lights also create an amazing package. However, the Leave a Legacy tiles and monuments were such a big part of my childhood going to EPCOT from around 2006 until they were removed. Even more than the Sorcerer’s Hat for me, they embodied that park. Kudos to John Hench for making them look as good as they did, but their lifespan was limited in the war memorial-esque execution lol. I’m happy with the way the entrance is now, but I’ll always have nostalgia for the Leave a Legacy graveyard haha. Great video! Made me so nostalgic. ❤️

[@cg6711]

Also, I don’t feel this way now, but I do have a photo my parents took of the EPCOT wand circa 2007, and I call it “the new and improved EPCOT ball” 😭🥴

[@kriscynical]

My mother and I did this once in 2000 when I was 15 and again the summer after I graduated high school in 2003. I always thought it was pretty neat.

[@magules13]

I could’ve sworn that thing has been around longer than the turn of the millennium. I could be thinking of the walkway tiles though. I do remember my mom commenting on how ugly it was.

[@A.F.Whitepigeon]

You know, it kind of does look like a war memorial, now that you mention it. Still, its appearance is fittingly modern, it doesn't spoil any sightlines, and it was clearly thoughtfully designed by human hands. Plus, all the faces tie in pretty well with the multicultural themes of the other half of the park. Honestly, I still vastly prefer it over the soulless new Future World hub. After your apologist video about the Sorcerer's Hat, I had hoped for less negativity here.

[@-chrisburke]

It's always a great day when George uploads! 😊

[@freshgarbage1492]

This was a great video! Super concise, well narrated and well informed! Hope your channel grows. Just checked and not only have I been subbed for a while but I've seen a lot of your videos, the quality of them led me to believe you were a larger channel!

[@STSGuitar16]

Just took a trip to Epcot today and it was my first time seeing everything since the walls came down. Wow, what a disappointment. Wtf is the Moana water thing even doing in Epcot? It just sticks out like a sore thumb and makes no sense at all. And the new centerpiece where the fountain used to be is equally unimpressive. The last ride we rode right before closing was Soarin’, and seeing the old Epcot at the end of the ride was a stark reminder how much I prefer the old version. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but man, this current version is just a total mess.

[@FlavorLab]

Just found your channel, amazing video! Earned a sub!

[@QuentrixMovies]

This is one of those things that makes me nostalgic but I'm also glad it's gone.

[@chinalee-mn4vy]

I survived a major car crash in 2000. After I recovered I went to my favorite place in the world, Disney World. My friend and I purchased a, leave a Legacy tile. We went back to see if it was still there in 2001. It was and I felt like part of the park. I truly want to go back again and find it. Thanks for the memories of that time.😊🙏🏽💜

[@phillinsogood]

I do remember seeing them as a kid and thinking they were so large but great to hide from the sun. Ngl I wish the Mickey wand and hand stayed a bit longer I loved looking at it.

[@suttongriffin8154]

Personally I love the futuristic look to the monoliths, they really give off brutalistic scifi vibes and I think it really well fits the vibe of the park for what its original design scheme was for the park.

[@Xianelly]

When entering Epcot I always ran to the Nsync faces for a good luck tap 😅

[@robertbarga3694]

My cousin and I went to Disney World back in '99 and he wanted to get a tile so we did. I think it was a great idea and I'm glad you can still see them in some capacity today, but I always forget to check on ours when I go back to Epcot.

[@galaga2x808]

I'll never forget leave a legacy my late mother's picture with my dad is immortalized at epcot

[@ErisIsAnAbomination]

Weirdly enough, I was just thinking about this. I was at Disney World a few months ago and the Epcot park entrance looks so much better with them gone. I remember seeing them as a kid and thinking it looked really bleak and industrial, plus the faces looking kinda uncanny in general. I get the appeal, but it made the park entrance look like a concrete jungle and I’m glad it’s been replaced with more green and “friendly” decor. Maybe Leave A Legacy could have worked better if names or faces were engraved on a fountain or planter, or even a huge mural of some kind… Anything but a gray maze of depressing blocks.

