As we continue, we come upon Horizons. Horizons when it opened on October 1st, 1983, it was built to lead America into the third century of its existence. Many of the imaginners were pleased with the attraction because it complemented Walt Disney's original vision of EPCOT. They were so proud that they inserted "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" from the Carousel of Progress into the show. But as time passed many lost interest in it, especially General Electric. So much so that they pulled their sponsorship of the attraction and Disney decided to shut it down because they had no interest to continue paying money for an attraction that wasn't bringing much people in. But when Disney decided to close the World of Motion in 1994 to replace it with Test Track, they reopened Horizons.
Why? It didn't make sense for 1/2 of Future World West to be closed at the same time, so they thought they would keep Horizons temporarily open till 1997 when Test Track was open for business. But nothing went accourding to plan. Test Track had servere problems with its test run and din't open till March 1999. So all that while, Horizons cast members waited for the attraction to close. Finally in Summer 1999, Horizons was closed for good. But what would happen to it? Well for at least a year, the building just sat there. The signs came down outside and inside but nothing else was done. The in February/March 2000, walls appeared around the building that said, "WATCH THIS SPACE FOR FUTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS." Disney then announced plans for Mission: Space presented by Compag, a brand new thrill ride for Epcot which is scheduled to open in 2003.
The closing of Horizons wasn't met with as much protest as with Mr. Toad's Wild Ride but the Toad fans did post a Save Horizons website. But other then that, most people were excited about the new thrill ride. The question was, what was the attraction going to present to us that Test Track hadn't?
Though details are still sketchy, here is what I have heard so far. Guests will walk into the building and be told in a pre-show that they are being sent by spaceship to Mars. Four guests board a single simulator that presents what astronauts fell on space flights like lift-off and weightlessness. Details after that are too sketchy to be told as true. The outside of the building should be completed by December 2001 and the inside finished by December 2002 with time to work out the bugs before Summer 2003.
If there are still Horizon fans out there, you may feel saddened by what I will say. There were plans to keep the original Horizons building and some of the audio-animatronics. Plans were to cut out the back and make the entire thing one huge pavilion like the Wonders of Life but plans were scrapped because it was heading into the $300 million range and Compag wasn't willing to pay that much for one ride. Too bad thoug. More and more classic rides are getting the ax. Soon there won't be much classics left to fully enjoy.
Coming Soon: We'll discuss the future dismise of the Country Bears at Disneyland.
Till next time, See Ya!!
Why? It didn't make sense for 1/2 of Future World West to be closed at the same time, so they thought they would keep Horizons temporarily open till 1997 when Test Track was open for business. But nothing went accourding to plan. Test Track had servere problems with its test run and din't open till March 1999. So all that while, Horizons cast members waited for the attraction to close. Finally in Summer 1999, Horizons was closed for good. But what would happen to it? Well for at least a year, the building just sat there. The signs came down outside and inside but nothing else was done. The in February/March 2000, walls appeared around the building that said, "WATCH THIS SPACE FOR FUTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS." Disney then announced plans for Mission: Space presented by Compag, a brand new thrill ride for Epcot which is scheduled to open in 2003.
The closing of Horizons wasn't met with as much protest as with Mr. Toad's Wild Ride but the Toad fans did post a Save Horizons website. But other then that, most people were excited about the new thrill ride. The question was, what was the attraction going to present to us that Test Track hadn't?
Though details are still sketchy, here is what I have heard so far. Guests will walk into the building and be told in a pre-show that they are being sent by spaceship to Mars. Four guests board a single simulator that presents what astronauts fell on space flights like lift-off and weightlessness. Details after that are too sketchy to be told as true. The outside of the building should be completed by December 2001 and the inside finished by December 2002 with time to work out the bugs before Summer 2003.
If there are still Horizon fans out there, you may feel saddened by what I will say. There were plans to keep the original Horizons building and some of the audio-animatronics. Plans were to cut out the back and make the entire thing one huge pavilion like the Wonders of Life but plans were scrapped because it was heading into the $300 million range and Compag wasn't willing to pay that much for one ride. Too bad thoug. More and more classic rides are getting the ax. Soon there won't be much classics left to fully enjoy.
Coming Soon: We'll discuss the future dismise of the Country Bears at Disneyland.
Till next time, See Ya!!
