This ride has such a huge following online. It's one of the most influential rides disney has ever made, and it's a shame it doesn't get an official tribute by disney
I never really knew much about the ride growing up because it wasn't around when I started visiting the Disney Parks, but I can see why people are still very passionate about brining it back in a more modern form.
I was already around for a few years but my parents didn't like Epcot when they were there as kids so we never visited the park until after 2000. By then Horizons had closed and I missed out on it.
I know right!? Disney really swept it under the rug. I have been going to the Disney Parks for the last 19 years and never heard a peep about Horizons. It wasn't until RU-vid that I learned about it.
Sorry you guys didn't get to see it. As a Florida native, born in the 70's I rode it many times. The coolest thing about it was how open the ride felt. You felt like you were floating past actual habitats in various environments. You'd usually start "outside" and then float "inside" a house or seabase or whatever. Many of the "interiors" of the habitats were two or three levels. The space was enormous. Your entire field of view was themed from top to bottom and left to right. You can't get a feel for it in video unfortunately. But, I loved that ride. It was my favorite.
This was THE GREATEST ride Disney ever created! And, it was a LONG ride! The day this ride was demolished was a dark day in Disney history. In its place...a ride that cant even compare...
I was shocked to see how long it was (almost 15 minutes) but with the omnimover it made sense since they keep loading and unloading people with no stopping. Never getting a chance to experience it is one my biggest theme park regrets.
Epcot, when it was EPCOT Center, was a thing to behold. Future World is a shadow of what it once was. Communicore was amazing! Now they don’t know what to do with those buildings and they weren’t even in the Bkuesky art for the impending overhaul. Hopefully eventually we’lol get Horizons II...
I really though the park that needed to most help out of the 4 in Florida was Hollywood Studios, but the more research I've done about Epcot I have to agree with you. The park is having a mid-life crisis: it doesn't know what it wants to be anymore. I know GOTG is still coming to the park but after that there really isn't much. What happens when Disney decides to keep changing the classics to something based on IPs? I don't think it's going to go over well with longtime fans of the park.
I think the IPs work better in the World Showcase. The countries can still have their identities AND have a Disney IP. Futureworld should return to its roots...showcase current and future technologies. Hopefully the Futureworld overhaul will do just that. A nice nod that Disney could do is with the rumored Epcot Monorail Hotel. Make it look like the Progress City central tower. It could be a scaled down version AND would provide seasonal show space. It’d also balance out the sight lines with Spaceship Earth and GotG. Fans would go nuts!
You know now that I think about it, ALOT of the ride elements of Horizons can still be found today in the current version of Spaceship Earth. While it focuses more on communications than futuristic technology, it still has an engaging narrative, and has an interactive screen section at the end where you can pick YOUR future. It just comes to show that sometimes extinct Disney attractions are not truly dead from the parks. They just change into different forms at different locations. 🙂🙂
This is and always will be one of my favorite rides from Epcot. ! The Ambiance of it. The beautiful Orange Grove smell from the ride. The futuristic aspect of it! This ride is very nostalgic for me. Along with world of motion
The days of Epcot being an Educational Theme park aren't coming back. Guardians of the galaxy, mission space, the confusion of the future play pavilion to test track are sticking around. Sure you still have imagination, the seas, & land which are shells of their former selves, then we have world showcase to the famous spaceship earth which are the only things left in the educational aspect from the original epcot center. Kids these days don't want to go to a theme park to be educated, they wanna have fun and get away from boredom they get at school.
@@madden8021it sucks how epcot just seems so ip based now, everything that made it epcot appears to be leaving, even in the world showcase theyre overhauling rides that represent the countries with stuff based on movies (extremely directed towards frozen ever after)
It's sad to see the futurism that was Epcot slowly fade away. Perhaps a video about the Racer at Kennywood Park in Pittsburgh, PA. It's a one-of-a-kind roller coaster, as in, it's the last of it's kind.
Seems like a mistake for Epcot to move away from what the park's original concept was. I understand it's hard to predict the future but Epcot seems to have an identity crisis at the moment. Should be interesting to see what happens in the next few years and if they move away completely from futurism. Racer at Kennywood Park has been added to the list, thank you for the suggestion Yamcha Kippur.
I only went on this ride once before it closed but I remember it so vividly. I thought it was cool. I was so amazed by the details, the music and autotronics.
With the sinkhole problem I understand why the building was taken down, but to replace it entirely was such a shame. Especially the way they treated the ride after GE didn't renew its sponsorship.
@@ThemeParkHistory agreed. From what i heard the reason why the ride closed so suddely and without much notice it's because they didn't know until December how bad the sinkhole was... At that time they were deciding on updating Horizons or making a new thrill ride in which the vehicle would be a Jetpack.
