New Horizons

After a long break from this project I have been thinking and have decided to scrap the 2.0 plans and procede with a new project.

Allow me to introduce the New Horizons Pavilion concept!

In the area where Mission Space once stood a new building has appeared resembling the old Horizons pavilion, the traditional signpost outside features the old logo and the 'New Horizons' name. 

You enter the building and are now in the EPCOT Futureport, a large futuristic departures board tells you Horizons 2 is now departing among other destinations. The lobby area features 4 rectangular outcroppings akin to the old queue showing holograms of the 4 destinations: Nova Cite, Seacastle, Mesa Verde and Brava Centauri. Audio is playing from these screens providing a summary of the destinations. At the far end of they foyer is a customer service desk with a cast member waiting to take your 'luggage' and provide you with a wrist band to collect once you reach your destination. You are then ushered through to the queue beyond the desk.

The queueline is a standard queue featuring projection mapping and interactive 'adverts' on the walls for entertainment. 

This brings you to ride number 1, looking back at tomorrow. This is the standard Horizons experience minus the omnimax and reduced sections in each destination as a look back at what people thought the future would be like in history with the old horizons scenes being the 80s. At the end, instead of the 'choose your ending' you 'dock' at the futureport in the city of tomorrow, Nova Cite.

After you exit your ride vehicle you go down a hallway to baggage reclaim where your bags have been bought by a simple conveyor to be given to you by the cast member manning the station. You can then entre the main futureport concourse.

Inside the futureport are screen windows showing the 'outside' city of Nova cite at night. In the centre is an information desk playing the same holograms from the epcot futureport and manned by cast members. Theres 3 departure gates going off to the left, right and straight ahead. there are standard airport style seating areas and other details around the ground floor area and a gift shop in one corner. in the opposite corner is a cylindrical elevator, by taking this to the 1st floor you can exit into a round room with a door leading to the 'flat of the future' a circular flat with screen windows around you can explore at your leisure. This features all the latest in home and entertainment technology and can be updated as necessary to keep up. By taking the lift up again to the second floor you can exit to the Futureport restaurant. A round restaurant sitting high above epcot with real windows showing views out to the park while you eat. 

The first departure gate leads into another queue at the end of it is a door which a group are ushered through and onto a fake monorail station. You board the monorail and, using screen windows and vibrations, it simulates taking you to the drydock for SeaCastle. You exit the monorail on the opposite side and procede to another queue. At the end of this queue you board a 'Seacastle transit vehicle' This ride system would be the same used for 20,000 leagues at Tokyo Disneysea, itll take you on a tour of the seas around seacastle with views into seacastle itself through windows and audio talking about the utilisation of the sea and its contents and seacastle itself. Afterwards you exit back to a second fake monorail station and return to Nova Cite. 

The second gate leads to a trackless dark ride takimg you to, and around the desert farming colony of Mesa Verde showing what life would be like living in the desert and how the arid land can be terraformed to allow farms to thrive. At the end you exit to a small section with a control station for the robot farmers with arcade style games that allow you to control the robots round a field to harvest crops. Theres also a restaurant serving meals using plant based replacements or lab grown meat as well as genetically modified fruits for different flavours. 

The 3rd gate takes you to a motion simulator which takes you to the space colony Brava Centauri. after disembarking the simulator you enter the station and are free to explore the rooms showcasing what living in space might be like. The atraction here is a 'zero gravity' experience where you are sent on a tethered space walk in a special harness, this would be a customisable robot arm style attraction.

For the final experience you enter the departure gate through the same way you entered Nova Cite initially, This gives you 3 options to return to EPCOT, the 'choose your ending'. Monorail through Mesa Verde (same as the earlier monorail) shuttle from Brava Centauri (motion simulator) or hydrolator from SeaCastle (an elevator style attraction similar to the monorails made of screens to show your travel from SeaCastle).

Obviously this would make for a very large pavilion, but I think this is a better way of handling Horizons than trying to cram it all into one building. I will expand on this with models soon showcasing these ideas.

The script - Part one Entry and Looking Back at Tomorrow

Horizons 2 Script

Lobby

In the lobby area of the ride building several announcements can be heard, they are as follows and cycle at random:

Announcer: Welcome to the Futureport We here at (insert sponsor name or Epcot) hope you enjoy your journey today, Don't forget to visit the check in desk to receive your Futurepass before boarding!

Announcer: Can Tom Fitzgerald please report to the front desk, your ticket to Sea Castle onboard Century 3 is waiting.