[@PajamaPantsClan]

I had no idea these were so controversial. My parents did this back then and would always point out their image when we went

[@cg6711]

3:19 this absolutely made me crack up… there’s millions of people who go to Disney World every year Disney… what are you talking about 😂😭 marketing at its finest 😅

[@MrWosull]

3:14 I really appreciate the subtle sense of humor on this channel

[@Spindash54]

Out of everything, I’m just impressed Disney still had the original files to recreate the walls in the new location outside the park.

[@davemccage7918]

My dad, being the ever dedicated troll that he was, decided it would be funny to tell us kids that the wall was a memorial to all the people that died on Test Track last year. 😳 That really helped sell the collision test fake out on the ride. Talk about an “immersive experience”! 😂

[@lizamat1140]

I thought it was a memorial of deceased disney employees until probably 2014

[@IndiaHamilton445]

When I was a young child a very close friend from school passed away. I'm not sure the year exactly but we bought and dedicated a text square to his memory. For my entire Disney life I would wave at the monuments and say "hi Derek". Ugly as they may be, the memory will always be so special to me. Also I had no idea they had been "moved", I haven't been back to Disney post-pandemic but will have to make sure to check them out before 2027!

[@davidschiller1611]

As a Disney fan I purchased my Leave a Legacy on day one. My image was on the first panel. This was on the first panel to the right upon entering. It was at the bottom left corner of the panel. Now I am in the middle of nowhere on the wall. I am not thrilled.

[@valrandazzo103]

Thank you for reminding me of this. My grandma and I did this when I was a kid

[@VixenLovelove]

Yo I remember seeing these. They honestly kinda scared me they were so big. I didn’t even know there were people on them, my dumb near sighted self thought the plates were like water ripples or something.

[@a.t.m873]

I also, at first, thought they were some sort of memorial rather than just pictures of people who have been to epcot during a certain period.

[@showell1023]

I remember getting my tile in 2000 and then the following year 2001 going to see it but it happen to be sept 11 2001 as soon as i found my tile we were excavated. I was 11 confused and scared....it was wild

[@Drokmars]

My toddler face is on one of those lol

[@ufgatorbearify]

My 30 year old face is too lol

[@bunniesbunniesbunnie]

I personally love the tombstones.

[@ufgatorbearify]

My mother and I have leave a legacy. Still have commemorative photo that they gave. Always thought it was cool looking. But we're Floridians, so it's a different story.

[@gruntingskunk2237]

Quality-ass channel right here.

[@davidschiller1611]

A friend of mine was on the team that picked the granite. His idea was to use etched glass instead of granite. If you remember the images that surrounded the chrome service elevator column. He is the tall blond man wearing the blue shirt.

[@Msteve-nt5bx]

It looks crazy in retrospect, but at the time, it really wasn't bad. They were up probably too long but a lot of people did it because they were fun for people

[@norawantstobattle]

i remember seeing the stones in like 2012, and i definitely thought they were a vietnam war memorial?? i was like 5 i have no idea what was going on in my little cranium, but apparently it wasn’t much

[@AgentGodzillaRP1701]

The treatment of the Magic Kingdom tiles is vile lmfao.

[@TrialzGTAS]

I went March of 2002 my first time and in November of 2006 (Jersey Week 😎) and I have no memory of this. I like the idea of it but there should have been something else done.

[@burneyboys02]

As someone who is part of Leave A Legacy, I honestly didn't a problem with it when me and my brother did it in 2001. The basic thing I took away from it was I was part of Walt Disney World history and that's a once in a lifetime opportunity I bet you wouldn't want to pass up. Although, when I discovered how the Epcot entrance used to look like before the program I'll admit that I wanted to experience that. But thanks to the recent renovations, now I feel some of that early 80s Epcot for the first time. The new location of the pictures is still good enough and I can find mine whenever I want. Now in terms and what Disney will do with them come 2027, that's still uncertain. I don't think they should remove them but at least give out the photos to those who took part the program as a momento. I doubt we've seen the last of them for the time being but they're still here to stay. *I learned that NSYNC was part of this a long while back, but my mind is blown knowing that Ariana and Frankie Grande did this to!

