Horizons questions.

[Walter]

I remember most of Horizons pretty well, but there are two big things that I can't remember...

1) What were the vehicles like was it an omnimover? I know that it was held from above, but could it rotate? Was it one row of four or two rows of two?

and

2) How did the screens work? How large were they? If it was an omnimover, how did you watch a set film? You would have had to stop, which can't be.

Could somebody please help me out, here?

 

[The_CEO]

It never stopped. The Imax Theater was so big, you didn't notice it. Trust me, it was done and was awesome.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I believe the cars only held 4 people, I don't think it rotated.
I do remember flaps going into position on either side for the movie portion when your group had selected a destination so you couldn't see what other vehicles had selected.

 

[Walter]

So, did you just pass by the screen as it was playing a continuously looping film? If so, how did the last movie work, where you chose your own ending?

 

[Mirage]

I believe that I movie screen moved down and simply followed the vehicle as you moved.
Does that make sence?

 

[A Kind Of Magic]

"Come True Horizon"! Quote By Jon Anderson.

Here are the answers to your questions:



1. It was an omni mover, it could not rotate and it held four Horizons passengers in one vehicle.


2. The screens worked like a movie projector. It was the size of an IMAX theatre screen. You watched the film by sitting and looking while the vehicle moved to the right.



To let you know I got very dizzy back at the omni screens in the day when Horizons by GE was shiny and new.

These types of rides always simply spell "Worlds Fair" New York City to those who have spent many dollars and years going to fun parks.

This Horizons "ride style" was a very long time ago when IMAX films where just coming out and it scared most Horizons passengers to see films that where bigger than life.

It's wonderful to know I was one of the lucky few to go on the best ride in human history!

 

[A Kind Of Magic]

One of the Horizons designers wanted the ride to have its own ending inspired by General Motors "Futurama" in the 1931 "Worlds Fair" New York City that had moving vehicles like the work in progress ride then titled "Century Three" later to be changed by GE to "Horizons".

Choosing your own ending required many GE rear projectors paired in certain number of groups to individual ride screens. The movies rotated with the vehicles. The three ride choices where selected by the passengers and played back on GE laser disk players by computer selection.
Motion control cameras over the models, and special GE lighting systems prevented the camera from casting a shadow when watching it. Remember this was very detailed and felt realistic.

Originally four ride choices where planed for the then titled ride "Future Probe" later changed by GE.

This fourth ending was for riding on a Mag-Lev train.

I wish they would have kept it.

I always thought younger people of today would be asking questions about the Horizons GE corporate and senior executive lounges.

 

[s25843]

Originally posted by A Kind Of Magic
One of the Horizons designers wanted the ride to have its own ending inspired by General Motors "Futurama" in the 1931 "Worlds Fair" New York City that had moving vehicles like the work in progress ride then titled "Century Three" later to be changed by GE to "Horizons".

Choosing your own ending required many GE rear projectors paired in certain number of groups to individual ride screens. The movies rotated with the vehicles. The three ride choices where selected by the passengers and played back on GE laser disk players by computer selection.
Motion control cameras over the models, and special GE lighting systems prevented the camera from casting a shadow when watching it. Remember this was very detailed and felt realistic.

Originally four ride choices where planed for the then titled ride "Future Probe" later changed by GE.

This fourth ending was for riding on a Mag-Lev train.

I wish they would have kept it.

I always thought younger people of today would be asking questions about the Horizons GE corporate and senior executive lounges.

Wow Thanks for that Info!

As I was just about to post, picture a large circle, with little flaps extending out all around it, in each of these flaps held a screen., The ride would move into position and you would get to watch your own ending.

I remember there were 3 choices to the ending..

Does anyone know what would happen if there were only 3 of you in the Omnimover and you each chose a different ending?

 

[A Kind Of Magic]

"Come Up To Brava Space Shuttles Depart Daily"- Quote by Frank Welker.

Majority ruled.





Two or more of the same ride choices invoked the Horizons computer by GE to select that ride ending.

 

[A Kind Of Magic]

"Come Up To Brava"- Quote by Frank Welker

If only 3 people sat in the Horizon vehicle then the GE computer selected the first ride choice.

