Editor’s Note: Per the comments I got on this post, check out my previous post on EPCOT and the Living Seas. There you can see a true pre-opening card with the text, “The Future Begins October 1, 1982”.
A few weeks ago I purchased a set of pre-opening EPCOT concept postcards. I bought them in LA from a dealer along with the Tokyo Disneyland pre-opening cards I blogged about a couple posts ago.
The set consists of ten cards, all with (uncredited) artwork covering various aspects of the park. Looking at all ten cards together (you can find them in the checklist as NT cards EP0001 thru EP0010), it’s actually not entirely clear when they were published. However, based on EP0003 (shown here), it is implied that the cards were published prior to October 1983, a year after the opening of EPCOT in October, 1982. The cards may have been available as a set before the park opened and then sold at the park after 
it was opened. When I bought them, they were not in a pictorial folder, just a plastic sleeve. The card numbers do not really help in understanding the nature of the set, as they are not consecutive. Perhaps one of you has more info on the origin of these cards!?!
Either way, the cards make up a great set. From Spaceship Earth to Future World, China Showcase to the American Adventure, they give a broad look at what the EPCOT park was intended to be.
Of the group, my favorite card is the “Horizons” card, EP0003. The art work is fantastic, and it does the job of building anticipation for what was to come. As to whether or not this attraction met the expectations of the visitor, I have to leave that to you. I have only visited EPCOT once!
That’s it for now…next time I will likely be blogging on something closer to home from Disneyland!
Until next time…
these cards were not sold as a set they were individual cards… someone must have just put them all together.. and there are 2 different versions of these cards.
1. the cards sold after opening (as you mentioned)
2. the pre opening cards with the actual opening date on the back of the card saying “opening October 1st 1982”
im sorry it says the “the future begins October 1st 1982” not opening… my bad
Shawn…yes, you are correct. i actually blogged on this not too long ago, but I only have a couple of the ones that say that on the back. I am thinking I should update this post and set the record straight…or, more straight anyway!