The history and backstory of Disney rides

Figmentforever24

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
So as many of you know I have been doing the very long “If you owned the Disney Company” project. But now I realize that it was getting nowhere and honestly I was running out of ideas. So I figured why not look at the history of what is there? Look at the things that was, is and never were at Walt Disney World? So in this thread that is what I am going to do. With a little digging and an insane amount of luck I hope to uncover the true history of the most popular rides that are at Walt Disney World.


Test Track (Original Version) - So my first project is going to be Test Track. Now I am not talking about the new version, but the original 2001 version. So lets get started. So as you know the original ride was named “World of Motion” and was an omnimover ride through the history of transportation. The ride was sponsored by the company “General Motors.” In fact General Motors was the first company to sign a 10 year contract with Disney in 1977. (December to be exact) The ride was pretty popular for the first few years but started to lose its guest near the end of the contract. So obviously the contract expired in 1992, ten years after the opening of Epcot Center. This also happened to be the time with GM was facing so MAJOR money issues. They were laying off many people and for a while almost didn’t want to renew the contract. Like we are talking major economic problems. After one year of consideration GM agreed to renew for another long term contract. But in turn for renewing GM wanted Disney to change the ride to something new. They wanted a ride that focused only on the car. Disney agreed to the terms and actually had an idea from a visit they made to GM many years ago. In 1976 Disney toured the main GM factory to get inspiration for the Transportation Pavilion. They watched cars at GM go through different road test and operations. Originally Disney wanted to have two rides in the 1982 pavilion. The first was what would become “World of Motion” while the second was going to be car going down the race track. Check out early models of the pavilion to see a race track leaving the main building. This faster attraction was going to allow guest to test the vehicles of tomorrow. The idea was dropped in 1979 due to budget cuts and time restraints.

The plans were placed on a shelf and forgotten until 1994 when GM was ready for a new attraction. When they first started reworking the attraction in 1994 they were going to let guest ride of a type of sled. These sleds were soon dropped and replaced by a more similar car style vehicle. Disney was wanting to recreate the testing procedure they saw in 1976. The beginning of the ride would begin with a 3 story hill climb. Environmental chambers were included to let temperatures go from 40 degrees to 140. 2100 ft of track was also placed on the outside for an outdoor speed portion. The original speed was going to be 95 mph but Disney lowered it to 65 for legal reasons and for better banking on the turns. Banks more then 47 degrees were considered to sharp and would make guest too uncomfortable if the ride was to be stopped. The plans was to complete gut the inside of the building. Only the outside would remain. A new track and ride layout was designed for the new ride. The ride was extended outside the building just like it was originally planned to be in 1978. (When two rides were planned) Work began immediately and they started to rebuild the ride. The lower floor of World of Motion was removed altogether while the outside portion of the queue was turned into a new indoor queue section. The load hall in World of Motion was then converted into what became the pre-show room and holding area. The upper level was also removed. At the center of the building was the 80 ft wide center where the city of the future model was in World of Motion. This area was going to be the location of the new hill that would take guest to an higher level.


This 3 story hill would go over the environment chambers and would lower back down to ground level. The cars then would travel back up to another high level. On this upper level would be a spur track that cars could be stored. The second storage area was behind the loading station. The lower spur would also be the entrance to a work station for messed up cars. Two new opening were made in the building so cars could exit and reenter the building. The first was where the spinning wheel scene was located in World of Motion. The unload station for Test Track would be in the same spot that the loading was for World of Motion. A total of 31 cars were made for the new ride coming soon to Epcot Center. These cars would be equipped with special braking properties as well as 3 different computer systems. The cars have their own motor but would be connected to a track to give power to the motor. Under this track were 18 wheels that made sure the car never left the track. You could sometimes see them if you were standing at the right angle. World of Motion closed permantly to the open public January 2nd of the year 1996. (What was ironically the year Disney World turned 25) Disney wasn’t shy to announce the new ride replaced World of Motion and posted a HUGE mural outside the building. The mural announced that the ride would open in 1997. (Yea Right) To excite guest Disney even opened a preview center under the mural! I mean they really wanted you to get excited for this ride coming the next year! I was lucky enough to also find the original timeline Disney was trying to follow for Test Track. January 2nd close World of Motion, February 13th would be the opening of the preview center. March 4th would be the beginning of the outside track installation. The hopes was to finish this by March 29th. By October 25th they wanted the entire inside of the ride to be finished to start testing on October 29th. February of 1997 have the final scenes finished and have the cars on the track by the 28th of the month. The attraction was then set for a May 16th 1997 opening. As we all know Disney set the bar a little TOO high for this one. Disney did actually complete the interior of the ride on schedule with how they wanted it. The only thing was May of 1997 passed and the ride never opened to the public. So something went wrong.


So pretty interesting stuff so far right? So after this I want to continue with Epcot so let me know if you want Mission:Space, The Living Seas, or Energy. Anyway during testing Imagineers find something wrong with the ride during testing. The first issue was with the tires on the cars. The tires that they were using on the car were unable to take the cruel tasks the ride was put through during the day. So Disney had their friend “Goodyear” make them special tires for the ride. The next problem was really weird. Believe it or not the ride was considered TOO HIGH TECH! I mean seriously they literally set the bar too high on this ride. With 29 cars the computer system for the ride had to be massive! Sadly at the time they did not have a massive computer system. A total of 6 cars running on the track would make the entire system crash. So 29 cars on a track were beyond out of the question. In order for this ride to properly function they needed a new computer system. They would need to build one from scratch. This would take a while so Disney changed the Spring 1997 opening to an “opening soon” date. (So basically whenever we finish) Disney placed new signs and removed the preview center to start on the entrance for the ride. They worked on the ride until the beginning of 1998 when Disney officials were allowed to see the new ride.


Cast Members were allowed to “test” the ride in December of 1998. Then on December 19th the day arrived that guest were allowed to test the new ride. Since the time World of Motion closed to the time Test Track was dedicated was a total of 3 years. On March 11th of 99 the ride was dedicated officially. So that is the history of the famous “Test Track!” But of course no ride stays the same forever. So since its 1998 opening the ride went through some changes. Some minor things were done at first like changing and shortening the narration in certain areas of the ride. For the few who remember the ride had a pyro effect when you were about to crash into the truck. This was removed for a few different reasons. One being cost and the other apparently being safety. The next thing to change was the first barrier test you get to witness. The car to your left crashed into the wall. This was changed into a plain white car that remained still. And of course the ride then was transformed into the new 21st century version we know now. But I am saving that for a different time since I wasn’t able to find a lot of info on it yet.
 
