Ellen is MAGICal god forbid anyone have to think
I first saw it in 1986 and I can assure you that I was totally unimpressed from my first visit. In fact I was totally turned off by the self righteousness of Exxon. It was even less impressive after 1989 and the Valdez Oil Spill.
Admiral, you might enjoy this article on McCall's works related to this piece here :
http://progresscityusa.com/2011/07/27/the-horizons-story-part-ii-robert-mccall/
I first went on this ride when I was about nine or ten. It stuck with me for years after. It was definitely the surprise of the movie theater transforming into a 'time machine' and taking us back to see dinosaurs that wowed me. But I distinctly remember being incredibly bored during the 'fossil fuels' movie and regretting ever setting foot in the attraction. As the movie dragged on, I kept on asking my parents if we could just leave, since I was anxious to see what other rides were in the park. So in a way, the long, pedantic film made the ride portion all the more awesome for me
The "Brain Power" conclusion confuses me to no end. Because, as far as I can figure out, there is no brain power after death. I have a feeling that every single person that sees the show will be far dead before any of the resources mentioned run out.I written about this more verbosely somewhere on these boards, but here's my quick rundown of the dated-ness of the current UoE:
1. Alex Trebek's mustache
2. Gigantic cell phone in the preshow
3. Percentage of renewable energy that Bill references has probably gone up
4. Gung ho attitude towards deep sea drilling
The basic ideas of the show: that we're stuck using fossil fuels to some degree for a while, renewable resources are going to play a bigger part in the future, and we need to use our brain power to think our way out of our own "energy nightmare"... sound pretty relevant today. It's like when people complain about the voice recognition oven in CoP; with Siri on iPhones and autocomplete everywhere, has that joke ever been more relevant than it is today? But don't get me started on CoP...
And what about science....
That's not exactly my memory of it. The ride would constantly break down. Often, when we got to the pavilion, a CM would tell us to come back in a couple of hours or so because the ride wasn't operating. So, when they did finally let people on it, the wait was very long. The line was both inside and out. It was during the outside of the line, the wait was mere hell, especially on a hot and sticky Florida day. Getting to the inside portion of the line was such a relief, with the AC and nice shade!
Sure, I thought that was cool and certainly different.
Yup, that was cool as well.
Not particularly, no!
My memory must be a little lacking. Specifically what are you referring too?
Not after just being in a complete geodesic sphere that was right next door. Who can't build a massive trapezoid building?
I never said anything about length. In fact, I still ride it today. The amount of time was never an issue. The content was indeed an issue with me. 45 minutes of edutainment I am quite good with. 45 minute commercials, not so much. Also remember I was 38 years old when I first rode it. That might have changed my perspective a little.
Now that is impressive. You won't find an argument from me on that.
Are you one of the people that complained that the rides were too long so that Disney could justify making them shorter? 45 minutes is too long only if it is boring. I am always amazed now how quickly that time goes. Before the change... Yawnnnnn!
