Reconstructed for RetroWDW.com’s Horizons Series of Podcast Episodes RetroWDW.com WALT DISNEY WORLD EXPERIMENTAL PROTOTYPE COMMUNITY OF TOMORROW

For millions of years, people have searched for ways to improve their lives. Through creativity and hard work, innovations have emerged that have provided more effective ways of dealing with the challenges of life. These innovations were the creations of dreamers and doers; of people who think in terms of the “possible” rather than “impossible.” Walt Disney was a dreamer and doer, a man who cared about the world and its problems. He believed that people could develop solutions to problems if equipped with information, technology and opportunity. The dream of EPCOT Center originated with Walt Disney nearly 20 years ago. Yet the new ideas and systems that may together to share their cultural “spirit of EPCOT,”played a major someday serve people every- heritage, arts and entertainment. role in the development of all where. And it provides an It offers a new look at what our of Walt Disney World. We have ongoing forum where the world can be through under- leading-edge transportation, creative thoughts of many standing, cooperation and better communications and safety disciplines, including industries, knowledge of each other. systems; solar and biomass governments and universities, The efforts of thousands of energy experiments; and are exchanged to help provide people were required to bring innovative master-planningand practical solutions to the needs this dream called EPCOT to agricultural developments. In of people. reality. Years of research, 1981, Walt Disney World was EPCOT Center communicates testing, development, patience, selected from among 200 this knowledge to the world. By and determination are at its projects nationwide to receive showcasing innovations, EPCOT foundation. And yet, its real the Urban Land Institute “Award Center encourages the develop- value lies in its human spirit: the of Excellence” . . . the top ment of even better systems for people who inspired it; the national award for all projects in the future. people who created it; the America. The richness and diversity of people who experience it; and With this foundation, EPCOT the human family is highlighted the people who host it. Center has been created as a in World Showcase. This unpre- This is the essence of EPCOT demonstration and proving cedented people-to-people Center: a collective endeavor by ground for prototype concepts exchange brings people from people . . . for people, in the and technologies. It showcases nations throughout the world hope for a better world.

1 ON THE HORIZON OF TOMORROW

Throughout history, man has space exploration will affect our to spend our leisure time. been fascinated with the future. lives in various ways. But more The efforts of our ancestors In ancient times, sorcerers and important than any one of these brought man to live in remote seers attempted to predict changes will be the combined islands, mountains, rain forests events such as the outcome of impact they will have on the and the Arctic. Our quest has a battle, or the success of a ways we live and work in the brought us to the undersea planted crop by examinations of future. world and the brink of outer natural forces. A superstitious The same advances that will space. No one can be certain belief in occult signs and omen make desert farming, undersea what the future will hold; the was widespread. mining, and outer space manu- only thing we can be sure of is These various efforts to facturing possible, will also that mankind will continue to foresee the future occurred in create the need and the oppor- reach outward, overcoming new civilizations throughout the tunity for people to live and challenges, seeking new oppor- world. These civilizations shared work in these unique environ- tunities, finding new frontiers. the idea that a preordained ments. Entirely different life- Wherever the future will be, it future already existed and that it styles will emerge as we explore is we who are creating it as we was possible to “see” that the potential of our new move toward the horizon of future. habitats and devise new ways tomorrow. In modern times, we are still engaged in efforts to foresee the future, perhap more so than ever. But there is a funda- mental difference. Our methods are scientific rather than mystical or inspirational: we study data from weather satellites to plan crops and harvests; stock analysts construct computer models to plot future trends; election results are predicted based on statistical analysis of a small number of votes. As dramatic as these changes in method are, the biggest change is in our outlook. We have come to realize that we have an ongoing relationship with the future; it is our efforts and our innovations that deter- mine what the future will bring. New scientific and technologi- cal breakthroughs in electronics, communications, genetic engi- neering, transportation, agricul- ture, manufacturing, energy and