Mission:Space - So here is the second part of this new thread on the history of Mission:Space. This one was way more fun to look into then Test Track. Also in order to understand the true history of the ride you have to go back all the way into the planning stages of Epcot Center where a space pavilion was planned over “Horizons!” But before I get started I want everyone to know if they find information similar to mine on the internet know that I am not copying what they are saying what for word. The way I am able to put this all together is from looking over tons of different websites for information. Please know that I did not plagiarize nor will I do so in any of these.


So lets us go back to the final planning stages of Epcot Center. Things were coming into place. “World of Motion” was set in place, Imagination was coming to a close and the energy pavilion had all but been built. But on one side of the park was the space pavilion. In 1978 a space pavilion was still part of the plans for Epcot Center. This pavilion would have been where “The Living Seas” are located today. The show building was going to be huge! The idea was to make a giant space station type thing. So on one side would have been a giant launch pad while the other side was going to be the station. The center of the building (The station) would have been a GIGANTIC showroom with giant rotating walls. The giant rotation walls would make guest feel like they were on a space station right before they boarded their omnimover and started on a journey through space. Of course like many of the pavilions there were going to be hands on activities to do as well.

Then there was the main show for the pavilion. This giant room would have had huge windows on the front showing off space. Guest could literally watch and see the wonders of space before them. Sadly things like this cost money. A lot of money to be exact, and Epcot Center was already costing too much money. So the Imagineers decided to put the space pavilion at a different phase in theme park operations. Now we skip a few years to 1982 right before Epcot Center was going to open. Pretty much everything was built at this time, but Disney really wanted a space pavilion. The only thing was the plot of land they were going to use was already taken. So they decided to move it next door. In case you are wondering it was going to go BETWEEN “The Land” and “The Living Seas”. But in order to fit the building needed a new design. So Disney had the Imagineers go in and change the look a bit. But don’t think that this was all done in the first year! Nope in fact people didn’t hear about it until 8 years later! In 1990 Disney released an official press release talking about the new pavilion coming to Epcot Center. Here is the press release given by Disney:

“Journey’s Into Space - The long planned Future-World attraction will present visitors with the ultimate thrill-ride: space travel. New systems and special effects will be used to give guest an outer-space experience without ever leaving terra firma.”

So it seemed like space was finally coming to Epcot. Lucky for Disney Imagineers technology had advanced a lot more, meaning they could do even more interactive stuff in the pavilion. In this new space pavilion guest were going to enter real like versions of space environments. This was going to be pretty cool but there was one problem. No one would support the ride and Disney just didn’t have the resources to spare on this attraction. Disney did try to make a deal with Delta but the plans kept falling through. But then something happened that Disney didn’t think much about. In 1993 “General Electric” dropped their sponsorship of “Horizons”. (Remember that ride) Well by dropped we mean just didn’t renew. This wasn’t all bad since Disney now realized the ride was starting to get very old looking. The ride was literally already starting to fall behind technology wise. So they knew this ride was going to need to change or be removed. Disney worked with Imagineers and proposed a major rehab for the ride. This would help it become more updated and not feel so dated. The update would mean updating the AA’s, the screens and the actual tech used in the ride. Everything had to change even the music. (I love the Horizons music by the way, some of the best music ever) With this update “Horizons” was going to be the wonderful futuristic ride it was always meant to be. So the ride went down and opened up and remained popular till the end of Epcot. Well no not really. Mr. Eisner himself felt like too much money was going to be spent trying to revamp the ride. So he cancelled the project. He thought that instead the building should be gutted and make way for his wonderful space pavilion idea. He thought the building itself could stay much like “Test Track” for “World of Motion”.


So the plans were made. The outside of the building would stay but the inside would change. It began by a short trip up some escalators. A giant Omni-sphere type system would have been the backdrop for a space setting. In order to incorporate some of the 1978 space ideas without going over budget Eisner had them install moving floors to help the traveling through space illusion. At the middle of the building would be the space station area where guest could do many hands on exhibits. Finally the back of the building would be the ride. The idea for the ride was actually pretty cool. Guest were going to ride from suspended space suits as they went on a space walk around the space station. So they were going to use “Horizons” hanging ride tech. This was almost destined to be an amazing ride right? Wrong. The ride suffered from one thing no Disney Imaginer wanted to hear….low ride capacity. So for this reason as well as financial reasons (Of course) the ride was put away for a THIRD time. Yes three different times the space pavilion was cancelled. “Horizons” was going to live to see the light of day after all.


Not only was this thing expensive, it also fell in the middle of other rides that were in the middle of changing. At the time you may remember “World of Motion” had closed to the public. No longer were guest riding an omnimover, but would soon be racing through different test. Only this project was falling behind as we learned about before. Also a certain famous comedian was making her way into “Universe of Energy” to put herself in Jeopardy. (Sorry couldn’t resist) Both projects were taking longer then they liked anyway so reworking “Horizons” was not the smart thing to do.


So “Horizons” did open back up after a short rehab. Some painting and carpeting was done, but nothing major was done to the ride. When guest saw that the ride did not change they were upset. How come this old ride was still here? Shouldn’t it be updated? Just a few of the outcries heard by Disney fans everywhere. Disney did their best to keep the ride open but this ride was becoming some kind of expensive to keep up on. There were certain items that cost an arm and a leg to fix if it broke. Some guest may even remember where they even let things stay broke for periods of time to save money. The ride itself had not changed any since 1983. So the ride was getting old. So Disney knew they needed a way to maintain this ride. So they looked to the thing Epcot does best and tried to find a sponsor. The only problem was NO ONE was interested in paying for a ride that was completely outdated. To them it seemed like a waste. So Disney decided that “Horizons” had to be changed or replaced. The plans for a space pavilion were brought back, but this time “Horizons” wouldn’t win this fight.


