When Horizons first opened in 1983, there was a lot of
information to cover and guests had a lot of questions about the view of the
future. Luckily, those early Cast Members were given a booklet containing a ton
of details about the attraction, its place in EPCOT Center, and how its vision
of tomorrow was formed. Looking back at tomorrow is what Horizons did best, and
in doing so today, I find myself drawn a little more to the story of the
attraction than the science of its tomorrow. Luckily for me, the Cast Member
booklet also went scene by scene through the attraction, allowing the
possibility of reliving the attraction in a very different manner. Also, it’s
fun finding the details that change between concept to reality! Want to stroll
down memory lane? Come on, take a look at 21st century living, through the
pages of the Cast Members’ booklet.
THE FUTUREPORT
The queue and load concourse is styled as a transportation
center of the future. Here, we are immersed in an environment of tomorrow. The
public address system announces arriving transports and pages passengers bound
for exotic locations. Three projected “travel posters” highlight our
destination in this future adventure: Sea Castle, a floating city; Mesa Verde,
a desert farming community; and Brava Centauri, a space colony.
LOAD AREA
Stepping onto a moving conveyor, we begin our journey as we
board suspended gondolas accommodating four passengers each.
EARLY INVENTIONS
As we move through a short tunnel, our narrator tells us
that we are not the first to travel forward in time; “People have been dreaming
about the future for centuries.” Shifting clouds and floating images of early
inventions trail his words.
“LOOKING BACK AT TOMORROW”
is the theme that unites the next five scenes. This
whimsical, lighthearted recollection gives us a taste of what some dreamers of
the past thought the future might look like.
JULES VERNE
A leading visionary of his time and one of the earliest
writers of science fiction, Jules Verne predicted that space travel would one
day be a regular occurrence. In this scene, Verne’s bullet-rocket blasts off
for the moon with Verne himself and two animals as passengers. Next, we pass by
the “Man in the Moon” with the rocket ship lodged in his eye.
ROBIDA
One concept of futuristic mass transport systems was envisioned
by the 19th-century artist, Robida. His stylized view of rush-hour rapid
transit was created over a hundred years ago.
ART DECO
The dreamers of the 1930’s put their own stamp on designs
for the future. The work of visionary artists was most often published on the
covers of cheap “pulp” science fiction magazines. In this setting of an art
deco apartment, we see various hair-brained contraptions and mechanical wonders
that were supposed to make housework obsolete, including a rather overburdened
housework robot.
NEON CITY
In more recent times, dreamers’ visions of the future have
come to us through the media of television and film. Against a neon backdrop,
three screens provide glimpses of the future world from classic science fiction
films and television programs.
FUTURE CITY
This dimensional set reveals a 1950’s conception of the
future. City lights twinkle as a futuristic monorail glides along its guideway.
The sky above is dominated by helicopters, jetpackers, and rocket ships.
“OMNISPHERE” (Omnimax Theater)
After passing through another transition tunnel where the
shifting lights and projected colors of the “lumia” set the mood, we begin a
gradual ascent past the two giant concave screens of the “Omnisphere.” Here,
through spectacular projected imagery, we visit micro- and macro-worlds and the
far reaches of inner and outer space. The startling imagery surrounds us above,
below, and on all sides with wonders both natural and manmade; the space
shuttle rising skyward atop a fiery pillar; graceful floating colonies in
space; the microscopic landscape of the revolutionary computer chip; the
architecture of growing crystal structures engineered by man for the age of
technology; the mystery of the DNA molecule and the minute diatoms that inhabit
our aquatic frontier and the enormous power of the sun being harnessed to build
the future. Today, “if we can dream it, we can do it!”
“TOMORROW’S WINDOWS”
is the theme of the next twenty scenes. In this section of
the attraction we explore some possible habitats of the future, envisioned by
the activities of an extended-family group.
URBAN HABITAT
We travel through a tunnel to a three-dimensional urban
environment of the future, Nova Cite. It is dusk, and as we glide past,
advanced transportation systems (mag-lev trains) and habitable megastructures
are visible throughout the community. Our vehicles near an apartment decorated
with unique plants that are the result of genetic engineering. Inside, a
married couple are speaking and we recognize the man’s voice as that of our
narrator. The conversations and observations of this couple (the grandparents
of an extended family) will be the narration for the rest of our trip. At the
moment, the grandmother is conversing with a miniature holographic image of her
daughter at a desert-farm community. Here, we can see how science and
technology will enhance future lifestyles.
DESERT FARM
A desert scene follows, representing one of our brightest
potentials for feeding the growing population. Moving past desert mesas, we come
upon Mesa Verde, the desert-farming community. In the distance, a field of
genetically engineered citrus tress (we can even smell the blossoms) are being
harvested by robotic fieldhands. This arid desert has been transformed into a
garden paradise. Overhead, giant solar-powered airships silently carry a cargo
of harvested produce across the skies. Standing by a large console in the
glass-domed control room, a farmer supervises the various mechanical harvesters
via a video screen, while keeping in touch with her husband on another screen.
