It’s All In the Details: Epcot’s American Adventure’s General Store
One of the fun and interesting things about going to the Disney parks are the amount of new details you can find with every visit. With my recent trip to Walt Disney World, we went to the American Adventure at Epcot and re-experienced it. There are so many great details in this attraction. On this trip, the scene at the General Store stood out enough for a further look-see after I got home.
This is such a great history filled attraction. For the most part, the history speaks for itself. Jefferson completing the Declaration of Independence or Alexander Graham Bell talking about his phone are easy to identify. You are sure of the reference in those scenes. But, throughout the show there are generic looks at history meant to fill the gaps. Such as the Civil War brothers scene or the WW II Submarine scene. These scenes connect one part of our history to the next in the sequence of the American Adventure show. But it doesn’t give a specific name or location of the who is in the scene or where it is.
General Store
One such scene is the General Store scene during the depression. This is the old time General Store that has the 4 gentlemen commenting on what they hear on the radio during the depression. I always thought this was a random scene of the depression. Used to connect the Franklin Delano Roosevelt speech to the Will Rogers speech and back again moving us into WW II. But, after a couple of quick Google Searches, this scene has showed me as much history as the speeches it introduces.
The scene itself is a reconstructive adaptation of picture that was taken by Dorothea Lange titled Crossroads General Store, North Carolina, July 1939. Dorothea was as world renown photographer. She did a lot of work during the depression. Please watch the short video below below about her. You will not be disappointed at the cause and effect of her life’s vocation.
”That store is where all business is done, where everything is transacted, where all loans are given, where they’re kept in hock forever. That store is everything.”
Another famous work of hers was the Migrant Mother. (I can swear I’ve seen this at WDW. Please comment below if you have and where.) The General Store was a real, literal snapshot, of a real day in the past of America. As you can see above, there are some changes to the scene. Two guys are missing in the Epcot scene and appear to have been replaced by the radio. But that is for the show and easily explained and appreciated to keep the story going.
This is just one of the small details that make up really well Imagineered attraction at the Disney Parks. Who would have thought that this one scene in an attraction could have led to Dorothea Lange, another important American Adventurer in the history of America?
I also found a colorized version of this picture, so I threw a filter onto the American Attractions picture to show it in B/W.
What do you think? Do you have any revelation moments of a small detail that made the difference in your appreciation of an attraction that you can share in our comments?