In the year 1999 Disney finally found someone who might be interested in sponsoring Epcot. The company Compaq wanted to sponsor, but not “Horizons”. No they wanted to sponsor something that would be head and shoulders above everything at Epcot. They wanted space. Disney agreed to giving them a space pavilion, they just needed a new fresh idea. So they came up with a ride idea never before seen in a theme park. They wanted a journey through space type adventure, but they wanted to focus on the power of G-Force. Disney knew that they were moving into the 21st century and they needed a ride to draw guest to Epcot. So they decided that the ride would become the centerpiece of the pavilion. No need for large amounts of things guest wouldn’t spend time at. So they started to finalize these plans. Now the only problem was “Horizons” had to go….forever. To Disney is made perfect sense. Why keep a ride no one likes anymore? Instead replace it with something new that will bring many new guest to Epcot! So in 1999 “Horizons” shut its doors forever. Never again taking guest to the 21st century.

Now you think construction would start right away. No. In fact the ride stayed closed with no progress for over a year. But in the year 2000 something happened. Compaq along with Disney announced that a whole new experience was coming to Epcot! In fact the new ride wouldn’t be able to even fit inside the old building. (Ok this…I just have to say this really bothers me. After looking at square footage shots of both “Horizons” and “Mission:Space” I can easily tell that the latter is smaller then the former) So anyway they needed to demo the building. So “Mission:Space” was announced and work began.


In this new pavilion Disney wanted to avoid having to give a huge backstory for the ride. They wanted to keep it as simple as possible. So Disney wanted to get rid of the you are going to travel through space idea. No they wanted a space training idea. So the theme is that you are going to visit the space training facility of the future. You were going to enter the facility where you would pass some of the old items used for old space travel. You would then enter a room where you would be briefed on what was to come. There was going to be multiple pre-shows to help keep guest flowing through the attraction without just standing in line. The layout of this ride would be state of the art as well. There are four chambers that hold the simulators. Each chamber would allow guest to enter and ride the ride at the same time. This would keep random chambers from running at different times. There would be ten shuttles in each chamber made for 4 people. And of course after the ride guest were exited into a gift shop.


The ride itself is also a new thing. The more intense version is able to hold up to 2.5 G-Forces during the ride. This is done by special motor and computer systems find under the floor of the ride. The pods that guest sit in are able to rotate and move in any direction it pleases. So when you feel like you are laying on your back during the ride that is because you are. The screens inside the pods are specially made and give guest the illusion of seeing through a window.


So after many years of waiting, Epcot finally started work on the space pavilion. The building was tore down pretty quickly as the foundations of the ride were laid in about 2000. Construction of the ride continued throughout the year, and a preview center was placed in Future World. Things were going good until Compaq went and did something stupid. They merged with another company meaning the name Compaq wouldn’t be on the ride. Nothing was said about the merge for over 3 years. In fact the ride kept on being built and worked on. In 2003 guest were able to test out the new ride. The ride then later opened officially that same year. Shortly after the ride opened something crazy happened. A young child died on the ride! Disney went in and added new warnings as well as signs everywhere to make sure people with certain conditions didn’t ride this ride. Since then there have been no deaths related to this ride. Today “Mission:Space” still sees a modest group of crowds, but in the eyes of many has been shunned. Many have refused to give the ride a chance due to it replacing the ride before it. Does the ride deserve such treatment? Is this ride a worthy successor? Only time will continue to tell as we continue to move into the future.


So how about that? Crazy stuff! Well I am moving to Imagination next but sadly not the old version. I have found more info on the 1999 and 2001 one version so we will stick with them first.
 
Glad to see all the info, and very happy that the next installment is on Imagination!
Thanks!
 


Imagination Pavilion (Journey Into YOUR Imagination and Journey Into Imagination) - Imagination has always been the pavilion that sticks out from its brothers in Epcot. It has always been seen as a pavilion that was thrown into Epcot at the last minute due to lack of ideas. This couldn’t be future from the truth. In fact Imagination was one of the first pavilions to receive a sponsor! In 1977 Kodak camera company signed a contract with Disney saying they would sponsor the Imagination pavilion. They did receive a sponsor early, but construction for the Imagination pavilion started a little later then they hoped for. The ride broke ground a little over a year before Epcot Center was going to open. The company needed to book it. The pavilion itself was going to have 3 different areas for guest to explore. There was the main ride, the upstairs exhibits, and a theater. The ride would be the only thing not to open for the grand opening of Epcot Center. The ride was going to be very high tech. Probably one of the most high tech rides at Epcot Center at the time. The ride would take up the entire ground floor of the building. This is why the exhibits were going to be upstairs. They needed all of the bottom floor for a giant rotating stage. This stage would be the first of its kind and would rotate guest to allow them to see different scenes. It would be a few months after opening that the ride would open. But this isn’t the story of the original although you probably like to hear it. No, we are going to skip forward to the future where Imagination is changed.


During its early run the original version of Imagination had many problems. The biggest being the rotation table. The carts never hooked on properly and never wanted to speed up after it left. The ride was always having problems. So skip ahead many years later and come to the point where Kodak is coming to the end of their contract. They wanted to renew and in return meant the pavilion would see an overhaul. They knew they wanted a ride that would have the rotating table removed. The way it worked so far was guest entered a pavilion and rode the ride, they then went upstairs to the hands on exhibits while finally exiting into the theater. This took a large portion of peoples day. But with the turn table being removed Kodak saw no reason why the play area shouldn’t be moved downstairs. This way they could save money on upkeep. So the pavilion was going to be radically changed in the new version. The first thing they did was add a straight piece of track into the ride. This meant instead of curving into the magic scene the cars went straight instead. This meant that over 40% of the original track had been cut out. They also added new walls to help shorten this new ride. This meant that a total of 4 scenes were cut from the ride. This does not count the finale of the ride. The area at the end of the ride where Figment stood in the middle of the room was going to be used for guest space. This area was going to be where the new exhibits were to be moved. The ride would exit into a huge new shopping and activity space.