[@meagtaylor3392]

I don't think I was aware of their purpose when I went in 2016 but they creeped me out. From far away it looks like a memorial for people who died.

[@Reinminer]

I'm glad I got to be there that year, fond memories. It was march, I was 13, peak timing xD

[@CapeSIX]

I go to Disney world a lot. And yes I’ve got my picture of the wall. I think leaving a legacy is great idea.

[@bloodysparkles5372]

i could NEVER tell what those were supposed to be whenever i walked by there.. my best guess was war memorial😭 glad to know it's not as dark as i thought

[@dirge7459]

What really irked the hell out of me, is that me and my Ma would visit Florida every 5-6 years. She had plans for us to go to Florida during 2017, but she sadly passed away during early 2017, before we could even purchase any tickets and start planning the trip out in general. Before she passed away, we had always on and off talked about adding our names/pictures to the Leave a Legacy pillars, and since she had passed on, I wanted to visit Epcot and leave her name/photo on one of the pillars as a memorial/remembrance of sorts, but by the time I had the money saved to do all of this, Disney had the monuments removed, and my dream was completely shot. I honestly hated Disney for this, mostly because I could never fulfil the one wish I had for the sake of a memory, and another because they originally promised park visitors that those monuments would stand tall for 100+ years, and they were not even close to that promise.

[@sonomabob9043]

I almost decided to purchase a tile in 2003, but decided not to because the "legacy" was only guaranteed for 20 yrs. I've only been back to Epcot two times since.

[@councilofkarens729]

Reminds me of the memorial for "blipped" people in Avengers: Endgame" LOL I can see what the intention was, but the execution.........

[@tearoses9940]

The fact that I didn’t even realize they were there the 3 times I’ve been to Disney, even having them visible in the pictures I took of the Epcot ball xD Though I guess it’s kinda neat, since I have a picture from Spring 2019 when they were still there but about to be taken down.

[@CoolGuyGreen1]

me and my family had this and have a stone at the disneyland entrance (:

[@Eddunaway-qp5tv]

Epcot is fun park very beautiful and unique rides always love the big Golf ball place

[@Zoopop13]

my nana and papa had a brick in the ground i believe, we saw it on 1 of the 2 family trips we took to disneyworld. i always wanted to keep it ngl. i just wonder what happened to all of them. edit: if anyone frequents EPCOT, i would greatly appreciate if someone could get a picture for me. i have the code, i used the tile finder, but i would love an updated picture before it disappears/never being able to visit the parks again probably in my lifetime.

[@KiLlErZ-zg7cf]

I was on one of these photos I miss it😢

[@sharptojo6420]

My family had purchased a personalized brick in the ticket and transportation center by Magic Kingdom back in the late 90s / early 2000s (I can’t remember exactly). I’m aware that all of them have been removed within the last several years. Does anyone have any idea if they were relocated, destroyed, etc?

[@GeorgesSpace]

I think similar to the ones outside of Magic Kingdom, they would have been removed, with the option to purchase a commemorative replica to take home with you.

[@sharptojo6420]

@@GeorgesSpace appreciate the info. You’re a legend.

[@SlabbyMess]

Didn’t know about this

[@chadmcnk]

I don't really agree. People would walk right past them quickly anyway. I mean, what was there was 'nothing' before these. Now there is 'nothing'. I mean seriously there is nothing there other than some planters. How is what is there today any better? There is quite literally nothing there. I personally never thought they were all that bad but I can see how some folks might think more into them. I thought they looked kinda cool actually. Gave you the impression that you were entering a whole other world and experience and at that time it really was an experience like no other (it's nearly all IP today...). They actually accomplished that beginning to a different kind of experience. That's gone today.

[@RetrocadePodcast]

Never forget. Gone but not forgotten 🇺🇸

[@AgentGodzillaRP1701]

I like the aesthetic/ idea, but the color and size could’ve been better.

