Changes
The genesis of The Land pavilion dates back to the original concepts for EPCOT Center <ref name= "Martin"> http://www.martinsvids.net/?tag=the-land-pavilion </ref>. Initially, plans called for an Ecology and Mineral pavilion; however the focus was eventually broadened to include all of the planet's environments. This was done in order to make the pavilion more appealing to potential sponsors <ref name= "Martin"/>. In Walt Disney Production's 1977 Annual Report, Disney stated that The Land pavilion would "illustrate man's role as the protector of the Earth and its environments" <ref name= "hill"/>.
The Land pavilion was originally going to be sponsored by a logging company, and thus the first incarnation of the pavilion was created with a focus on natural habitats and the earth’s environments <ref name= "book"> The Epcot Explorer's Encyclopedia : A Guide to Walt Disney World's Greatest Theme Park </ref>. This early version of The Land called for the pavilion to be made up of seven crystal structures that would have housed five different environments, plus an agricultural and an urban section <ref name= "hill"> http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2011/10/07/why-for-did-epcot-s-future-world-not-turn-out-as-wed-had-originally-planned.aspx </ref>.
This early incarnation of the Land Pavilion was to feature a drilling machine thrill ride that would have taken guests to the center of the earth <ref name= "book"/>, as well as a rotating, treetop restaurant. The feature attraction however would have been Blueprints of Nature, an attraction where guests would board a "balloon" (using a track mechanism similar to [[Peter Pan's Flight]]) and follow the journey of snow as it melted into water and flowed through earth's various ecosystems <ref name= "baxter"> http://homepages.which.net/~ian/historybaxter.html </ref>. According to Imagineer Tony Baxter:
