The history and backstory of Disney rides

[PulsarIII]

OBTW: The original narrator for SSE was Lawrence Dobkin and Walter Cronkite (my favorite) was the second narrator.

Thanks for this very interesting thread,
I I I

 

[Figmentforever24]

Spaceship Earth - So this history report will be more complete then the others which I apologize for the lack of information. Hopefully you will find this one more interesting.


On October 1st 1982, Spaceship Earth opened to the public along with Epcot Center. This ride was indeed very important to the park as it was the crown jewel so to speak. When guest entered the park the first thing they would do is want to enter inside this giant sphere. When the ride opened the narration was done by a man named Vic Perrin. His script was very factual and did not contain many jokes or light hearted comments. The script alone is very interesting as it was written by three different people. Disney, the Smithsonian, and the Hungiton institute all played a role in the final script. Not to mention a couple of universities threw in some of their knowledge. The ride itself was great but the script was considered too boring, bland and factual. This wasn’t the only thing plaguing this ride. When Spaceship Earth opened there was no music. It didn’t even have a theme song! The ending (the decent) was filled with screens that showed off some of the tech for the future. It was nothing special and was considered the most boring part of the ride. Do Disney began to work on something more appealing, fun and exciting for the ride.

On May 2nd 1986 Spaceship Earth was closed for a major reworking. The first thing Disney wanted to address was of course the script. They wanted to lighten up the script so that it sounded more interesting and fun, but it wasn’t going to change. The theme and story of the ride was to remain the same. This time they wanted someone to narrate the ride who was more familiar to Americans. So Walter Cronkite was chosen to narrate the new ride. For the new ride the part that went up would change very little almost none at all. One thing that changed was the scene with Islamic scholars. They were to be joined by some Jewish scholars as well. The only other thing that was added was a warning. This warning reminded guest their vehicle was about to rotate backwards for the journey home. Now the second half of the ride would receive the most changes. This also included sponsorship changes since AT&T were facing some issues at the time.

The first thing that was addressed was music. The original didn’t have a theme song and Disney wanted to change that. So a two part theme song was written for the ride. Ron Ovadia and Peter Stougaard wrote the new song. The new song was to be called “Tomorrows Child” and was to play during the decent. An instrumental version of the song would also play during the space portion of the ride. The screens were replaced with more sharper and interesting videos. You want to know how long it took them to do all this. You are probably thinking something along the lines of two maybe three months….try four days. Yes the ending was changed and new audio was added along with a couple AA’s all in a few days. (Side note if you have never heard the song made for this ride look it up. It is a great song.)


So after the ride you exited into what was the “Town Hall” so to speak of Epcot. (You know Main Street Town Hall.) Now this area that you walk through was originally going to be where the ride went through. This was back when the ride was still a dome rather then a sphere. So yea the ride was going to be a lot shorter. Now with the sphere on legs Disney wanted to make this more of a guest relations type room. The room originally had these HUGE screens that went across the wall. These screens were sort of a type of advertising for other rides in Future World. All of the screens showed you what you could find inside Future World except for one screen. This one screen updated guest on wait times and other important ride information. After the refurb though the info board was replaced with just a plain screen with the Epcot Center logo. If you had a question you could always ask at one of the two guest relation building here. Also there was something new and interactive never before seen in any theme park. The device was called “World Key” and was a touched based computer system. You could activate it and it would tell you anything you needed to know about Epcot Center and the things in it. This was something Disney and AT&T worked out together. Guest who remember might know that a prototype was tested at the Contemporary Resort a year before Epcot opened.


Now you didn’t have to come to Earth Station in order to find these computer systems.
They were also located in Communicore also! Then if you were in World Showcase guest could stop at those in front of Germany, Canada and Port of Entry. Something that was also knew to the theme park industry was the first ever Skype type system. Guest were able to speak with a cast member over the computer system via videophone. Pretty cool to see how Epcot Center once was ahead of technology and other innovative ideas! This wasn’t something seen before!

So finally we have what was the cooperate lounge. Something Disney wanted Epcot to have was special lounges for sponsor parties or other activities. So many of the pavilions were equipped with them. Earth Station was one of them and the windows are clearly visible from the back of Spaceship Earth. Those using the lounge even had special access to the Spaceship Earth ride!

 

[Figmentforever24]

Communicore - Now here is something that I loved to dig up on. Communicore was located south of Spaceship Earth and surrounded the hub of Future World. These buildings were going to be perfectly symmetrical and would form the rim of the “Town Center” so to speak. Now Communicore is really cool in my opinion because it is a nod to the original E.P.C.O.T. plans. The plans for the four building did change from beginning to end. At one point there were going to be 4 giant buildings. (The buildings are just two large ones with tunnels through them) A Peoplemover type system was also planned but was never built due to budget restraints. The design of the building would actually be able to still house the Peoplemover system today. This is why the buildings are double the normal height of most buildings. Even without the system Communicore was going to be the interactive portion of Future World. This is where guest would experience the different technologies of tomorrow. It also was a way for more sponsors to have their name in Epcot without having to sponsor a giant pavilion. Communicore was also going to have the main eateries for Future World as well as the main store. (The Emporium of Epcot)

In the northeast portion of Communicore Disney planned to place a large computer system. This computer system would run the entire park, and guest would be able to watch it! The reason for this was that many people did not know what a computer could do! There were even some who didn’t even know what the computer looked like. This was going to be the NextGen of the 80’s! Communicore as a whole would be built around the idea of the computer. How mankind can use the computer to do many great things!

So Communicore as a whole would end up housing 10,000 square feet of building. So yea it was big. There was nothing overall special about the shape of the buildings. These building would be given more of a crescent shape to surround the hub. No matter which way you went, you would pass either through or past these buildings. This would entice guest to go inside. The two buildings were on ground level, but they did have air tunnels in the middle of each that allowed guest to go through. Main corridors would go through the center of all the building. Also guest would be able to enter from almost any side or point.

Even though each section of the building was going to have an open floor plan, each exhibit was placed in different categories. The building was going to be very cool looking and would have glass walls in many places to allow sunlight to pass through. A real money saver .

Communicore opened in 1983 along with most of Epcot Center. It was a smash hit for many and exhibits have come and gone over the years. The one thing that made Communicore interesting was that every side was a guest area. This mean that guest walked and was around almost every portion of the building. There was no one way entrance with special back door clearance for cast members. With this problem Disney knew that food, merchandise and other materials couldn’t simply be brought in at the drop of a hat. Disney needed a solution so they looked to Magic Kingdom for the answer. They were going to use the underground tunnel system that Magic Kingdom had. To gain access to these tunnels you would need to go to the entrance by the Energy pavilion.


So like any Disney park expansion is something they have in mind. We have all heard of parks that have expansion plans. Well Communicore was planned from the beginning with expansion in mind. Many of the glass walls that faced away from the hub towards Future World east and west could be removed to add more building space. This also explains why you have so much empty space in between Communicore and many of the pavilions. It was left that way for future expansion. This meant that if the entire thing was doubled that Communicore could be double in size. But Disney didn’t plan to expand all at once, but slowly add on to it. Now Communicore opened with some of the extensions of the buildings already in place. One portion of the building didn’t make it in. The original Odyssey was connected to Communicore east. Then a sinkhole did it in and it became the small lagoon in front of the Seas. The Odyssey was then moved to its new location. Since then the Communicore building has only been expanded once.

Now this only includes major expansions that went out into Future World. There were more add ons that happened in the Future World hub. One thing was the Sunshine Terrace restaurant was extended out into the hub at one point. A small section called the Centorium was then added. Finally in 1989 the teachers section was added. This was yet another small addition. Although all three were nothing major. Also the hub had some beautiful landscaping that you wouldn’t have never known today. Although a few small remnants remain that remind some there was more green. Two large garden areas were in the hub with lakes that connected to each other. The water ran under the main path that guest walked over. Go to Epcot today and you might be able to tell where they were. There was also a garden area behind the Fountain of Nations. The Fountain of Nations was there for opening day and had water brought in from 32 different nations.


Like I said earlier the Communicore buildings had an open floor plan. There was no major walls that separated the inside of the buildings. The exhibits themselves were split into multiple parts. For the sake of this article lets start in Communicore West!

 

[Figmentforever24]

So to start off we have Futurecom. Futurecom was proudly supported by AT&T, but they weren’t called that then. South of it was Epcot Discovery. The name didn’t stay the same for long and was eventually changed to Epcot Outreach. There was then the teachers center which was expanded in 1989. In the building connected to it was the Sunshine Terrace restaurant which is now the Disney meet and greet and Starbucks. For a while there was an area that was left empty for the opening. Disney quickly placed a exhibit called Robot Expo.

Now lets start at the top of Communicore East and work our way back down. So starting from the portion near Spaceship Earth we have the backstage portion of Epcot Computer Central. Then we have Epcot Computer Central which was sponsored by Sperry Univac. There was also the Energy Exchange right next to it powered by Exxon. American Express sponsored their own little section and believe it or not it was based on travel! The little section was called Travel Port. Then you had another restaurant called the Stargate restaurant. On the other portion of the building you had the Centorium store that was later expanded. And finally the last portion was the Electronic Forum with the theater.

So now lets go back over each section a little bit in detail and then go over some of the basic changes made over the years.