2 THE HORIZONS EXPERIENCE

Horizons, like the other Future veyor, we begin our journey as artist, Robida. His stylized view World pavilions, has been we board suspended gondolas of rush-hour rapid transit was designed to make a striking accomodating four passengers created over a hundred years architectural statement. This each. ago. massive, yet graceful structure rises majestically from the EARLY INVENTIONS ART DECO landscape, its sharply faceted contours sloping gently up into As we move through a short The dreamers of the 1930s a truncated pyramid. tunnel, our narrator tells us that put their own stamp on designs The interior is divided into we are not the first to travel for the future. The work of three levels and a mezzanine. forward in time: “People have visionary artists was most often The Horizons show is a 38- been dreaming about the future published on the covers of scene, ride-through attraction for centuries.” Shifting clouds cheap “pulp” science fiction that takes us on a speculative and floating images of early magazines. In this setting of an journey into the future, through inventions trail his words. art deco apartment, we see many wondrous worlds of various hair-brained contraptions tomorrow. The presentation “LOOKING BACK and mechanical wonders that includes Audio-Animatronics AT TOMORROW” were supposed to make house- figures, Omnimax motion work obsolete, including a picture systems and a variety of is the theme that unites rather overburdened housework special effects to show us some the next five scenes. This whim- robot. of the unusual living environ- sical, lighthearted recollection ments made possible by gives us a taste of what some NEON CITY advanced technology. dreamers of the past thought the future might look like. In more recent times, THE FUTUREPORT dreamers’ visions of the future JULES VERNE have come to us through the The queue and load concourse media of television and film. is styled as a transportation A leading visionary of his time Against a neon backdrop, three center of the future. Here, we and one of the earliest writers screens provide glimpses of the are immersed in an environment of science fiction, Jules Verne future world from classic of tomorrow. The public predicted that space travel science fiction films and televi- address system announces would one day be a regular sion programs. arriving transports and pages occurrence. In this scene, passengers bound for exotic Verne’s bullet-rocket blasts off locations. Three projected for the moon with Verne ‘travel posters” highlight our himself and two animals as destinations in this future passengers. Next, we pass by adventure: Sea Castle, a floating the “Man in the Moon” with the city; Mesa Verde, a desert rocket ship lodged in his eye. farming community, and Brava Centauri, a space colony. ROBIDA One concept of futuristic mass LOAD AREA transportation systems was Stepping onto a moving con- envisioned by the 19th-century

