Here it is!
Session One: Seize the Future - Concept Creation Challenge
An Adventure In Time
This attraction sees the building currently housing Stitch's Great Escape returned to its previous role as the Tomorrowland
Interplanetary Convention Center, with a new show inside taking inspiration from the original ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, the now defunct Timekeeper from across the road, and Mission To Mars / Flight To The Moon. The layout of the attraction remains mostly the same, with the two theatres, preshow room and entrance hall remaining roughly the same, with large overhauls to better fit the story. The biggest change of the three is the entrance hall, which has gone from a darkened corridor to the wide open, glass walled Exposition Hall of the Convention Center, with the TTA looking down into the space as it passes. The preshow room is the same structurally as before, only with new colour schemes and designs, and a newly fitted screen behind the central desk. The two theatres have the same seating, but the walls and ceiling have been completely rebuilt to accommodate the new elements required for the show. To better accommodate the new floor to ceiling windows now looking out onto the Avenue of the Planets, the existing Fastpass+ kiosks have been moved to the old extended queue area, while the outdoor portion of the queue now extends up towards Rockettower Plaza, with the existing exit of the ride rerouted to run into Merchant of Venus.
The Show:
The Tomorrowland Interplanetary Convention Center - Exposition Hall:
Guests enter the main exposition hall of the Tomorrowland Interplanetary Convention Center, a large open space with floor to ceiling glass windows on the left, and exposition posters for such events as "Mission to Mars: History or Hoax?" And "XS-Tech Teleportation: Seize the Future" on the right, with planters and benches scattered throughout. The Tomorrowland Transit Authority looks into this hall from above, as guests are ushered into The Professor's booth.
[Above: The Tomorrowland Interplanetary Convention Center Exposition Hall]
The Preshow Stage:
As guests enter, they are greeted by BEN-E, the most advanced robotic simulation of intelligence, who has a quick demonstration of the professor's technology for the guests. He sits at a control panel, and is fumbling with the controls when guests enter. To either side of the control panel sits a time manipulation tube, and within each is an observation robot (SKP-1 and SKP-2), broadcasting a live feed of its vision to a screen behind the control panel. As the robots scan the room, showing the guests' faces on the screen, BEN-E introduces the professor's invention, describing the wondrous things it can achieve. He notes that he has a few destinations already planned out, and sends the two scouts off into the past and the future.
[Above: BEN-E]
With that, the lights dim, both tubes fill with smoke, and electricity flashes in the tubes. When the smoke clears and the lights return to normal, the two robots have disappeared, and their feeds on the screen have gone to static, with time/date indicators over the tubes flashing and changing. The first robot, SKP-1 arrives in the Jurassic period, it's feed displaying tropical foliage and a distant volcano. BEN-E explains that it is scouting around for landing locations, and takes it out to explore, locating a nest of Stegosaurus along the way. BEN-E then realises that the second robot is still moving forward through time, and pulls it out, a lot further into the future than intended. He proudly announces "the future!", but the location SKP-2 has arrived at is a post apocalyptic wasteland, with no living things in sight. The robot sets off to explore, finding nothing but rubble and dust. BEN-E initiates a lifeform scan, and finds a reading directly behind the robot. Turning it around, guests see a quick glimpse of a Morlock, before the feed switches to static.
[Above: Preshow Chamber]
BEN-E panics, and pulls both scouts back into the vortex. The lights flicker off, the tubes fill with smoke, and electricity flashes again. SKP-1 rematerialises intact, and begins scanning the room again. SKP-2, however, has been reduced to a pile of scrap metal, broken and sparking. BEN-E assures the guests that everything will be fine, and ushers them into the theatre.
Main Theatre - The Time Capsule:
As guests enter the time machine's passenger chamber, they see a central vortex induction coil, surrounded by 4 tiers of seats, each with a safety harness. On the walls behind the seats are a series of shutters, behind which lie CircleVision screens, and two large portholes on either side of the chamber. Below these screens are various vents, displays and machines, and above the guests heads are a series of supporting vaults. Between each vault is a metal mesh screen, above which are assorted pipes and tubes, and a maintenance catwalk. BEN-E appears on screens surrounding the top of the vortex induction coil, and encourages guests to move around the rows and fill every available seat. Once guests are seated, the harnesses lower onto their shoulders, the main lights are dimmed, and a series of spotlights illuminate the coil.
[Above: The Time Capsule]
BEN-E informs guests that they will first be visiting the Jurassic period, and that the scout robot has located a suitable landing site. He flicks a few switches on his panel, and the machine whirs into life. Lights flicker and fluctuate on the various pieces of machinery around the room, and the vortex induction coil begins to glow blue, as the containment tube fills with smoke. Electricity courses through the tube and the supporting ceiling vaults, and guests' seats rumble as time/date indicators tumble backwards rapidly. BEN-E suddenly realises that he forgot to compensate for the additional passengers, and boosts the power, inadvertently sending the chamber back too far. He opens the shutters, and the CircleVision screens show a fiery, molten world outside as the chamber begins to heat up. The guests have ended up at the birth of the planet, and BEN-E quickly attempts to send them forwards again.
[Above: The Time Capsule, In The Vortex]
When the shutters reopen, the environment outside is a lush, prehistoric jungle, with numerous animals flying over the capsule. A T-Rex is spotted a few metres away, and seems to be looking right at the capsule. BEN-E assures the guests that it can't see them, as the transpari-phase system is activated. Nevertheless, the T-Rex begins pacing towards the capsule, while an eye appears just outside the opposite porthole. With an ear-splitting roar, the chamber shakes and creaks, and smoke starts to pour out of one of the vents. BEN-E reactivates the machine, leaving the shutters open as it enters the vortex.
