==Attraction History==
While the American Adventure an attraction inside the America pavilion had always been a part of the plans for EPCOT Center, its location and design changed frequently during the park's planning. Initially, in the 1978/79 EPCOT Center plans, Imagineers wanted to use the American Adventure pavilion as a bridge between Future World and World Showcase <ref> http://progresscityusa.com/2009/06/27/a-visit-to-epcot-center-1979/ </ref> <Ref name= "Martin"> http://www.martinsvids.net/?p=218 </ref>. The pavilion would have been two stories tall, with the American Adventure attraction located on the building's second floor <Ref name= "allears"> http://allears.net/tp/ep/e_adv.htm </ref>. Eventually however, Imagineers had decided that keeping America apart from the rest of the countries in World Showcase, would seem elitist and thus the whole pavilion was moved to the far side of the World Showcase promenade <ref name= "allears"/>.
Like the pavilion itself, the American Adventure attraction also went through a series of changes. When development began on the attraction, Imagineers knew that they wanted to tell the story of America, but they were not sure how to do it. Six different attraction ideas were disregarded, before the show’s final form was accepted <ref> http://2719hyperion.blogspot.com/2007/01/lost-imagineering-happy-fun-american.html </ref>. Rejected ideas for the American Adventure attraction included:
* An idea for a lighter attraction that would only feature Audio Animatronics. <ref name= "Korkis"/>* A ride through attraction featuring short vignettes <ref name= "Korkis"/>.* An attraction which focused on the characters of American folklore (ie. Paul Bunyan) <ref name= "Korkis"> http://allears.net/ae/issue828.htm </ref>
According to lead Imagineer Show Writer and show producer Producer Randy Bright:
{{Quotation|“One of the toughest things we had to do was take 350 years and compress it down to 20 minutes. In fact, we failed. It is a 28-minute show. We went through six abject failures before we got to an American Adventure we all felt comfortable with, which ultimately became what we have today <ref name= "mouseplanet"/>}}
Imagineers eventually came up with the idea of using a “Magic Theater” <ref name= "mouseplanet"> https://www.mouseplanet.com/9905/Will_Rogers_and_the_American_Adventure </ref>. The theater was designed so that it would be able to combine: Audio Animatronics, video, audio, and moving sets to tell the story of America<ref name= "mouseplanet"/>. According to Bright, once Imagineers came up with the idea of the theater, writing the script for the American Adventure was much easier<ref name= "mouseplanet"/>.
In order to help set the various scenes which were to be depicted in the American Adventure, Imagineers initally wanted the attraction to have three hosts, which with each host representing one of the centuries that America had existed for <ref name= "Korkis"/>. The three men chosen to guide guests through the story of America were Benjamin Franklin (18th century), Mark Twain (19th century), and Will Rogers (20th century). Although promoted in concept art by Disney <ref> http://progresscityusa.com/page/57/ </ref>, it was eventually decided that Will Rogers would not appear as one of the attraction’s hosts (although he would appear in Audio Animatronic form in the 20th century scene), leaving the duo of Franklin and Twain as the sole narrators. This decision was made after Disney discovered that only 5 out of every 150 college students knew who Will Rogers was <ref name= "mouseplanet"/> and they could not come to a consensus on a replacement. Randy Bright later contemplated that the events of the 20th Century were too current to properly find a representative for <ref name= "mouseplanet"/>
Although never seen by the public, the script for the beginning of the American Adventure with Will Rogers as a one of the hosts has been discovered. This version would have begun with Franklin, Twain and Rogers reflecting on the countries’ past:
'''Franklin:''' Now, stop that nonsense. Those good old days that everybody speaks of, they were no utopia either. Mr. Twain, those Mississippi shores you walked as a boy were also walked by slaves. And Mr. Rogers, how about the lawlessness and violence of your glorious West?…And in my time, few children lived to be adults. If I may quote you from my own Poor Richard’s Almanac: ‘The golden age never was the present age.’ Mr. Twain, if you want to go back, go right ahead, but from what I’ve seen, the 20th Century has an incredible amount of positive things that are simply taken for granted. <ref name= "mouseplanet"/>}}
Despite technical problems and changes to the shows plot, the American Adventure was completed on in time for EPCOT Center’s opening day on October 1, 1982 <ref> http://thisdayindisneyhistory.homestead.com/epcotgrandopening.html </ref>. The show then remained unchanged until 1993, when all new Audio Animatronics were added (which featured more fluid movements) and the attraction’s Golden Dream montage was updated <ref name= "Martin"/>. In 2007, the montage was once again updated, so that it now included footage of the firefighters who raised the American flag at Ground Zero (after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks) <ref name= "Martin"/>.
==Attraction Plot==