3 FUTURE CITY URBAN HABITAT with her husband on another screen. Leaving the control This dimensional set reveals a We travel through a tunnel dome, we see a jet-powered 1950s conception of the future. to a three-dimensional urban hovercraft idling at its landing City lights twinkle as a futuristic environment of the future, Nova pad outside the farmer’s home. monorail glides along its guide- Cite. It is dusk, and as we glide way. The sky above is dominat- past, advanced transportation ed by helicopters, jetpackers systems (mag-lev trains) and DESERT HABITAT- and rocket ships. habitable megastructures are visible throughout the com- KITCHEN/ munity. Our vehicles near an COMMUNICATIONS “OMNISPHERE” apartment decorated with ROOM (Omnimax Theater) unique plants that are the result of genetic engineering. Inside, a We approach the home past a After passing through another married couple are speaking lush garden with a three-tiered transition tunnel where the shift- and we recognize the man’s waterfall and tropical flowers ing lights and projected colors voice as that of our narrator. surrounded by a natural rock of the “lumia” set the mood, we The conversations and observa- landscape. Inside, the house begin a gradual ascent past the tions of this couple (the is designed to blend with the two giant concave screens of grandparents of an extended desert landscape. Dad fixes a the “Omnisphere.” Here, family) will be the narration for cake in the kitchen while his through spectacular projected the rest of our trip. At the son plays with the voice- imagery, we visit micro- and moment, the grandmother is activated pantry. In the macro-worlds and the far conversing with a miniature communications center, a reaches of inner and outer holographic image of her talking computer gives a space. The startling imagery daughter at a desert-farm chemistry lesson to a teen-age surrounds us above, below and community. Here, we can see daughter who appears to be on all sides with wonders both how science and technology more interested in talking to her natural and manmade: the will enhance future lifestyles. boyfriend on the teleview space shuttle rising skyward screen. atop a fiery pillar; graceful floating colonies in space; the DESERT FARM microscopic landscape of the SUB-REPAIR ROOM A desert scene follows, revolutionary computer chip; representing one of our the architecture of growing We leave the desert habitat, brightest potentials for feeding crystal structures engineered by and arrive in the sub repair the growing population. Moving man for the age of technology; room of Sea Castle, the floating past desert mesas, we come the mystery of the DNA mole- city (visible through a large rear upon Mesa Verde, the desert cule and the minute diatoms window of the workshop). A farming community. In the that inhabit our aquatic frontier young man continues his con- distance, a field of genetically and the enormous power of the versation, via teleview, with his engineered citrus trees (we can sun being harnessed to build girlfriend at the desert farm even smell the blossoms) are the future. Today, “If we can while he repairs a mini-sub with being harvested by robotic dream it, we can do it!” the aid of an interactive diag- fieldhands. This arid desert has nostic computer and a laser been transformed into a garden welder. “TOMORROW’S paradise. Overhead, giant solar- WINDOWS” powered airships silently carry a DIVE CHAMBER cargo of harvested produce is the theme of the next twenty across the skies. Standing by a Traveling over the dive scenes. In this section of the large console in the glass- chamber, we can see a small attraction we explore some domed control room, a farmer submarine and various diving possible habitats of the future, supervises that various mechan- equipment laid out, awaiting the enlivened by the activities of an ical harvesters via a video next expedition to be launched extended-family group. screen, while keeping in touch from this floating city.

4 the ocean surface, the boy’s SPACE COLONY submarine appears. Suddenly the entire environment shifts Leaving the airlock chamber, and changes; the deep ocean we enter an observation tube becomes a starfield in the void and are greeted with a breath- of outer space and the talking view - a space city submarine transforms into a spread out in all directions spaceship that disappears from “below” us. This unique sight behind a floating space revolving city clings to the colony. inside surface of a spherically shaped, free-floating OUTER SPACE environment. We drift past a construction HEALTH AND site where an astronaut is FLOATING CITY maneuvering beams into RECREATION position to build a solar-energy The zero-gravity recreation CLASSROOM power station. A woman in a center is brimming with the space vehicle lends him Class is in session in this com- latest in healthful recreational assistance. In the distance are puterized school of tomorrow. equipment. A woman is cycling three space colonies with space The teacher emphasizes under- down a bike path from her craft arriving and departing. water safety as she instructs her hometown on Earth, with the young pupils in preparation for AIRLOCK help of a simulation device. A a dive along with their class body scanner monitors her mascot, Rover, a seal. We enter an airlock chamber, condition and displays results which leads from outer space to nearby. In the background, the UNDERSEA RESORT the interior of space colony shadows of a group playing Brava Centauri. An intercolony zero-gravity basketball are Passing through an airlock, we transport is in the process of visible. dive toward the ocean floor. refueling. Ahead, in an undersea restaurant, people are dining while watching a dolphin play just outside their windows. The children from the classroom swim by with their instructor. UNDERSEA FARMING The tall stalks of a kelp forest, a cultivated undersea farm, sway gently in the ocean currents while a submarine takes samples. The kelp grown here is harvested for biomass in energy production. Further on, an ocean mining operation is visible, manganese nodules are being vacuumed from the sea floor. TRANSITION AREA As our vehicles rise toward

