Epcot is the second of four
theme parks built at
Walt Disney World in
Bay Lake,
Florida, near the city of
Orlando. It opened as EPCOT Center (Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow) on October 1, 1982, and spans , more than twice the size of the
Magic Kingdom park. It is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely technological
innovation and international culture, and is often referred to as a "permanent
World's Fair." In 2014, the park hosted approximately 11.45 million guests, ranking it the third most visited theme park in North America and the sixth most visited theme park in the world. The park is represented by
Spaceship Earth, a
geodesic sphere that also serves as an attraction. Epcot was known as EPCOT Center until 1994, when it was later renamed Epcot '94, then Epcot '95, now commonly known simply as Epcot.