Expos to Epcot: How World's Fairs Gave Us Walt Disney World
Date: Friday, February 13, 2026
Time: 7–8:30pm
Location: The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue
From the spectacle of the Ferris wheel to the promise of a better tomorrow, world's fairs captured public imagination and set the stage for today's theme parks. In this talk, Bethanee Bemis, museum specialist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, explores how international expositions helped shape Walt Disney's vision through their immersive storytelling, technological optimism, and celebration of consumer culture. Special attention will be given to the 1964–65 New York World's Fair, a key testing ground for ideas that would later come to life in Walt Disney World.
Expos to Epcot is inspired by our current exhibition, World's Fairs: Visions of Tomorrow. The Wolfsonian is a Smithsonian Affiliate and produced this event in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution.
Banner image: Commemorative ticket from the opening of Epcot Center, 1982. Courtesy of the National Museum of American History.
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