ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how interactive additions to Epcot's attractions transformed the ludic experience of park guests by facilitating family play that is more playful, according to the definitions of Caillois. One of the newest attractions in Epcot, Mission Space was completed in 2003 in partnership with NASA. The central feature of this pavilion, which replaced the Horizons attraction, is a simulated space flight to Mars, based on motion-simulator technology NASA developed for its astronaut training programs. In a science museum setting, families could experience a seemingly unique experience if the curators cultivate dynamics illustrated in another Epcot attraction. However, Epcot's family play is an open book from which schools, museums, and theatres may read and extrapolate possibilities. While the purpose of Epcot is ostensibly to prepare individuals to function successfully in an imagined future, its more immediate objective is to enable families to socialize, interact, and play together in a ludic present.
