Horizons
takes guests on
a fascinating
journey through
the world of the
21st century.
First, take a
look back at what
past visionaries
dreamed the future
would be like
from Jules Verne
to sci-fi 1920s
and 30s comic
books to a futuristic
1950s. Then, two
giant OmniSphere
screens show what
scientists and
explorers are
discovering now,
which will be
the basis for
the future. Next,
guests enter the
21st century and
view a typical
city apartment,
a desert
farm
complete with
the scent of fresh
oranges, an underwater
city,
and a space
colony.
In order to return
home to 20th century
earth, guests
chose the method
of travel: on
land, undersea,
or through space.
Upon arriving,
guests are left
with a final thought,
"If we can
dream it, we really
can do it. And
that's the most
exciting part."
General
Electric's sponsorship
of the pavilion
expired on September
30, 1993. Even
though GE decided
not to continue
sponsorship of
Horizons, Disney
continued to operate
the attraction
until it was closed
in late 1994.
Horizons reopened
in December of
1995 because both
Universe of Energy
and World of Motion
were about to
close for renovations
the following
month. That would
have left only
Wonders of Life
open on that side
of the park. With
Test Track finally
open, Horizons
closed forever
on January 9,
1999.
On September 23,
1999, both the
large and small
Horizons signs
were removed.
In April 2000,
Disney and Compaq
announced that
Horizons would
be demolished
and in its place
Mission: SPACE
would be built.
The new attraction
is scheduled to
open in 2003.
In the meantime,
destruction of
the Horizons building
could be seen
throughout the
summer of 2000.
A black wall was
put up in front
of the pavilion
and read "Watch
this SPACE for
a future announcement."
Trees were added
behind the wall
to cover some
of the destruction
of the building.
By October 2000,
the land was all
cleared and the
foundation work
for Mission: SPACE
had been started.
Horizons
Facts
Pavilion:
136,835 ft2
Surface Area:
approx. 37,000
ft2
Audio-Animatronics:
54
Props: 770
Sets: 24
Video Monitors:
4
Video Projectors:
9
Video Playbacks:
13
Film Projectors:
12
Special Effects:
50
Capacity: 2,784/Hour
Show Time: 14:45
Minutes
Cycle Time:
15:00 Minutes
Maximum Number
of Vehicles:
174
Spare Vehicles:
10
Seats per Vehicle:
4
Ride Length:
1,346 feet (410.3
m)
Ride Speed:
1.5 Feet/Second
(0.457 m/s)
Dispatch Interval:
4.8 Seconds
Type Load/Unload:
Moving belt
Queue Capacity:
696
Ride System:
Overhead Omnimover
Tom Fitzgerald
with 'Tom II'
in the sub repair
bay scene
Imagineers
who worked on
the project
included:
George
McGinnis (project show designer - pictured right)
Marty Sklar
Gil Keppler (ride vehicle design, kitchen design)
John Hench
Marty Kindel (engineer 'Choose your tomorrow')
Ned Landon (GE rep, on creative team)
Claude Coates (show designer)
Bob Kurzweil (industrial designer)
Bill Norton (architect)
Collin Campbell (developed early scenes)
Chase Young (architect, construction drawings)
Tom Fitzgerald (story designer)
Tom Sherman (undersea set)
John Berman (set designer)
John Patrick Burke (Industrial Design and set and prop production)
Ernie Soos (robots for “Looking Back at the Future”
scene)
George Trimmer
Greg Wilzbach (Family arriving in space scene).
Shim Yokoyama (painted Floating City and Space Habitat scenics)
George Windrum (head of show set design dept)
Paul Sonski (show set designer at WED, "I worked on the family on vacation in space mostly")
Omnimax film:
Eddy Garrick
Omnimax projectors:
70mm 15perf
Omnimax projectors
from Imax, Canada
'Choose your
tomorrow' projectors:
GE Talaria Light
Valve projectors
Exit mural artist:
Bob McCall
Building architect:
George Rester
Closed: 9th
January 1999
An incredible
journey through
lifestyles for
the 21st century.
After "blasting
off" from
the Futureport,
you'll examine
the marvels
imagined by
visionaries
of the past
... Jules Verne's
cannonball flight
to the moon,
for example.
Through the
wonders of micro-
and macro-photography,
never-before-seen
images of today's
world unfold
on the world's
largest motion-picture
screen. Then
it's off to
explore four
future habitats...
the urban environment
of tomorrow,
a robotics-staffed
desert farm,
a working ocean
colony, and
a "space
city" where
asteroid mining
and zero-gravity
crystal manufacture
are facts of
everyday life.
The rest of
the adventure
is up to you!
You and your
fellow passengers
control which
future environment
to explore as
you choose your
own "new
horizon"
for the finale.
Are we any closer
to realising visions
from Horizons?
A
lot of things
have changed over
the years since
Horizons was conceived.
The
daughter in
the reclaimed
desert scene
used voice
recognition
to command the
crop harvesters,
and so did the
boy in the kitchen
scene. A huge
majority of
this very tribute
website was
dictated to
the computer
by voice recognition.
A number of
smart phones
and even some
cars even have
it today.
On
occasion I was
interrupted
by people calling
me on Skype
where I can
see them and
talk to them
wherever they
are in the world.
Videoconferencing
is now an accepted
part of everyday
business and
is even becoming
possibly on
smart phones.
Fridges
can now automatically
re-order items
of food that
you are running
out of using
the Internet
- maybe not
incorporating
voice recognition
to open drawers,
but surely less
amusing because
of it.
Genetically
modified fruit
and vegetables
are common,
although many
people prefer
organic non-GM
products. Scientists
in China germinate
seeds in space
which spawn
huge aubergines,
tomatoes, etc.
back on earth.
Pre-orders
for holidays
in outer space
are being taken
(allbeit from
multi-millionnaires!).
Hong
Kong Disneyland
reclaimed
some sea,
but not desert!
This
underwater
hotel
in the Bahamas
opened in 2006:
From The Funday
Times / Sunday
Times, November
2005.
So
although the physical
locations aren't
the same as in
Horizons, some
of the technology
is similar, if
not ahead
of Horizons.
George
McGinnis (project show designer - pictured right)
