World of Motion
Encyclopedia
World of Motion sponsored by General Motors, was the former tenant of the Transportation pavilion at Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort
. It was an opening day attraction at EPCOT Center in 1982 and it closed in 1996 to make way for Test Track, a new thrill ride through a GM testing facility.
Visitors would board moving four to six person Omnimover vehicles, and would be taken through scenes that were populated with Audio-Animatronic figures and also projection effects. It was a whimsical look at the history and achievements in transportation, showing scenes from the invention of the wheel right up to the present day and beyond.
The grand finale of the attraction attempted to predict a real future for transportation, with CenterCore, a sparkling metropolis that seemed to be in perpetual motion, and Pepper's Ghost
illusions putting guests into futuristic vehicles. At the ride's conclusion, visitors disembarked into the TransCenter, an interactive area about new products in development by GM.
World of Motion closed in 1996. General Motors
is still the sponsor for the World of Motion's replacement attraction: Test Track
.
signed a 10 year sponsorship deal for the ride, in a move to compete with Ford (which had sponsored a Disney-created attraction at the 1964 New York World's Fair
). The pavilion's construction was a part of the initial construction of EPCOT Center itself. The attraction was ready for grand opening with the park on October 1, 1982, and was in EPCOT Center's "opening cast". The pavilion
was given a specific opening ceremony with GM executives a few days later.
The ride was designed by the legendary Marc Davis, well known for his work on Pirates of the Caribbean
, The Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion
, among others. His humor was evident in such gags as a used-chariot sale, and the world's first traffic jam.
that was situated directly in the entrance into the building. The Omnimovers would then bring you to a simple caveman cave. However, it would head into the first means of transportation: footpower.
The second scene brings you into the earliest means of over water transportation, people traveling on a raft. The next scene shows you the first time animal power was introduced. It shows an Assyria
n tableau with a person trying to control animals from camels to zebras.
The next scene shows the invention of the wheel at Babylon
. A gag shows men holding a square object, a triangle object, and the award-winning circle object. Before exiting, we pass a wheel factory, where everything, including the Trojan Horse
, is trying to be sold.
The next scenes are the "Age of Flight". It begins with Leonardo da Vinci
and his many attempts to fly and next to him is a clearly upset Mona Lisa
. The following scene is a man looking over London
in a hot air balloon.
The next scenes are the evolution of steam. It starts out with a Mississippi Riverboat with the never ending stream of stagecoaches and such for the Western Expansion. The steam locomotive is the next evolution of steam travel, which in turn shows an authentic steam locomotive—and an authentic railroad robbery.
The scene shifts over to one of the most photographed and most remembered scenes: the world's first traffic jam. The chaos includes items such as an upset horse, a spilling ice truck, and kids screaming during the 1900s.
We then travel past the open road scenes which include a man who crashed a bicycle, a family picnic, and early 40s and 50s cars.
The following areas are "speed tunnels" which pay homage to the tunnels in the Magic Kingdom"s "If You Had Wings
". The Omnimover travels through these bullet-shaped tunnels while images are played on the screens. Some include crop-dusting, rafting, and traveling down a snowmobile trail.
The tunnels lead to the final exhibit: CenterCore, the amazing city of the future. Just before unloading, you are asked to "help shape tomorrow's mobility" with a similar effect as The Hitchhiking Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion, you in your Omnimover appear to be a simulated car of the future.
-style feel to all of it. You traveled through the center, looking at prototype cars such as the Lean Machine in the Dreamer's Workshop and a show called The Water Engine, which pits nine all-new Disney characters in a debate over which motor design should be used to power cars. There is a replica of America's only wind-tunnel on display. The ever-popular show "The Bird and the Robot", starring a toucan, Bird, and an assembly-line robot, Tiger, entertain people with acts (and Bird's signature bad jokes) about the importance of the GM assembly line. A computer-generated display shows GM's car 'torture' test without actually performing it. Concept 2000 shows the process of creating prototype cars for GM. The prototype concept cars at the TransCenter were once the most photographed spot in Walt Disney World. An exhibit called Aerotest educated people about air-flow on auto concepts and fuel economy. Another exhibit featured stylings of clothes with GM's advanced polyester production styles.