Annoncer: Horizons 2 now docking, Please check all your personal belongings before proceeding to the dry dock.

Queueline

The queueline area of the ride features a single TV hexagon displaying clips of the 3 destinations with the following voiceovers:

Announcer: Sea Castle, the first floating city out in the pacific, invites you all for an undersea adventure, daily departures via Horizons 2 and Century 3.

Announcer: Mesa Verde, the deserts most advanced farming site, now hiring programmers and operators for harvesters. Bullet trains leave every half hour.

Announcer: Take a holiday to Brava Centauri, The newest space colony, or stay onboard to experience life on Mars. Shuttles depart daily.

Boarding

Once on the 'drydock' the following announcements are heard:

Announcer: Please take children by the hand and look down as you step onto the belt, It moves at the same speed as the ride vehicles.

Announcer: Please remain seated and keep hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times, your door will automatically close.

Intro

As your vehicle leaves the drydock fluorescent tubing will light across the wall going by faster simulating time travel, at the same time the following is heard:

Announcer: Horizons 2 now departing, TimeJump initialized, Destination, The future.

Grandmother: That sounds like quite a trip.

Grandfather: My Wifes right about that! But half the fun is the journey there, so lets go back to where it all began, the 1800s

Looking back at tomorrow

The first scene is the Jules Verne scene which replicates the original.

Grandfather: Theres the grand old man himself, Jules Verne, floating round in his famous Moonshot.

Grandmother: He had the right idea, he was just a little ahead of his time.

Grandfather: Yeah, come on we'll show you what we mean.

This is followed by the 50s scene.

Grandmother: Ah the good old 50s.

Grandfather: A bit far out dont you think? but it looks like good fun!

Grandmother: well everyone has fun dreams of the future, I know I sure do.

Then the 60s and 70s.

Grandfather: The 60s and 70s truly had some fantastic views of the future.

Grandmother: Flying cars, robot servants and easy living, they were really dreaming big.

Grandfather: but with todays technology were getting closer to it, they had the right ideas, just maybe not the right style.

Grandmother: I dont know, I kinda like it, it has a certain charm.

Tomorrow in the 80s

This is where classic scenes from the ride will be presented, from each section of the ride.

Grandfather: Lets take a look at what our parents and grandparents thought the future would be like.

The vehicle enters nova cite.

Grandmother: Hey look, there's my Grandparents, it looks like Grandmas talking to my mother on that hologram device.

Grandfather: We sure had some good ideas for communications in the future.

Grandmother: Thats very true, I wonder what my grandfathers doing?

Grandfather: Looks like some kind of instrument, maybe a keyboard?

Grandmother: Cmon lets go catch some sun.

The vehicle moves into Mesa Verde farm scene.

Grandmother: and theres my Mother! Looks like shes operating the harvesters out there in the field.

Grandfather: Flying harversters, well I never, Things were still pretty far out even back then.

Grandmother: Sure, but its not an impossibility, were just not quite there yet.

The vehicle moves into the sub repair bay at seacastle.

Grandfather: Would you look at that, im an undersea welder!

Grandmother: Well you did always have a strange obsession with the sea.

Grandfather: Theres just as much to explore below as there is above, and theres a lot of raw materials down here, whats not to love?

Grandmother: Hey look on the screen over there, that's me!

Grandfather: It sure is! It seems theres only one more frontier to explore.

The vehicle then moves into the Brava Centauri scene

Grandmother: Would you look at that view out there!

Grandfather: Space sure is breathtaking, back then we sure had some bizarre ideas for space fashion.

Grandmother: You may think that, but to them it must have seemed practical.

Grandfather: You should see the breakthroughs we've had since!

Grandmother: Yes! its been quite a ride! from the expansion of the internet, to entertainment and virtual reality, all the way to sending a satelite to Pluto, we have made some truly amazing leaps.

The vehicle then enters the first oval room area.

Space part 1

I decided to start work on the new Brava Centauri, heres what I have so far.

This section simulates the ride vehicle (Horizons - 2) entering the docking bay of Brava Centauri. The scene before will feature Brava from a distance as a small model of the station. The visible craft is Horizons 1 and will be mentioned in the voiceover with its design date being the opening date of the original ride. The bay 3 is a subtle reference to horizons prototype name of Century 3. I decided to keep the original Brava logo although I couldnt get the text to curve so it is absent. In the background is a large solar array for powering the station. Horizons 1 will be seen again in the next scene with the family exiting from it into the station.

Floor 2

The second floor (Futureworks) is hands on activities about the future and to a lesser extent time travel. I will go into detail about each section.