Futurecom was located in the northern part of Communicore West. Inside you could find the Fountain of Information, the AT&T Family Phone as well as a very small theater. The theater show was hosted by Walter Einsel and was called Information Age Theater. I know amazing. World Key was also here…remember from Spaceship Earth. (Read the old article if you don’t cause I don’t want to go over it) Then move over a little bit and go to the representative desk hosted by AT&T. Being a telephone company AT&T wanted to show off the telephone. So there was a display rack. They even had personal computers that you could have used. On the far wall they also had a video camera thing where you live chatted with another cast member. There were also games that were spread out in the little section. For the article and for those interested the games were called: Tele Trivia, Famous Faces, AT&T True Vision, Scramble Faces and Lost for Words. Don’t forget the electronic finger painting which every parent in the world had to love….I would….and I am not a parent! Now move a little south and you come to Epcot Outreach. Connected to Epcot Outreach was the expanded Teachers Center and a little store…cause those are important. So the main idea behind Futurecom was to show the future of communication in different exhibits. Now something that was very similar to the World Map in Spaceship Earth was the Intelligent Network map which was located here. Guest could go onto a small screen and pick a location on the map. A program called Ariel would then retrieve the information. Ariel stands for Automatic Retrieval of Information Electronically. Ok now today you think oh well that’s nice. NO! THINK AGAIN! This was 1982 we are talking about people. The screens were touch screen and that was nothing you saw then! This was something you had to come to Epcot Center to see! The program face to face was also very cool. Any guest could talk to a cast member from somewhere in the world on a TV. Now the cast member was not really in that country but on a balcony above them. The program lost for words was another breakthrough as guest had to use their voice to guide an electronic mouse through the maze. If you wanted to stop by the theater don’t expect to really stop much. You mainly saw a musical demonstration model of communication. There was a color game where guest also had to match colors and other things. Tele Trivia basically told the history of AT&T on the computer screen. Something guest were strangely interested in….don’t know why. Scrambled Faces took a picture of the guest and then they had to fix the image using the touch screen. Famous Faces was similar except you had to find the famous face in a particular scene by touching it. In Network Controller you had to keep the telephone lines from overloading by connecting them to new lines. The game Chip Cruise had you stop a virus from trying to get into the computer system. The coolest thing here though was for sure the personal computers that guest could use. Think how many guest used the first computer at Epcot Center!

Epcot Outreach was located literally right next to Futurecom and was considered a future library of sorts. You could come here to look up anything about Epcot Center or anything else located in Walt Disney World. This stayed for many years but was later moved into the Electronic Forum building in 1994. The old location was demoed to the ground. It didn’t stay there long either. Just four years later it was moved to the northwest portion of Communicore but closed to make way for the Art of Disney store….go figure.

The Teachers lounge….I couldn’t find anything so sorry. How cool could a lounge about teachers be anyway?


So we are going to keep with Communicore west and move to the south portion.

 

[Figmentforever24]

The first thing you came across was the Sunshine Terrace Restaurant. Then on the other side was Robotics Expo. In the Robotics Expo had portrait robots, top spinning robots, and a little bit of merchandise. Now the area where the Robotics Expo went was often times closed or kept displays that never attracted a lot of guest. Some people may remember that the TRON arcade was planned for this area. The arcade was always going to be changing always keeping the newest and innovative video games. For whatever reason Disney didn’t want to go with that. So in 1988 they opened Expo Robotics. Now there were only two major displays here to see. The first was the top spinning bots. This was a short 6 minute show where 5 robot arms balanced different items. These robots were not made by Disney…that be awesome but isn’t the case…..no they were bought from Japan. The little show itself was very cool and worth to watch. I am saying that from Youtube videos so you would want to go there to check it out. Wanted a special shirt? How about a shirt with a design drawn from a robot! That’s right you picked the image on a screen where the robot then could draw the image on a shirt. Something never seen before! This robot display closed in 1993.


So now we move to Communicore East. I feel like changing things up so lets start in the south part of the building.

The first thing you came across was Future Choice as well as the Electronic Forum Theater. Then there was the super large Centorium store. In the Future Choice section you could watch current footage from around the world on screens. The room was often called the Newsroom. You could look at things like current world sports, weather or news as well as news about Disney. The cool thing….the satellite dishes that picked up the info was right outside the buildings for guest to see. In the theater guest were seated and asked some basic questions that were placed in a graph. The way you answered was by buttons in the arm of your chair. A screen showed the question and the numbered choices and you choose the number you liked. The results were displayed right away on the screen and in color. Something that was just becoming affordable for many families. Finally touch screens were added where guest could vote for someone to become person of the century.

So in the other half of the southern portion of the building was the large store for Epcot Center or Centorium. The store alone covered 13,000 square feet of floor….that’s a lot. The store was on two different levels and even sunk lower in some places. The store was a paradise for those women who love to shop until they drop. This store was the last thing to remain of Communicore before it was forced into Innovations. It then became Mouse Gear. Mouse Gear was going to take the place of this store as well as Future Choice and the theater. This was to take place for the turn of the century so it closed in mid 1999 for the change….sigh.


Well that’s sad so lets move to the northern part of Communicore. You had the Energy Exchange which featured things based on nuclear, wind, oil and gas. They also had games based off synthetic and kinetic energy. There was also more stuff but I couldn’t find a lot on it. You then had Travel Port. There was a giant interactive globe along with touch screens that gave information of multiple world destinations. There was also a section that focused on things like movie making, roller coasters and more. Sounds random but it showed some cool things.


So that is Communicore! Now I know that the last bit of info is more skimp and I apologize. I will have more info on things like the change to Innovations

 

[bellyrunnersix]

One portion of the building didn’t make it in. The original Odyssey was connected to Communicore east. Then a sinkhole did it in and it became the small lagoon in front of the Seas. The Odyssey was then moved to its new location.

I'm loving that you're doing this so thank you!

I'm a little confused here. The Odyssey is still near Innoventions East and the Seas is close to Innoventions West.

I've always heard that the sinkhole is that tiny lagoon-esque area in front of the Odyssey that's spanned by raised walkways. It'd make sense too because it's a strange little extension of the World Showcase Lagoon.

 

[Figmentforever24]

I'm loving that you're doing this so thank you!

I'm a little confused here. The Odyssey is still near Innoventions East and the Seas is close to Innoventions West.

I've always heard that the sinkhole is that tiny lagoon-esque area in front of the Odyssey that's spanned by raised walkways. It'd make sense too because it's a strange little extension of the World Showcase Lagoon.

Your right! I read my facts wrong! =p. Thanks for pointing that out!

 

[Figmentforever24]

Innoventions - Continuing on with the Communicore theme lets move ahead to when Communicore was transformed into the now Innoventions.

So as you know Communicore was going to be the hands on showcase area for Epcot Center. It was going to be big and house 6 different areas. It also housed the two main restaurants and shop for Future World. Not to mention an entire section of Communicore was where the computers that ran the park were. So in total there were a total of 8 guest areas with one upper floor area in Centorium. Even with all of these things this isn’t what made Communicore stand out…..well not in my opinion anyway. The cool thing was that almost the entire set of walls for the building were glass. This doesn’t count the Electric Forum theater or Computer Central. The walls here were not glass. The glass walls were there for future expansion plans as well as to allow natural light to come inside the buildings. When it came to expanding, the building could go out as far as the monorail beam. This would of course mean removing a lot of the landscaping, but it was there just in case.


Expansion was something Communicore was planned to do right away. Apparently the northwest corner was going to be expanded soon after the park opened to public. Now that portion was already home to Futurecom. Well AT&T was going to sponsor the new expansion and it was to be called “Bell Labs”. (Bell was the name of the company then) It was actually when the whole shebang with AT&T and Bell happened that caused the expansion to be cancelled. Disney saw it as to much risk for something that might not work out. So for more then 12 years this space remained open. People might remember that giant green space behind Communicore….that was where the building was going. Like I said before though not all of Communicore had to wait for expansion to take place. Disney knew they could expand other areas without the help of a sponsor.

Back towards the hub Disney began some expansion projects in the hub. In 1982, shortly after the opening of Epcot, Sunshine Terrace was expanded out towards the hub. Also in Disney fashion they expanded the Centorium store in 1987. Finally the teachers center was expanded in 1989, and nothing has expanded since then! Something that didn’t change was the two ponds connected to the fountain. You walked on flat bridges so that the water could run into each pond. Since the opening of 1982 Communicore hasn’t really changed as you can see. Now over the years the different displays did change as things progressed along. For example in 1984 the Astuter Computer show was changed out. The new show was called Backstage Magic. In 1987 an display called Putting It All Together opened. The area south of Sunshine Terrace remained a place for very short lived displays. In 1988 though Disney changed that by adding the Expo Robotics. Then the next change didn’t come for two more years. In the Electronic Forum Theater guest had been doing voting and surveys since the opening. Now in 1990 they could vote for the person of the century. Little things did come and go over the years as well, but nothing MAJOR changed in Communicore.

Now like anything out there, there is always those ideas that never get off the idea board. So lets honor them in the honorable mentions. You had things like “The Road To Eutopia, The Epcot Creative Center, The Audio Adventure Maze, TRON Arcade, Home-style 2000 and the Electronic Playground. Now the Electronic Playground was never built since a different version of it was placed in Imagination.

