Horizons Tribute

casrin · Post by **casrin** » Jan Thu 17, 2008 9:39 pm

Some of you might have already seen this, but I just came across this series last week on Horizons. It was an interview with George McGinnis, one of the chief Imagineers who created the Horizons pavilion. I found the article fascinating, especially for his experiences and the schematic drawings of how the attraction worked!

The articles are here, in four parts:

http://www.mouseplanet.com/mark/mg040414gm.htm
http://www.mouseplanet.com/mark/mg040428gm.htm
http://www.mouseplanet.com/mark/mg040430gm.htm
http://www.mouseplanet.com/mark/mg040512gm.htm

Definitely worth your time to read and explore!

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Jan Fri 18, 2008 4:05 am

I remember reading this when it came out. I agree - the technical drawings are fascinating. I love the 'eye line' demarcations on them, and all the side notes. Very cool article.

ghostelias · Post by **ghostelias** » Feb Sun 10, 2008 4:19 pm

Awesome thanks for this. I'll check this out. Horizons was my favourite ride when i was young.

Admiral01 · Post by **Admiral01** » Feb Wed 13, 2008 12:31 am

Horizon's could easily have been there in Spaceship Earth. It seems like the new SSE is trying to capture a little bit of the void left by Horizons (and the World of Motion).

nancynohorse · Post by **nancynohorse** » Feb Wed 13, 2008 8:18 am

I read someone else (on a Horizons site) make the same remark, Admiral01, that Horizons should have been the centerpiece like SSE was.

It's good to hear though that the new SSE tries to recapture that. It was such a great ride.

SimonTemplar · Post by **SimonTemplar** » Jun Sat 14, 2008 9:33 am

Man did I love Horizons!! It's great to sit back and listen to the complete ride audio when it pops up on the queue (or when I request it).

metsofny · Post by **metsofny** » Jun Sat 14, 2008 1:41 pm

Thanks for the post. I looked at the article. Very interesting. I miss the ride too.

kcarts · Post by **kcarts** » Jun Sat 14, 2008 2:10 pm

Great attraction, great article. Thanks!

HakuOni · Post by **HakuOni** » Jun Sat 14, 2008 8:44 pm

i have never found this article. i thank you from my heart. may you have a magical day!

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Apr Wed 08, 2009 12:30 am

Here are a couple of other great Horizons tributes.

The Mesa Verde Times has some cool behind-the-scenes photos, but the real gem is the stories of how the photos were taken. Two guys took it upon themselves to document the attraction before it was destroyed, and they would actually jump out of their cars and spend the day inside the building, photographing everything and staying out of sight of the guests.

How many of us have dreamed of living in their favorite attraction? These guys were true heroes.

(On the topic of documenting lost attractions, I feel the need to plug Virtual Toad again. Definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of the best Fantasyland attraction ever created.)

And if you're a true fan of Horizons, the Horizons Remote Access Terminal will make your heart implode with sadness. In a good way.

Good times.

Future Guy · Post by **Future Guy** » Apr Wed 08, 2009 7:48 am

Wow, Mesa Verde Times is amazing! Those guys had nerves of steel, sneaking out of the ride like that and actually walking around on the sets. The level of detail crammed into the scenes was just amazing.

Post by **horizons1** » Apr Wed 08, 2009 6:00 pm

Those are cool links, schnemo!

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Apr Wed 08, 2009 6:50 pm

Mesa Verde Times was great. I couldn't believe how they snuck around and took all this great pictures.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Apr Wed 08, 2009 8:27 pm

That Mesa Verde Times site is really cool. *bookmarks to crawl around later* I'm surprised there were no pressure sensitive mat things outside those cars (like they have in the Haunted Mansion, or so I'm told). Either that or the guys had good aim when they jumped out.

This (from that site) cracked me up:

What you can't [see].....darn that red haired girl was cute*

<snip >

*There's no way that guy landed her. Nope

I always thought that myself.

(Really tempting to make an 'if you can dream it' joke here, but I shan't.)

Captain Schnemo wrote:And if you're a true fan of Horizons, the Horizons Remote Access Terminal will make your heart implode with sadness. In a good way.

Good times.

I've been listening to the Cam 3 track for an hour now. Comforting in an extremely depressing kind of a way.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » Apr Sat 11, 2009 10:10 pm

DisBeamer wrote:I'm surprised there were no pressure sensitive mat things outside those cars ... Either that or the guys had good aim when they jumped out.

There was some mention of the utter lack of security systems behind the scenes, and that that was unusual. If I'd known that, I might have gone exploring myself.

And I agree that the redhead was way frickin' hot. No way would she settle for that Luke Skywalker wannabe. Does his sub have a pipe organ? I think not.

I've been listening to the Cam 3 track for an hour now.

The loop is too short, but I prefer the birds and the rumblings of approaching thunderstorms on Cam 2. Robots hate thunderstorms.

Comforting in an extremely depressing kind of a way.

The best thing about the site is that if you empty your head a little and think about things sideways, you can pretend that Horizons is still there, still entertaining guests...right this very second.

I've seen the exterior of Mission: Space, but I haven't stared at it long enough to let it really sink in that Horizons isn't there, so that makes things easier for me.

Another thing I've noticed is how all the music in the futuristic part fits together. It's the same tune, with different instruments and a different emphasis in each scene.

It's not quite as impressive as the way all the music flows together in the Mansion (where they had to do math to make the slow music and the fast music blend without making a hellacious noise), but it is still very cool, and a really nice detail Disney mastered in ye olden tymes.