Horizons

Originally Posted By jonvn

Video of the ride. And they closed this down. Replaced with a vomit inducing thing that belongs in Tomorrowland. And they wonder why attendance has been flat.


<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImQSEV0NagU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=ImQSEV0NagU</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkYBnCmnXcc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=qkYBnCmnXcc</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5Zh9jE36jw" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=h5Zh9jE36jw</a>

 

Originally Posted By Mr X

As much as I ADORED that attraction (thanks for the vids, by the way), the truth of the matter was that it was getting absolutely ZERO traffic those last few years.

Seriously, and I had an AP at the time so I rode a LOT (cause, like I said, I adored it), I don't recall there EVER being any people waiting in line.

It was quite sad, really. Sometimes we'd go on and there wouldn't be a single person seated anywhere in view of our car. Just empty (like "park's closed" sort of empty).

So, you can't really blame them for wanting something new. Mission:Space might not be right (but neither are car races or turtle talks really), but it gets a lot more people through the gates I think.

 

Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom

I miss Horizons. However, attendence for the ride was dieing down. It was an expensive attraction to maintain, and when it first built it for the most part was dated technology ( that worked I might add ). I miss it but at the same time I can't hold it against Disney for going for a more modern attraction. On paper Mission Space sounds good, in reality it didn't pan out that way. It has no appeal to me and I have never riden this ride. My friends that have gone on this ride have zero intrest of going back on it again.

 

Originally Posted By RoadTrip

<<It was quite sad, really. Sometimes we'd go on and there wouldn't be a single person seated anywhere in view of our car. Just empty (like "park's closed" sort of empty).>>

Horizons had also been my favorite Epcot attraction after Spaceship Earth. The last time I went on Horizons I also couldn't see another person around me. What was really weird was being the ONLY person the whole way through the queue. For whatever reason, it just was not popular any more.

I think Mission Space is a fantastic attraction, and now that they have the green side there is no reason anyone should not enjoy it. Too bad it got such a bad rap on the fan boards. It is a totally unique attraction and I love it. I try to catch it at least 4-5 times every visit to WDW.

 

Originally Posted By jonvn

I like mission space. It just doesn't belong where it was put.

I rode both the green and orange sides. I didn't understand why it would make anyone sick, but as I exited the orange side, there was someone sitting there covered in vomit.

If the ride was empty, then maybe it should have just been updated.

 

Originally Posted By RoadTrip

<<If the ride was empty, then maybe it should have just been updated.>>

I've heard updating Horizons was impossible because the building was structurally unsound and had to come down. Of course I heard that on a fan board, so what level of truth it has I don't know.

 

Originally Posted By ExpDave

Thank you for the video. I never got to see Horizons in person and would have loved to. However just from the video I can see why it didn't have the staying power of many great Disney attractions like HM, SM, PotC, Splash M. etc. What I saw on the video was interesting, educational, optimistic, but in my opinion not very entertaining. And entertainment is why people go to theme parks.

 

Originally Posted By Goofyernmost

>>>Horizons had also been my favorite Epcot attraction after Spaceship Earth. The last time I went on Horizons I also couldn't see another person around me. What was really weird was being the ONLY person the whole way through the queue. For whatever reason, it just was not popular any more.<<<

That is really a conundrum shared by more then one WDW attraction. SSE is still popular because it is the first thing you come too and it has such a unique structure. You have to ask yourself why rides like CoP, Horizon, Imagination and World of Motion suddenly became unpopular with people that had never even seen it before. Why wouldn't they have been willing to try it once? Where did they get the information that it wasn't worth the effort without actually experiencing it? I consider myself to be of, at least, average intelligence and I can not make any sense of it at all.

>>>I think Mission Space is a fantastic attraction, and now that they have the green side there is no reason anyone should not enjoy it. Too bad it got such a bad rap on the fan boards. It is a totally unique attraction and I love it. I try to catch it at least 4-5 times every visit to WDW.<<<

Isn't that the truth. I have ridden it several times and love it. I have to admit, however, that because of it's "killer" reputation I was a little hesitant. I had never been bothered by any ride at Disney. I have never had motion sickness and yet I hesitated. Scared, I think it is called. Finally I decided that I would rather die being adventuresome then dying from boredom. I tried it and the only thing I could say when it was done was "awesome" and I have never used that word to describe anything else. I plan to try the green side in a couple of weeks and determine what is lost by the lack of "G" Forces. A lot, I'll bet.

 

Originally Posted By trekkeruss

<<(Horizons) was an expensive attraction to maintain, and when it first built it for the most part was dated technology ( that worked I might add ). I miss it but at the same time I can't hold it against Disney for going for a more modern attraction.>>

For me, I don't enjoy a Disney attraction because it has modern technology, I enjoy it because it tells a great story well. Horizons did that, and so did World of Motion. While I enjoy Mission: Space and Test Track, they are not as good as their predecessors, IMO.