So as you can see the main buildings themselves had remained unchanged for over 12 years…..this was going to change. In 1994 Disney was ready to make a change. Disney….Eisner more like it…..wanted Communicore to represent life in the 90’s. This meant getting rid of the open air feel it had. They liked the idea of Communicore but the displays and look had to change. The first thing they wanted to do was add something to the Circus Spectacular show they held at Epcot since 1987. They figured why not use the giant fountain in the middle of Future World. So in 1993 a new fountain system was installed into the area. (This was before major planning was done for Communicore) They decided that the circus thing was old so they replaced with the new Splashtacular show in front of the fountain. This show involved water jets, and a stage that lifted up south of the fountain. During the day it was hidden by grass and trees. For the new show they needed a stage. So much of the grass and water on the backside was replaced with a new stage. The stage also extended out into the walkway some as well. So you probably are trying to imagine this and realize that it must have created major bottlenecks for the area….well your right. The show took place on the side of the fountain facing World Showcase, but many people tried to stand and watch the show. This meant that most people had to go down the Imagination path or Odyssey path to get to World Showcase. So as nice as the little show was Disney knew it couldn’t stay long. Without word the show was stopped in 1994 quietly.


Well now we move on to the plans for Innoventions. Innoventions was going to completely change the look and style of Communicore. Eisner didn’t want the buildings to focus on the newest technology. Instead Innoventions would focus on how technology effects us in the home and work place. Something else Eisner felt was wrong was the light situation. He felt the room was to peaceful and guest just floated through. So plans were to add new walls and to make the new rooms more dark and loud. This would pull guests attention everywhere. Computers were not starting to appear in more homes so the computer would continue to play somewhat of a part in Innoventions. But the theme wasn’t the only thing planning to change. Eisner also planned to have the entire entrance and guest flow change. If you ever went to Communicore before it closed then you remember that there were some pretty easy paths to navigate through…nothing major. Innoventions on the other hand would be a crisscross pattern of paths. The northwest expansion would also finally take place.


Disney knew this was going to be a large undertaking. So they decided to split the project into two different phases. The first phase would take place in 1993 and 1994. Then Disney would wait and resume work in 1998 and 1999...just in time for the biggest new year ever. So lets start with how things closed in the order that they closed.

In 1991 March 16th to be exact, Electric Forum and the theater closed for good. In 1992 on April 27th Travel Port was closed to the public. Expo Robotics followed behind when it closed October 3rd 1993. The Backstage Magic show closed the same month as Expo Robotic. Unisys Company Central closed January 1994. Energy Exchange also closed along with Company Central in January of 1994. Futurecom on the other side would follow the lead and close along with the other two the same month. The Stargate restaurant was closed in April of 1994. Sunshine Terrace followed behind when it closed in May. The Epcot Outreach moved to the special VIP lounge in Horizons. Sorry but that is so laughable since they knew that wasn’t staying for long. Luckily it didn’t leave with the rest of Horizons and moved to the new extension of the Communicore building which could be entered under Spaceship Earth. That took place in July of 1994. The new building was two stories tall and Epcot Outreach was on the top. A store themed to education called “Field Trips” was on the bottom. Then the “Art of Disney” store took them both over in 1999. Art of Disney was nothing new though. It had a little section in Centorium. When Centorium was rebuilt it set up show in the American Adventure until it moved into the new home….sigh. In fact the transformation of Centorium was the last thing that had to take place for Innoventions to be finished. Disney didn’t like the thing the floor did where it sunk to multiple levels so they filled in the slopes with concrete. A small little bypass corridor that was used behind Centorium was used as a store until Mouse Gear was almost done.

So work began to transform Communicore into the future home of the 90’s.

 

[Figmentforever24]

Innoventions - So anyway like I said before the new style of Innoventions was more a grid type style. This was followed by block type section displays. Lets go over what the sponsors were for the 1994 version of Innoventions…..because this wasn’t going to happen without them sponsors.

The first one in the northwest corner was AT&T. They were granted a little section. Not nearly the size of their old area. Discover Magazine became interested in Epcot so they decided to sponsor a portion of Innoventions. Bill Nye the Science Guy also had his little section. IBM and Electronics both had their own section as well. LEGO-DACTA also had an area with Sega taking up the most space. Then there was a tiny little space given to the company Videonics.

Now move over to the northeast portion of Innoventions. Apple was the first to sign up and get in on this side of the new area. General Electric and General Motors didn’t want to support just their pavilion anymore, but they wanted to put a little extra in Innoventions. Honeywell and the Information Highway were also two new things coming to Innoventions. Masco and the Magic House show were to be in the Northeast portion of Innoventions as well. The area that once was Unisys Central Company was split into two different sections. The front section was to become the new Guest Relations area. This would move it from Earth Station. The other half was used for Innoventions. They also moved the World Key section right outside the new Guest Relations area.


The electric forum was never touched in 1994. In fact it remained empty until it was used for the Mouse Gear store. Oh and you are going to LOVE this. The entrance that allowed you to get into the queue for Electric Forum was reused for the queue to a new………MEET AND GREET! Centorium was able to survive the first phase of the transformation, but wouldn’t be lucky the second time.

The Expo Robotics section was turned into a new attraction made by Disney Imagineers. Then the Sunshine Plaza was divided into two different sections. An espresso and pastry store was added into the extended portion and the other became an Italian pasta place. Stargate was turned into a quick service location known as the Electric Umbrella. Now I am not trying to bash Eisner in this, but he really did some STUPID stuff during the Epcot makeover. He wanted the Odyssey closed to save more money and put the money towards a second floor level in the Electric Umbrella.


So the new look was going to scream 90’s. This meant a lot of neon lights to go everywhere. Well in order for that theme to fit inside Innoventions they needed to remove the sunlight coming through the windows. So the plan was to cover many of the windows with murals and walls to block the sunlight. You have seen those tacky designs blocking the giant windows when you walk past. They were a tan color, but were changed to blue in 2007. Eisner also didn’t want the buildings to show as much. So the foliage around the buildings was added on to as well as allowed to go free so that it would hide the windows and the buildings. Phase one opened in 1995 and that was the official rededication of Innoventions. Innoventions though wouldn’t be complete until 1999.

Now time for personal opinions with FigmentForever24. This is when I give my opinion….why….no idea. So I think Innoventions has both its good points as well as bad points. (Although they are mostly bad points) For one thing some of the displays were pretty innovative and futuristic displays. Not all of it was bad. What I don’t understand is what Eisner was thinking. He wanted to covert something into a 90’s look while we were moving into the second half of the 90’s! He also had no intention to change it once the 90’s were over. He also removed much of the beautiful vegetation and water and replaced it with concrete. To help “guest flow”. Those guest had no problem moving through those things. Things like the Magic Kingdom hub expansion I get…..this though is wrong. The color scheme was very bad and they tried to hide the building as best as possible. Hoping people wont notice? Hopefully they are not that dumb. They turned the very cool into the very lame and outdated displays of yesterday. So back to the thing.

 

[DizCaptain]

Sources?

 

[Figmentforever24]

Sources?

More then you know lol. Tons of different websites and articles that I just go over. I then just piece it together.

 

[Figmentforever24]

Innoventions - So right away the new design and layout of the displays was confusing people. Disney got plenty of complaints about people getting…..lost. Eisner didn’t like that people weren’t liking his idea. So he quietly had Imagineering go over another design for Innoventions. He wanted people to like it and was even considering moving his genius Innoventions idea over to Disneyland as well. So the new plans would have well over half of Innoventions changed or moved around. So in 1999, when phase two of Innoventions was going to take place, bits of Innoventions closed and were reworked. The new version was going to be much simpler. The entire thing was going to be the Information Highway. You would just follow the Highway and check out displays along the way. Both east and west were to follow this highway style. (This is talking about the northern portions.)

Now over the years things changed and were swapped out in the displays. What was sad was how Disney characters started to make their ways into the different displays. Seen as a form of advertising, Disney would make displays based on a popular movie at the time. It was sad to see, but of course not to surprising.

As things changed in Innoventions one thing didn’t change….Centorium. This store somehow survived for a long while even after everything was being changed. Sadly in 1999 it met its fate as well. In 1999 the store was walled off to be transformed into the new giant Mouse Gear store. The store didn’t close completely as the old tunnel at the back of the building was used a temporary location until the new store was opened. The wing was then partly used for the new store while the other was walled off. The new store, Mouse Gear, was going to be 7,000 square feet bigger. This was not because the building was going to expand. This was due to the fact that the Future Choice as well as the Electronic Forum theater were to be used for the new store space. The top floor level was also to be removed from the store. This didn’t matter though since 14,000 square feet was to be added to the store. This would make the store a whopping 25,000 square feet.

So moving on with the conversion to Innoventions we now have the Teachers Lounge. This area was actually removed from the building along with Epcot Outreach. Epcot Outreach like I said before was moved to the Horizons lounge for a short time. Later that year a new building was added to the northern part of Innoventions. Epcot Outreach would move to this location with the new name Epcot Discovery Center. (Later to be known as Art of Disney.)