However, nothing went as planned, and the new ride opened significantly later than the scheduled opening date. On the final ceremonial ride of World of Motion, on January 2, 1996, it broke down. GM executives who were riding it had to climb out and walk back to the exit.
The closing of World of Motion forced the reopening of Horizons
, another Disney attraction which focused on the future of the family. It was closed in 1999.
", written by X Atencio
("Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)
" from Pirates of the Caribbean and "Grim Grinning Ghosts
" from The Haunted Mansion), and Buddy Baker
, another legendary Disney composer. The song was played throughout the ride (and queue area) with music changing to reflect the different time periods as the ride progressed through the various scenes.
The song can be found on The Official Album of Disneyland and Walt Disney World (1991 CD) and Official Album: The Happiest Celebration on Earth - Walt Disney World Resort Album.
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
. It was an opening day attraction at EPCOT Center in 1982 and it closed in 1996 to make way for Test Track, a new thrill ride through a GM testing facility.
Visitors would board moving four to six person Omnimover vehicles, and would be taken through scenes that were populated with Audio-Animatronic figures and also projection effects. It was a whimsical look at the history and achievements in transportation, showing scenes from the invention of the wheel right up to the present day and beyond.
The grand finale of the attraction attempted to predict a real future for transportation, with CenterCore, a sparkling metropolis that seemed to be in perpetual motion, and Pepper's Ghost
Pepper's ghost
Pepper's ghost is an illusionary technique used in theatre and in some magic tricks. Using a plate glass and special lighting techniques, it can make objects seem to appear or disappear, transparent, or make one object seem to morph into another...
illusions putting guests into futuristic vehicles. At the ride's conclusion, visitors disembarked into the TransCenter, an interactive area about new products in development by GM.
World of Motion closed in 1996. General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
is still the sponsor for the World of Motion's replacement attraction: Test Track
Test Track
Test Track is an attraction at Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, sponsored by General Motors The ride is a simulated excursion through the rigorous testing procedures that General Motors uses to evaluate its vehicles, culminating in a high-speed drive around the...
.
History
The premise of the ride was to be a humorous look into the history of transportation, from the ancient days of foot power, through time into the future. General MotorsGeneral Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
signed a 10 year sponsorship deal for the ride, in a move to compete with Ford (which had sponsored a Disney-created attraction at the 1964 New York World's Fair
1964 New York World's Fair
The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...
). The pavilion's construction was a part of the initial construction of EPCOT Center itself. The attraction was ready for grand opening with the park on October 1, 1982, and was in EPCOT Center's "opening cast". The pavilion
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
was given a specific opening ceremony with GM executives a few days later.
The ride was designed by the legendary Marc Davis, well known for his work on Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a series of films, a theme park ride, and spinoff novels as well as numerous video games and other publications. The franchise originates with the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, which opened at Disneyland in...
, The Jungle Cruise and Haunted Mansion
Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride located at Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. A significantly re-imagined incarnation of the ride, known as Phantom Manor, is located in Disneyland Paris...
, among others. His humor was evident in such gags as a used-chariot sale, and the world's first traffic jam.
The ride
The ride began with a modern u-turn up a porticoPortico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
that was situated directly in the entrance into the building. The Omnimovers would then bring you to a simple caveman cave. However, it would head into the first means of transportation: footpower.
The second scene brings you into the earliest means of over water transportation, people traveling on a raft. The next scene shows you the first time animal power was introduced. It shows an Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n tableau with a person trying to control animals from camels to zebras.
The next scene shows the invention of the wheel at Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
. A gag shows men holding a square object, a triangle object, and the award-winning circle object. Before exiting, we pass a wheel factory, where everything, including the Trojan Horse
Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside...
, is trying to be sold.
The next scenes are the "Age of Flight". It begins with Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
and his many attempts to fly and next to him is a clearly upset Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519...
. The following scene is a man looking over London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in a hot air balloon.