5 MAIN area. A space family is involved for a simulated ride through in a holographic party-line one of the three habitats we SHUTTLE PORT conversation, showing off their have visited. Once we have In the colony’s main shuttle year-old child to friends and made our selections, majority docking bay, a family of new relatives. One screen features rule in each vehicle determines arrivals are getting their first our narrators in Nova Cite, which experience we will have. exposure to zero-gravity. A boy another shows their teenage and his dog are floating in the granddaughter in Mesa Verde, SIMULATIONS air, while his parents wait at a while the boy from Sea Castle nearby elevator. In space, two appears on the third screen. As we depart for the habitat astronauts control the move- of our choice, our point-of-view on the high speed “ride” is from ment of an asteroid being LAUNCH TUBES/ readied for transportation to either a desert hovercraft, a Earth. AERIAL IMAGES mini-sub, or a space craft. As our ride vehicles accelerate TUNNEL TO UNLOAD into space through the launch tube, we view three aerial At the conclusion of our ride, CRYSTAL images promoting tourism. The we must return from the future MANUFACTURING images recall the three habitats to the present. But, as our LAB presented in the previous narrator points out, the most “Tomorrow’s Windows” section exciting aspect of traveling into On the other side of the of our journey to the future. the future is that the journey technical lab is the manufactur- Highlighted here are the trans- never really ends . . . there’s ing lab, tended by automated portation vehicles used in each always a new horizon. robot arms. Inside six illuminat- of the different habitats. ed globes, perfect crystals are UNLOAD AREA/EXIT being grown for ‘high-tech’ applications back on Earth. “CHOOSE YOUR Having completed our unique TOMORROW” experience of traveling through SELECTIONS the future, we return to the FuturePort concourse where we HOLOGRAPHIC Leaving the floating colony, disembark from our ride PARTY LINE we are surrounded by the void vehicles. The extensive mural of outer space. Lighted panels here and in the exit area Passing through the lab, we appear on the doors of our illustrates man’s journey from enter the colony’s community vehicle, presenting our choices the past into the future.

6 THE HORIZONS STORY

HORIZONS is unique in that it to the moon seriously, history THE FAMILY represents a synthesis of all the has made his vision a reality other themes in Future World: (even to the extent of his AND THE FUTURE communications, agriculture, launch site, Florida). But even The relations of an extended transportation and energy. It is when the ideas were on target family and their friends link an exploration of the technical and a hundred years ahead of together the different scenes advances in all of these fields, their time, even when they and help move the story along. advances which will profoundly anticipated entire technologies Any number of storylines could affect the lifestyles of future that didn’t yet exist, the have been chosen for this generations. outward designs of their purpose, so why the family? To design and create an machines remained rooted in “I wanted to emphasize it,” experience of this kind was no their own time. This type of Tom explains. “Some people easy matter. For WED contradiction can have distinctly feel the family unit may not “Imagineers,” the task required odd results: a spaceship studded exist in the future, but I feel years of planning and pains- with rivets and bolts outside that advances in transportation taking research. Advances in and decorated inside with and communication may actually virtually every field of technology polished brass and overstuffed bring families closer together.” had to be considered along velvet cushions; a household The three particular habitats with the impact they would robot ahead of our time in its where the family members live have on our lives. capabilities, having the appear- were chosen after careful ance of an art deco antique. consideration. Tom recalls, “We REMEMBERING “The robots we have don’t wanted to emphasize that these THE FUTURE look humanoid and we didn’t aren’t just interesting places; get to the moon in a giant they’re practical places. There For the “Looking Back at bullet shot out of a cannon,” are economic reasons for Tomorrow” portion of the says Tom. “But we do have people to live and work in show, it was necessary to re- robots and we have gotten to these environments. The floating examine the ideas of famous the moon. So the ideas were city could be the center of an “futurists” of the past, whose right – it was only the forms undersea mining and farming areas of exploration included that were wrong.” operation; that’s the practical rapid transit, space travel and robots. “This was one of my favorite parts of the show,” recalls show designer Tom Fitzgerald. “What made it so interesting for me was that the ideas these men had were right.” Many designs for the future that were done in the past have a curiously dated quality. The concepts themselves were often sound enough; although his contemporaries wouldn’t take Jules Verne’s idea of a journey