The open lobby in the original ride would have a wall placed down the middle. This would be part of the new queue design. In order to have a new queue and to place the wall they had to remove the giant mural in the lobby as well. You can find pictures online where it showed the different scenes of the ride. It was pretty cool so it was a shame to see it go. They also needed to box in the room more which meant covering up the giant roof windows. The queue would start in this room and makes it way down a newly built corridor. This corridor actually goes right over the turntable. In case you are wondering you walk over the turntable in the room with the giant pictures of the different professors. So like the second room going into the third. Also remember the hole that guest rode through at the beginning of the original version. That is the entrance to the new corridor. Pretty weird huh? The turntable would then be covered up the rest of the way by the loading area. So the turntable machine is still sitting under the floor we walk every time we get on this ride. The new track layout was much shorter then the original. In fact it was about 55% shorter then the original. Disney was worried that this ride was going to be on the cheap side, but Kodak threatened to pull from their sponsorship if they didn’t exactly get their way. So Disney let them do as they wished with the ride. Finally the new exit was going to lead guest right back outside instead of upstairs then into the theater. The escalator that let guest leave the upstairs down to the exit was boxed in. They also closed off the entrance to the Magic Eye Theater next door. This mean no longer could guest go through the building, but they had to leave and reenter through the main building. Oh that theater next door? Well thank them, because the show inside was the inspiration behind the change of the ride.


Starting in 1994 “Honey I Shrunk the Audience” was the 3-D show that took place in the theater. The theme was the “Imagination Institute”. This “Imagination Institute” was ruled by no other then Nigel Channing. He was giving an award in the show to the man behind the shrinking machine. So as you can tell the theme of this movie did not fit at all with the Imagination theme of the pavilion. But Kodak came up with the idea of changing the ENTIRE pavilion to the “Imagination Institute”. This way the pavilion would be themed perfectly. So in 1998 the original pavilion closed its doors for good to make way for the new ride.


Disney agreed to the changes being made and started work to open the new ride. The outside of the building was repainted from the light blues to an orange and red color. The flower beds were replaced with rock beds, and the main fountain was changed. Disney also found a few ways to save a buck. They decided to reuse some of the old vehicles. There was no sense in throwing away cars that could work in the new version. Also the rotating cars would prove useful for the new ride. So they were reused into the new ride. Well Disney didn’t waste no time with this ride. They spent about one year ripping stuff out and putting little back in. So in 1999 the ride “Journey Into YOUR Imagination” opened to the public. The queue is the same queue that is used today. So don’t worry about what the queue looks like. If you are interested in the ride you can go to Youtube and look up the ride. But you might be disappointed with what you see. In fact don’t feel ashamed many people did not like the new ride. Much of the money that was going to go into the ride was placed elsewhere. This was a time when Disney wasn’t spending as much as they did before. Some people though the ride was good but others were disgusted. There were plenty of comments to around. Some people didn’t like how short it was while others thought it lacked the simple charm that it had before. But normal Disney guest weren’t the only ones hating the ride. Mr. Eisner himself hated the ride. He thought the ride was an embarrassment to the company. (But he loved Superstar Limo which makes me wonder what went on in his head) So he gave Disney 5 million dollars to redo the ride. Which in case you are wondering isn’t a whole lot. But Mr. Eisner didn’t want a remake of what happened so he did give a little more money. This led to a totally new ride. The very first thing that was to leave was the “Imagination Scanner”. The “Color Sound Set” was to leave as well. Only the giant butterfly cage made it through the cut unharmed. The hall of dots would be sent to its doom forever as well. The one entire show scene that Disney thought was good enough to stay. (Due to guest liking this part) was the upside down room. The new ride would have a new introduction and finale scene as well as a total of 7 new show scenes. But Eisner wanted something else. He knew the ride was missing one very important person….Figment. So Figment was added to the new ride.



The theme of the ride was something Disney thought could stay. They felt like the theme was a good one, but they did get rid of the different experiments. Instead you were going to visit a lab and go through a open house type setting. The new “Journey Into Imagination” with Figment opened in 2002. The new ride was given some slightly better reviews, but none are still that great. Overall the ride still feels cheap and doesn’t live up to its forefather. With new sponsorship hopefully coming soon Imagination might become the dazzling pavilion it once was!
 
So I went to Epcot when it first opened in 1982. I didn't go back until I was an adult almost 30 years later. I don't really remember much about it except that I loved Epcot. The few things I do remember is I got to order an adult meal in Germany, which was pretty much the best thing a 12 year old could do. The Jumping fountains were the coolest thing I had ever seen. And the Figment ride was the funnest thing I had ever been on. We sang that song constantly after our trip. I really don't remember any of the details of the ride, it was just the coolest thing ever. I try to look at you tube videos, but nothing really sparks a memory. Going back as an adult I was pretty excited to go back to this ride and got off with a "meh" guess things just seem bigger and better when you are a kid. I see that the ride has been changed a lot over the years, I hope Disney will return it's attention to EPCOT and invest there as much as they have in other parks, but I fear that nothing will happen because Food and Wine makes them enough money that they see no need for a change. Epcot is my favorite park of all I think, and I hope it stops being the red headed step child of WDW(no offense to you gingers)
 


Mexico - The first pavilion you come to when going left at Epcot. This pavilion stands out from the rest why? Well the entire thing is inside a building….take away the waterside bar. The history behind this is a doozy. Did you know the boat ride was almost taken out? Well you are about to find out why and so much more in this small history of the Mexico pavilion.


The Mexican pavilion has one boat ride, two eateries, shops and other activities. That boat ride though was very VERY close to not being built. Like literally there are plans out there without the boat ride on the map. So when I say they almost took it out I mean they almost went on without it. Luckily they didn’t. The idea for the boat ride was something they planned for phase 2 of the park. The loading area for the ride as well as the lagoon the ride passes through were going to be added in the opening version. This way they would be there when the ride was ready to be built. The only problem was Mexico was not the only one who had to put their little boat cruise on hold. Down the road a ways Germany was facing the same problem. The Rhine River Cruise ride had also been put on hold. Disney knew this was going to create major capacity issues if every ride in World Showcase was placed on hold. So Disney brought back the plans to life for a Mexican boat ride. They really needed that capacity in order to help the large crowds they were projecting for opening day. So the boat ride was added back to the plans. But to be honest the pavilion remained pretty much the same the entire time. Out of all the pavilions it changed the least amount. There were only two differences when it came to the outside of the pavilion. The first thing is they decided to move the boat ride inside. Yes if you look at early art you would see the entrance to the ride is outside. About where the cast member backstage area is to the right of the pavilion. Also glazed windows on the side of the temple were removed from the plan.

The pyramid itself was going to be amazing. It would be 35ft high and came from inspiration of a Mesoamerican temple. Before you enter the temple though behind you was the small waterside cantina. (The cantina so many people complain about). Once you entered the temple the first thing you saw were different exhibits showcasing ancient items representing the Mexican culture. The main section of the pavilion is a small town that is always under the twilight sun. As you enter the village you leave what is suppose to be the balcony of the mayors house. You then enter the small little town. At the very end of the village is a small restaurant on the water. The kitchen is hidden behind a giant façade to the right. On both the left and right side of the path are facades with different shops.