 

Originally Posted By plpeters70

"Why wouldn't they have been willing to try it once? Where did they get the information that it wasn't worth the effort without actually experiencing it?"

I've often wondered if its own amazing capacity was its own undoing. There's nothing that draws people in like a line - if something has a big line, then it must be good, right?? Well, I can't remember Horizons EVER having a long line - even when the park was crazy crowded. The worst I ever saw was a line that extended a little ways out the front door - otherwise, the ride just looked dead.

And since the pavilion had only the one ride, and nothing else like restaurants or shops, I think it didn't draw the crowds over there.

Also, towards the end of Horizons' life, EPCOT attendance was way down, so I'm sure that also attributed to its demise. It's just a shame that we had to lose such a unique and optimistic ride like Horizons. I don't think Disney will ever build anything like it again. They just don't build attractions at that scale anymore.

 

Originally Posted By plpeters70

By the way, just to point out how amazing this ride was, and the amazing types of attractions that Disney built for the original EPCOT Center:

Disney built two HUGE Omnimax Screens to be used for only about 2 minutes of a 15 minute attraction! Today, Disney builds entire attractions around such things, but back then, it was only a small part of an amazing experience.

I would love to see Disney try its hand at attractions of this size and length again!!

 

Originally Posted By nbodyhome

I don't expect to see Disney creating too many lengthy attractions again. Attractions like the Tiki Room and Imagination end up getting chopped in half.

I'm also not sure that guests are clamoring for more Horizons and World of Motion style attractions. (Myself, I really enjoy the longer Omnimover type rides).

 

Originally Posted By RoadTrip

<<I don't expect to see Disney creating too many lengthy attractions again. >>

No one has the attention span anymore for the long attractions. The soundstage/backlot tour at MGM was over an hour when it first opened. Now it's been broken up into chunks to match people's demand for shorter attractions.

There is so much to see in the parks that people feel like if they spend a half hour in line and then another half hour on an attraction, they will never see as much as they want to see. I think the need for dinner reservations has also increased people's concerns about time. Now they always have to factor in if they can make it to their priority seating or not.

The current pace of life is just not good for long large-scale attractions. Even though I try to experience the Disney parks at a much slower pace than many, I find myself falling into the trap too. There have been many times when I've looked over at Universe of Energy, figured that between wait time and attraction time it would suck at least an hour out of my day, and decided to move on. And I do this even though I think portions of that attraction are among the best at Epcot.

 

Originally Posted By nbodyhome

I agree on the attention span. However, many of the longer attractions tend to have shorter waits. So that helps.

I do enjoy Universe of Energy, but it is showing it's age. For me, there is a problem in using well-known celebrities, it ends up dating an attraction much faster.

 

Originally Posted By trekkeruss

I don't buy the lack of attention span argument. Plenty of people seem to be willing to sit through lengthy attractions, not to mention the movies and stage shows Disney offers. I think it is more Disney ratcheting down the Imagineering that goes into long and elaborately themed attractions.

 

Originally Posted By Mr X

It's interesting that the stage shows (which I personally find a snooze mostly) seem to be getting longer at the same time the attractions are getting shorter.

Pity.

 

Originally Posted By brotherdave

Horizon, World of Motion, and the original Journey Into Imagination were wonderous attractions that dazzled the senses. They were incredible experiences that offered much to be absorbed and did it in a lesiurely fashion that never felt rushed. Spaceship Earth is possibly the last hold-out to this remarkable storytelling formula.

My theory to the shorter attraction length is that the longer period of time that people are experiencing an attraction, the less chance of them spending money in the park. Sadly, I don't think we'll ever see 20 minute plus ride attractions anymore because of this.

 

Originally Posted By Mr X

**They were incredible experiences that offered much to be absorbed and did it in a lesiurely fashion that never felt rushed. Spaceship Earth is possibly the last hold-out to this remarkable storytelling formula.**

So true.

 

Originally Posted By nbodyhome

>> Horizon, World of Motion, and the original Journey Into Imagination were wonderous attractions that dazzled the senses. <<

Honestly, I think Horizons and JII both needed severe TLC when they closed. I didn't get dazzled by either anymore, but the point of building attractions around technology - you have to update once in a while (like Spaceship Earth has been). I still enjoyed both, but not as often as when they first opened.

I don't tend to watch Disney shows (just Illuminations). But I do think that attention spans are shorter now. One can easily walk out of a show, but not as much a ride.

 

Originally Posted By plpeters70

I don't know if I buy the attention span argument - as was pointed out before, people still attend stage shows at the parks, and those can be as long as 45 minutes. Plus, people still happily queue up for Small World, Haunted Mansion and Pirates -- all attractions that are pretty close in length to some of the old EPCOT rides.

My personal opinion is that "short attention spans" is just another excuse used by Imagineers. It's the same as the "guests want more cartoon characters" excuse for filling the parks with nothing but cartoon crap. But these excuses just don't seem to hold-up when compared against reality.