7 side. The fact that it might float off Hawaii one year, near Australia the next, offers a lot of unique educational and recrea- tional opportunities.” AN ACHIEVABLE VISION Another major emphasis in planning Horizons was on “achievability.” The designers felt it was extremely important that the three fictitious habitats have a solid foundation in reality. “This is a vision of an achievable future. It’s based on things we are already doing or are very close to doing.” Tom mircographs. “I used the struc- shaped like a large grapefruit, stresses. “This is not Buck ture of insect antennas or the which opens to expose Rogers. We already have robot feeding mandibles and food filaments to the night breeze, labor, drip irrigation and the filtering organs of some small creating musical sound. The beginnings of genetic engineer- crustaceans and adapted these “Golden Glow” might be ing. Put these three develop- into the design of a plant.” considered the electric eel of ments together and we have In the realm of decorative the plant world, using its own the basis of the desert-farm plants, his efforts resulted in bioluminescence to produce a habitat.” some fascinating new creations shimmering neon glow. that are included in the urban FUTURE PLANTS habitat scene of our show. “Circuit ivy” grows in a kinked THE GARDEN For the landscaping and and twisted pattern resembling In addition to the decorative garden of the future, designer an electronic circuit. Long, plants, the urban habitat Alex Taylor saw the need to vertical “exfoliated trees” look includes a patio garden with create new plants. It was not a like weathered granite, while vegetables of the future: the simple job. “I spent some very “geometric hedges” grow hori- “spring bean” is a variation of frustrating months trying to zontally out of the side of a the string bean, but grows in design plants that didn’t exist,” wall, defying gravity. Beneath the shape of a coiled spring; the Alex recalls. “I would work out the hedge, “variegated grass” “per-cumber” combines the a design and then take it over grows in two colors, showing a qualities of a red pepper and a to our experts in horticulture pretty pattern of leaf vains. “Not cucumber; the “butterfinger and they would tell me they’d all of these plants grow in soil pea” is a cross between a seen that one before. We and some of theme have bizarre winged bean and pea. would look it up in some books colors or a metallic, sparkly One area of the garden and there it was! I was trying to look,” Alex points out. features a series of vegetables come up with something nature Perhaps the two most interest- growing in hydroponic planters. hadn’t done and I found out ing plants in this area are the “I designed a whole bunch of how hard that was to do.” “Aeolean Harp” and the different kinds of these After a number of failed “Golden Glow.” The Aeolean vegetables and then invited attempts to create a new plant, Harp takes its name from an people in to look at them and Alex tried a new approach. He ancient Greek musical instru- decide which ones looked good turned to the animal kingdom ment, which was set outside a enough to eat,” explains Alex. for ideas that could be adapted window to catch the wind and “The most popular ones were to plants and finally found the produce music. This plant of the the one I picked for this area. material he needed in photo- same name has an organ, And even though the hydro