MATHEUS PG I was told that the only reason it reopened was the east part of future world had at the time was wonders of life open while world of motion and energy adventure where being done up so Disney had no choice but to open horizons
By far the greatest ride ever created. When I was in high school I went to EPCOT with my parents and rode it 3 times. It was in the mid 90s. I was sad the next time I went and it was closed. The time after that it was gone.
It was one of the best rides if not the best ride, made you feel really good afterwards, even tho you already feel good being at Epcot... Made the future feel very hopeful and good!
I thought I was the only one who felt like that! It's the most optimistic and feel good attraction I've ever seen. I think the soundtrack plays a big part in that.
Love the use of the Epcot entrance theme :D Great video and absolutely amazing! Love all your work and seeing everything you do! Who knows maybe someday you can even do an interview with imagineers or engineers from coaster companies or other theme park personnel too!!1
I have watched all of your videos thus far; but I saved this one for last. This was one of my favorite attractions at Epcot when I was a little kid. I remember always fighting with my brother to make the selections for the final portion of the ride. Thank you so much for bringing this ride back to all of us who enjoyed it. Your channel has brought back so many memories that I can share stories with my daughter when the time comes. "If we can dream it, then we can do it Yes we can, yes we can! New Horizons for you and for me" Since we're already in Epcot; might I recommend your next video be one about "The World of Motion"
Loved this ride. I was a Disney fanatic back in the day, and rides like this--and the ethos it represented--was a big reason why. Later-era Eisner and then Iger (and Chapek, etc) have just killed all the love I had for Disney. It took a long time for me to turn from fan to detractor, but if I was to pinpoint where it started, it was with the unceremonious destruction of my favorite ride at EPCOT. In the past five years I have only returned under duress (pressured by my children, who are now both legally adults so if they want to go back now, they can pay for it).
Horizons is easily one of my favorite rides of all time. It’s safe to say that when this ride was shut down, it was the beginning of the end of EPCOT Center. It’s nothing like it use to be and they need to bring it back.
Thank you for making this video ! Nice tribute to an amazing ride. This attraction is definitely one my favorites. I remember going on it for the first time in 1986. I miss it!!!
Horizons was our favorite ride at EPCOT and we were so sad to see it go. Mission Space is one of those rides that you do once and then say "I saw it, I don't need to do this again". Horizons was incredible, was closed for one trip but back open for the next one. We thought they'd changed their minds about closing it and boy were we happy. We rode it over and over again for 2 hours because it was POURING outside. The next time we went it had closed permanently, so we were really sad. We had to mourn its loss a second time, and it was as bad as the first time. I never noticed the disrepair, when I'm in WDW I'm a kid again and it's all magic for me. Boy do I miss this experience!
You can never have too many videos about Horizons. I only rode this ride one time and it is still my favorite to this day! Thanks for such a great vid, man
Shame it's gone, it really is one of the best attractions ever created by Disney. It just did everything right and its message of a brighter tomorrow was great.
That's a pretty good comparison, I know people say Spaceship Earth is that attraction for Epcot but i find it to be boring at times. At least Horizons was nice to look at and who doesn't like seeing what the future has to hold?
And I would agree Spaceship Earth is the definitive Epcot ride. But if you took SE, Horizons and Journey Into Imagination(the original) and kept them going, refurbed w/the occasional overlay you could have had a good core of rides at Epcot while changing out the other ones. Would have helped keep Epcot's identity intact whilst welcoming new rides and ideas(i.e. Test Track, Frozen Ever After, Ratatouille etc.)
That change over from Journey Into Imagination to Journey Into Your Imagination is one of the worst decisions ever made by Disney. I understand why they did it but the way they changed everything was just wrong. Who thought removing everything that made the ride a classic was a good idea?
Amazing job. For your next video, you can consider either Alien Encounter at the Magic Kingdom, Beetlejuice's Graveyard Revue at Universal Studios Florida, Curse of Dark Castle at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Voyage to the Iron Reef at Knott's Berry Farm, and/or Justice League: Battle for Metropolis at Six Flags Great Adventure. It'd be interesting to hear YOUR thoughts on those attractions.
I was on this as a kid. The smell was very sterile/ new technology composite, kind of "plasticy". Some people say they were/or are bored as a kid at Epcot but NOT me. As a little kid, I was blown away. The place was fascinating and made you imagine new ideas. I like the concept and themes of Epcot, and It's probably as relevant as ever. World culture and humanities life sciences. There is ao much that Disney can work with, even if there IP's become more prevalent.
