In this post I'm going to try to synthesize most of these ideas above.
To use most of everyone's thoughts -- there has been a lot of talk about going back in time and showing how humans have evolved and grown through technology and lifestyle. That I think would work very well as a
"pre-show"
I have 2 ideas for a preshow:
1 - I think
@FigmentPigments even said that was for a One Sentence competition project if I remember correctly. She made it into the queue. Since we've been talking about Omnimax screens, and using those to show a montage of a progression through time, what if that was a sit-down pre-show.
Similar to the Beauty and the Beast project we were working on last week, the attraction would be synthesized into 2 parts, with the first part of the attraction setting the stage for the future with a show on large scale screens. This show would be easily updated/removed in 15-20 years if it becomes outdated....rather than having it on the attraction itself where the whole ride would become outdated.
I'm picturing something similar to the pre-show to Universe of Energy (and since we are redoing that pavilion as well, I'm sure that original design will be altered slightly and Century 22 could take the reigns of a pre-show film.
After the show has ended (5 mins or so), you then enter the FuturePort and have now entered the future.
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2 - To borrow Figment's idea -- what if the first half of the queue was a museum of sorts in old technology. This would allow us to utilize the Ben Franklin quote maybe on the walls, or next to a replica of his bifocals on display, showing human ingenuity through time.
(The Ben Franklin quote in reference)
"I find myself captivated more by dreams of the future than the history of the past. I regret that I was born too soon. Imagine the height to which we may be carried in a thousand years, the power of man over matter. Perhaps we will learn to deprive large masses of their gravity and give them levity for easy transport. Agriculture may diminish its labor and double its produce; all diseases may be prevented or cured, including even old age—our lives lengthened at pleasure beyond Methuselah."
Then -- guests could enter a "Future Building prep-room" (similar to Test Track) where they can design their future from a variety of options. Where I am stuck in this brainstorming point is....the feasibility without the use of screens. So -- a solution I came up with for this is you'd be designing 3 inventions that through projection technology, would show up in the show scenes and help the AAs and characters in each scene throughout their daily life.
For instance -- let's say our 3 major locations are the Floating Cities, Europa, and a Futuristic Suburbia (which would go along with the little things in life that we should cherish - which would hit close to home pardon the pun, for a lot of families) In each location, your technology will be on display.
I'm not 100% on this idea --- it's just a thought.
Anyways moving onto the actual ride -- If we took care of our past in the queue/pre-show. Then we don't need to put Jules Verne in the attraction, or spend time in the past. We covered it already. When you take off on Horizons 1, you should be in the future already.
Which brings us to -- the take off of the trackless vehicle could be a "pod" off of Horizons 1 Space Station. Which would explain why they are trackless and only fit 2-3 guests each.
The pod could have some futuristic explanation for warp speed, going from each location to another in light speed.
At this point I'll stop to see if anyone has thoughts on the actual attraction scenes.