Disney intended EPCOT to be a real city, and it was planned to feature commercial, residential, industrial and recreational centers, connected by a mass multimodal transportation system, that would, he said, Never cease to be a living blueprint of the future.

EPCOT was originally intended to be a real, functioning city of the future rather than a theme park. Walt Disney’s vision for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow was a "living blueprint" for urban development that would house 20,000 residents. The city was designed as a radial "Project Future" with a climate-controlled central hub for business and commerce, surrounded by high-density housing and a green belt of parks, with suburban residential areas on the outskirts. A key feature was the total separation of traffic: cars and trucks would travel through underground tunnels, while residents moved via high-speed monorails and PeopleMovers. Walt intended it to be a testing ground for American industry—a place where residents would use the latest technological prototypes before they were released to the public. After Walt’s death in 1966, the company decided that running a city was too complex and transformed the concept into the culture and technology-themed park that opened in 1982.