Guest eating at the restaurant were able to sit right on the edge of the water. They would have amazing views of the lush jungle and the temple coming out of it. The very important boat ride was going to go through this lagoon. The ride originally was going to be called “Las Tres Culturas De Mexico”. The name was changed shortly after to “El Rio Del Tiempo”. In case you don’t know that is translated into “River of Time”. The theme of the ride was actually pretty cool. Ancient Mayan Gods had taken music and used it on Earth. The legend is the Gods took the music from a jealous son God. They then gave it to a song less Earth. From then on everything in life was about music. So you get to take a ride down the river as you watch the life of people in Mexico to music.

In order to fit a good story Disney split the ride into three separate themes. There is Pre-Columbian, Spanish Colonial and Modern Mexico. Each era has different music to represent each theme you are riding through. The ride would have a total of 18 different boats that went through the ride. The boats themselves are 16 ft long and 6 ft wide. The boats move freely on the track, but have wheels on both sides to help push it with the current. The ride started with you entering what was called the “Time Tunnel”. From that point you are greeted by the Mayan High Priest. He gives the introduction before you move into the first part of the ride. The first part of the ride was made up entirely of screens. These screens showed dancing and music and the life of Mexico Pre-Columbian.


In fact the pretty much the entire ride was screens. This at the time wasn’t a bad thing for there wasn’t actually room to place many AA’s. So the screens were an effective way of telling a good story. It wasn’t until many years later that screens were used where AA’s could have been. But those who remember know this wasn’t the only ride that only used screens. Ill like you think about it, but some may know. (Hint: It was in the old Tomorrowland) What is really cool is that the Mexican boat ride even dropped a little hint towards this old Tomorrowland ride. One scene in particular though in this ride was very cool. In the marketplace scene were two merchants trying to sell the riders things. They went from one screen to the next as you passed them. Making this a very cool effect. The boat ride also borrowed some tech from a very popular Disney ride. It really is a small world when Epcot is borrowing tech from a ride at Magic Kingdom! The second section of the ride would feature AA’s very simple like the ones on IASW. The main show scene here would be a festival full of dancing and singing children. The children are celebrating the “Festival of the Dead”.


The ride was truly going to be an amazing way to tell the history of Mexico, but like many things finances got in the way. They were running out of money and a lot of the money needed to be put towards Future-World. So the ride was shortened and the boat holding dock was made bigger. Epcot Center was also about to open meaning they were running out of time to finish the ride. So cuts had to be made. But they were not going to get rid of the ride. Germany and Japan had both lost their attractions for the opening and Africa was cancelled due to budget cuts. The ride did open up withy Epcot and the ride became pretty popular. This ride would remain the same for the next 25 years at Epcot. The ride has not seen any major changes since. Even the pavilion has seen little changes. The only changes have been the little stalls inside the pavilion. Extra light was also added inside due to guest complaints of the place being too dark. So lights were strung back and forth over the buildings.


So 25 years have passed and with Epcot turning 25 they wanted something new in Epcot. Specifically they were ready for something new in Mexico. Now to understand what happened next you have to rewind back to the 40’s when Walt Disney took a few trips to South America. To be on good relations with them he decided to make four films. You probably know the bases of these films. The Three Caballeros was going to be used for the new ride. They were to make new scenes while still using the screens already there. They also planned to mix live action people with the animation to make the cartoon look as if they were interacting with the real world. The ride closed in 2007 for the new makeover and reopened shortly after as the new version. The new version opened with mix reviews although it never was as successful as its predecessor. (The predecessor wasn’t all that popular either) Since then the Mexico pavilion has continued to remain the same as it did when it opened over 30 years ago. Will it ever change? Will we see a new boat ride? Only time will tell as we continue to move ahead.


So pretty good huh? Ill be back tomorrow for some interesting stuff on the France pavilion so don’t go anywhere! Also give me some suggestions! What ride or area would you like me to do some history checks on!?
 
France - Come to what is known as the corner of World Showcase and what do you see? Well you enter into the lovely little country of France. Explore the history of this small little section and learn how it came to be.


From the beginning France was going to be part of World Showcase. This land has no plans for any form of a ride, but instead focused on the beauty and romance of old Paris. Imagineers knew that for people to really connect with this country they needed a city that was well known and quite popular. So this is why Paris was chosen. Although no ride was ever planned for the area there was an exposition hall planned that was never built for France. It would have displays and history sheets about France. It would also serve as a form of information center for anyone wanting info on the country.

Now turn your attention to what was once an empty plot of land. “International Gateway”. This plot of land was an empty plot of land with only a river running through it. When Epcot opened there was no need for anything to be there. In fact the only thing was a river which represented the river that split France and the U.K. Although not many people would ever know this, it was a little detail that made Disney so unique. Later in 1989 the little bridge that took guest between France and this plot of land was doubled. They then turned the plot of land into an island to make room for the second gate entrance. This new entrance would be able to accommodate guest coming from the Epcot resorts.


The final piece of this land is the show “Impressions De France.” It is not exactly circle vision like some of the others, but it is pretty big. The screen is 5 huge screens across.

Well that is the very short and brief history of the France pavilion at Epcot.




Star Tours - Well I wanted to take a break from Epcot and look at some of my favorite rides. So to start I thought I do a personal favorite Star Tours! I love the ride and the history behind it is out of this world so lets get to it!


So go back to 1984. Michael Eisner has just taken over the Disney company. He is ready to do whatever it takes to make Disney the ultimate empire. He knows in order to do that he needs to attract teenagers. Disneyland had gotten to the point where people considered it too boring and not fun. (Also the first part of this takes place in Disneyland so stay with me) Eisner knew that many of the rides at Disneyland were getting old and dated. One land in particular though stood out from the rest. Tomorrowland. Many of the rides here were beyond repair. He knew some of them needed to be replaced. One ride he wanted to be removed was “Adventures Through Inner Space). This ride was beyond old and had plenty of room to build a crowd pleaser. The ride had opened in the year 1967. The ride when it opened and for years after that was considered amazing. It was using cutting edge tech that hadn’t been seen before. Now in the 80s it looked very old.


