Originally Posted By jonvn "we get much more scientific "bang for the buck" with our un-manned forays into space." That is very true. "A person interested in the future can find out infinitely more sitting in their home they will ever see in a theme park. " You can also sit at home and watch a tv show about roller coasters, it's not the same experience as riding one. The problem with a lot of this sort of talk ignores something very popular in Florda, Mission:Space. Yes, it makes people puke, but it's the perfect sort of thing that belongs in Tomorrowland. It's not about gadgets, it's fun, and it's about the future. "I don’t think Inner Space type attractions would work today" I don't know if it would or not, but the thing is that people were saying how folks used to be so invested in the future, and the truth is that they were no more interested then than today. But that the things in Tomorrowland still were there to inspire through their entertainment. "How do you do a “Tomorrowland†that is not instantly dated?" By not making it about gadgets. "Simulating space travel for example is expensive, dangerous, and nauseating (see Space at Epcot)." It's not dangerous. "But where is ATIS now?" It's where any number of older rides that are no longer in the park are. "It did not sustain it's popularity" What do you mean by sustain its popularity? Nothing fully sustains its popularity. Star Tours has not sustained its popularity, and people are calling for it to be removed or updated. "What is the point of filling TL with rides that will ultimately lose their audience after a few years." Almost nothing in the park is older than about 30 years old at this point. At least nothing that has not undergone significant change. I can count on one hand the number of rides that fall into this category.
Originally Posted By jonvn "What is Disneyland's point of view in Tommowland today? Nothing. Nothing at all. It is simply a hodge podge of intellectual properties that point in every random direction and a single E-Ticket attraction that is a remnant of old TL optimism." Exactly.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "Why don't you explain to me exactly what you think it is that's so dead." Jon, with all respect, I've done that to my best ability. Obviously it's just an opinion, hardly anything to argue over.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt Karl's comments in post #96 pretty much sum up my feelings about this discussion.
Originally Posted By oneyepete This probably lfies in the face of everything discussed; (which I find as an interesting read) Bear with me on this, what if a roller coaster ride was built that took you through the inner workings of a human digestive system, cardio system, pulminary system? I enjoy seeing the inner workings of the body on the discovery channel etc. That would make it scientific/educational/entertaining wouldn't it? Just a humble thought.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Today even the futurists are pessimists. <<Forecast #1: The world will have a billion millionaires by 2025. Globalization and technological innovation are driving this increased prosperity. But challenges to prosperity will also become more acute, such as water shortages that will affect two-thirds of world population by 2025. Forecast #2: Fashion will go wired as technologies and tastes converge to revolutionize the textile industry. Researchers in smart fabrics and intelligent textiles (SFIT) are working with the fashion industry to bring us color-changing or perfume-emitting jeans, wristwatches that work as digital wallets, and running shoes like the Nike +iPod that watch where you're going (possibly allowing others to do the same). Powering these gizmos remains a key obstacle. But industry watchers estimate that a $400 million market for SFIT is already in place and predict that smart fabrics could revitalize the U.S. and European textile industry. Forecast #3: The threat of another cold war with China, Russia, or both could replace terrorism as the chief foreign-policy concern of the United States. Scenarios for what a war with China or Russia would look like make the clashes and wars in which the United States is now involved seem insignificant. The power of radical jihadists is trivial compared with Soviet missile capabilities, for instance. The focus of U.S. foreign policy should thus be on preventing an engagement among Great Powers. Forecast #4: Counterfeiting of currency will proliferate, driving the move toward a cashless society. Sophisticated new optical scanning technologies could, in the next five years, be a boon for currency counterfeiters, so societies are increasingly putting aside their privacy fears about going cashless. Meanwhile, cashless technologies are improving, making them far easier and safer to use. Forecast #5: The earth is on the verge of a significant extinction event. The twenty-first century could witness a biodiversity collapse 100 to 1,000 times greater than any previous extinction since the dawn of humanity, according to the World Resources Institute. Protecting biodiversity in a time of increased resource consumption, overpopulation, and environmental degradation will require continued sacrifice on the part of local, often impoverished communities. Experts contend that incorporating local communities' economic interests into conservation plans will be essential to species protection in the next century. Forecast #6: Water will be in the twenty-first century what oil was in the twentieth century. Global fresh water shortages and drought conditions are spreading in both the developed and developing world. In response, the dry state of California is building 13 desalination plants that could provide 10%-20% of the state's water in the next two decades. Desalination will become more mainstream by 2020. Forecast #7: World population by 2050 may grow larger than previously expected, due in part to healthier, longer-living people. Slower than expected declines of fertility in developing countries and increasing longevity in richer countries are contributing to a higher rate of population growth. As a result, the UN has increased its forecast