Horizons, Carousel of Progress, and Wonders of Life

Admiral01 · Post by **Admiral01** » May Thu 22, 2008 8:43 pm

I apologize if this has been posted before. I'm an engineer so I don't always read before I write things

I have been studying the Carousel of Progress and its sequel, Horizons. I have long considered the CoP an EPCOT Futureworld ride that simply existed before EPCOT. I noticed that the original Carousel of Progress pavilion from the 1964 New York Worlds Fair looks like the currently unused Wonders of Life pavilion. Both have the same dome structure. The current WoL building could easily be modified to look a ton like the old CoP building in New York. I have also been studying the floor plans for the original Horizons building, and the WoL pavilion and I realize that they have a very similar amount of square footage available.

Now, this is a huge "dude, your dreaming" scenario, but Disney could potentially take the old Horizons ride and build it into the Wonders of Life pavilion. The building would be a throw back to the original CoP from the Worlds Fair, and bring another ride to the east side of Futureworld. I think Disney made a mistake by removing both Horizons and the World of Motion. Horizons would need an update, as discussed by Disney back in the 90s, but they COULD do it. I'm dreaming it!

rmorton50 · Post by **rmorton50** » May Thu 22, 2008 10:32 pm

A very interesting idea. I'd sure like to see the WoL building used for something. Certainly, it would save a lot of time and expense to reuse the building to bring back Horizons. Horizons had such an encouraging message, "If we can dream it, we can do it."

Sleeping Beauty 5 · Post by **Sleeping Beauty 5** » May Fri 23, 2008 5:37 pm

How about they put the WoL back in the WoL?

I understand what you want them to do and no doubt it would be fantastic but I don't think that Disney will spend the time nor the $$ to bring back Horizons although everyone loves it. Just look at the Peoplemover in DL.

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » May Fri 23, 2008 6:20 pm

Disney doesn't like to admit it when they make mistakes. They also don't seem interested in any large scale projects with lots of complexity, probably for maintenance reasons.

I'd like to see them build the ride they said they were going to build, before they cheaped out and put in the Body Wars simulator. But they don't seem to do that kind of thing any more.

kcarts · Post by **kcarts** » May Fri 23, 2008 7:43 pm

Interesting take. Seems to certainly make sense.

"I'd like to see them build the ride they said they were going to build, before they cheaped out and put in the Body Wars simulator. But they don't seem to do that kind of thing any more."

What ride was that?

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » May Fri 23, 2008 8:17 pm

It looked like an old school dark ride through the human body, possibly more actiony than something like Pirates. I was really disappointed that the final product wasn't anything like what they were originally talking about.

There was a written description and concept art on Epcot maps prior to its opening...it's probably online somewhere, but a Google image search didn't come up with anything.

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » May Sat 24, 2008 10:37 am

I like your idea Admiral01, you've put alot of thought into that.

I do think that EPCOT could use a few more attractions and I like the idea of bringing back some originals with an update! It would be refreshing!

Admiral01 · Post by **Admiral01** » May Sat 24, 2008 2:04 pm

boilerbabe wrote:I like your idea Admiral01, you've put alot of thought into that.

I appreciate that. Must be because I went to Purdue...

Blackie Pueblo · Post by **Blackie Pueblo** » May Sat 24, 2008 3:43 pm

Very intelligent thought out ideas Admiral. I never actually thought about it but it's definitly something that should be looked at. But like Captain Schnemo stated, Disney won't spend that kind of money nor will they ever admit maybe they made a mistake.

Which is said because one of Disney's smartest characters said the past can hurt, but you can learn from it.

"I suppose my formula might be: dream, diversify-and never miss an angle."
---Walter Elias Disney

nancynohorse · Post by **nancynohorse** » May Sat 24, 2008 8:33 pm

But then again, they DID bring Figment back... even if it wasn't "exactly" how we might have all wanted...

So anything is possible.

Cheshire Cat · Post by **Cheshire Cat** » May Sat 24, 2008 8:43 pm

But then again, they DID bring Figment back... even if it wasn't "exactly" how we might have all wanted...

That's not figment, that's an imposter.

This is an interesting idea. While I like having CoP in Tomorrowland, so at least there's SOMETHING to do in Tomorrowland, I always thought it would fit bette in epcot. However, it would need a complete pavilion to go with it much like the original Progressland pavilion in order to be on par with the other epcot pavilions (or at least what the original epcot pavilions were like). I always think of Walt Disney's Progressland as the prototype for the epcot pavilions without anyone even knowing it.

I never realized how big CoP was though. Would it take up the entire WoL building? Or would it be able to fit inside with room to spare?

If they did move it there, it would be sort of cool to have an indoor lobby where the entrance platform is, while the rest of the show takes up the main portion of the building. Then there could be related exhibits in the Body Wars and Cranium Command wings.

The only problem with putting CoP in epcot is that CoP really doesn't have a theme (speaking in terms of the original epcot pavilions). CoP is just about progress in general while most of the other pavilions were about progress in specific scientific areas. Although it may fit now that there's no real "progress" theme to any of the pavilions anymore, save for spaceship eath which now takes care of all the original pavilions at once...

-sigh-

we've lost so much...

Captain Schnemo · Post by **Captain Schnemo** » May Tue 27, 2008 1:44 am

Cheshire Cat wrote:The only problem with putting CoP in epcot is that CoP really doesn't have a theme (speaking in terms of the original epcot pavilions). CoP is just about progress in general while most of the other pavilions were about progress in specific scientific areas.

I'd say the theme was "household tech", as a result of the sponsor. It was sort of a subset of Horizons' much larger scope.

Doesn't exactly fit in Future World, since it only progresses to the present (well, the recent past, actually), but it does a better job than Test Track or Nemo, I guess.

It'd be a nice piece of a larger "progress" pavilion, but not really a good single point destination in Future World.

I was thinking a bit more about how much Body Wars sucked the other day, and decided that even if they were going to go with the lame "shaken box with a movie screen" motif, the least they could have done was add side windows. Call it Circlevision plus Star Tours.

Even better would have been getting a decent director to make something less hokey...a more rounded experience with real drama and actual interesting characters (that is, if the attraction even needs them). If it were good enough, they could even have some (relatively) slow bits to, ahem, flesh out the show. Even summer blockbusters slow down for a little while. The good ones do anyway. With some decent direction and pacing, it could have been a great show.

But still, only a show. A shakemup box isn't really a ride.

GhostHost · Post by **GhostHost** » May Wed 28, 2008 9:06 am

I think the days of Disney dreaming "big" are over. It would probably shock the you know what out of all of us hardcore fans if they actually made good on some things we have asked for.

Chernabog · Post by **Chernabog** » May Wed 28, 2008 9:22 am

I never saw Horizons but was told it was terrible, at best, not good. So I was told. As far as CoP, retire it already! While this ride is not terrible, does anyone even consider going on it anymore, unless you need a nap of course. And I agree w/whoever said bring WoL back into WoL! I agree too that Body Wars was weak, just an opportunity to get motion sickness, w/not much enjoyment for the trade off. But Cranium Command was terrific! They could do a lot w/an updated WoL pavillion! But Disney must be careful not to let it go South like Inoventions did. Hhhmmm, another topic for discussion?

casrin · Post by **casrin** » May Wed 28, 2008 9:27 am

That's not figment, that's an imposter.

Heh, agreed. I think nancynohorse would agree as well. Let's put it this way: there is a Figment at Epcot again, even if its not how we'd want him.