Horizon's demise

[wendysmom]

By the way...nice avatar, Blackride! :wave: On topic, someone posted a link to youtube so we could once again enjoy Horizons. Great to see it again...we loved it!

 

[IceGator]

You mean my Horizons popsicle didn't self generate in the mini-fridge/freezer? Well that's not very magical. Hrumph. :lol:

 

[montyz81]

Thanks all for giving me some answers and trying to add some light around the demise of Horizons. I jsut wish I could have seen it!

 

[vonpluto]

Sorry if I wasn't exactly clear about the beverage service. The way I understood it, this mysterious utilidor was used only as a means of stocking the lounge (so that the CMs weren't seen pushing carts in front of guests just like the rest of the utilidors). It was not the actual source for the beverage service there. :lol:

When I have more time, I'll try to search more for the place where I found this information/misinformation. I couldn't have made it up if I tried...well, maybe not.

Thanks for the compliment, Martin! :wave:

Pic of the EPCOT "utilidor"

http://www.stevealcorn.com/atwork/Epcot/tunnel.jpg

 

[marni1971]

Yep - Epcot has a small tunnel from its entrance behind Energy, linking the large basements of both Innoventions buildings.

Still didn`t go near Horizons though

 

[Moustronaut]

Oh wow, the Horizons sinkhole rumor still lives!... This may also be a rumor, but it makes more sense to me than a sinkhole.

I never put much stock into the whole sinkhole theory until I was at the National Archives in Washington DC in October of 2007. There is an exhibit of aerial photographs then and now. One of the featured areas is photos of Lake Buena Vista from a pre WDW date and from 2000. In the pre-WDW photo, you can easily pick out where the World Showcase Lagoon is going to be because there is a patch of vegetation (trees, plants, grass, whatever) that is almost exactly the same shape as the lagoon that looks completely different than the surrounding area. I don't know if there was a swamp or shallow lake there and Imagineers used that natural feature as the starting point for dredging out the World Showcase Lagoon. The only other place that has similar looking vegetation is a little patch in the spot where Horizons would be built. So after seeing that picture in DC, I believe there was something different about the land under Horizons compared to the rest of Future World. It’s at least plausible that construction crews did not properly grade out the land in 1979-ish and the expense of fixing that added into the replace instead of fix decision for an aging attraction.

 

[marni1971]

There are 3 major sinkholes around the EPCOT site - the lagoon, the east lake and under where Energy was built. The latter only appeared during construction. Nothing was near Horizons. Again.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

There are 3 major sinkholes around the EPCOT site - the lagoon, the east lake and under where Energy was built. The latter only appeared during construction. Nothing was near Horizons. Again.

So UoE is on a Sinkhole!?

Holy Carp!

 

[LorangeJuice]

Well, since it's still killing me where I got the "utilidor" info from I did some more searching, but came up empty.

I did, however, find one of the posts of the pic that I believe fueled the fire shall we say...

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showpost.php?p=158457&postcount=63

Any further info on this pic would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Rob562]

That is so true. Its been several years now into the 21st century and all the stuff on Horizons hasnt happend yet. We dont live in space or under the sea, yea I think its possible, but its not whats happening as showcased in teh ride. So they would have either had to update it, or just completely get rid of it, which I think getting rid of it would have been what they would have done, so maybe its good that they did then, instead of looking at a dated Horizons now. Look at Cop, its dated. The whole new century is what we are living in now.

So just because all those things aren't happening here at the start of the 21st Century means they can't happen at SOME point in the 21st century? Compare 1908 to 1998. (Or even 1958 to 1998) In 1908, very few people could imagine things like television, computers, jet airplanes or space shuttles. Who's to say that things in Horizons like desert farming, space colonies, undersea cities, holographic phones, or even MORE fantastic inventions we can't even think of right now won't happen by 2098?

So UoE is on a Sinkhole!?

Holy Carp!

Yup. It was discovered well into the construction phase. By that point, too many other foundations had been poured for them to move UoE, so they came up with a pump system that regulates the water level in the sinkhole so that it never opens up. It's still there, with multiple redundant backups.

-Rob

 

[Now Is The Time]

What gets me is that they tear Horizons down, yet change Imagination to such a bad attraction and keep it going all these years. To this day, it's still a ghost town whenever you go there. Would have been great if they kept Horizons going and put MS where Imagination is!

 

[raven]

Michael Eisner gave the order to tear down Horizons because they had another attraction to put in Future World. Horizons was elected for it's demise because it currently didn't have a sponsor and Disney didn't want to upkeep it. There was nothing wrong with the ride or building. It was just standing there without a sponsor at the wrong time.

 

[raven]

Sorry, but Utilidor beverage service? :lol: Never heard that one!! :lol: A true urban myth!

Actually it's not. There IS a small tunnel in Epcot that runs under Future World to use for just that. It's mearly a narrow hallway but it's there.

 

[marni1971]

Actually it's not. There IS a small tunnel in Epcot that runs under Future World to use for just that. It's mearly a narrow hallway but it's there.

As I said, it runs from Energy, skirts south of Project Tomorrow, and connects both the Innoventions buildings. Both Innoventions buildings have very large basements for storage, offices, break rooms and the like. Stargate, Centorium and Sunrise Terrace were all landlocked when CCore opened, hence the supply route :wave:

Originally it had a series of lifts, ramps and stairs to connect to the upper (ground) level - much like the MK. See the layout below.

There isn`t a Utilidor beverage service tunnel between Innoventions and Horizons.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

As I said, it runs from Energy, skirts south of Project Tomorrow, and connects both the Innoventions buildings. Both Innoventions buildings have very large basements for storage, offices, break rooms and the like. Stargate, Centorium and Sunrise Terrace were all landlocked when CCore opened, hence the supply route :wave:

There isn`t a Utilidor beverage service tunnel between Innoventions and Horizons.

Trust the man.He knows his EPCOT.

(Great new WoL Tribute,BTW,Martin!:sohappy

 

[WDWTrojan]

Yeah, uh, nobody rode it and it tested the poorest with most guests (not including the uber-Disney fans).

 

[unkadug]

Yeah, uh, nobody rode it and it tested the poorest with most guests (not including the uber-Disney fans).

Source?