This would be rare because the CM's usually allowed only four passengers per Horizons trip.



GE Song:
"For today holds the challenge
To make this world a better place to be
New Horizons for you and for me."

 

[mkepcotmgmak]

WHY DID I NEVER RIDE THIS?

it never sounded this interesting

(picks up hot cofee and drops on self, then sues mcdonalds)

I sure wish i would have ridden this when i had the chance! It sounds like it was amazing... why did they close it? and what year did it close? ( i know they put M:S here, but why didn't they build a new building?)

 

[Timekeeper]

I read somewhere that Horizons was the sequal (continuation) to Carousel of Progress. How true is this? I don't specifically remember the characters' names, but now that I think about it, there were a lot of similarities in the family cast of characters.

Before:

<img src="http://photoalbums.wdwmagic.com/data/500/437RobotMural.jpg">_


After:

<img src="http://photoalbums.wdwmagic.com/data/500/437MissionSpaceNight.jpg">



Timekeeper

 

[lamarvenoy]

If you want to take a trip down memory lane I know there is a "virtual online tour" of this ride somewhere,someone please help me out with a location! One more thing, I remember Disney had this ride mechanism on E-bay for like $125,000, Did they ever sell it?If its in someones big basement out there e-me, I'll pay to play

 

[s25843]

Originally posted by mkepcotmgmak
why did they close it? and what year did it close? ( i know they put M:S here, but why didn't they build a new building?)

If I remember correctly they closed it due to building problems

 

[Walter]

Originally posted by lamarvenoy
If you want to take a trip down memory lane I know there is a "virtual online tour" of this ride somewhere,someone please help me out with a location! One more thing, I remember Disney had this ride mechanism on E-bay for like $125,000, Did they ever sell it?If its in someones big basement out there e-me, I'll pay to play

I know that they have one at Digital Disney. I'm not sure of the link, and, no, it's not something like www.digitaldisney.com. It's something weird.

It sucks that some of you didn't get to ride Horizons, it was only the greatest thing ever! It closed January 9, 1999. If you like SSE, then you would have liked Horizons. I also heard that there might have been building problems, but I don't believe that for a second. And, yes, it was a sequel to CoP. If you look at the family, they even slightly resemble the CoP family. It's a shame that we had to lose it to that piece of garbage, "Mission: Space Out". :fork: :brick:

 

[daksimba]

Originally posted by s25843
If I remember correctly they closed it due to building problems

For the most part, correct.

Some of the reasons it closed:

1. No sponser. Ever since GE pulled out to go strictly Illuminations, it hasn't had a sponser. Disney doesn't like that.

2. The building was falling apart. The roof had a million leaks, and would have cost a fortune to replace the roof.

3. They generally thought the ride didn't promote "the Future" very well anymore, and didn't want to spend so much money on a rehab.

4. E-tickets are the hot thing now, not omnimovers.

 

[Walter]

Thank you for answering all of my questions, too, by the way.

 

[Walter]

Originally posted by daksimba
...
E-tickets are the hot thing now, not omnimovers.

Wasn't it an E-Ticket?

 

[Fido]

www.intercot.com has a 'past rides' section with info on Horizons. Man I loved that ride. You could smell the oranges.

 

[markc]

That's more of a rumor than it is fact. I had the opportunity to be able to tour the Horizons building quite extensively up until it closed. I had been on the roof a lot (if you were able to go up there, you could see a great view of WDW, and on top of that, the roof housed one of the most powerful cameras known-to-man (at the time that it was installed) and was able to zoom in on almost any park guest in any area of Epcot..even allthe way to World Showcase! Anyway, on my times on the roof, I didn't notice the damage being in a state of dis-repair, nor were there ever complaint. Granted, the roof wasn't in excellent condition, but it was in far better condition than the roofs on most buildings in the Magic Kingdom.

Basically the only problem with the building was that it was going to hold the then un-named Space attraction adequately. It would've cost more to totally re-fit the building than it would just to demolish it and build a completely new building. It's sort of sad, because the Horizons building is far more majestic and interesting looking than Mission Space.

Originally posted by daksimba
For the most part, correct.

2. The building was falling apart. The roof had a million leaks, and would have cost a fortune to replace the roof.