The house of the future:
A replica of the scene from the ride with a tablet on a pedestal allowing people to control the room e.g. open and close windows or cupboards etc.

The garden of the future:
Exploring how gardens could be utilised in the future for both leisure and for self sufficiency through small scale farming.

The eye to the future:
A large telescope looking out into Future World through the buildings 'eye'.

Your Future:
A place where visitors can make their own idea of the future through pre-sets and then leave a memory of what they would like to do in the future.

Time travel and the future, a history: Small models with descriptions and little video clips/photos of various time machines and futuristic worlds from science fiction movies. Ranging from Jules Verne's time machine through the TARDIS and DeLorian and looking at views of the future in space and on earth.

Design a time machine:
alows guests to design their own time machine using a similar system to test tracks sim car designer and a few preset options.

Horizons one and Horizons two

Heres an aerial shot of the original next to the new one, all credit for the aerial view to Horizons1.com

Exterior 2

I have now added in the bushes and done some other adjustments.

I have also attempted to get an idea of size and location by sticking it onto an aerial view of the park in my ideal location for the ride. It would have to be quite a bit larger than the original to facilitate the whole ride on a single floor. but looking at the surrounding area, it looks to me like that wouldnt be too much of an issue.

The Exterior

After a big hiatus I have completed some work on the rides exterior. The planters, paths and sign are all now in place, there is still some work to do on the building (adding doors and such) but I hav not worked out where the maintenance doors will be yet so this is still a work in progress.

As you can see, I have arranged the planters in the shape of the Horizons logo. I thought this might look tacky initially but having tried a couple of different approaches I actually like it like this. The sign sits in front of the large sphere but does not obscure it. That was one of my key focuses, the original ride building had the tall trees obscuring it. I plan to put the trees somewhere to the side so as to have the building visible as guests come up to it down the central partition. This will also serve a practical purpose for the telescope in the large 'eye'. The paths lead right round the building much like the original for maintenance and fire exits. As the ride uses the original system, fire exits are through the back of the vehicles. I plan to add more to this as I go along.

The sign is now complete, made to replicate the original almost exactly, the base it sits on is very simplistic but I think that it doesn't need to be complex, as long as it can hold the sign and look good doing so, which I feel it does. The working title is present of Horizons: Looking Back Into The Future, this is of course subject to change if I think of a better title (maybe just Horizons would suffice or New Horizons). There is still a lot more work to do, but I think its coming along quite nicely.

The New Space

Taking the wonders of life Pavilion and turning it into a space pavilion I don't think would be too difficult. I have come up with some ride ideas using the previously existing wonders of life rides as a base in order to save on installing new buildings etc. The first part, and the part that would probably be the biggest cost impact is moving mission space to wonders of life. The idea being the pavilion would be themed around a space station on Mars. Mission space would now be the first thing visitors would come to as they take a trip to Mars base, an optional cinema would be included for guests who didn't want to or couldn't ride mission space, even the green path. The cinema would also be a fast track 'warp gate' to the station for guests who wanted to avoid the ride and the film. Once guests exit from any of these routes they enter Mars base through Airlocks. This puts them into the dome structure which would be redone as a large research station with science themed activities and areas. Another idea is a space food restaurant serving dried food in foil bags. The domes roof would be a planetarium projecting views of the stars, space and Mars onto the roof.

Using the old cranium command theatre a new ride about a robot rover exploring the surface of Mars and collecting information, with the guests inside its 'brain'. Another ride would be a space flight through the planets and solar system using the space and similar ride system to body wars. Finally to exit the pavilion guests would exit through a cinema themed as a space bus with a short film showing the return to earth.

what do you all think of these ideas?

A new EPCOT

In this post I will go into detail on my ideas for the rest of the park. I will start by expanding on my ideas of moving Mission Space. My idea is to take the unused Wonders Of Life building and create a whole space pavilion. Guests will enter through a new entrance, I would ideally like to keep the mission space entrance as it is very cool looking. This will put them into a queue for the Mission Space ride, now called Journey to Mars. The simulation will now show guests lifting off from Earth and travelling to Mars. Having arrived on 'Mars' guests will then enter the space dome (the current WOL building). The reason for this being from the exterior it looks like a Mars colony space dome from various pieces of science fiction. The Mars dome would have a restaurant serving astronaut food in the silver bags for the novelty factor but also alternate space themed meals.  The whole roof of the dome would have a planetarium screen put inside showing constellations and views of space and the other planets, including what you'd be able to see from Mars. Inside would also be various activities and playground style things for kids to use. Another ride would be an exploration of the surface of Mars in a rover. The rover would encounter storms and various other hazards. This ride would use motion simulators. I have not worked out other rides but I am sure I can think of a few more in the future. The exit to the ride would be through the same method via mission space as a return to Earth.

