Posted by Epcot is about to enter it’s 30 year of operation and unlike any other Disney theme park on the planet it has almost all of it’s opening day attractions completely removed or significantly altered. These are only a few of those classic attractions.
Horizons is my all time favorite Disney attraction. It’s hard to believe it has been closed for almost 13 years! The death machine Mission: Space now occupies Horizon’s land. For the record, Horizons did not of barf bags in the ride like Mission: Space currently does.
This scene was part of the “Looking back at tomorrow” part of the ride.
“Easy living.” In this scene the rider visits the futuristic city of Nova Cite. One of the best parts about Horizons was its great narrators. The cool part is you actually got to see animatronic representations of the two narrators living in their home. The grandfather is playing on some sort of Jetsons space instrument (while the dog that looks suspiciously like Rover from Carrousel of Progress). The grandmother on the right is talking to their daughter who is “doing wonders out there on one of those desert farms.”
You have no idea how hard I had to fight myself from making this an all Horizons post. I need to use my Horizons pictures sparingly as they are a precious resource. Anyway, this is from the old Wonders of Life pavilion. They were known as the Wonder Cycles. You sat on a exercise bike and the screen would display a video of different locations and kept track of how many calories you were burning. These are of the few things I vividly remember from my first trip to WDW back in July of 1996. I think the reason why I remember them so well is because two of the three locations you could pedal through were things in Southern California, aka where I live. Those two videos being the Rose Parade and Disneyland!
Cranium Command was also located inside the Wonders of Life pavilion. Unfortunatly this ride was doomed from the start because it relied heavily on the use of early 90’s celebrities such as Bobcat Goldthwait, Jon Lovitz, and Hans and Franz from Saturday Night Live….
This was taken in the post show for World of Motion, known as TransCenter. Guests could sit in the newest GM model cars and view other car related exhibits.
More of my vintage EPCOT Center posts:
I think Future World at Epcot has gotten really off track compared to what it was in the 80s to mid 90s. I used to love spending most of my time in Future World. Now it just a place to walk thru to get to the World Show Case. It seemed like it was much more technically advanced in the 80s than it is now. I miss Horizons. I have ridden Mission Space once and I think I will pass the next time I go to Epcot. I don't care to have the simulation of my chest being crushed or the fact that I am just looking at a video screen. Is this the best the Imagineers can do now? One thing I loved about the original attractions: Universe of Energy, Journey into Imagination, World of Motion was that they were rides my whole family could ride together. Me, my mom and dad. Mom never cared for thrill rides or heights. Her favorite ride at Epcot is the Universe of Energy with the Dinosaurs part. I wish they would update that attraction with new energy sources. More focus on Solar and Wind. The current attraction is over 12 years out of date. If I ever become head of a corporation I will sponsor the UE ride provided that Disney returns it to opening day glory.
You're absolutly right an unfortunately I think it will take a mirical to fix it. Future World has been stagnant for decades now and has fallin so far behind that it's just sad.
Are you still doing this site? Do you have any information about Nat Winecoff, Bruce Bushman or Dave Constabell? I would really like to talk to you especially since you said you were not associated with Disney!