[@qk1050]

did you grow up rich? How did you go to Disney world so many times in your childhood? My parents would just take me to a nice country park or to the seaside (im British as well)

[@JayDisneyD23]

Ariana Grande was there? I gotta find her toddler self next time.

[@bdluejay]

i always thought leave a legacy was some sort of 9/11 or war memorial, i honestly didnt know what they were for until i saw this video, and ive been to epcot many times since 2005

[@daniethegirl029]

They didn’t break up, they took a break, which will bankrupt me when it ends.

[@slob5041]

I think it looks cool

[@rrsaga]

I have one but didn’t have to pay because I was and am a cast member.. it’s fun

[@Skippyy_plays]

My cusens, brother and I are on the wall lol our names were at haven’t checked for that but believe one of the resorts in tiles

[@kitkatdaboss333]

first also this just like the sorcerers hat is something that i miss because this is how i remember the park.

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

I mean it seems the people who hate it have never seen one of these things before like at school for example... Like in Florida when you need list of a lot of people you do this... Like I never knew what it was for but I saw the vision of it and now I know it was a time capsule that people hated because... It looked like a lot of people who whent to dysney and paid $30 and are now holding up the geodesic ball? Like give me a break.

[@zaynightwing]

George’s humor is very underrated

[@Anynom]

I have a photo there!

[@zacr7698]

I actually have a picture somewhere on there. One year my mom was looking for it and fell on the corner of it, permanently damaging her knee. We never found my pic but I like to think a very tiny low res 7 or 8 year old me was watching her body slam the pavement from a distance

[@AkiDave]

Cooked!

[@webguy943]

First thing i thought was rest in peace. 😂😂

[@gojirazillasaurus6341]

What if historians in 3078 believrd these monuments were from a giant war 😂😂

[@doucetandjones]

I also thought the tiles were people who died lol

[@johnp139]

So? They usually have surviving family members.

[@achannell362]

I did it in high school! 😆

[@Skippyy_plays]

Lasting on and off over 20 years and for the price ain’t bad your gonna spend more on some random bs you’ll forget about in a few days, 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@_dh]

Well written and thought out. 🎉

[@samsungwell4319]

My sister, now divorced, would be more than happy to see a photo of her and her ahole ex husband permanently removed:)

[@Toon_Lucario]

So I’m just gonna rip the bandaid off. How many people on those stones do you think are dead now? Because not only has it been almost 20 years, but also most of these were done before 9/11 and a pandemic.

[@johnp139]

Only 3,000 people out of 280 MILLION PEOPLE!!!! INSIGNIFICANT!!!!

[@Toon_Lucario]

@@johnp139 that’s not what I was asking bud. Also 3,000 people is absolutely a big amount and innocent lives lost is still tragic. Please stop with this bs.

[@keijijohnson9754]

15:54 - What, you just couldn't be bothered to read the ENTIRELY of the quote word for word there?😑

[@MSKA-1]

Well, you have eyes. Use ‘em.

[@keijijohnson9754]

@@MSKA-1 Speak for yourself and the maker of the video there.

[@MSKA-1]

@@keijijohnson9754 Whatever you say.

[@johnp139]

Too many fucking commercials!!!!!!!!!!

[@The-epcot-nerd]

🤓☝️

[@Evangelionism]

Lol.....disney

[@8675309858]

Me and my father’s photo on Leave a Legacy was a blessing in the skies. I remember my father telling me the story how we got our opportunity. Some guy at a bar managed to talk to my father about his ticket for Leave a Legacy and he gave it to my father on the house. And the next day we got our photo taken from there. It was a huge blessing (and to the gentleman who did that both of us are extremely thankful for it) we never thought it was ugly and enjoyed seeing all the photos of others in Leave a Legacy. So we never cared for the people who talked bad about it cause it’s like throwing stones (pun intended) at us with our photo (still feel that way) My family has been involved with Disney world since ‘73 and will continue with myself along the way. Thankful it still exists (despite the new location) but still I wonder why they decided to break a promise (even though that’s nothing new with Disney)