for global population from 9.1 billion people by 2050 to 9.2 billion. Forecast #8: The number of Africans imperiled by floods will grow 70-fold by 2080. The rapid urbanization taking place throughout much of Africa makes flooding particularly dangerous, altering the natural flow of water and cutting off escape routes. If global sea levels rise by the predicted 38 cm by 2080, the number of Africans affected by floods will grow from 1 million to 70 million. Forecast #9: Rising prices for natural resources could lead to a full-scale rush to develop the Arctic. Not just oil and natural gas, but also the Arctic's supplies of nickel, copper, zinc, coal, freshwater, forests, and of course fish are highly coveted by the global economy. Whether the Arctic states tighten control over these commodities or find equitable and sustainable ways to share them will be a major political challenge in the decades ahead. Forecast #10: More decisions will be made by nonhuman entities. Electronically enabled teams in networks, robots with artificial intelligence, and other noncarbon life-forms will make financial, health, educational, and even political decisions for us. Reason: Technologies are increasing the complexity of our lives and human workers' competency is not keeping pace well enough to avoid disasters due to human error.>> Source: <a href="http://www.wfs.org/tomorrow/" target="_blank">http://www.wfs.org/tomorrow/</a>
Originally Posted By fkurucz << The program hasn't even had much presidential support until Bush came along and proposed a $400 billion boondoggle to Mars. Of course we all know that George like spending big $$ on stupid plans.>> Better than blowing 400B in Iraq.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<what if a roller coaster ride was built that took you through the inner workings of a human digestive system, cardio system, pulminary system?>> Disney basically already did that, but in a simulated way: with Body Wars.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>what if a roller coaster ride was built that took you through the inner workings of a human digestive system<< It would have an ending too similar to Splash Mountain.
Originally Posted By oneyepete ^^ I didn't know that. Thank you. And where is it and how was it recieved?
Originally Posted By jonvn "Today even the futurists are pessimists." There will always be problems. Do you not think there were problems in the 1950s and 1960s? Of course there were. Far greater ones than we have now. We were locked in a cold war with China and the soviet union, and a hot war in korea and vietnam, fought to a standstill. In the 60s, we had rioting in the streets, and on college campii. Pollution was horrible, and the book "Silent Spring" delineated a future where there were no more birds. So what? Having a better future means working together to solve our problems. It doesn't mean to give in to hopelessness. That was not done in the 60s, it doesn't need to happen now. The only way to feel better about the future is to start doing so yourselves. There are so many things they could do about energy creation, recycling, genetics, nanotech, and so on. They don't have to be boring edutainment, and they don't have to be about gadgets. That is what is wrong with innoventions. But they do need to be about something. Something other than cartoons and shooting things. The future is not gadgetry, and it is nothing new that Innoventions is kind of dead. House of the future was dead too. They can't figure out a theme. It's not that hard. It's a great big beautiful tomorrow is a perfectly good theme. It doesn't need to be pegged to a date, and it can be about so many different things, all of which are entertaining and inspiring. We won't get that. We'll get Wall-E.
Originally Posted By jonvn "And where is it and how was it recieved?" It was in the Wonders of Life Pavilion in Epcot. I think it made people sick at first.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Body Wars was/is in the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot. It used the same exact simulators at Star Tours, but for whatever reason, more people claim to get nauseated on Body Wars than Star Tours. From what I understand (or at least is rumored), Disney has closed the WoL pavilion for lack of sponsorship; it's no longer listed as an attraction, although I have heard that is open sporadically.
Originally Posted By oneyepete Thanks again. I've not made the trek to WDW. But, is that along the lines of what would/could/should go in TL?
Originally Posted By jonvn "But, is that along the lines of what would/could/should go in TL?" Why not? I think Mission:Space would also be great. Or Space Ship Earth. They should replace the COP building with it. Then put the rocket jets on top of the platform where it should be, and you have kind of a similar look that was in the 1939 world's fair with the Trilon and Perisphere.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Mission: Space is good, but not great. I wish it played it straight... the "and then something goes horribly wrong" scenario is worn-out. Why not end the ride with guests stepping out of the simulators and into a simulated Martian base?
Originally Posted By jonvn "Why not end the ride with guests stepping out of the simulators and into a simulated Martian base? " That'd have been really cool. They probably spent way too much money as it was on it.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 "Why not end the ride with guests stepping out of the simulators and into a simulated Martian base?" I remember hearing that something like that was actually in the plans, but would have cost to much. Which is really a shame - the Mars base aspect would have been a lot more appealing for me than the current ride - which makes me sick. The Space Pavilion at EPCOT really should have been designed more like The Land - with multiple attractions and a small food court. I think that would have balanced-out Future World nicely, and given guests that don't want thrills something else to do.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<with multiple attractions and a small food court>> Serving Space Food Sticks and Tang.
