Remember: Horizons

[crowdcontroltap]

Hey Ya'll!
Just thought it would be nice to remember Horizons for a few minutes. This was one of my favorite attractions at EPCOT and always looked forward to it a kid growing up and going to Walt Disney World. I remember everything about that ride and Im glad we used the video camera in taping the ride so I can still see it and for future generations to see it.

Remember the colorful curtain start with the voice over introduction "Tomorrows Horizon's are here today!"; the future that was to be with Jules Verne's man being shot to the moon with a dog and chicken inside his capsule with him; or the vision of Paris, France with all the hot air balloons in the sky transporting people every where; to the 1950's version of the future with robot's as Butler's and Chef's (one thing that version of the future got right was the Tan-O-Matic Machine that the man is sitting in and I guess you could say the T.V. near the bathtub that the woman is watching...if you like to watch T.V. while you bathe). Also remember the neon "Jetson's" type city with flying cars.

One thing I did not like when I was 4 or 5 was the giant screen that shows the Space Shuttle lifting off and then a video of traveling through I believe a computer chip or something to that affect.

Remember the City of the Future with the dad playing a light-up keyboard and the mom talking to her daughter using a hologram type phone where she could see her and talk to her. They also had a little garden behind their house. I always wanted to go and sit on that couch and just take it all in.

One thing I will never forget will be the orange smell when you go to the Farm of the Future where the oranges are being harvested by robot's with a storm on the horizon. Another cool thing is the spaceship that was docked near the daughters work station.

Then you go to her house where her husband and son are planning on baking a cake for a relatives birthday. Everything was automated here...including the refrigerator.

Thats just the starter...I will have more of the ride in a little bit. Enjoy!

 

[marni1971]

Hmm....

colourful curtain? Nope - fibre optic clouds and lenticular slide effetcs

4 or 5 screens? 2 Omnimax domes

Little garden? Nova Cite!

That`s how much I - and a lot of people around here - remember Horizons. All too well. You`re in good comapny!

 

[Fun2BFree]

I wish I was old enough to appreciate Horizons when I rode it in 1997. Sadly, all I got out of it then was air-conditioning and a 'boring' ride-through.

It's true that genius is never appreciated in its time, no?

 

[Now Is The Time]

Quite simply, it was just a wonderful ride that took you on a great journey and made you feel good. No, not as thrilling as Mission Space or Test Track, but I loved how it made me feel inside. So many visuals to look at to spark the senses and most importantly, your imagination.

 

[tdonald]

Like F2BF, I only rode Horizons when I was 4, and I don't recall it at all. But from the hundreds of things I've heard about it, it's probably the ride I would want to go back and ride more than an any other.

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

I went on Horizons only once....my first trip in 1996. I enjoyed it...I remember being in awe at the details, the elaborate sets, and the music......it was great to hear the transitional music between the various scenes...and who could forget the choose your ending

I was glad that I experienced Horizons at an age not too young, but not too old, I didn't quiet understand it, but I never found it boring, same with Spaceship Earth, I was jaw-dropped staring at all the sets and drifting through the fiber optic, even though I couldn't comprehend Jeremy Irons electronic babble. :lol:

I would have to say Horizons was one of the most elaborate and inspiring things Imagineering ever did even if guests over the years found it boring or didn't even know it was open or even what it was... because so many Imagineers got together on the project, the intense research and development, craft, art, music, and effects was amazing what came about for Horizons, but with no sponsor after 1994, and lacking upkeep and updates, was also a catalyst for Horizon's end.

It was special, it was unique, it was what EPCOT Center was and what EPCOT Center failed at, I remember Horizons with fond memories....even though I can'
t ride mission space ever again because both verisons make me uneasy :zipit:

 

[crowdcontroltap]

Im glad alot of guest remember it well and miss it too.

From the desert scene you would move on to the Ocean Life of the Future with the young guy working on his submersible (which I thought was pretty cool) and talking to his girlfriend via a video phone (which did come true). You would see a group of school kids and their teacher getting ready to take a swim (field trip) with a sea lion with them. One of the most awesome things was the underwater restaurant/hotel scene and the robots working on the sea floor.

Next up was life in Space in the Future. You would see the stars and vastness of outer space with astronauts doing construction outside the spaceship (loved the music during this scene). Then you go inside the Space Colony and see a spaceship ready for take off; crystals growing in space; people exercising in space (remember the guy riding the bike upside down?); and a family at a docking station with the little boy flying around with his dog and the dad trying to retrieve the boys shoe (I think). The last part of the Space scene was a birthday party for the grandson of the people we met in the Future City...all the family was there via a holographic phone!

Lastly you got to choose your destination: 1)Flying a spaceship through a desert colony. (2)Taking a futuristic submersible for a cruise through a Ocean Colony. (3) Or my favorite was the spaceship through the Future Space Colony.

Then you would disembark the ride and if you were like me you would ride it again later in the day withe the music still ringing in your ear's "If we can dream it then we can do it........New Horizon's for you and for me!"

Hope this brings back great memories and next time I will bring up another great attraction that was. Take care.

 

[wickedfan07]

I don't think I ever rode Horizons. Even if I had been o it once, my mostr recent opportunity would have been when I was six or seven. It would have gone way over my head. Oh well.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I rode in 1999 AND LOVED IT!

The details remain crystal clear for me and this was the ULTIMATE EPCOT Center attraction!


*sigh*,I loved my Horizons,that's for sure.Every time "If You Can Dream It"plays on my iPod,I get goosebumps.

 

[marni1971]

I rode in 1999 AND LOVED IT!

1999? You were soooooo lucky!

I don`t suppose you recall what date?

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

March?I think it was in the spring.
I was 9 during the last ride so I dunno...But I do know that I loved it.

It might have been 98/97 if it wasn't open then...
Speaking of last rides,I got to go on SSE94 one of the last days in June when it was last open.

 

[unkadug]

Altoona... that's almost in the middle of Attalla, Arab, Albertville, and Ashville...not to far from Atlanta. I love Alabama alliteration.

Aloha :wave:

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

That was a less than subtle bump.:lol:

 

[mcjaco]

Hmm....

colourful curtain? Nope - fibre optic clouds and lenticular slide effetcs

4 or 5 screens? 2 Omnimax domes

Little garden? Nova Cite!

That`s how much I - and a lot of people around here - remember Horizons. All too well. You`re in good comapny!

And that scene with travelling through a computer chip? That was taken directly from Tron.

 

[preludevtec01]

Horizons was sooooo ahead of it's time and I would say to this day still is. Living under the sea?? Anti Gravity boots?? Like stated above not as cool as MS or TT but just a blast as a ride. I truely miss it

 

[Oriolesmagic]

I don't really remember Horizons as I'm only a youngster, but I wish I did, it sounds amazing...that's what drives me crazy about some kids my age, all they want is the thrill rides but they don't stop to appreciate the classics, like my group for night of joy went on cop, and almost fell asleep! uh, well there's a great big beautiful tomorrow!

 

[mcjaco]

Well, at least you saw the "prequel" to Horizons. :lol:

In all honestly, CoP puts me to sleep too. That last act is terrible. Grandma play virtual reality games? Oh brother.

 

[starbabyc]

I miss that attraction

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I miss that attraction

We all do.

 

[yankspy]

I can smell the orange groves now.