Next you had Sunshine Terrace. Sunshine Terrace for many years had decent crowds, but never brought in people like Stargate did. So Disney decided to change the layout and menu of the new location. Then you had Station Cool. I think that’s what it was called. It was sponsored by the good people of Coke and was heavily themed. You entered what look like an underground ice tunnel where excavation teams have uncovered different things. You then entered their small base where you tried different flavors of Coke. Station Cool lasted only a few years after its 1998 opening. It closed in 2005. It then reopened later that year with a new theme and new name. Club Cool was the new name with a theme that better matched the Epcot theme…yea right.

So you will love this. When Mouse Gear was being built the space that was used for Meet and Greet was taken by the store. Well in 1999 the little Italian place that took over Sunshine Terrace was closed. It then became an area that opened every once in a while for Meet and Greets. Today it is the Epcot Character Spot where you can meet characters. It became the permanent character spot in 2007. Now while that seems like a bad thing it is in some ways but in others it was good. This entire south end of the building didn’t change much. The open glass windows and other things are still there making it feel very much like Communicore did. The bad thing is many of the original doors were sealed. Like the one sealed outside the Epcot Character Spot. So yea they moved from their old location since that is gone. But the queue for the old location is still there if you look. In fact go look sometime you might surprise how much of Communicore was still there. Even around the entire building the old entrances to Communicore are still visible where they were not removed. Many of hidden pretty well but not all of them. Many remnants of Communicore are still there. For example in Mouse Gear the round shape of the Electronic Forum theater is still there. The round room at the end with the big wand is the room you would be looking for. Heck look in the right areas and you can still that blocked off hallway that was used a short while for Centorium. With Innoventions never removing the parts of Communicore…does that mean one day Disney can turn it back to Communicore? Probably but will it ever happen? World Key is gone but the wall remains and the Guest Relations entrance was once just a blank wall. Though inside Guest Relations you can still see where the old World Key terminals were. Also you can find the extensions of the north building over by the seas but notice how they were made with no windows.


Its probably important to note that Fountain View was walled off from Sunshine Terrace after the remodel. It opened as a bakery and then later as an ice cream parlor. In 2013 it was converted to Starbucks. So lets move up to the year 2007. Iger is in office now and he realizes that Eisner didn’t change the 90’s theme after he left. So Iger wanted to find small ways to get rid of that 90’s look. So the giant electric towers in front of Innoventions were removed and the murals in the giant windows were turned from tan to blue. New signs were placed above the doors that looked less 90’s. That small little tunnel that was closed for years in the northwest region was also opened back up. Then in late 2008 they reopened the entrance to Innoventions that was near Ellen’s Energy Adventure.

So did you know Epcot Center wasn’t going to be turned into Epcot alone originally? Yep you see Eisner wanted a new name for Epcot Center that sounded more interesting then what it was. So for a short time plans were in for a new name called Epcot XX. Yep two giant XX symbols were to be installed where the Epcot Center logo is in the ground. The word center was removed but then XX was never added.


New programs were added to the Fountain of Nations to give people something to watch in Future World. They have both night and day versions with a holiday version as well. The fountain and the stage at the back were used for other reasons after Splashtacular was cancelled. When the year 2000 arrived a short show was done to kick off the big year. It was a small nighttime show led by Mickey who controlled the water and then lit the giant 2000 sign on Spaceship Earth….yep that sign. To celebrate the new millennium a new pin store was going to be added….and a tent thing. The new tent thing was going to cover the entire hub mind the holes. Something that wasn’t removed was the fountain on the back side of the stage. The stage continues to remain and covers some of the fountain jets. In fact next you go look and you can see them.

 

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Universe of Energy - Energy is what makes the world go round. We use it in our everyday lives and that is exactly what the Energy Pavilion at Epcot Center was teaching us. Just how important energy really is. So lets see the start of the energy pavilion from its birth to before it stared Ellen.

So unlike many of the things in Epcot Center, the energy pavilion was something that stayed a constant idea and stayed in its original place. It was never once moved or changed. Even the layout of the building remained largely unaltered. Of course there are a few ideas that never did make it onto the ride. For one thing a solar energy collector was planned to be in the middle of the building for guest to see. Something never seen in a theme park. The original track layout was also going to be different. You weren’t going to ride in a big giant cart through a 45 minute tour. This was going to follow the omnimover style, but the cars were to break up and travel down different tracks. Then there was of course the never installed walk through portion of this pavilion. Not very much detail was given about the walkthrough as it didn’t make it out of early planning. Disney really wanted to move forward with this plan. They thought this was going to be really high tech and a big draw. Well eventually it became to expensive and to complicated so the plans were dropped. What Disney did want to do was add cars that didn’t have to be guided by a person or visible metal track. So Disney looked at the worlds fair where a display on motion had giant cars that held many people. The cars were able to roll with sensors and tracking under the floor….hiding it from the guest.


The idea for the ride was going to be fairly straight forward but in the spirit of Epcot Center was going to be something never seen before. Guest would roll past huge Dino AA’s. They would also get to experience the power of natural effects like wind, rain or lightning, oceans and heat sources. The giant rolling cars would take guest past areas with huge screens. These screens could display the different things about energy. So Disney went with it and to be honest the plans from 1978 to the plans confirmed didn’t change very much. The outside of the building was changed a little but that was it.


So Disney began working on the ride, but it would prove more difficult then they thought. This new ride was also going to be complex. The ride started in front of giant movie screens. It then was to roll out into the world of Dinosaurs. These train cars would be linked to each other and could move slowly through each scene giving guest the chance to really see everything they needed to see. This was having problems though and Disney didn’t find it innovative enough so they separated the cars. Now to hold this giant ride they needed a giant building. So that is what they built.

The Energy pavilion was 440 ft across at the widest point and was 230 ft from the back to the front of the building. This is pretty big for a single ride. The buildings roof was lower down towards the entrance and got higher as you moved through the building towards the back. The building itself covered 105,000 square feet of space! That’s big! Something else that played a big part was the solar panels placed on top. Did you know that this was one of the reasons the Energy pavilion stayed where it was? They needed it there so the sun would shine on it in just the right way. The solar panels would hit the sun and then would bounce the light out to the front of the pavilion. Pretty cool stuff. There were also giant pillars of color on the side of the buildings. These colors were the ones seen pretty much throughout Epcot Center when it opened. On the side and back was also metal type plating. This metal plating was reflective like the top making the whole thing bounce sunlight off. So yea wear sunglasses around it to avoid major eye damage!

The next thing Disney had to tackle for the pavilion was the show scenes. More specifically they needed the movies that were to play on the screens. So Disney had four different films made for the pavilion. Most of these films were to play on the giant screens in theater two. These screens were massive. They measured 30 ft tall and 210 ft wide! In total this would make the screen go 218 ft around the room. This meant guest would need to turn just a little bit in order to see everything that was happening. They also had big screens in the first theater as well. Those screens were 32 ft tall and 157 ft wide roughly. What was cool was screens were to be placed in the pre show and was the attention grabber for the ride. The pre show screens were 14 ft tall and 90 ft wide. They also were made up of 100 tiny square panels. Why? Well this wasn’t just a screen. Each screen could interact with the other in different ways. This was high tech for a theme park ride. These tiles could each spin in different ways differently. This meant each tile could show a different image or do something different then the ones next to it. But for this pre-show Disney had a special film made as well as a special projector. This projector had the job of making sure each screen matched the films together exactly right. There was no playing around or it would completely lose the wow factor Disney was trying to get. Even though each square could show a different image they could also come together to make one similar picture.


So lets move back to the roof for a minute to see the solar panels. These panels were to power part of the pavilion! How cool is that, that Epcot Center was using solar energy before it was even a big deal! The power these panels collected ran two different things. They first ran the A/C which is very important. They also ran the power station which helped charge the cars before each show. These panels obviously helped the pavilion stand out from the rest as well. Something Disney wanted to make sure happened was that each pavilion had a unique look. The main design of the Energy pavilion was to look as if a building had busted through the Earth. This was the theme of the building and they made sure to follow that theme even down to the design of the sign out front.


So now to the ride portion. When Epcot Center was being developed each ride needed to be something special. No ride needed to have a longer line then the other since each pavilion was going to be very popular. Well the Energy pavilion wasn’t going to be any different so many unique special effects were made for the ride. For the Dinosaur section multiple giant backdrops were painted to give the area a sense of place. They also had special machines which would give different smells. One of the smells was the smell of volcanic rock while the other was a swamp type smell. What was cool was they actually made it rain in the swamp. Real water fell down into the pond. Then they also had wind machines which really set the atmosphere of the ride. The painted backdrop was also made with projections in mind. These projections would start off showing a nighttime background and the sun would rise as guest past the mural. There would also be storm clouds and storms that appeared on the mural as you passed. You have to admit this was a cool projection and pretty high tech for the ride. The next effect was fog machines that would create a fog effect on the floor. This would make you feel as if you were moving through the swamp and not on a concrete floor. Special lighting was also played throughout the Dino scenes and would change as you passed different areas. Not to mention that real waterfalls and pools were in the room. Then of course there was the cliff that wobbled as the Dino stood on it. Bet that was scary. You then had the boiling pond which had real steam come off of it. (Way more effects in this room then I thought) You then had another water pool father down but this one had a wave machine. The wave machine was able to like you would guess make waves. Then some shaking rocks were placed in to act like a small earthquake. You then had steam shoot from the volcano and then the volcano erupted having lava poor down it. Then fog blocked the little exit door into the second theater. So overall an amazing part of the ride!


