--Day 7--
March 4, 2017
--Location--
Mission:SPACE - Epcot
--Title--
The Red Planet
--Ambiance--
--Introduction--
On Day 7 now (a bit delayed due to some personal business - and sadly a bit shorter than intended) we have arrived...in outer space. In 2003, Mission:SPACE opened in Epcot's Future World as an out of this world turbulence and realistic experience of a flight into space. With naturalistic G-forces, and motion sickness paralyzing the attraction's earlier years, the attraction is stuck in a sort of limbo, where it will eventually become outdated (since it takes place in 2036). In order to update it and keep it fresh, while we won't dismantle everything the attraction has to offer, we will take the "thrill" element out of it, and open it up to more awe inspired scenery of space.
In order to save on budget, we will be using the same enclosed cockpits that were designed for the original attraction -- however we will be modulating them and modifying them to fit the new narrative of the attraction. Instead of traveling to Mars, when walking inside the Mission Control Center, you will be carrying out a mission on the red planet itself. More of a dark ride than a thrill ride, however there will be thrills involved.
The nature of this change is to make the attraction more like Star Tours and accessible, as well as keep some thrill elements involved (the Green side is already a Star Tours style attraction, it would only be making the whole attraction in that capacity.
A similar queue format to what is there now will be included -- the main changes will be to the narration of the attraction - in which you will pilot your enclosed vehicles through the terrain of Mars - making the attraction more interactive and unpredictable than what it is now.
--The Experience--
You detach supplies from a revolving satellite around Mars for your Mission. Your Engineer presses the button and the supplies come parachuting down to the surface of Mars. Your pilot then engages the manual control and pushes the vehicle forward towards the supplies.
The Navigator redirects the pilot if he/she gets lost or isn't participating on the mission, however if all else fails, the cabin can switch to automatic control for the duration of the mission - but it is more fun to use the controls, as the controls are indeed manual and you can roam around the surface of Mars. The only thing that is automated in that case is if you veer too far off track, the automation will kick in and lead you to the direction you're supposed to be in at the certain time for the attraction narrative to proceed.
You pick up the supplies which are drilling equipment for your mission to drill for water on the planet. The first part of the attraction is very slow paced, enjoying the scenery of the Red Planet, and a calming narration telling you of all the things that we have discovered on the planet itself. NASA research and Disney would collaborate for this project to ensure the most up to date information.
The second half of the attraction is more thrilling however. You cross over into the mountainous terrain when suddenly there is a shaking of the ground. The Commander presses the button to upload the shields, but as everyone sees in the distance, a massive dust storm is approaching and you need to find shelter.
Being too far away from your base camp you press the ignition on the rover and press forward at a faster pace, turning and twisting around. There is a nitrous button in which the pilot presses that jolts the vehicle upwards and over a cliff, onto the other side and further away from the oncoming storm.
The mountains become more and more treacherous, the dust begins to swell around the vehicle.
In the distance, a massive dust storm now swells in front of you, completely encapsulating the vehicles and creating an intense shaking of the pod. The pilot races off into a canyon and soars down to avoid the massive dust swell. Fortunately, you survive to live another day, manage to get the task done for the day, and head back to your basecamp.
At the basecamp, your capcom tells you that while there is beauty and charm on the Red Planet, it is a hostile environment which should not be underestimated. You exit into the interactive kids play area and gift shop which is recreated as the Mars basecamp with more exploration for kids and adults.
Not as long as I had hoped, but that was the essential idea. To have more interactivity on the ride itself, making it more of a Toy Story Mania attraction, but without doing too much to the building itself (as in tearing it down and starting over)
But these Mars missions (if we even get to Mars by 2036 or so) shouldn't be out of date for several decades, as even if we get to Mars, these can be easily tweaked to just a new moon or planet (like Xanadu, Team Lassetoki?)
touche.