8 ponic planters are just for show, has such a powerful effect is the George explains. “We were they’re designed so that they sound system. Sound is trans- afraid that too much of them really could work.” mitted in the form of infra-red might make some people feel For the desert-farm scene, light to the ride vehicle where it ill.” special crop plants were created, is received and converted back including “flavor grapes,” which into sound. This sound system, THE FINALE grow in all different colors on when combined with digital the same bunch, and “pinanas,” recordings and the design of the Moving the “Omnisphere” a combination of pineapple and vehicle itself, permits excellent presentation from the finale of banana. One of the most sound quality as well as a high the show created the need for unique fruits here is the degree of sound isolation within a new finale. For some years at “lorange,” a type of elongated each car. WED, the idea of using a screen orange that grows only on the The element that provides the image that would move side- outside of the tree, making it finishing touch of realism to the ways to keep pace with a especially easy for the robot sound is the “Body Sonic” moving car had been consid- laborers to harvest the crop. system. With sonic transducers ered. Using this technique, the Any real desert farm of the placed in the bottom of each image would always remain future will undoubtedly take seat near the base of the spine, directly in front of the guests in advantage of genetically guests feel the deep, sonic the vehicle. The idea seemed engineered plants adapted to vibrations that would actually practical, but the right situation prosper in the specialized accompany a powerful concert had not arisen – until Horizons. environment. The variety of hall performance. These When this technique was these plants is nearly limitless, transducers were specially combined with an electronic Alex feels. “In Horizons, we designed and manufactured by panel in the vehicle, allowing wanted to say that there’s a General Electric for use in the guests to select which of three whole realm of possibilities out Horizons show. films would be seen, an entirely there and that if we use our The “Omnisphere presenta- new show experience was imagination and technical skills, tion was originally planned for created. we can do anything.” the finale of the show and was The next step was to produce to utilize three screens. The fact the film segments that would be “OMNISPHERE” that one of the screens was projected on the traveling eliminated from the plans is screens. To accomplish this, the The “Omnisphere” presenta- actually a tribute to the success Disney organization turned to tion immediately follows, the of the system. “We changed our one of the foremost experts in “Looking Back at Tomorrow” plans when we realized that the the field, David Jones. section of the show. This effects were so powerful,” With a background in indus- presentation utilizes highly specialized Omnimax projection equipment and screens to create dynamic film effects. Show designer George McGinnis explains, “The Omnimax projec- tion system is the largest in the world in terms of square feet of projection surface. We took two of these systems and put them together to create the “Omni- sphere.” The “Omnisphere” presents startlingly dramatic images and effects as guests pass by the giant concave screens in their suspended gondolas. Part of the reason the show

9 trial design, David had consider- FILM PRODUCTION conditions, the resulting film able experience with prototypes created the illusion of a high and miniatures before he turned When the painstaking process speed, point-of-view ride to a career in film. His expert of designing and building the through a scene from the credentials were well models was completed, they future. established by the futuristic were moved to a stage area The entire process of models he built for “Star Wars,” where the equally difficult designing, constructing and “Close Encounters,” “China process of filming began. It was filming just one of these scenes Syndrome” and numerous other necessary for the camera to may take 6 months and feature films and major tele- move through the model, thousands of hours, but, as vision shows. passing buildings, trees, David says, “It’s not successful spaceships and submarines. until it looks smooth and easy Sometimes the clearance to the viewer and he can’t see between the camera lens and all the difficulty that went into THE MODELS these objects was only 1/16th of it.” an inch. Yet the camera had to For nearly two years David keep everything in focus while worked on the design, construc- moving, avoid bumping into DOING THE tion and filming of the models anything, and stop every HOMEWORK for the three finale film fraction of an inch to take single segments. “These are three of exposures up to a full second The efforts of the various the largest miniatures ever built long. The task seemed imposs- departments that contributed to for film,” he explains. “They had ible, and it was – for a human. the success of the finished show to be so large because we’re Enter ACES and ELMER, two reveal the same dedication to using them for three of the automatic camera control rigs. quality and realism. Tom longest continuous sequences These programmable, computer Fitzgerald summed it up best: “I ever done with miniatures.” controlled “robots” can move feel that we stuck so close to Since all of the designs were the camera with such patience the facts and what is actually so futuristic, the models had to and precision that they make achievable either now or in the be built from scratch. Their even the impossible possible. near future, that people who large size made it necessary to When ACES’s movements were stay in touch with what is build them in portable, light- combined with carefully calcu- developing will realize we really weight sections that could be lated lens settings and lighting have done our homework.” disassembled. “The largest single model piece is 32 feet wide and 82 feet long,” says David. “We had to set up a special facility in an airplane hanger to get enough room to work.” The scale of the models varies from 1 inch to 1 foot (1/12th scale) all the way down to 1/100 scale, and the detailed work is quite impressive. The desert farm scene alone includes over 5,000 model trees in addition to cacti, other plants, buildings and machinery. Some of these trees were made of acid-etched metal that was hand folded into shape. Build- ings were first mocked up in foam or wood and then cast in plastic.