The next pavilion to be changed would be Imagination. Essentially the pavilion needs to return the Imageworks area to the upstairs leaving room for a better and larger ride downstairs. The ride would need to be similar in style to the original to get crowds flocking again. I think Imagination is the pavilion that needs the most work done to it (other than Space and Horizons). I think it may also be good to see a new show possibly, as great as Captain EO is and as much of a tribute as it is to Michael Jackson.

I think the seas needs to lose Nemo, as great as the film is I think EPCOT should return to a more educational theme and restrict the Disney characters used in the park. I think really all the seas needs is a return of the hydrolators and a longer more thought out seacab ride. The ride could be more like the original plans for it, or be similar to submarine voyage.

The land needs very little change, although I think a new show for soarin is needed as Disneyworld is in Florida and not California.

Spaceship Earths ending should be returned to a more educational ending possibly keeping the screens to use as timelines or show extra information.

Energy I think is okay as it is, sure its not quite as educational as it used to be, but now it seems far more edutainment focused, They really added a bit of fun into the pavilion.

Test track again is fine as is, although it might be nice to expand it into a full transport pavilion possibly with a second ride similar to World Of Motion.

Innoventions is again fine as is.

Other pavilions that could possibly be added include: A new Wonders Of Life, A weather pavilion, robotics possibly or a nature pavilion or plant themed pavilion (although this could fit into the land).

Let me know what you guys think!

The sign

In keeping with the look of the original I have completed the new sign to go out the front of the ride, complete with a new title. It does sound rather cheesy but it puts in a nice nod to the original ride along with the theme of 'looking back at the yesterday of tomorrow' and into the tomorrow of today.

Ride building is complete!

After much work the ride building is done! What do you guys think? is the front window 'eye' too much? I figured I would put a telescope behind it so kids could look out into future world, Looking into the future!

Not dead!

Project is not dead, sorry for the lack of updates I am working on the ride building and having a bit of trouble, also birthdays and work have hindered me slightly.

The ride building

I started work on the ride building and the upstairs area. I decided to have a recreation of the house of the future in it that kids can explore and use a tablet device (attached to the wall or a stand) to activate certain things.

Living in Mesa Verde

Continuing through the new Mesa Verde guests are shown inside a special desert home. The home scene would replicate that of the original ride with a cake being baked and presents. The home would have special air conditioning and anti- UV windows to prevent strong sunlight getting in. A dehumidifier would be featured somewhere as well as sensors to detect sandstorms. The Omnimover would then enter another theatre showing travel from Mesa Verde to Seacastle.

Mesa Verde

On exiting the theatre the omnimver takes guests through the new Mesa Verde with more realistic Wheeled robots pulling a trailer with numerous arms for harvesting the crops. Also A redesigned control station would be put in place.

The city of the future

The next scene would show a city street from the future with more homes and roads off in the distance either using a small model or large wall painting to achieve this effect. From here A small show is presented in a second theatre about desert greening and farming in the deserts.

The home of the future

After a large screen showcases new technologies and a travel through a theatre, possibly an omnimax although on my plans it is far too small to be, the home of the future scene begins. This would show what living might be like in a city of the future using smart home technologies to allow complete control through voice commands or tablet devices.

Location 2

From looking at EPCOT I have had an idea. Put Horizons back in its original spot. In order for this to work Mission: space would have to be removed, but there is an empty pavilion just sitting unused (Wonders Of Life). With an  overhaul it could become a space pavilion using the domed roof as a Planetarium showing stars and galaxies. Have Mission: Space moved to an exterior building connected to wonders of life and add in a few more space rides then a true space pavilion exists.

Looking back into the future

This is the section of the ride that will remain mostly the same. Using scenes reconstructed from the original showing the future from Jules Verne to the 80s. I felt the ride should focus most on the 80s original to really show how things have changed in such a short period of time, also to link the new ride into the original. The scenes I would say should be chosen for each are as follows. For Nova Cite use the old narrators living room. For Mesa Verde the harvester scene with the control booth and hover vehicle (Pegasus). For Seacastle the boyfriends solo sub repair room. Finally for Brava Centauri probably either the science lab or the anti gravity room with the dog and the child's missing shoe.

Location

The ride will need a good location within EPCOT, anyone have any ideas?