Tapestry of Nations

Tapestry of Nations
The Sage of Time
Epcot
AreaWorld Showcase
StatusClosed
Opening dateOctober 1, 1999
Closing dateSeptember 9, 2001
Ride statistics
Attraction typeParade
ThemeUnity and World Peace
MusicGavin Greenaway
VehiclesRolling Percussion Units
Duration30 Minutes

The Tapestry of Nations was a parade at the Epcot theme park in Walt Disney World, Florida, United States, that ran around the World Showcase Lagoon from 1999 to 2001, after which it was rethemed as Tapestry of Dreams.[1] The parade had a unity and world peace theme and featured a variety of large puppets and massive rotating drum units with drummers dressed like kings. The puppets were designed by Michael Curry who also designed the puppets for The Lion King on Broadway and a variety of Disney theme park shows. The leader of the parade was the Sage of Time (better known as the fabled Father Time), who was represented as a stilt walker in an elaborate costume featuring alchemy symbols, gold trim on a white robe (featuring the Roman numerals MM for 2000 at the bottom), a staff, and a headpiece resembling a sun with a face.

The Puppets included:

  • Reverse Marionette, a large multicolored puppet with a little marionette being held in its arms.
  • Disc Man, a large character with discs within the body and dreadlocks. This was the heaviest and tallest of all the puppets.
  • Hammer Man, a humanoid character made of pieces of sheet metal.
  • The Sprite, a winged character with a three tiered tail.
  • Angel Girl, a feminine figure with a massive wingspan and human face.
  • Wiggle Girl, similar to Angel Girl, but had a smaller wingspan and lacked a face, also had movement in the hips.
  • Bird Man, with a large wingspan and a crane-like face. This puppet was the hardest to control.
  • Aztec Man, with an Aztec-style head, small wingspan and several flaps at its end, similar to kite tails.

The parade (or a variant of this) was also the theme for the halftime show at Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000. Both the parade and the halftime show were directed by Gary Paben. Footage of the parade could still be seen on the Earth Globe in IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth through that show's closure in 2019.

  1. ^ Geryak, Cole (February 16, 2017). "Disney Extinct Attractions: Tapestry of Nations and Dreams". The Laughing Place. Retrieved 17 July 2020.