World of Motion
July 3rd, 2009| World of Motion | |
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| Logo for the World of Motion | |
| EPCOT Center | |
| Land | Future World |
| Designer | WED Enterprises |
| Attraction type | Dark ride |
| Theme | Transportation |
| Opening date | October 1, 1982 |
| Closing date | January 2, 1996 |
| Hosted by | Gary Owens |
| Music | It’s Fun to Be Free |
| Vehicle type | Omnimover |
| Vehicle capacity | 4-6 |
| Ride duration | 15 minutes |
| Total height | 60 ft (18.3 m) |
| Site area | 79,400 sq ft |
| Audio-animatronics | 188 |
| Ride Capacity | 20,000 |
| Show Scenes | 30 |
| Average Annual Attendance | 7 million |
| Succeeded by | Test Track |
| Sponsored by | General Motors |
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World of Motion (October 1, 1982 – January 2, 1996), sponsored by General Motors, was the former tenant of the Transportation pavilion at Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort. It was an opening day attraction at EPCOT Center in 1982 and it closed in 1996 to make way for Test Track, a new thrill ride through a GM testing facility. Visitors would board moving four to six person Omnimover vehicles, and would be taken through scenes that were populated with Audio-Animatronic figures and projection effects. Of the science & technology-themed long dark rides in the original Epcot, the World of Motion was the “funny” one, with a gently irreverent tone, unlike its at-times humorless counterparts. It was a whimsical look at the history and achievements in transportation, showing scenes from the invention of the wheel, right up to the present day and beyond.
The grand finale of the attraction attempted to predict a real future for transportation, with CenterCore, a sparkling metropolis that seemed to be in perpetual motion, and Pepper’s Ghost illusions putting guests into futuristic vehicles. At the ride’s conclusion, visitors disembarked into the TransCenter, an interactive area about new products in development by GM.
Contents
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History
The premise of the ride was to be a humorous look into the history of transportation, from the ancient days of foot power, through time into the future. General Motors signed a 10 year sponsorship deal for the ride, in a move to compete with Ford (which had sponsored a Disney-created attraction at the 1964 New York World’s Fair). The pavilion’s construction was a part of the initial construction of EPCOT Center itself. The attraction was ready for grand opening with the park on October 1, 1982, and was in EPCOT Center’s “opening cast”. The pavilion was given a specific opening ceremony with GM executives a few days later.
The ride was designed by the legendary Marc Davis, well known for his work on Pirates of the Caribbean, The Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion, among others. His humor was evident in such gags as a used-chariot sale, and the world’s first traffic jam.
The ride
The ride began with a modern u-turn up a portico that was situated directly in the entrance into the building. The Omnimovers would then bring you to a simple caveman cave. However, it would head into the first means of transportation: footpower.
The second scene brings you into the earliest means of over water transportation, people traveling on a raft. The next scene shows you the first time animal power was introduced. It shows an Assyrian tableau with a person trying to control animals from camels to zebras.
The next scene shows the invention of the wheel at Babylon. A gag shows men holding a square object, a triangle object, and the award-winning circle object. Before exiting, we pass a wheel factory, where everything, including the Trojan Horse, is trying to be sold.
The next scenes are the “Age of Flight”. It begins with Leonardo da Vinci and his many attempts to fly and next to him is a clearly upset Mona Lisa. The following scene is a man looking over London in a hot air balloon.
The next scenes are the evolution of steam. It starts out with a Mississippi Riverboat with the never ending stream of stagecoaches and such for the Western Expansion. The steam locomotive is the next evolution of steam travel, which in turn shows an authentic steam locomotive—and an authentic railroad robbery.
The scene shifts over to one of the most photographed and most remembered scenes: the world’s first traffic jam. The chaos includes items such as an upset horse, a spilling ice truck, and kids screaming during the 1900s. We than travel past the open road scenes which include a man who crashed a bicycle, a family picnic, and early 40’s and 50’s cars.
The following areas are “speed tunnels” which pay homage to the Magic Kingdom’s “If You Had Wings” successful tunnels. The Omnimover travels through these bullet-shaped tunnels while images are played on the screens. Some include crop-dusting, rafting, and traveling down a snowmobile trail.