Another amazing part was the ride trains themselves. They acted as a theater in different locations where it sat in front of screens. It then could move and follow a small wire that was under the floor. A true technological marvel. So lets go over how this entire thing worked. So at one time about a little over 500 guest could enter the pre-show room. They watched a pre-show as they waited to board the ride. After the pre-show all the guest would then enter the first giant theater where the cars were. You think you were watching screens on the wall in front until the entire thing rotates around. You actually begin watching things on the back wall. Then as the filmed ended there was sort of a curtain effect that covered the screen in black. The cool thing was your car interacted with the effect and rotated as the screen went black. You then turned to the side and entered into the Dino area. What is cool was the Dino area was blocked by a wall. So you couldn’t see the area until you moved into it. All the cars moved together but then split one by one into separate cars through the area. They then would come to theater two where they returned to their original position. Then they entered back into theater one together in the position they started in. The theater one room would seem different then before and after the show ended the lights would return to normal. You then exited into Future World through a different exit.

So 6 cars obviously wasn’t enough to get plenty of people through. So as one set was in one area the other was somewhere else in the building. Usually as one was in theater one unloading and loading the other was in the Dino area. This meant the areas had to be soundproof. So special walls were made for the ride to block sound from the other areas. These doors would open as cars pulled through them, but then closed to block off sound from that area. They were a foot thick and 92 ft wide each! They lowered as each car passed and would level perfectly with the floor to avoid any bumps or humps.

So a moment ago I said when the cars returned to theater one that theater one looked different. That was for good reason. Guest now rotated to original position to watch the screens on the other wall and the curtains on the wall were lifted. On the walls were a bunch of mirrors lining the walls. You don’t understand how cool this was. The mirrors reflected the screens so the entire theater appeared to be one room of screens. This was amazing!

So had did these giant cars run? Well like I said before they had rechargeable batteries on them, but each car ran on 8 big batteries. These cars didn’t have time to stop to leave the building for recharging nor would it be easy to remove them so charging stations are placed in the ride. On the turntables in theater one and two are charging stations. This means as you watch videos the cars are charging the batteries. Here is the amazing part though. The charging stations did not touch the batteries at all! They charged without ever making contact with each other! This was 1982! Of course this also meant that a repair man wouldn’t die of shock when he tried to work on them. The two turntables in both theaters are able to move very quietly without making almost any sound. This is done by a total of 60 airbags under each one that lifts the entire turntable by an inch. The airbags release and refill with air as it turns meaning the turntable never makes a sound or scratches the floor. Not only that but the entire turntable system in either room was ran by one motor each!


Of course as cool as this is, this wasn’t want guest were going to be amazed by. They were going to be amazed by those Dino AA’s waiting in the next room. Disney wanted to go big or go home so the Dinos in the Energy pavilion were the biggest at Disney World at the time of the opening. There would be a total of 30 AA’s in this room. Many would have fluid range of motion and would be surrounded by over a thousand plants and trees. So these Dinos were put into place and the final touches were placed on the ride. Finally they installed the sign out front and the Energy pavilion opened with Epcot Center in 1982!


Needless to say…people loved the ride. Lines for this ride alone were amazingly long. (Note the ride was sponsored by Exxon) Something else to note was that a VIP lounge was included with the building of the pavilion. This isn’t anything special since every pavilion had one at the time. When the ride first opened the lounge was used for special events and gave special views of the Dino portion of the ride.

 

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Tower of Terror - You unlock this door with the key to another dimension….in it is the history to one of the most popular rides ever built at Disney World. So hear is the entire history of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.


So to understand the plans for the Tower of Terror you first have to go Disneyland Paris…yep Disneyland Paris. At the time it was known as Euro Disney and plans were already underway for a phase two of the park. The Magic Kingdom park had proven popular and another park was still out of the question at the time. So Disney began a plan to work on new rides for Magic Kingdom. One area they thought could use another ride was Frontierland. This ride would come in the form known as “Geyser Mountain”. The theme of the ride was that you were to walk through the house and shed of a scientist living in the time of pioneers. He was working and experimenting near an active geyser. You as the guest would take a walk through his house before entering onto the ride vehicle that sits on the geyser. Special effects would then shoot you up in the air as water was to blow out of the hole. You then would drop down and back up before reaching the bottom until the geyser calmed down. In truth the water wasn’t going to do anything, but a new ride system was going too. This ride system was going to take guest up and down vertically. This idea went only for a short time before it was dropped. (Although it came close to being built in Disneyland) Then they looked over towards Discoveryland and thought of an idea called Discovery Mountain. If you have never heard of it then it short it was a giant space mountain looking building with multiple rides and eateries inside. One of these rides was going to be a drop shaft ride like the one planned earlier….obviously themed to the area. This time you would shoot from an active volcano like in the book “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” The plan lasted only a little longer then Geyser Mountain, but was dropped as well. Euro Disney suddenly went through major financial problems and every expansion planned was dropped.

Now lets move over to MGM Studios. This park has only been opened for a couple of years, but it has proven to be a HUGE success. People came in droves to see this newest addition to the Walt Disney World. Capacity was becoming a problem so Disney kicked it into high gear to plan expansions. One area they needed for this expansion was behind the “Theater of the Stars” which sat on Hollywood Blvd at the time. The plan was to build an entire street with many news ride and attractions. The street would keep the Hollywood theme. For those who didn’t know, many rides were planned for the new area. One of these was the Hyperion Studios as well as Mickeys Movieland and Roger Rabbits Hollywood. Roger Rabbits Hollywood in particular would feature many of the new rides. Baby Herman’s Run Away Buggy was going to be the duck ride for the land and the entire street. Then you had a simulator trolley type ride where you went around Toontown in a simulator surrounded by screens on all sides. Then if that wasn’t enough a new ride called Dick Tracey’s Crimestoppers was going to be the major addition to the land. This was going to be a state of the art ride using tech never seen in a theme park before. The ride would later be cancelled due to failure of the movie in the box office as well as people complaining it would be too violent. The tech was later used for Indiana Jones at Disneyland.

So plans went forward but nothing was being confirmed and green lit by executives. Disney needed a ride for this area and it needed to be a big hit. So Disney was thinking of ideas when BAM…it hit them. The drop shaft idea from Disneyland Paris could be used here. It would still be state of the art for a Disney park as well as most theme parks at the time. So they thought of ways in how to fit a drop shaft ride into Sunset Blvd and the theme of Hollywood. They realized that hotels were tall and an abandoned hotel would look cool at the end of Sunset. Disney liked the idea and even dropped the drop shaft ride for a while for other ideas. At one time they were going to have the Mel Hotel. You would take a tour of this hotel on golf carts and pass by different monsters staying at the hotel. They also had the idea for a Vincent Bryce ghost tour but that was dropped pretty fast. Not to mention Disney was even considering making this thing a real hotel for guest to stay in. That would have been cool. Then they had this awesome idea. Why not stick with the studio theme we have been using! (duh) So the idea was that the hotel was a set for a movie and that the director was murdered. The only suspects are the on set cast who were around the time of the accident. The guest would have had to figure out who did what…..that idea was dropped. What they didn’t drop was the mystery part. It would be cool to have guest try to piece the story as they make their way through the ride so the idea was kept. They also turned to a more haunted approach. They then picked the theme “The Twilight Zone” to go with their new ride. This would all work perfectly. A hotel themed to the 1930’s in Hollywood. It would be a great day and a great eye catcher for the new land. Not to mention it only immersed guest even more in the feeling of Hollywood.


So it began where guest travel by foot through the old hotel. They notice the grounds and the lobby were abandoned years ago. As you were looking through this lobby that has been abandoned you wander what could have happened for the place to shut down? You would then enter the library where a pre show would take place. It would introduce you to the Twilight Zone as well as explain some of the story. Basically during the hey day of Hollywood this place was the star of all hotels. Then one night 5 random guest went inside an elevator shaft and were going up as the shaft was struck by lightning. They disappeared from the elevator and an entire section of the building went missing with it. The hotel was shut down after that. But now on a stormy night like the one that took place that night, the hotel has reopened and the service elevators have turned on. You are invited to enter and elevator as these elevators are not normal and will give you a one way ticket to……The Twilight Zone….que music and leave. Anymore of the story you want to find you need to go get in the elevator. Disney went all out giving guest an immersive story while using chilling special effects. This ride was going to be the scary ride of Disney. Then of course this is the Twilight Zone we are talking about so many little hints were placed all over the ride that point to the old show. Many of them you look at every time, but don’t realize it. (Seeing Rod Sterling doesn’t count) The finale ended with guest going into the ride shaft to personally find out what happened.

