what ever happened with project gemini?

Lee

Lee

Adventurer
Re: Re: Re: The Changing Nature of EPCOT. . .

Originally posted by grizzlyhall
Bingo. But next time take a walk around Future World West. You'll notice MASSIVE space area between both the Land and Imagination and the Land and the Living Seas. The room is there. But is the heart?
Click to expand...

I gotta disagree. I have walked that area many times, and there is just not enough room for both Soarin' and a coaster. The Soarin' building would completely fill all the available space on either side of The Land. Any consruction in either area will require massive restructuring of the backstage areas. At one time the proposed "Hollywood" pavillion was designed for the space on the Imagination side, but that was before the development that has taken place behind that side of Future World.

I repeat...they can't do both. Not in that space.

Other than that, I enjoyed your post grizzlyhall. I simply think that we can have our cake and eat it too in Future World.
 
Figment1986

Figment1986

Well-Known Member
What about if the coaster is one of those small coasters like what IOA has for the kids to ride, Use that, that wont take much space up and it would go around different areas.

I think if the change is in the right direction is good, like tomorrowland WDW. not Tomorrowland DL.
 
Snapper Bean

Snapper Bean

Active Member
I also miss the great dark rides like World of Motion and Horizons. I believe at one point you indicated that it would have been feasible to retain World of Motion while adding a slimmed down version of Test Track. If that is true...how would that have worked?

I found the updated Journey into Your Imagination disappointing as well. It seems pennywise and pound foolish to not utilize all of the existing track (actually I'm not sure its pennywise either).
 
G

General Grizz

New Member
As for your World of Motion comment, it is impossible (I know I shouldn't use that word) to bring the attraction inside the pavilion unless the current Test Track ride space is destroyed. However, Test Track could have been built around if they indeed decided TO keep the World of Motion ride space.

As for your idea of rollercoasters, figment, it's an interesting concept. It reminds me of the TTA in Tomorrowland...but I'm not sure a roller coaster will do the trick. Compared to other great EPCOT feats, it just doesn't seem Disneyesque. But I did see it in IOA... :animwink:
 
cookiee_munster

cookiee_munster

Well-Known Member
if you think about it hard, a coaster really doesn't seem to go with the whole EPCOT scene... id love to know how they could theme a coaster around a rainforest.

if only B+M could bring a clone of air to Epcot, giving the theme of freedom, liberation and the feeling of flight :)... ah well.
 
Lee

Lee

Adventurer
Something to consider:

What role did GM play in the change from WoM to Test Track?
Did they ask for it? I know they had input, but to what degree?
Is AT&T involved with the Time Racers scenario? Is their sponsorship contingent on an updated attraction?

The whole Disney/GM relationship in the 90's led to a ton of problems, both with Test Track and Rocket Rods. It makes me question the wisdom of ride sponsorships. Sure they are financially beneficial, but creatively? Having Burbank control the purse strings is bad enough, but an outside sponsor?

Comments?
 
Lee

Lee

Adventurer
I know we're veering a bit off topic, but I think I am on the trail of an answer to my own question:

General Motors was the first company to sign with Disney to sponsor an EPCOT pavilion. The company signed a 10-year contract in December 1977. The pavilion opened on October 1, 1982. Its grand opening with GM executives and the press was held on October 5, 1982. When the contract ran out in 1992, GM was facing cutbacks and layoffs because of the slumping economy. The company could not decide whether to renew its sponsorship (which would mean costly renovations or a whole new ride as Disney wanted) or to simply end its association with Disney and EPCOT.
GM decided to renew its sponsorship for one year. They felt that would give them time to figure out if their EPCOT presence was beneficial to them and at the same time not let a competing company take their place. It also gave them another year to see if the industry turned around so they would have money to spend on a new attraction. At the end of the year, GM met with Disney and signed a new contract (presumably for ten years). World of Motion would remain open while a new ride was developed by Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) and General Motors.

This time, GM wanted to show guests something that focused specifically on the automobile end of transportation. They went back to one of WDI's original concepts for the Motion pavilion; one that would let guests experience how cars are tested before being manufactured for the public. Imagineers remembered their trip to GM's Milford Proving Ground in 1976 and thought that it had potential for an attraction. WDI re-visited GM's proving grounds in the early 90s and along with GM created a Test Track that would put guests in the seats of the test car instead of test dummies
 
B

Bayou_Tigerfan

New Member
I have to say that, from the first time I saw Jim Hill's now infamous map, I imagined Rainforest Rollercoaster as a very slow coaster for families that passed through an enclosed area of "rainforest" with educational audio. Is anyone sure that RR is truly planned as a high-speed coaster?

Grizz, wouldn't it be ironic if RR turned out to be a slow, educational ride with a cute theme song and some animatronics?
 
G

General Grizz

New Member
If only...if only!! :lol:

But based on the age target...and the fact that it's a roller coaster, it just doesn't seem possible....

But of course, it's Disney's job to show it IS, now isn't it? :animwink: :lookaroun ;)
 
B

Bayou_Tigerfan

New Member
But based on the age target...and the fact that it's a roller coaster, it just doesn't seem possible....
Click to expand...

But not everything on PG map is designed for an age target of 18 ... consider Jr. Autotopia, for example.

You may be right that using the word "rollercoaster" in the ride name means that it's unlikely to be something really slow, but maybe it's something where the story is that you're a scientist searching for a nearly extinct bird. You "fly" up to the top of the rainforest, learn about the rainforest, encounter different rainforest animals, see the bird and dash after it, etc.

In other words, it could be very educational while having a "thrill"component equal to or less than Goofy's Barnstormer ... very tame and family friendly.

How does that sound?
 
Poncho1973

Poncho1973

New Member
There is certainly enough hot air in this thread to launch 99 hot air balloons.

I'm going to back off... simply b/c I don't care and more importantly I think your "let's close Epcot up in a bottle and keep it forever" mentality is short-sighted.

p.s. to whoever said that I would need to see the people in Epcot everyday... I DO!
 
D

DarkMeasures

New Member
I always thought that the roller coaster would be a giant B&M inverted rollercoaster that before the ride you learn about the rainforest and preserving it through a series of preshows and then you go out and fly around the forest to see it yourself and see why it needs to be preserved.
 
SirNim

SirNim

Well-Known Member
The amount of space between The Land and The Living Seas is not at all big... It's an illusion, thanks to the larger-than-life gardens in front of The Land..
 

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