Horizons

Horizons was an attraction of the type Dark wrinkles EPCOT with Walt Disney World Resort. It was replaced in 2003 by Mission: Space . Attraction gave to its visitors a vision of the life to the 21e century. Attraction opened on October 1st 1983, that is to say one year after the opening of the park.

The enormous building had the aspect of a half-crystal with hexagonal section. By its size, it took part much in the aspect of international exhibition of the section Future World of EPCOT.

It definitively closed on January 9th, 1999, six years after the loss of its partner General Electric and some occasional openings. It was entirely destroyed to leave the place to Mission: Space which uses also the topic of space and the future.

Attraction was to be duplicated in the park WestCOT in California but the project having been cancelled, it was not built.

Attraction

Horizons began with a section entitled Retour on the future , showing the visions of the future since the time of Jules Verne until the Années 1950. Then she proposed on two giant screens Omnimax (recent innovation at the time) modern technologies and the concepts which were to build the world of the future.

Horizons was also Disney attraction proposing several possible ends according to the choice of the visitors at the time of the return to the FuturePort :

the Space station Faced Centauri (for space colonization)
the desert farm of Mesa Verde (for agriculture in arid region)
the base of search for Sea Castle (for underwater colonization)

Course of attraction

The entry of attraction was done by the left of the imposing building. Posters presenting the destinations of the future and the logo of the Futureport were visible in the queue with the paces of corridors dug in a crystal emerald mine. Then the visitors embarked in the vehicles (entered and left under rooms IMAX).

A door decorated with clouds marked the beginning of the voyage. Attraction then cut out in several parts itself cut out in scenes:

the visions of the future

the inventors of the Middle Ages with representations of works of Léonard de Vinci
Jules Verne presented the “ capsule ” of its lunar rocket.
followed a vision of the moon as in film of Georges Méliès, the Voyage in the Moon,
the drawings of Albert Robida showing his vision of Paris at the 20th century
Of the decorations show the improvements of the living conditions
the futuristic films of the beginning of the 20th century
Neon City the city of the future seen since the years 1950.

OmnIMAX presented on two hemispherical screens connected of the images of the technological changes of the years 1950 to 1980: DNA, the study of the Sun, the Data-processing (microprocessor and satellite images of the Earth thanks to the numerical imagery), crystals, oceanic exploration.
cities of the future

Nova ISCED showing a complete apartment of a city of the future
Mesa Verde a farm in the desert.
indoor scenes (kitchen with robot, telephone-videophone,…). Un hovercraft of this scene since is exposed in attraction Studio Tram Turn of the Walt Disney Studios
the underwater world of Sea Castle with a scene of repair of a SoloSub , a scene of class of diving, underwater industry
space in the station Brava Centauri with the Century 3 Space Pod , the film New Frontier , the Crystal Lab (a crystal mine) then a scene of birthday

Enfin attraction proposed the choice of the future , the visitors were to choose one of the three possible cities Faced Centauri , Mesa Verde or Sea Castle . The image of the city was posted then on the wall marking the exit of attraction, right before a star field where during ten years the logo of GE appeared.

Technical data

Opening: October 1st 1983
Closing: January 9th, 1999
Design: WED Enterprises
partner: General Electric (1983 to 1993)
Building: 12.712 m ²

Steel used: 3.700 tons (more than Spaceship Earth)
Surface of the spectacle: 3.400 m ²

Attraction:

Lasted: 14 min. 45 dryness. (complete cycle of 15 min)
Flow: 2.784 visitors/hour
Capacity of queue: 696 people
Length of attraction: 410,3 Mr.
Audio-animatronic: 54

Vehicles

Standard: Omnimover
Many vehicles: 174 (10 in stock)
Place by vehicle: 4

Interval between vehicle: 4,8 dryness.
Imax Room: 2 hemispherical screens of 24 Mr. diameter
Type of atttaction: Dark wrinkles and cinema IMAX

The history

Horizons had been named in its phase of design Century 3 (or Century III ) to recognize the third century of existence of the American nation (1976-2076). The name was then changed into Futureprobe (probe of future) in order to help the international visitors to appreciate or simply include/understand the concept of Century 3 . Before the end of the phase of design, the name Futureprobe was withdrawn because of the medical connotation of the term probes ( honest ). After several debates, the official ones of GE and Disney agreed on the name Horizons .

Horizons opened for the first birthday of park EPCOT on October 1st 1983 and was located between the houses of World off Motion and of Universe off Energy . The original concept of attraction allotted to Reginald Jones (a former general president of GE) and Jack Welch (another president of GE) was to recall the life and the work of Thomas Edison by putting it in parallel with the origins of the General Electric company. Then this concept was modified to become a vision of the future of the United States of America, a topic which makes it possible to respect the many people of EPCOT. The building which accommodates Horizons attraction was designed to resemble a spaceship and also by accentuating the third dimension, the aspect of one infinite horizon.

In 1989, the house Wonders off Life, in the hemispherical shape of dome, was built between Universe off Energy and Horizons . While World off Motion closed in 1996 to be transformed into Test Track in 1999.

In 1994, attraction Carousel off Progress of the Magic Kingdom which presented the changes of the daily life through the 20th century and whose Horizons was to some extent a continuation, finds its original version: There' S.A. Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow also present in Horizons and written by the Brothers Sherman.

During the years 1990, after the withdrawal of the partnership of GE, certain ideas emerged from the offices of Walt Disney Imagineering in order to transform the house but by preserving the topic on space. The building would thus have been renovated and updated. The vehicles of the omnimover type would have seems it replaced by controllable versions by the visitors. (Idea taken up for the Buzz Lightyear' S Astro Blasters of Tokyo Disneyland) .

Attraction was definitively closed on January 9th, 1999 without real official reason. The lack of financial partner surely had to play for much but of the rumors make state of problem structural in the concrete and the steel structural and foundations. The building remained unutilised during one year. It is in July 2000 that the building was completely destroyed shortly after the advertisement of the new sponsored attraction by Compaq (HP after the repurchase of Compaq), Mission: Space .

Simplified chronology

August 5th 1981: the road works start on the site
January 1982 - the construction of the house begins
October 1st 1983: Horizons opens at the time of the ceremony of the first birthday of EPCOT.

September 30th, 1993: the partnership with General Electric arrives at the end of the 10 year old contract
1994: Horizons closes for one unlimited duration.
December 1995: Horizons reopens in order to fill the lack of attractions during the restorations of the other houses.
January 9th, 1999: Horizons closes definitively.
April 13rd, 2000: beginning of the destruction of the house
July 2000: the house lodging Horizons is completely demolished.
August 16th, 2000: the space in the past occupied by the house is completely released
October 2000: the construction of Mission: Space starts on the old site of Horizons
August 15th, 2003: Mission: Space is inaugurated.

2005 - Walt Disney World exits has Horizons patch commemorating the attraction. There the patch is Mickey Mouse, is drawing off the ride' S building, and the years 1983 and 1999 to signify the years between which the wrinkle operated. -->

External bonds

Horizons At Epcot Discovery Center
Yahoo! Horizons group
Horizons At Epcot

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