Now let us move over to where Eisner had a man named Charles Bright study ride simulators. He didn’t have any use for them in the theme parks….or so he thought. There had only been one time when a simulator had been proposed for Disneyland and that was in 1976. This was the year that Tony Baxter revealed his plans for “Discovery Bay”. If you don’t know what that is then you could look it up. A whole story within itself. The main attraction for this land was going to be a flight simulator ride. For many reasons the plans fell through and the land was never built, and the ride simulator was forgotten. That is until the year 1979. Does anyone remember that movie “Black Hole”? No? Well not surprising since it wasn’t that popular. Disney had hoped that the movie would be a hit and give them a reason to use the simulator for it. Sometimes though plans don’t always go the way we plan and the movie flunked. Eisner was getting upset at this point. The tech would be cutting edge and never seen before in a park. He knew that Disneyland really needed this type of ride. So Eisner decided to take it in his own hands and have Imagineers begin to work on a space or undersea adventure. Both would be able to use the new simulator tech. But then Eisner did something that changed the fate of the entire project.


Eisner invited a man named George Lucas to come and work in Imagineering. He knew George from Paramount and wanted to see what he could come up with. Eisner knew that Lucas was smart enough to make cutting edge rides that could bring in young adults. Lucas went through a few different ideas, but he mainly wanted to work on the simulator ride. Lucas did agree to help after some paperwork and boring legal stuff I am not going to get into. Eisner loved the idea of Lucas using a simulator so he gave the project a major 27 million dollar budget and also sat some money aside just in case. He wanted the ride opened by 1986 though. The ride in Tomorrowland known as “Adventures Through Inner Space” was closed for good in 1985 to make way for this new ride.


Lucas wanted the theme of the new ride to be a type of travel agency. Basically an agency that carried passengers to wherever they needed to go in the Star Wars world. To add familiarity to the ride Lucas had Disney add C-3PO and R2-D2 to the ride. The pilot of the ride however was going to be a robot named RX-24. The personality of the robot was at first going to be crazy. He was going to have major psycho problems. Then they changed it to an inexperienced robot so it would be more family friendly for everyone.


The next step in making this new ride was shooting the film. George Lucas had this covered and in fact asked Disney to allow him to film it. So he had his company Light and Magic begin shooting. After shooting the entirety of the film came to a whopping 20 minutes. Obviously this was way to long for a ride so Disney cut it back to 3 minutes. After a few discussions Disney then moved it to 4 minutes so that guest would not feel as if the ride was way to short. Being what was sure to be popular Disney wanted to make sure enough capacity was available. So they had 4 simulators placed inside the new ride. These simulators can hold 40 people. Everything was running beautifully until they hit some road blocks.

The first problem was Imagineers couldn’t seem to sync the movie with the ride. So the ride would move in one direction while the film was clearing moving in another. This wasn’t going to work. After over two months of dealing with the problem they finally knew what needed to be done. The roof on the building would need to be raised in order for the simulators to move freely and properly. Disney did not want to hear this. This would mean major work and would delay the opening of the ride. When Disney gave the budget they wanted everything to be done right inside the building. They did not give money for any outside work to be done. Another problem was with the simulators themselves. Lucas find some issues with them and said that each one needed some work. In order for this to happen they needed 100,000 big ones for each simulator.


With these delays Star Tours was going to go 5 million bucks over budget and be delayed by at least two months if things went right from then on out. Things did actually work out and the ride opened to the public in 1987. A little later then planned initially. To celebrate the grand opening of the ride Disney had Disneyland remain open for 24 hours. They did the grand opening ceremony and the ride opened to rave reviews….but the Disneyland story ends here….for now. We now move over to across the country where Disney is getting ready to draw the curtain on their newest production.

On the east coast Walt Disney World was in the process of building their 3rd gate. This theme park was growing from a small studio park with two rides to an all day experience. From the beginning Eisner wanted this park to be a half day park. He wanted guest to get a glimpse of Hollywood and the movie making business before leaving and going back to Epcot or Magic Kingdom. His plan was to use a lot of the down time of the park for filming of major movies. They knew crowds were going to be big though and they were scared that a tram tour and one ride wouldn’t be enough to hold the crowds. From the moment the park broke ground Disney didn’t stop adding and improving the park. They wanted this to be the most unique and interesting experience ever had in a theme park. When Eisner saw how popular Star Tours was he knew that it would make logical sense to add it to MGM Studios. What makes more sense then adding a popular movie to a park about the movies? There were two things that gave Star Tours the push to go to MGM. The first thing was the park was over budget. This mean that adding new and advance rides were out of the question. Second the ride could literally be cloned directly into the park. This would save time and money.

So Eisner gave the go ahead for the new ride to be built at MGM. They wanted to keep the studios theme so the outside was going to be a set. The idea was you started in what was a set and then as you moved into the soundstage building you entered the movie. Now the park was well into construction by the time the choice to add Star Tours was made. So Disney knew the ride would never open for the grand opening of the park. Disney wanted to completely copy this ride from Disneyland, but one little thing was changed. They knew more people were coming to Disney World so they added two extra simulators to the ride. This would help increase the large capacity that was going to come. The grand opening of MGM Studios came in May of 1998. Star Tours didn’t open then but opened at the end of the same year.


Now Disney really did work hard to make the theme of the ride work at MGM. This meant everything down to the gift shop was themed to Endor. The original store was called “Endor Vendors” and was the store for the ride. This theme stayed the same until the year 1999 when Disney wanted to add another world to the set. So they extended the façade of the building and changed the gift shop theme to Tattoinee. The next thing to change was in 2007. There was no stage for the Jedi Training Academy. So they used some of the queue to make the stage.


Now let us switch back over to Disneyland for a moment. Disneyland wasn’t so quick to change any of the design of the building. The blue and white of the building stayed for over 8 years!

So that is the history of Star Tours the original version. I will do the new version later! I am hoping to do the history of MGM Studios next.
 
Test Track 2.0 - Ok so I am putting a hold on MGM and moving back to Test Track 2.0. So without further ado lets get started!