The tunnels let out to the final exhibit: CenterCore, the amazing city of the future. Just before unloading, you are asked to “help shape tomorrow’s mobility” with a similar effect as The Hitchhiking Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion, you in your Omnimover appear to be a simulated car of the future.
TransCenter
You leave your Omnimover vehicles and go to the TransCenter, which is full of exhibits and shows about transportation and the things surrounding it. It takes an Innoventions-style feel to all of it. You traveled through the center, looking at prototype cars such as the Lean Machine in the Dreamer’s Workshop and a show called The Water Powered Engine, which pits nine all-new Disney characters in a debate over which motor design should be used to power cars. There is a replica of America’s only wind-tunnel on display. The ever-popular show “The Bird and the Robot”, starring a toucan, Bird, and an assembly-line robot, Tiger, entertain people with acts (and Bird’s signature bad jokes) about the importance of the GM assembly line. A computer-generated display shows GM’s car ‘torture’ test without actually performing it. Concept 2000 shows the process of creating prototype cars for GM. An exhibit called Aerotest educated people about air-flow on auto concepts and fuel economy. Another exhibit featured stylings of clothes with GM’s advanced polyester production styles.
Closing
Business slumped with General Motors after the second sponsorship deal ended for World of Motion in 1992, and as a result, GM started signing 1-year contracts for the ride. However, a suggested idea to gut the building and turn it into a new attraction stuck with Disney representatives and GM businessmen. It would take World of Motion, close it down, and rehab it into a new ride that focused only on cars. Thus, World of Motion was shut down to the public while a new attraction, called Test Track, was taking its place. Scheduled to open 19 months after World of Motion’s closing, this new ride would put you in a test car against vehicle tests that were needed to deem the car safe for road travel. However, nothing went as planned, and the new ride opened significantly later than the scheduled opening date.
Facts and figures
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (August 2008) |
- Building size: 60 feet (18 m) high and a 318 feet (97 m) diameter (circular building)
- Building exterior: The building was clad in stainless steel panels.
- Pavilion sponsor General Motors signed a 10-year sponsorship contract in December 1977. When the second contract finished in 1992, and with a slumping economy GM agreed only to one year contracts and wanted Disney Imagineering to work on a new attraction. GM insisted that the new ride would focus only on cars, as opposed to the general concept of transportation. The marketing department wanted to strongly promote their cars. GM was the sponsor for the whole run of the attraction.
- The prototype concept cars at the TransCenter were once the most photographed spot in Walt Disney World.
- Famous radio disc jockey Gary Owens provided the ride’s humorous yet very informative narration.
- The sea serpent that looked though the spyglass of Chirstopher Columbus when he was trying to find the New World can today be seen at Disney’s California Adventure Park.
- Chickens from the ride can now be found in the Magic Kingdom at Mickey’s Toontown Fair. They are inside the barn located at Goofy’s Wiseacre Farm.
- Various animatronics, sets, and props can today be found in the Studio Backlot Tram Tour queue at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
- On the final ceremonial ride of World of Motion, on January 2, 1996, it broke down. GM executives who were riding it had to climb out and walk back to the exit.
- The closing of World of Motion forced the reopening of Horizons, another Disney attraction which focused on the future of the family. It was closed in 1999.
Soundtrack
The theme song for the ride was “It’s Fun to Be Free”, written by X Atencio (”Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)” from Pirates of the Caribbean and “Grim Grinning Ghosts” from The Haunted Mansion), and Buddy Baker, another legendary Disney composer. The song was played throughout the ride (and queue area) with music changing to reflect the different time periods as the ride progressed through the various scenes.
The song can be found on The Official Album of Disneyland and Walt Disney World (1991 CD).
References
- ^ “GM’s World of Motion Exhibit opens in Epcot Center at the Walt Disney World Resort. Before the year is out, the one millionth visitor to the exhibit is recorded.” http://www.gm.com/company/corp_info/history/gmhis1980.html
- ^ “General Motors and the Walt Disney Company sign a new contract that ensures GM’s presence at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida until the 21st century. The contract extends the partnership at Epcot until 2007 and provides for a complete redesign of the existing GM World of Motion pavilion.” http://www.gm.com/company/corp_info/history/gmhis1990.html
See also
- Epcot attraction and entertainment history