So here is where the tech part comes in. See the ride system was a wee bit complicated. Drop rides of the day had people laying on their back when it dropped. That wasn’t what Disney wanted to do since an elevator wasn’t going to flip on its back. So Disney created a new system that could move elevator cars up and down but also front and back. With two different shafts made. (One to go up and the other down) Disney could add even more capacity to the ride. This also meant they could have two different areas to tell the story of what happened. The new elevators would follow from the Energy ride and would be guided by wires in the floor when it moved forwards or backwards. The elevators run on battery power as well and charge via coupling every time they stop to unload or load. Each elevator car was also programmed with a computer system. These computer systems give information to the main computer system. This lets the computer know where each elevator is at all times. So now we come to the drop shafts. Special cable machines were placed for each elevator shaft. The elevators had no doors on them and could be lifted by they machines. What is real cool is that below each elevator in the drop shafts are cables under the elevator. See when the elevator drops the cable pulls the elevator down faster then it would just falling. This is why it falls faster then most free fall rides. Overall the ride system is pretty complicated but the main way it works is there are four shafts that take elevators up. They each have their own shaft. Then two shafts merge into one tunnel that moves forward into one drop shaft. This is why there is two drop shafts. At the end as the cars back up they move into different areas where they can then be lifted back up to the original loading station. What is cool is that on one side two elevator shafts have to go higher in order to see the star field hallway at the beginning. This was due to that the building couldn’t hold two of the hallways on the same floor so one was placed higher.


So if you think the ride system was tough how about trying to get Rod Serling to be on the ride. Well he probably would’ve if he hadn’t died almost 20 years before. So Disney had a man named Mark Silverman do a voiceover for the voice of Rod. Now what is really cool is that Rod Serling is really on the screen. They cut him out of an episode and place him in the background they want. Then TADA you have Rod Serling doing the Tower of Terror.

So in 1992 work began. The area was meant to open in 1994 so Disney had to get to it. One problem they did face was a massive sinkhole happened to appear as they were getting ready to build. So the ride had to be moved over by just a smidge. Things then went underway and the building began to be built. A lot of material was needed…a lot. 146,000 cubic feet of concrete was used on Tower of Terror alone. Not to mention the 1400 tons of steel. 10 elevators were made for the ride and two are always saved for emergencies. Each elevator can hold 21 guest in total. The hotel, once finished, would stand at 199 ft above the rest of the park. Making it by far the tallest ride in Disney World. The whole expansion was going to open July 4th of 1994 but was delayed by a bit so that huge crowds wouldn’t bombard it for Independence day. So Disney moved it to the 22nd of the same month.


So like any Disney ride things are added….or removed. For example when the ride opened there was a mist effect in the boiler room as well as a spark effect on the sign of the ride. Guest also had their picture taken twice (And still do) on the ride. The first is on the accent of the ride and it appears in the eyeball in the dark hallway before the drop. Then again while you are dropping. Mist was also used in the moving forward hallway but that was cut out. Also did you know that when the ride opened every single elevator dropped the same way? There was nothing different about it! Like it shot up and you dropped….the end. Well in 1996 a new drop sequence was added. This time you dropped first then shot to the top before going down and being done. New and exciting but still short. Then in 1999 a third drop sequence came along with new lighting. But then something happened…a cool commercial came out and told us that a new computer system had been put in place. Now the computer can pick from 5 different drop sequences. The new tag line was “Never the same fear twice”. They also got rid of the annoying lab bars as well as that seatbelt you had to share with everyone on your row…that was fun. But now the new Tower opened and became even more popular. People now were in love with it and were more inclined to ride it more then once for a new experience. Anytime they want Disney can go in and add more drop sequences as well as new effects if they wanted too. They did add some new effects in 2010 for the Summer party but those were removed after the year ended. So will we ever see new effects in Tower of Terror? We may never know, but be careful when you ride this or you might find yourself a permanent resident of the….Twilight Zone.

 

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Ellen’s Energy Adventure - Hey guys I am back with more on the Energy Pavilion. This time we will focus on how the ride was changed in the 90’s under the Eisner era.


So as you can tell from past reports, the 90’s was a big change for Epcot Center. Every pavilion was either changed or removed during that time and the name was changed from Epcot Center to Epcot. The process was well underway by the mid 90’s with changes to Communicore being made. In 1996 the next phase was to take place which would mean replacing World of Motion and the Universe of Energy with new rides. Both were to close down at the beginning of the year with World of Motion opening in 1997 and Universe of Energy opening summer of 96. The reason Universe of Energy was changing was Exxon and their affiliation with everything. You see with the Universe of Energy ride turning 15 in 1997, they wanted a new updated ride. Nothing major. Just some updated videos and updated AA’s. The plan was to close the ride for a total of 5 months to complete everything. Exxon was wanted to make sure that the ride stayed updated with the latest information on energy so that was the main push behind this ride. Of course some thing were going to have to be replaced in the new ride. One of those things were the really cool screens in the pre-show. The screens were made up of little squares and could rotate during the show. Well those were to be ripped out and replaced with 5 regular screens. At the same time new décor, lighting and audio was placed in the ride.

So Exxon wanted a new theme and Disney was planning to deliver. At the time Eisner was doing his best to get the rights to ABC network. Well on that network many different shows played including a show ran by the famous Ellen. So Eisner thought that putting Ellen in the new ride along with the theme in the form of a game show would be an awesome idea. So Eisner had them begin work right away.

Now one thing Eisner wanted removed from the ride right away (I am not trying to beat on Eisner by the way. He made very stupid mistakes and I am only being honest in what I say.) was the giant mirrors and lifting curtains in theater one. Not sure exactly why he wanted them removed. Some sites said to save money for future changes so that no future plans could include them or simply because they didn’t need to sit there. Either way they were removed and replaced with sound installation. The gold curtains were also replaced with normal black ones. Now if you think like me then you are sad to hear about the removal of the curtains. The mirror effect was genius and while I didn’t experience it personally I have seen videos and it look amazing. To me many people it was the main jaw dropper of the pavilion and believe me when I say some people were upset when it was removed. These mirrors were one of a kind and truly made you feel like you were in a huge building.

So anyway obviously a new film was placed inside theater one. The theater one film would use new CGI effects never seen before and would also require new audio speakers to play the really loud audio. Theater 2 was also going to get a new film and was given plenty of new footage. They also took some of the original footage and placed it inside the new one. Now if you are like me then you are thinking what about the Dino scene? Well bad news for it sadly. Eisner thought of it as to expensive to keep up and to save on future upkeep many of the effects were simply turned off or removed altogether. New plants and shrubs were also added. Effects that were removed were the wave machine, the lightning machine, the rain machine, the fog machine, the steam machine on the volcano, the wobbling rocks, the tremor effect and the lava running down the mountain. The bubbling lava did remain though. A new Ellen AA was also added to the ride where the wave machine once stood. Something that was impressive was that the Dino AA’s were given new skin. This was due to scientist finding out more about the colors certain Dinos were. So points to Disney for making sure to have realistic Dinos! Some of the Dinos were also moved around during the refurb. For example the drowning Dino that was drowning in the mud pit was placed in a new location. He now squirts gust playfully with water since Dinos love to spray humans with water! The fish eating Dino next to the wave machine was removed and the Ellen AA was placed there and was to interact with the water Dino that use to attack guest. It was now turned so that it attacked her.


So now we move to the outside of the ride where some changes were to made as well. The orange and yellow colors on the side would be removed and the entire front building was to get a rainbow color. The back side would see changes to as the metal reflective tiles were to be torn off. So in January of 1996 the Universe of Energy was closed to the public and was down for a total of 5 months. Well at least they thought it was going to be 5 months anyway. You see like most things in life this project had some bumps. (Maybe it was a sign they needed to stop) See the new films were taking to long to film since Burbank was having many different issues with filming. Anything that could go wrong went wrong and the summer of 1996 grand opening of the new ride was not going to happen. This wasn’t the only problem. Across from Universe of Energy another pavilion was also down for some major work. World of Motion had already closed as well and was working through the process of becoming Test Track. As we know that didn’t work out all to well either. So Eisner did something that many didn’t expect. He went before a board and told them that the old version of the ride needed to reopen for a short time so they could finish things up. That would be fine but much of the ride had already been changed for the new version. The board approved knowing Epcot Center needed to have enough things open for the summer. So in summer of 1996 the ride was reopened. It was a little odd seeing things mixed together the way they were to say the least. Cast Members working the ride were wearing the new outfits for the new version but the ride was the same? To many it look as if they went in stripped the ride down to the basics and reopened it. Obviously they did have some issues running the old ride on the new sets. For example the pre show had to play on the new screens which didn’t work out that well. The film was made for the rotating and moving screens so it didn’t look right on the new ones. Many portions of the video had plain black spots where the screen piece would have clearly moved. The next problem came in the Dino room. The new audio had to be muted so that the room was simply quiet mind the few Dino sounds. The Ellen AA obviously had to be hidden so they placed a rock in front of it. The Dino that was to attack her sat and attacked a rock. Then you had theater two where some of the important screens that were used in the original version was already gone. So as the audio described the items on screens that weren’t there guest became confused. A quick fix was made where the removed the narration that made any references to the missing screens. The other problem that couldn’t be fixed was the little radio tower for the new version was already in place. They couldn’t play it so people stayed in the room in the dark listening to the man talk until the film began.