Leaving the control dome, we see a jet-powered hovercraft idling at its landing
pad outside the farmer’s home.
DESERT HABITAT-KITCHEN/COMMUNICATIONS ROOM
We approach the home past a lush garden with a three-tiered
waterfall and tropical flowers surrounded by a natural rock landscape. Inside,
the house is designed to blend with the desert landscape. Dad fixes a cake in
the kitchen while his son plays with the voice-activated pantry. In the
communications center, a talking computer gives a chemistry lesson to the
teen-age daughter who appears to be more interested in talking to her boyfriend
on the television screen.
SUB-REPAIR ROOM
We leave the desert habitat, and arrive in the sub repair
room of Sea Castle, the floating city (visible through a large rear window of
the workshop). A young man continues his conversation, via teleview, with his
girlfriend at the desert far while he repairs a mini-sub with the aid of an
interactive diagnostic computer and laser-welder.
DIVE CHAMBER
Traveling over the dive chamber, we can see a small
submarine and various diving equipment laid out, awaiting the next expedition
to be launched from this floating city.
FLOATING CITY CLASSROOM
Class is in session in this computerized school of tomorrow.
The teacher emphasizes underwater safety as she instructs her young pupils in
preparation for a dice along with their class mascot, Rover, a seal.
UNDERSEA RESORT
Passing through an airlock, we dive towards the ocean floor.
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 the ocean surface, the boy’s
submarine appears. Suddenly the entire environment shifts and changes; the deep
ocean becomes a starfield in the void of outer space and the submarine
transforms into a spaceship that disappears from sight behind a floating space
colony.
OUTER SPACE
We drift past a construction site where an astronaut is
maneuvering beams into position to build a solar-energy power station. A woman
in a space vehicle lends him assistance. In the distance are three space
colonies with space craft arriving and departing.
AIRLOCK
We enter an airlock chamber, which leads from outer space to
the interior of space colony Brava Centauri. An intercolony transport is in the
process of refueling.
SPACE COLONY
Leaving the airlock chamber, we enter an observation tube and are greeted with
a breathtaking view – a space city spread out in all directions “below” us.
This unique revolving city clings to the inside surface of a spherically
shaped, free-floating environment.
HEALTH AND RECREATION
The zero-gravity recreation center is brimming with the latest
in healthful recreational equipment. A woman is cycling down a bike path from
her hometown on Earth, with the help of a simulation device. A body scanner
monitors her condition and displays results nearby. In the background, the
shadows of a group playing zero-gravity basketball are visible.
MAIN SHUTTLE PORT
In the colony’s main shuttle docking bay, a family of new
arrivals are getting their first exposure to zero-gravity. A boy and his dog
are floating in the air, while his parents wait at a nearby elevator. In space,
two astronauts control the movement of an asteroid being readied for
transportation to Earth.
CRYSTAL MANUFACTURING LAB
On the other side of the technical lab is the manufacturing
lab, tended by automated robot arms. Inside six illuminated globes, perfect
crystals are being grown for “high-tech” applications back on Earth.
HOLOGRAPHIC PARTY LINE
Passing through the lab, we enter the colony’s community
area. A space family is involved in a holographic party-line conversation,
showing off their year-old child to friends and relatives. One screen features
our narrators in Nova Cite, another shows their teenage granddaughter in Mesa Verde,
while the boy from Sea Castle appears on the third screen.
LAUNCH TUBES/AERIAL IMAGES
As our ride vehicles accelerate into space through the
launch tube, we view three aerial images promoting tourism. The images recall
the three habitats presented in the previous “Tomorrow’s Windows” section of our
journey to the future. Highlighted here re the transportation vehicles used in
each of the different habitats.
“CHOOSE YOUR TOMORROW” SELECTIONS
Leaving the floating colony, we are surrounded by the void
of outer space. Lighted panels appear on the doors of out vehicles, presenting
our choices for a simulated ride through one of the three habitats we have
visited. Once we have made our selections, majority rule in each vehicle
determines which experience we will have.
SIMULATIONS
As we depart for the habitat of our choice, our
point-of-view on the high speed “ride” is from either a desert hovercraft, a
mini-sub, or a space craft.
TUNNEL TO UNLOAD
At the conclusion of our ride, we must return from the
future to the present. But, as our narrator points out, the most exciting
aspect of traveling into the future is that the journey never really ends…
there’s always a new horizon.
UNLOAD AREA/EXIT
Having completed our unique experience of traveling through the future, we
return to the FuturePort concourse where we disembark from our ride vehicles.
The extensive mural here and in the exit area illustrates man’s journey from
the past into the future.
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