Rode it yesterday. I did 1.0 when I was 9, i remember it still fondly as it was my early start for my love of thrill rides. Watching POVs now I do realize I’d be a lot more critical of it today as the aesthetic was mainly just signage and cutouts through an empty warehouse. Didn’t take away from how fun the OG version of the ride was though, there was something so weird and unique about that experience that only 90s and 00s Epcot could capture.
Rode 2.0 in 2013 when I was 11 and I remember initially liking it just as much. But as time has gone on and I’ve become a bigger parks fan and purist, I came to realized how quickly the ride outdated itself. It felt slightly futuristic in 2013, but in the early part of this decade as I’ve started going to the parks more regularly, it just felt more sterile and boring the more I experienced it. The ride itself was still fun, but I felt the design studio fun every once in a while, but something easily skippable as I felt it didn’t actually add anything to the ride experience itself.
I was one of the few who was excited and pretty optimistic for a 3.0. The queue feels similar to 2.0, though one thing i noticed is how more open everything feels, the windows facing the final turn feel more open and along with the seatbelt check also being opened up by a window, give very nice kinetic energy that the 2.0 queue was really lacking. The exhibits in the first room feel very reminiscent of 2.0, but the open airiness of the room gives it more of a nicer feel. The second room where the design studio is feels a bit sparse, like they couldve added more, but the exhibits that are there give nice information about the future and sustainability, something that feels straight out of original Epcot Center which I really appreciated.
The ride itself felt like a modern day classic EPCOT Center attraction. I was initially disappointed after the incline still felt a bit like 2.0, but than the lights flash as you transition to darkness and that’s where everything gets going. The first street scene is great, with the projections smoothly transitioning into lights to create a very cool effect that goes into the Lidar sections. The house scene is what stood out to me the most. Seeing full scale physical sets of what could be a real life place felt like what 80s Epcot looked like. Having the WoM callback with the projection effect of the different car designs is cool as well. The scenic drive through the woods was awesome, as was the pine scent which is very earthy and smells almost as good as the ET forest scent over at USF. The scene leading up to the launch is really sweet, with a model of a future car transitioning into a dome screen which encapsulates the entire top 3/4 of the room. One of the cool little details I noticed is as you launch, everything around on the screen moves in sync with the launch, which is just such an awesome little touch.
All in all, 3.0 is, in my opinion, the absolute best iteration of this attraction. It is unfortunately so rare to see an example of what an 80s Epcot Center could be like in the modern day, but this iteration of the attraction felt like the closest it could be. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but if the SSE and JII inevitable makeovers are as good as this… than Epcot fans… we just might be back
Sorry for the long post but I have a lot of thoughts and very detail oriented haha