As guest returned to theater one you can probably guess what happened. With no mirrors to reflect the screens people just watched a regular screen. So this really took away from the climax of the ride. The other problem was the new screens. See the new screens were different then the old ones so as they played the old film there were giant black gaps on the screens. This was easily noticeable by guest. Personally if I was running things this never would have opened. That was shameful and bad show on behalf of Disney although one man was to blame for that alone. In September though the ride closed and reopened later the same month as the new ride. When the ride was first announced and opened it was called “Ellen’s Energy Crisis”. For whatever reason unknown the name was changed right shortly after to “Ellen’s Energy Adventure”. Outside the ride new topiaries of Dinos were added an a billboard was placed outside the ride. Disney has seen then removed both and they have also graciously painted the ride back to its old color. Some changes also came in terms of the sponsor. Everyone remembers when Exxon and Mobile merged into one company. Well a new sign was placed on the outside to show the change but other then that the ride hasn’t changed much at all. Well except in 2004 when the sponsor said flat out no to renewing their sponsorship.


Wasn’t able to find out why they never wanted to sponsor but some websites did have some ideas. Some claimed they could afford to continue to sponsor the pavilion. While others claimed they didn’t want their name pinned on a ride that wasn’t cool at all. No matter what the case the ride remains open today still teaching people about Energy.

 

[MinnieMSue]

I really appreciate all the research and work that you put into this thread - fascinating!

 

[Figmentforever24]

The Land Part 2 - So I am coming back to The Land for many reasons. One many changes happened to The Land after it opened. Two a new Sorian film is in the works so it only seemed right to continue on the pavilion. Finally new management is coming to Epcot who claim that they plan to completely re imagine Epcot. If this holds true then Epcot might soon change for the better. So this made me want to do more Epcot stories.

So this portion of the history of The Land is going to cover things roughly from 1993 to 2004 and 05. So anyway out of all the pavilions to change, The Land was the first. This was part of Eisner’s plan to update Epcot Center into the 90’s. Unlike the other pavilions there was only one entrance in order to get to everything in The Land and it was all located inside. Disney didn’t want to shut down the entire thing so they were to do it in phases. During that time the plan was to change the décor and look as well as update the three attractions inside. The first part was to paint the inside a new color. Gone were the blues and brown. The new colors were going to pop and would consist of more orange and yellow type colors. On the bottom floor phase one would begin with the umbrellas over some of the tables to receive new colors. The carpet was also to change. On the roof the mural that had been there since opening was to be removed. The new idea was to paint the whole thing blue and then place purple and blue banners on the wall. This would give the room a new look without changing anything drastic. The next thing to change in phase one was the hot air balloons that hung over guest head in the middle of the room. Instead of three balloons that focused on the different food groups, why not focus on the seasons of the Earth? So two new balloons were added and the first three were changed to all represent the seasons of the Earth. (Strange there is only four seasons?) The next thing to change was the gift shop. Right outside the Kitchen Karabet show was a small store. The store was called the Broccoli and Company but was changed to the name “Green Thumb Emporium” during phase one. As Epcot Center moved slowly into the fall time of 1993 Disney was ready for phase two of the plan which was to take down the “Listen to the Land” ride and change it up. The new ride would be called “Living with the Land” and was to have a new finale scene as well as a new beginning scene. The new opening scene was to represent a storm blowing through. A new narration was also given to the ride. The ride then opened up shortly afterwards in December of the same year.

Things were going well and then it came to the point where Kraft ran out on their sponsorship contract. So on September of 1992 the Nestle company took the position as the new sponsor of the pavilion. The next change of phase two would be to turn the Farmers Market eatery inside into a new theme. The new theme was going to be based off the four seasons of the world and was to be called “Sunshine Seasons.” The other eatery in the building was also to be changed. It was at the time called “Good Turn” but was given a new look as well as a new name. Both eateries closed in late December of 1993 and reopened in early 1993. The Garden Grill replaced the Good Turn eatery.

At the beginning of 1994 the Kitchen Karabet show was closed and was going to be completely changed. the theater was going to stay but a whole new show was planned for the theater. The theme of the new show would be focused on nutrition and would use current songs of that time to draw in younger people. This meant removing the food group theme that had been there before. The new show called “Food Rocks” opened to the public March of 1994.

We now come to the final portion of The Land that was to change. That was Symbiosis. The new show was to close earlier, and was in fact planned to be the first thing to change. Problems with the new film as well as editing caused the ride to not close until the beginning of 1995. The new show would focus solely on the environment. Eisner wanted to somehow tie more Disney related items into the pavilion somehow so he figured this would be the perfect place. The Lion King was very popular so it was decided to use the characters from the movie and place them in the show. The show opened in less then one month with the new name “Circle of Life”.

So the new Land pavilion opened to pretty well reviews. Pretty much all of the new stuff was well liked by the public. The next changes wouldn’t happen until almost ten years later!

 

[Figmentforever24]

The Land Finale 2005 to now - So this is my last part to the land pavilion seeing how I have pretty much covered everything else that has happened. In this you will read how the pavilion was changed and how Sorian was a must for Epcot.

So lets go over to Disneyland for a moment to set this all up. You see in 2001 Disney’s California Adventure opened across from Disneyland. The park pretty much sucked, but there was one ride that was proving to be very popular…..Sorian. Out of all the wrong things in Disney California Adventure, Sorian was not one of them. Disney knew this ride was a very popular ride and wanted to spread it to the other theme parks. One place they really wanted it was Disney World. (Hong Kong Disneyland was looked at for a very short time, but the plans were dropped almost right away.) Epcot was in need of some new rides since the last ride to open was Mission:Space. So Sorian was considered for Epcot and plans were placed together to put it in World showcase. Now Eisner wanted to add new rides without having to spend much money so he wanted to have the ride simply cloned rather then have a unique version. So the World Showcase idea was dropped since it couldn’t fit there thematically. They then decided that The Land would be the place for the new ride. They realized that they would need to add a new building to the ride and that a new entrance to the ride would need to be built. With no clear place for a new entrance, the Food Rocks show was placed on the chopping block. The theater and queue would be used as the entrance and exit of the ride.


The original ride in California was going to have guest load on different levels onto a ride vehicle that ran on a suspended track. It then would fly over a giant omnimax screen. The name was to be Ultra Flight at first, but it was later changed to Sorian. The ride system itself was never able to work. They never found a good system to run the machines until one day a man named Marc Summers created something truly innovative to the theme park industry. It was a system that could load guest all on one level and then raise them up on different levels. The system worked and was used for the ride. This same system was to be used at Epcot.

So in order for this ride to fit they needed a new building connected to the old one. The new show building was also going to be very big. The new building was connected to the old building and you would enter the queue from where the theater seats use to be. Everything was removed from the theater and the stage was placed behind a wall. There were to be two identical screens and ride rooms in the new building. The building was made to match Imagination as much as possible since it was to be right behind it. Weird though since you only really see it from China or Norway. The Sorian building was once going to be the land used for the Hollywood Pavilion, but of course that changed to MGM Studios. Now you may realize this already but the walk to the ride is a long one. The queue alone from the entrance to the queue to loading is about 800 feet long. Then after the ride is over guest then have to walk around 500 feet back to the main building. So a long walk indeed. What is also cool is that the building of course is not on ground level since the main building is not on ground level. The rooms with the ride though are on ground level and this explains the slope you go down with traveling either passage to the loading dock. Then after the ride is over the exit slowly goes up a slope until it is back on the same level as the rest of the building.


Disney was mum about the ride for a couple months as they did prep work for the new building. They began to prep the grounds for the new building in August of 2003 and then announced the plans to the world in October of the same year. This meant guest only had a short time to see the final performances of Food Rocks before it left. The show finally closed in early 2004. (January 3rd) Work began right away on the new building as they hurried to complete the next big thing for Epcot. Foundations were laid and the giant ride system was installed. It was a good thing they built a new building as in order to install this system the old buildings would have had to be completely destroyed and rebuilt in order to fit the ride system. The ride system would fit 87 guest per theater with a four minute show. There would be a total of 9 vehicles in each room with 3 rows of 3. Each vehicle could independently move and tilt with the film to enhance the feeling of flight. A giant metal canopy was also added over the guest head. This would keep them from seeing the end of the screen above them so the illusion wouldn’t be ruined. They also used this as a way to add smell and wind effects to the ride to make it more realistic. So work began to finish the details of the ride so they could get it open. They were able to start programming and installing the film in late 2004 to prepare for the 2005 opening.

To prepare for the opening of the new ride, Disney had the entire pavilion closed down. During this time the entire inside of the pavilion would be changed to handle the guest flow that was sure to come when Sorian opened to the public. So on January 2nd 2005 The Land closed. They planned to have the entire thing opened in just 3 months for the summer crowds. The first thing that was to be done was outside. The entrance to the pavilion was torn up and was completely reworked. Instead of a small planter with the plaque on the front, they placed a long and giant planter that went down the middle of the path. This helped with guest flow as those entering went up a way and those leaving went down a way. Something else that changed was inside. The banners that hung on the roof were changed from blue and purple to orange and yellow. The hot air balloons were given a new look as well. As worked continued on The Land, Disney was ready for guest to see Sorian. So special previews were allowed past a gate next to Imagination.

So anyway back to the inside of the pavilion that was seeing work. The carpet, layout and color of the pavilion changed with the new ride. New lighting was placed on the roof as well as on the ground. One thing that was fixed was guest flow. The giant fountain was removed and the tables were reworked. Divider walls were placed so that the seating areas were contained within certain areas. This would keep guest going to Sorian from getting in the way of tables. The carpet was changed to a new brown color and the walls were given new paint as well. Living with the Land saw a small update but nothing major.

