How a Disney disaster in Europe robbed California of Westcot, a Disneyland version of Epcot FacebookTwitterEmail Epcot Center in 1984.Michel BARET/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images This month marks the 20th anniversary of Disney California Adventure, the counterpart to Disneyland park that opened on Feb. 8, 2001. Though it has a larger capacity than Disneyland — an estimated 80,000 versus 50,000 people — it’s generally considered the inferior park, with a hazy, ever-evolving identity that doesn’t evoke the same feelings as its nostalgia-inducing counterpart. But California Adventure almost didn’t exist at all. In fact, it was originally supposed to be an Epcot Center. Westcot, the West Coast counterpart to Epcot in Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, was going to follow a similar format. There would be a portion of the park dedicated to outer space and the world of tomorrow, called VenturePort rather than Epcot’s FutureWorld, that would be totally indoors. A World Showcase would offer experiences from around the globe, including a World Cruise boat ride. And in the center: SpaceStation Earth, a domed ride like Epcot’s Spaceship Earth, which would be gold instead of silver. The only difference: California’s would be 300 feet tall, rather than Florida’s 180-foot dome.