I love your videos they are so great! 10/10 every time! I honestly become a little sad when each video ends. Maybe one day do an hours worth (or more trust me ill watch it) on a park and its entirety!
Thank you so much memyselfandi! I have to change up the endings, they usually end on a somber note 😂We have plans to cover the history of theme parks, those videos will definitely take longer to put together but definitely will have a longer run time than the videos we currently put out.
Hey, you think you can add to list Universe of energy / Ellen's Energy Adventure at Epcot, and sometime next year, to celebrate 30th anniversary of Disney's Hollywood Studios, can you talk about it's two opening day attractions, The Great Movie Ride and the Backlot studio tour?
The imagineers of today have no clue as to how they can just make something based on a character or thrill ride rather than just make something that relates to people all ages, Horizons did just that and also all the attractions at future world in the 80s and 90s.
I wouldve loved to see all of the opening day epcot attractions but sadly I was born in 2003 once a majority had been dumbed down or replaced. Im going on my first disney world trip in april with my school band so when we go to epcot i'll definitely be trying to go on spaceship earth since that one hasnt had any major changes
When he said that educational and thought inspiring rides were being replaced by thrill rides, that hurt XD. Now they have Guardians of the Galaxy replacing another attraction at EPCOT haha
Martin E. Would definitely love to see that! Was at Universal last fall and absolutely love that attraction and if I need to give my legs a quick breather I love to lounge by that talking fountain or that fancy restaurant.
I went to Epcot a fair amount in 1991/1992. And i know I'd been in years before. It's so strange while I remembered much while actually seeing the video, I couldn't bring up a memory of this ride before that. I know I rode it, but perhaps not as much as the other rides. Seems rather a shame it took such help to remember something obviously so impressive.
We have seen that a lot in the comments that people remember Horizons but don't actually remember what the ride was about. It's weird but I guess makes sense since it was surrounded by Wonders of Life, World of Motion and Universe of Energy, which seem to have a bigger following. Might have just faded in with that section of the park.
I never got to experience this ride. I wish i got to ride it. Thank you for the video. The next suggestion is Disney back lot tour at Disney Hollywood Studios
I've never been to Disney world only Disneyland. I'm from the west so I doubt I will ever go ,but I sure appreciate all the videos I can watch . It might not be the same but I still get to see what it looked like.
Hello, and welcome to Theme Park History, the channel for everything to do with theme parks. Old and new, big and small. In today’s episode we blast off into the depths of our solar system as we explore Mission: SPACE a motion based simulator ride that opened at EPCOT on August 15th, 2003 This attraction was suggested by all these astronauts of the International Space Training Center, so thank you to everyone for your comments. As always, if there’s an attraction you’d like us to cover in a future video, leave a comment down below, you never know? Your suggestion might be next month’s video. PLEASE MAN!!!! DO MISSION SPACE!!!
Greatest dark ride of all time. Fun fact, you can see the Space Shuttle docked at the window where the son is “floating away”. Of course, the shuttle would be decommissioned before this future could ever be seen.
Love all of your videos! Just wanted to point out that Walt died on December 15th, not December 6th as you mentioned in this video. Keep up the super good work!!
They should have figured out how to get the money to update that ride and found a way to preserve the mural. A harsh reality on things that doesn't always work out. Still they could have preserve the mural. They've probably had somebody to create a mural so they can make an exact copy to put in Horizons. There might be an original copy in the archives someplace.
You could do a video about those guys that figured out how to bypass Horizons security and walked about the ride scenes. They took a bunch of stuff from the ride before it got closed down too.
Love the videos really good, please could you cover rock and roll rollercoaster at Hollywood studios and roll and rock it at Universal studios many thanks.
Still have never been to Epcot. I’ve been living in Florida all my life and gone to everywhere except Epcot. It just didn’t seem as fun as the other theme parks. I think I’ll finally visit it soon.
I still miss this ride! My very first time at EPCOT was the third day the ride was open (October 4, 1983) and I rode it Six times in the 3 day’s we were there...I also got to ride it the second to last day, on Jan 6, 1999 and several times in between and it was NEVER surpassed as my favorite ride in ANY of the parks in Florida...All this DESTROYED...so we could have Mission FREAKING Space?!! What a Waste!
Can you please do Santas Village in East Dundee Illinois , it has been around for a very long time and has tons of history and stories. It has been bought and sold many times and has been converted over to a whole new park but still incorparates the original history and buildings/rides.
I'm glad it left on a higher note then it would have if it stuck around till now. Look at the lines for living with the land or carousel of progress if horizons was around today no one would ride it as much as they say they would. We have so few relics left from the past and no one gives them the love they deserve