On May 11th Sorian as well as the new pavilion were dedicated although soft openings and completion of the pavilion were completed in early April. Two weeks before they planned to be done.

 

[Figmentforever24]

I apologize for the delay between articles. Here is now the Living Seas pavilion before it was Nemo.

So from the beginning and concept of Epcot Center, The Seas pavilion was something Disney really wanted to make a reality. Originally the pavilion was going to be there for opening day. But when opening day came there was no sea pavilion. In fact the only thing was a huge open area of grass and trees. You see when the pavilion was first planned a more wacky approach was going to be taken. Well Disney already had plenty of wacky things in Epcot Center with Kitchen Karabet and the Imagination pavilion. A more serious theme was needed so the project was delayed until 1984. Two years after the opening of Epcot Center.

Like every pavilion that Epcot planned, The Living Seas was something the changed and morphed as the planning of Epcot Center began. When the first concept was made for The Living Seas the building was placed where Horizons was to go. Then shortly later the pavilion was moved to where The Land was going to be. While a pavilion named Century 3, later known as Horizons, was where The Living Seas found its home. Bur eventually it was moved to where it is now and was huge. The theme was going to be fantasy like and wacky like some of the other pavilions. The pavilion was going to be huge and the ride inside was going to be much longer then what it became.

When guest first came to the pavilion they would enter a theater which was the pre show for the ride as well as the pavilion itself. The theater and show was to be hosted by Poseidon the great God of the seas. You enter the theater and take a seat. As the show starts special effects that include lighting, wind, smells, water and fog all make the sensation of a rough storm. A giant AA Poseidon was to then come out and was to calm the storm. He would then welcome the guest to his home and would invite them to enter the seas with him to explore the undersea world.

Then you had the ride for the pavilion. No official name was given although it was often referred to as the Coral Reef ride. This ride itself was going to be huge and was to take up almost half of the pavilion. Maybe even a little more then half. In the ride guest were to enter a glass bubble vehicle for their journey. Once they were inside their vehicle the bubble would move to the first show scene. The first scene was called the Cradle of Life. This scene would be huge and would completely immerse guest in the world of the seas. There would be AA’s and other sets that would make the scene truly stand out. The next scenes would involve fish swimming past the vehicles and even sharks attacking you. You would also come across different types of shipwrecks. The finale of the ride would take guest into a glass tube where they would see the water all around them. They would be in the middle of a giant fish tank and would see the fish swimming around.

The fish tanks themselves as well as the area for guest to walk around would be on two different levels much like it is today. On the second floor there would also be a restaurant as well as a giant water tube. This tube would be connected to the fish tanks and would run through the center of the restaurant and down to the lower levels where guest walked. At the back of the pavilion guest would be able to take the Under The Sea tour. This tour would allow them to go backstage and see how the pavilion was ran. They could get a good look at the machines that make the pavilion work. The once exit out of the pavilion would be through the observation deck. This deck was a giant glass dome surrounded by water where guest could see different displays and admire the fish.


So this was to be the pavilion that was to be built in Epcot Center as of 1978. Well in 1979 something happened and Disney decided that a more scientific approach should be taken. So the design of the pavilion as well as the size was to be changed. The next design would end up being what we now have today. The new theme was that the entire building was a sea base. Then the name was changed from being The Seas to The Living Seas. For a short time there was the idea that they could keep the ride inside the new pavilion. The show and walkthrough portion was to be cut or either added to the queue. This was the 1980s design and was an attempt to keep the design of the old building with the new one.

The new building was going to have Sea Base Alpha just as it is today. The multiple level displays were to be built and was to be EXACTLY how it ended up being. The dark ride from the first idea of the pavilion was to be built with a whole new pre show. The pavilion though would need major funding so the project was going to take a couple years to built. Also remember you don’t just go to the ocean and grab some fish for the tank. That took a while. So the opening date of the pavilion was pushed back from 1984 to 1986. So plans were finalized and in 1984 the pavilion began construction.

On January 16th 1986 The Living Seas opened to the public at Epcot Center. Guest who wanted to ride the ride went through a special queue that went to the ride. You passed different displays of under water tech and even saw special cameos of a certain Disney film. You then watched slides on a screen presented by the sponsor of the pavilion United Tech. You then entered two pre show theaters or one of two. There were two but you went in one. Anyway you entered and watched a small pre show simply talking about the ocean and all that good stuff. You then exited and went into the next room with the Hydrolators. It was a giant elevator with windows that were actually screens. As your elevator went down the screen moved really fast as if you were dropping multiple floors down. I actually think you went up. You then exited and went in the sea cab. This was a short omnimover ride that took you through a tunnel with glass on both sides that allowed guest to see into the water. They then went around a round room with more windows and then exited onto the second level of sea base alpha.

Now you think that why all these stops? A show, elevator ride and a omnimover? Well this really helped with guest flow and always let guest feel as if they were doing something rather then simply waiting in line.

This pavilion wasn’t as popular as some of the others, but it did pull in large crowds. It held many things never seen in a theme park of any kind which of course was something Epcot Center was good at doing. The pavilion remained basically the same up until 1998 when United Tech didn’t renew their sponsorship. So all of the little references to United Tech were pulled from the ride, but of course some other changes were to come to the pavilion. The first change was that one of the per show rooms was removed. A bypass was built through the room and allowed guest to skip the video if they wished to. In 2002 Eisner was looking for ways to cut back of upkeep so the sea cabs were removed and guest simply had to walk to Sea Base Alpha. The ride remained there for a while until the major changes later. The loading area was simply placed behind a wall. In a few more years the pavilion was given a whole new theme set with Finding Nemo. It didn’t happen all at once. Sadly one by one the displays were taken out and replaced with new Nemo fishy displays. In 2005 the Living Seas closed for a complete rethemed to Nemo….yep.

 

[Figmentforever24]

So here is one that I have been wanting to do for a while! The Body Pavilion! Yep consider this a tribute and dedication to the pavilion no longer there. Well its there just not in the way we like it to be…but some may like it like it is now but maybe they don’t…I don’t know does anyone like it as a center for displays I mean is that even cool? Wait anyway off topic back to the thing.

So like many of the things in Epcot Center The Health and Body pavilion was something planned from the beginning. I mean health and the future of it was something very important. Back when space was where the seas ended up and the Ecology and Mineral pavilion were still a thing, The Healthy Living pavilion was to be located where Imagination was. The design and location changed a lot though. In 1978 though it was decided that Epcot Center would have a health pavilion.

The main building was to be circular with ancillary structures located within. To enter guest would cross over a bridge and around a fountain to enter the pavilion. There would be small foyer type room that let to the center of the building. At the center was a circular room with a Merry Go Round type thing though it was not ride able. Around the room was the entrance to other displays and attractions. If you entered at the 6 o clock position then the dark ride for the building was at 5. Then at 3 there was a 3 part show that featured many types of AA’s called Healthy Habits. At 2 there was a hands on area where people could get involved with their health. Then at 12 was the entry way to two different shows. You went left at 1 and entered a show about the brain. At 11 there was a show about the teeth. Then 10 and 9 would be a huge maze that guest could go through. ANOTHER theater would be at 8 and would talk about life in general. Finally at 7 was the lounge that pretty much every pavilion was to have.


The first thing most people would have obviously went to was the dark ride. Yes I said DARK ride. Ike Fantasyland dark rides. This dark ride would be scientific and take guest through a model of the human body. When the ride was first proposed the ride system was to be an omnimover through the body. Then it was changed to separate vehicles. Not much was even given about the ride itself.

In other rooms like the teeth show you would learn about the teeth and the mouth. The show about the brain was more of a comical approach to the serious brain. The idea was that 3 different AA’s were to guide us. Each was something important to the brain like emotion. Then of course there were other different interactive displays and areas within the pavilion. Though not much detail was even given about them.


So the plans were finalized and did you know the pavilion was almost built between the seas and the land?! Its true! A sign even stood out there to advertise the new pavilion. That idea was quickly changed and the sign was taken down. They then decided it was better over on the other side. Between Energy and Horizons since that side of Epcot Center saw the least amount of guest. The concept art showed a round building and would follow the design of the 1978 version a lot. The way you got into the pavilion was to climb an elevated walkway much like you do at The Land. The carnival type theme planned for the original was to be used in the new pavilion as well. Basically it was a circus of the future that celebrated the wonders of life. The show with the three little AA’s was turned into a show with one little AA. This show became Cranium Command. The dark ride was also to make it into the building in a way. You see the ride was going to be to complex as they couldn’t figure a way to make these huge life machines work all day. Some reason it was hard to make a giant heart keep pumping all day. So a simulator ride was planned instead being that simulators were brand new technology. So the new idea was placed in the pavilion as Body Wars! Body Wars was to be a high action ride that took you inside the human body. You were to go inside a human in a special machine to remove a splinter. The Body Wars ride was to have four of these simulators for this ride. The ride was also worked so that it didn’t feel as if you were flying through space. More resistant was added to them so that you felt as if you were pushing through thick fluids. Yea it made people feel sick very easily. Construction began in 1987 with a 1989 opening. The pavilion then opened to the public on October 19th 1989. The next show called “The Making of Me” was later opened that same month on October 30th. The pavilion was later officially dedicated on November 3rd.