So in the year 1999 Disney revealed the newest ride in Future World. Test Track was a high speed thrill ride that was going to take guest into the world of vehicle testing. This was all well and dandy for a while. Fast forward about 10 years later and Test Track is looking dated. The look Disney was trying to go for in the 90’s looked just like that….a workshop from the 90’s. The only thing was we weren’t in the 90’s no more. Disney and General Motors both realized this. So General Motors planned a new design for the ride. It would be a cheap way for them to update the ride without having to fork out a lot of dough. For this new design the queue was to be completely ripped out and re done. The new look was going to be more futuristic and sleek.

The interesting thing about the new theme of the ride is where they idea was borrowed from. Ride the Spaceship Earth 2007 version and finish the end segment. This shows a city of tomorrow. Disney pulled some ideas from that to place in the new ride.

Disney and General Motors knew they didn’t want to change the ride track. They knew the ride itself was popular so they kept to the basics. They wanted to move the theme from car testing to car designing of the future. Disney was all aboard with the new idea. This was actually a moment where Disney didn’t want to cheap out, but hoped to improve the ride experience and theme of Epcot. (Must have been having a good day) The entire project was going to take 8 months which meant no matter how they sliced it they were going to have to shut the ride down during a busy time.

During the process the queue and post show area were completely ripped out and rebuilt from scratch. Disney also wanted to add interactive features knowing this was becoming more popular for guest. So a large portion of the queue was turned into a design studio, where guest would be able to design their own car.

When Disney released the art they made sure to show how uncluttered and clean the new ride was going to look. This wasn’t going to be a junky workshop anymore, but a design studio of the future. The ride cars were to remain the same, but were to receive new colors. On April 15th 2012 Disney let the final guest ride the original Test Track before it was changed forever. Disney didn’t waste time after it closed as walls went up the very next day. They were making sure to hit the fall deadline.

During the late summer Disney gave guest a taste by placing the new car with the blue color outside the ride. This was nothing new as this ride color was already being used on some of the cars since 2011. Soft opening began on December 3rd and was dedicated December 6th. The same day as the grand opening of New Fantasyland.
 
Snow Whites Scary Adventure - Once a classic dark ride at Fantasyland in Walt Disney World. (Notice I didn’t say popular) is now no more. I figured with the now Princess Fairytale Hall in its place why not do sort of a remembrance of this interesting attraction.


So go back to the construction of Walt Disney World. Everyone including Roy Disney is very excited. There is going to be a whole new roster of rides never seen at Disneyland. For Fantasyland in particular these new dark rides would focus on some of the Disney classics not represented in Disneyland. Enter through from Liberty Square and you are going to come across the skyway, It’s A Small World or Mary Poppins. What no Mary Poppins? Well go to the other side and hop on to see the adventures of Incabod Crane and Sleep Hollow. Wait that isn’t there either? Well that is fine since Sleeping Beauty is still very popular and is right in front of the Carrousel. That isn’t there either though! Instead we have Peter Pans Flight, Mr. Toads Wild Ride and Snow Whites Adventure. What is up?


Well things were going good for these new rides until budget problems arose. Disney was going way over budget. So Thunder Mesa and Tomorrowland were sent to phase two of the parks future. Sadly Fantasyland couldn’t have three un built rides on opening day so the three dark rides were replaced with clones of their cousins in Disneyland. One in particular that stood out was Snow Whites Adventure. Why? Well this ride wasn’t the nicest and most pleasant dark ride if you get my drift. In fact out of all dark rides this was the scariest. The ride was a basic dark ride that took guest through the world of Snow White. Nothing was special about the ride. Little special effects and no AA’s were used for the ride. The ride relied heavily on lighting. So shortly after opening Disney had two problems. The minor problem was the ride was somewhat scary. Guest thought overlooked that. The biggest problem they had was the ride was missing someone. SNOW WHITE! The original version of the ride didn’t feature Snow White since you were suppose to be Snow White.


Disneyland first encountered this problem and changed the ride in 1983. By change I mean added a statue of Snow White into the ride. Disney World would eventually change theirs, but it would change way more then the one in Anaheim. In the summer of 1994 the ride went down for some changes. The first thing was the regular mirror in the ride was replaced by a magic mirror with a face on it. The second thing was one of the skeletons in the dungeon was replaced with a witch. They added this witch but removed two of the witches from other places in the ride. Next Disney tackled the scariest part of the ride which happened to be the forest. They went in and made it less scary for young kids. Another problem guest complained about were the dwarfs. They didn’t appear enough. So Disney added the dwarfs to the cottage as well as the ending. The final thing Disney did was change the ending. Instead of an ending where the witch seemed to win they made it where the witch was defeated and you see Snow White married. Disney upgraded the audio and added new lighting to the ride as well. And since Disney wanted to show off Snow White they added three different statues of her in the ride.

The new ride reopened to guest December 14th 1994. Just a few short months after it closed. The ride was now more popular (Although not very) and was less scary. In 1998 the word scary was added to the name of the ride as a warning to guest coming to ride it. In May of 2012 Snow White closed her doors to make way for Princess Fairytale Hall. Guest will soon be able to enter the world of the seven dwarfs in New Fantasyland any day now.

Snow Whites Adventure - October 1st 1971 - May 12 2012. R.I.P.
 
So by special request I am going to do one that I have been working on. So much information is going into this that it is going to be a HUGE history report! Enjoy!!


So to make this more enjoyable I am going to split it into 3 parts. The first part is going to be about the conception of “Spaceship Earth” as well as the 1982 version that opened in the beginning. The next phase will be about the 1986 version and then finally the 2007 version will come last.


The answers to the history of Spaceship Earth lie in our past…..we are alone struggling to survive until we learn….no I am kidding not that far back. So when Disney originally planned Spaceship Earth they were going to make it a dome. The giant dome was going to be metallic silver with the ride building towards the south. To be honest though Disney knew that it wouldn’t be innovative or mind blowing. Disney didn’t want guest to walk in and see a dome with a ride on ground level. They needed something that would amaze guest! So the design became the geosphere we know today. The design was to stay metallic at first, but then they quickly changed it to white. Construction began as Epcot Center was making its way towards the 1982 opening. Something that didn’t change was the ride layout. The ideas and plans for the actual ride stayed almost untouched throughout the entire process of design! Now before I get ahead of myself you probably wonder why the dome if the ride was going to be in a show building behind it? Well the dome was going to hold some of the ride…the ride finale to be exact. The dome was going to project different images on the making guest feel as if in space. They knew they could still do this with the dome so it didn’t bother them to switch to the dome.