10 PRESENTED BY GENERAL ELECTRIC EPCOT Center is a completely qualities was found in the one of the most exciting and new concept in entertainment General Electric Company. successful exhibits at the that required the contributions By 1878 (the year now looked 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. of many diverse disciplines. upon as that of General After the fair, the show was Major American and internation- Electric’s founding), Thomas brought to Disneyland, and later al companies recognized the Edison had formed the Edison to the Magic Kingdom at Walt challenge of this new entertain- Electric Light Company for the Disney World, as the “Carousel ment experience and joined express purpose of developing a of Progress.” Demonstrating with the Disney organization to new source of light. Fifteen their continuing dedication to present these unique attractions. years later, the Edison General progress, General Electric signed In seeking a corporate partici- Electric Company merged with on as an EPCOT Center pant for Horizons, the Disney the Thomas Houston Company participant and has worked organization was looking for a to produce the General Electric closely with Disney to present number of important qualities. company we know today. Since the Horizons pavilion. The participant had to have that time, General Electric has It is an honor to have this extensive experience in high been a pioneering force in the world leader associated with us technology, a demonstrated introduction and development in presenting Horizons. Walt ability and interest in thinking of new products and technology Disney Productions welcomes for the future, and had to share for the consumer market, General Electric to our growing Disney’s commitment to present industry, outer space and family of EPCOT Center partici- this advanced technology in a national defense. pants. way that would inspire and General Electric first teamed enlighten our millions of guests. up with Walt Disney Produc- A participant with all these tions to present, “Progressland,” THE EPCOT CENTER ADVENTURE As a host or hostess at EPCOT nology, and best utilize our questions about Horizons. Our Center, you are an ambassador planet’s resources to improve roles require us to be as knowl- of the Spirit of EPCOT. Your the quality of life for everyone. edgeable and prepared for these role in Horizons also make you Horizons is an important part of questions. And, above and an ambassador of happiness, this demonstration. beyond knowing our subject, hope, optimism and goodwill. By now, you’re familiar with we need to reflect the positive Future World is designed to the Horizons show and the feeling we want our guests to be an on-going forum of the “story behind the story.” You’ve have when they leave Horizons. future, a demonstration and had a chance to appreciate Our goal is to make our proving ground for the most some of the advanced tech- guests feel good about their advanced ideas, materials and nology and future thinking Horizons experience, themselves techniques emerging from the presented in Horizons. The and the future. As one of our creative centers of American opportunities for you to share ambassadors, you can help us industry and education. It shows this experience with our guests meet this goal. how we can apply the most will be nearly endless. advanced thinking and tech- Our guests will have many

11 HORIZONS FACTS AND FIGURES

SHOW: The entertainment portion of mechanical and electronic the attraction – what the guests equipment needed for overall see and hear, and all the “show operation of the pavilion. Special elements” that constitute it. projection equipment for Show Elements: the operation of the “Omni- Figures ...... 50 sphere,” and a VIP area are on Props ...... 770 the mezzanine level. The third Sets ...... 24 level of the pavilion contains Video monitors ...... 4 mechanical, electrical and equip- Video playbacks ...... 13 ment rooms. Video projectors ...... 9 Lower level ...... 1,695 sq. ft. Film projectors ...... 12 Ground level . . . . 46,900 sq. ft. Special effects ...... 50 Second level . . . . 52,730 sq. ft. RIDE: The conveyance system for an attraction and all the “ride elements” that constitute it. Ride Elements: Ride time ...... 14.57 mins. Ride speed ...... 1.5 fps Track length ...... 1,562 ft. Hourly capacity ...... 3,000 Total vehicles ...... 184 Vehicle capacity ...... 4 Load type ...... moving belt Unload type ...... moving belt FACILITY The lower level contains wardrobe storage, ride and show control rooms, and a load/unload-belt maintenance area. The ground and second levels contain the ride, VIP lounge and all accessible public areas. Vehicle maintenance and backstage employee facilities are also included on the ground level. The second level contains

12