With the transpari-phase system functional again, BEN-E informs the guests that they are heading somewhere "more civilised", and they materialise at the Paris 1889 Exposition Universelle. They arrive a few years early, and BEN-E moves them forward 'slowly', so they can watch the Eiffel Tower being constructed outside. After watching Paris develop a little, they move to the 1964/65 New York World's Fair, and then EPCOT Center, watching both grow and develop around them, before BEN-E takes the guests into the future.
Unfortunately, BEN-E has loaded up the time co-ordinates from the second scout, and the capsule arrives in the post apocalyptic distant future. As the machine phases in, it begins to malfunction. The landing was not properly planned out, and so the machine phases into the same space occupied by a Morlock nest. Sparks fly, lights flicker, and the room begins to fill with smoke. A Morlock phases into the vortex induction coil containment tube, a few ceiling panels fall, allowing loose pipes and wires to dangle above guests' heads, and the lights go out completely. BEN-E is panicking, making a lot of noise and getting nothing done, while Morlocks roam the capsule. Binaural sounds, misters, warm air, water spray, seat vibration, and restraint motion all combine to create the illusion that the Morlocks are really there, while the occasional flash of light reveals one hanging onto the ceiling snarling at guests, or standing on the broken containment tube. Eventually, BEN-E gets the power working again, and pulls the capsule back into the vortex. The electricity flashing around the room catches the Morlocks, and they begin to screech until it causes them to explode, showering the guests with blood (water).
[Above: The Time Capsule, Crashed]
[Above: Development for Morlock]
The capsule arrives back in Central Florida, and the view out of the windows shows a fully functional Tomorrowland city, with the TTA and monorail whizzing around, and Space Mountain and the Astro Orbiter visible in the distance. The Tomorrowland Interplanetary Convention Center is being constructed around the guests, and once complete, the capsule lands with a thud, and the lights flicker back on. The smoke begins to clear, and BEN-E lifts the restraints, wishing guests a happy trip onwards, and pleading them not to mention the "little detour". As guests leave the theatre, he can be heard muttering about how much this will cost to fix, and how much work he will have to put into it.
[Above: The Time Capsule, In The Future]
Exiting the theatre, guests will now enter either Mickey's Star Trader's or Merchant of Venus, depending on which theatre they entered, both of which now stock items based on the experience, and the characters of BEN-E and the Morlocks.
References and Easter Eggs:
Throughout the experience, there are many references to previous attractions. Firstly, when you enter the main Exposition Hall, there are posters on the wall advertising "Mission to Mars: History or Hoax?" and "XS-Tech Teleportation: Seize The Future", referencing Mission to Mars and ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, respectively. Then, BEN-E refers to himself as "the most advanced robotic simulation of intelligence, a reference to SIR, who hosted the preshow for Alien Encounter. The two scout robots in the preshow are named SKP-1 and SKP-2, in tribute to Skippy, who appeared in the two tubes in both preceding versions of the show. Finally, throughout the experience, many pipes, tubes, displays and panels are labelled with the following codes:
- CL-NCH
- LC-C
- SP-LK
- Fe-MS
- GN-2
- X-STK
- ST-CH
- L1-L0
- M2M-75
- F2-TM-71
- AIT-16
See if you can work out what these reference for yourselves!
Realism:
The whole experience was designed to be something that Disney would realistically build, as opposed to a fantastic pipedream that has no chance of ever happening. Therefore, the layout was kept roughly the same, with only minor structural changes, and many show elements were retained from previous iterations of the attraction. The biggest structural change is the new glass wall for the Exposition Hall, followed by the new wall and ceiling structure for the two theatres. The preshow area is kept the same structurally, with a new copper and brass colour scheme to better fit the new story, a few new props, and a new TV monitor installed behind the control panel to display the two scout robots' feeds. BEN-E is a repurposed SIR / Sergeant 90210 animatronic, featuring a new head and body panelling.
Inside the theatre, the seating is the same, with enhanced effects and a new colour scheme. The teleportation tube now contains the vortex induction coil, and has a space at the base of the tube for the Morlock animatronic to rise from, along with another section of coil. This Morlock animatronic is a repurposed Stitch animatronic, and the Morlock hanging from the capsule ceiling is a newly built version of the same model, mounted onto a system whereby it can be swiftly lowered into and raised out of the theatre, allowing it to appear to scuttle around the ceiling vaults. The walls and ceiling of this theatre have been completely rebuilt to accommodate all of the assorted machinery, vents, ceiling vaults and panels, pipes and tubing, and the CircleVision screens and portholes necessary for the new story.
Technical Specification:
Preshow length: 5 minutes
Main show length: 12 minutes
Load / unload: 3 minutes
Theatre capacity: 162
Theoretical hourly capacity: 1296
Fastpass+: No
Ticket rating: C-Ticket
Height restriction: 40in (101cm)
Notice: This attraction may be too scary for young audiences
Other Notes:
The attraction would be the launching point for a return to the New Tomorrowland update that launched Alien Encounter, with the TTA now referencing buildings such as the Tomorrowland Interplanetary Convention Center, Tomorrowland Metropolis Science Center, and Rockettower Plaza again. This would provide a cohesive overall story to the area, and remove all of the characters and IPs that don't really belong in a futuristic spaceport city such as Tomorrowland.
If you want to see all of the development images for this project in one place, follow this link to the Imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/rGupq