So in 1982 Spaceship Earth opened to the public. The reviews were somewhat mixed, but then again what Disney ride isn’t bashed by those who aren’t satisfied. (Yep they existed back then too) The main complain was the ride was boring. The show scenes were great and innovative, but the narration was to bland. The current narration (ran by a man who I am unable to say because I couldn’t find it.) ran the narration in a very straight forward and solid approach. What little jokes the ride had were sad and fell very flat. So in 1986 Disney closed down the ride to begin some changes. That will come in the next article. I apologize for not having much information. To be honest there wasn’t a lot to begin with.
 
The Land - This is going to be my biggest and most interesting article so far. I am going all the way back to the beginning of The land to see how it began. I will also cover how the pavilion has changed over the years.


So The Land is something that goes back all the way to the idea of Future-World. In fact it would be easy to say it was the first solid concept for the area. Of course the pavilion wasn’t always going to be called The Land. At one point Epcot Center was going to have the Ecology and Minerals pavilion. These plans went up all the way into 1978. The pavilion was set to go where “Horizons” eventually went. The idea was a cool one and was something that seemed to fit the Epcot Center themed. As Disney worked on the details they tried to find a company to sponsor the pavilion. This was an important part since the sponsor would finance the project. Sadly no company really wanted to sponsor a pavilion on ecology. So Disney decided that the pavilion needed to cover a much wider bases of topics in order to draw interest from sponsors. So they had the pavilion focus on the Earth and its different environments. The new plans called for a giant class crystal building. The glass domes would house many different environments. Guest would enter through one central tunnel through the different climate controlled environments.


One of the eco systems was going to be a rainforest. There was going to be a giant spinning restaurant at the top in what seemed as the trees. Two different rides were planned for the pavilion. The first was a drill type ride that would take guest through the Earth. The second was actually given a name “The Blueprint Of Nature” was going to be a hot air balloon ride through the different eco systems. There would also be a small show that showed how man was connected to the land. These lands were all going to be in the rainforest zone by the way. (Except for the entrance to the balloon ride.) The next area would be an artic zone. Finally there would be a fantasy forest where you boarded the balloon ride.

The glass dome idea was eventually cancelled as the plans changed, but Disney used the idea for the Imagination pavilion. A lumber company that was going to sponsor pulled out at the last minute so Disney had to change things. Many of the ideas though would be reused. In 1878n ( The year the plans were cancelled) Kraft came to Disney and said they would sponsor a pavilion based on food and agriculture. So Disney, giddy as a school girl, agreed to change the theme and shape of the pavilion. The new pavilion would house a restaurant, boat ride, and green houses. At this point it was still to be next to the Energy pavilion and Transportation pavilion. Then Disney made the final design which was to have the boat ride go through the greenhouses. The new pavilion was going to be 6 acres and was to be built for the opening. That giant glass dome thing on the top was placed for a very good reasons. It was to make people think of things like a greenhouse or volcano. Things that are connected to the land. The murals on the side walls (With the Hidden Mickey I have yet to find) were suppose to represent the crust of the Earth.


Inside the pavilion would be an open atrium where guest could go to the food court or board the rides. The new restaurant and pathway was to have special viewing areas to view the boat ride. This boat ride was going to be the main attraction for the pavilion. At first the boats were to be without tops, but they then added tops to the boats when they decided to add rain effects to the rainforest scene. Guest would travel through different ecosystems before entering a barn. This barn would show different clips and films right as you went into the greenhouses. The second attraction was going to be an AA show called Kitchen Karabet.

This show wasn’t going to be in the pavilion at first, but Kraft saw a major problem. With sponsoring the pavilion they thought they needed to add something that talked about food health. So the plans for this show were born. They knew that a boring film about food health would do no good. So they decided to add a more comical side to the show. The third and final attraction was going to be a film. This film would show how man was connected to the land. So basically the one thing that remained exactly the same from the original pavilion.


So the plans were finalized and construction started in late 1980. The steel beams for the building began to appear in early 1981. The pavilion opened in 1982 with most of Epcot Center.

In order to get into the building you first walked up the slanted walkway. You then entered The Land which was able to hold about 3600 guest. You walk in and found yourself at the upper balcony level. Here was where you could watch the film or visit the rotating restaurant. You then could take stairs or an elevator to the ground level. On the ground level you had the food court, the entrance to the AA show and the boat ride. At the time the boat ride was called “Listen to the Land”.


Listen to the Land was the main attraction for the pavilion. It held 16 boats a time with an extra two boats if needed. The ride or flume the boats traveled went at a total of 1200 ft. Once guest were aboard their boat they entered the first segment of the ride called “Symphony of the Seed”. This was an introduction that introduced guest to the land and the four seasons. Next you entered what was 4 different biomes. The first one was the rainforest. You then traveled through the desert, prairie, and a farm. You then entered into the greenhouse portion of the ride. This then exits into the aqua cell building where fish are held. This is followed by one more portion of greenhouse plants. You then entered into the final show scene which was a recap of the first scene.


Of course no pavilion based on the land would be right without a food court….right? Anyway Disney thought so. So you could stop at one of the food stations in this food court. You could choose from soup and salads, pastries, sandwiches, BBQ, potatoes, cheese and ice cream. Of course there was a beverage bar as well.

Now head a little south from the food court and you find the theater for the AA show. The theater itself was able to hold 250 guest at one time.
 
Ahh love this! The original Land was so great - I have Kitchen Kabaret and Listen to the Land on my iTunes and listen to it all the time! I'm still so sad that they canned that catchy tune...
 
I apologize for the random ending to The Land article. I will give more detail as I get it. I will also be doing two other portions that will go over the changes the pavilion has seen over the years. Also be looking for Spaceship Earth 1986 and Spaceship Earth 2007!
 
Figment...I think the original narration of Spaceship Earth was done by Walter Cronkite. Do you have any links to some of the original reviews of Spaceship Earth(especially the negative ones)?
 
Figment...I think the original narration of Spaceship Earth was done by Walter Cronkite. Do you have any links to some of the original reviews of Spaceship Earth(especially the negative ones)?

Actually I probably did but I went over some many different websites it would take me forever to find them. From what I remember the site was just paraphrasing saying people though the ride was "boring" "soulless" or believe it or not to long. (Weird I always wanted it to be longer for some reason) I will try to look over some of the websites I went through and try to find them for ya.
 

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