Can we talk about Autopia?

[dweezil78]

The Martin Smith documentaries as well as a couple of other DVD's I have of ride thrus have sold me on both rides. I'm not sure why WOM isn't held in as high reverence as Horizons...I think they are just about on par. Only wish I would have visited WDW earlier than 2005 but as a kid, my parents saw zero need for us to fly across the country with Disneyland in our backyard.

WOM was great, but Horizons had a lot of unique factors going for it -- a unique couch/bench style suspended ride vehicle, a huge double IMAX screen sequence, and a choose-your-own-adventure ending that absolutely crushes the goofy little Flash animation currently on Spaceship Earth. All that on top of a fantastic score (its out there on torrent sites, get it if you can!), amazing futuristic scenes (for 1983), retro future goodness with robot butlers and automated barber chairs, and so much more. All over the course of nearly 15 minutes. By the time the ride was over, you really felt like you had been somewhere else.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

The EPCOT Center dark rides and the Great Movie Ride at MGM Studios were the closest things to Pirates of the Caribbean-level attractions.

 

[dweezil78]

Not to completely derail this Autopia thread... but man, look how nice and peaceful this area was back then compared to the ruckus that's there now:



And look at all those f@nny packs!!!

 

[dweezil78]

The EPCOT Center dark rides and the Great Movie Ride at MGM Studios were the closest things to Pirates of the Caribbean-level attractions.

I like GMR and always make a point to go on it because its a rare breed these days, but those AAs (with the exception of the witch) and most of the sequences just feel so static and lifeless!

 

[Stevek]

WOM was great, but Horizons had a lot of unique factors going for it -- a unique couch/bench style suspended ride vehicle, a huge double IMAX screen sequence, and a choose-your-own-adventure ending that absolutely crushes the goofy little Flash animation currently on Spaceship Earth. All that on top of a fantastic score (its out there on torrent sites, get it if you can!), amazing futuristic scenes (for 1983), retro future goodness with robot butlers and automated barber chairs, and so much more. All over the course of nearly 15 minutes. By the time the ride was over, you really felt like you had been somewhere else.

Trust me, I've pretty much got all of the music from Epcot at this point. One of the few things I collect is as much Disney theme park music as possible. Tons of great stuff "out there"

 

[Deleted member 107043]

I'm not sure why WOM isn't held in as high reverence as Horizons...I think they are just about on par.

I rode it several times, and it was well done, however in retrospect it suffered from what most Future World attractions suffered from in those days: redundancies in experiences. At the time the WED technology, elaborate omni-movers, and casts of AA figures that populated the Future World pavilions were impressive, but too much of the content followed the familiar CoP plot-line of telling the future in a chronological narrative that looks back first. Of those types of experiences I would say WoM was the least entertaining.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

I like GMR and always make a point to go on it because its a rare breed these days, but those AAs (with the exception of the witch) and most of the sequences just feel so static and lifeless!

I always found this attraction to be an odd duck. Obviously I get what they were trying to do, but much like the whole notion that Disney/MGM was a real working studio, the GMR feels incredibly inauthentic and hokey, even for Disney. I guess for me DHS was a big letdown after EPCOT.

 

[dweezil78]

I always found this attraction to be an odd duck. Obviously I get what they were trying to do, but much like the whole notion that Disney/MGM was a real working studio, the GMR feels incredibly inauthentic and hokey, even for Disney. I guess for me DHS was a big letdown after EPCOT.

I'm with ya. It's like a classier, less embarrassing Superstar Limo. GMR was actually initially supposed to be, in some form or another, part of a movie pavilion at EPCOT which would have resided between Imagination and The Land.

 

[Stevek]

I'm with ya. It's like a classier, less embarrassing Superstar Limo. GMR was actually initially supposed to be, in some form or another, part of a movie pavilion at EPCOT which would have resided between Imagination and The Land.

There is nothing more embarrassing than Superstar Limo. GMR is a masterpiece by comparison. I remember going to a DCA preview and walking off with a W.T.F was that expression on our faces. I still don't know how anyone allowed that to go into a park...ok, Pressler, but c'mon, it was turrible.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

GMR is one of my favorites!

 

[Andrew_Ryan]

If they absolutely have to have a motorized car ride for tykes, they could at least bring in electric vehicles and theme the track in an interesting way. I rode Autopia for kicks the other year and was surprised at just how bare-bones the experience was.

 

[dweezil78]

GMR is one of my favorites!

I will always go on it because of the connection I have to it from childhood, because it is the park's only EPCOT style dark ride that gets you off your feet for 15 minutes, and because there is some legit cool stuff in there -- a lot of the sets, the Wizard of Oz scene, etc. All that said, there is still something cold and sterile about it that makes it often seem like a cheesy tour through a wax museum vs. a high-end Disney audio-animatronic dark ride. So I'm conflicted! If they ever came up with a better replacement for that show building I probably would get over it pretty quickly.

 

[MKCP 1985]

Are you saying it's not possible for there to be a new idea generated that would be a better fit for Tomorrowland? Why does it have to have been either already built or proposed?

No, I am saying that young children have enjoyed Autopia for generations, it is undergoing a refurbishment and will reopen soon and that unless there is a better idea for a family attraction it should be left alone. The worst thing would be to shut it down and leave the space vacant.

Also, if there has been a better idea for use of the space, neither Disney nor its competitors have come forward with a built or proposed attraction so it must be harder than it sounds to come up with the right idea.

 

[Curious Constance]

No, I am saying that young children have enjoyed Autopia for generations, it is undergoing a refurbishment and will reopen soon and that unless there is a better idea for a family attraction it should be left alone. The worst thing would be to shut it down and leave the space vacant.

Also, if there has been a better idea for use of the space, neither Disney nor its competitors have come forward with a built or proposed attraction so it must be harder than it sounds to come up with the right idea.

I would never propose closing it and leaving the space vacant. That would be really stupid, but for all we know there have been a million better ideas for that use of space that have been imagined, or proposed, or pitched, but Disney isn't interested in spending the money on it at this time. It's not like it'd be too hard to think of something better than Autopia.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I honestly don't trust Disney with replacing Autopia and using the space for something else.

 

[FigmentForver96]

I honestly don't trust Disney with replacing Autopia and using the space for something else.

You would think they waste space or cut away at land the way you talk!

 

[Californian Elitist]

You like they waste space or cut away at kand the way you talk!

I don't know what "kand" means.

Autopia is not a waste of space, in my opinion. The Fantasyland Skyway station is more of a waste of space than Autopia is.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Autopia is not a waste of space, in my opinion. The Fantasyland Skyway station is more of a waste of space than Autopia is.

Yet the defunct Skyway station takes up just a tiny fraction of the land that Autopia covers. Roughly 1/3 - 1/2 of TL is devoted to the Autopia/Monorail "spaghetti bowl", which seems like more than is necessary for two attractions that hit their prime in the latter part of the last century.

 

[FigmentForver96]

I don't know what "kand" means.

Autopia is not a waste of space, in my opinion. The Fantasyland Skyway station is more of a waste of space than Autopia is.

Oops I meant land lol

 

[Phroobar]

Besides the Sea Base Alpha, underwater rollercoaster and Aquatopia, there could deep sea exploration ride where we encounter aliens. That area could support lots of rides and still keep the monorail going over this large lake.