The next scenes are the evolution of steam. It starts out with a Mississippi Riverboat with the never ending stream of stagecoaches and such for the Western Expansion. The steam locomotive is the next evolution of steam travel, which in turn shows an authentic steam locomotive—and an authentic railroad robbery.
The scene shifts over to one of the most photographed and most remembered scenes: the world's first traffic jam. The chaos includes items such as an upset horse, a spilling ice truck, and kids screaming during the 1900s.
We then travel past the open road scenes which include a man who crashed a bicycle, a family picnic, and early 40s and 50s cars.
The following areas are "speed tunnels" which pay homage to the tunnels in the Magic Kingdom"s "If You Had Wings
If You Had Wings
Category:Wikipedia articles needing style editing If You Had Wings was one of the original attractions at Walt Disney World. It was a two-person Omnimover dark ride in Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom, sponsored by Eastern Air Lines...
". The Omnimover travels through these bullet-shaped tunnels while images are played on the screens. Some include crop-dusting, rafting, and traveling down a snowmobile trail.
The tunnels lead to the final exhibit: CenterCore, the amazing city of the future. Just before unloading, you are asked to "help shape tomorrow's mobility" with a similar effect as The Hitchhiking Ghosts from the Haunted Mansion, you in your Omnimover appear to be a simulated car of the future.
TransCenter
You leave your Omnimover vehicles and go to the TransCenter, which is full of exhibits and shows about transportation and the things surrounding it. It takes an InnoventionsInnoventions
Innoventions is the name of two technology-oriented Disney attractions:* Innoventions , at Walt Disney World in Florida* Innoventions , in California...
-style feel to all of it. You traveled through the center, looking at prototype cars such as the Lean Machine in the Dreamer's Workshop and a show called The Water Engine, which pits nine all-new Disney characters in a debate over which motor design should be used to power cars. There is a replica of America's only wind-tunnel on display. The ever-popular show "The Bird and the Robot", starring a toucan, Bird, and an assembly-line robot, Tiger, entertain people with acts (and Bird's signature bad jokes) about the importance of the GM assembly line. A computer-generated display shows GM's car 'torture' test without actually performing it. Concept 2000 shows the process of creating prototype cars for GM. The prototype concept cars at the TransCenter were once the most photographed spot in Walt Disney World. An exhibit called Aerotest educated people about air-flow on auto concepts and fuel economy. Another exhibit featured stylings of clothes with GM's advanced polyester production styles.
Closing
Business slumped with General Motors after the second sponsorship deal ended for World of Motion in 1992, and as a result, GM started signing 1-year contracts for the ride. However, a suggested idea to gut the building and turn it into a new attraction stuck with Disney representatives and GM businessmen. It would take World of Motion, close it down, and refurbish it into a new ride that focused only on cars. Thus, World of Motion was shut down to the public while a new attraction, called Test Track, was taking its place. Scheduled to open 19 months after World of Motion's closing, this new ride would put you in a test car against vehicle tests that were needed to deem the car safe for road travel.However, nothing went as planned, and the new ride opened significantly later than the scheduled opening date. On the final ceremonial ride of World of Motion, on January 2, 1996, it broke down. GM executives who were riding it had to climb out and walk back to the exit.
The closing of World of Motion forced the reopening of Horizons
Horizons (Epcot attraction)
Horizons was the name of a dark ride attraction at Epcot , a theme park at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida USA. Located on the eastern side of the "Future World" section of Epcot, the attraction used Disney's Omnimover conveyance system, which took guests past show scenes depicting...
, another Disney attraction which focused on the future of the family. It was closed in 1999.
Sponsor
Pavilion sponsor General Motors signed a 10-year sponsorship contract in December 1977. When the second contract finished in 1992, and with a slumping economy GM agreed only to one year contracts and wanted Disney Imagineering to work on a new attraction. GM insisted that the new ride would focus only on cars, as opposed to the general concept of transportation. The marketing department wanted to strongly promote their cars. GM was the sponsor for the whole run of the attraction.Soundtrack
The theme song for the ride was "It's Fun to Be FreeIt's Fun to Be Free
"It's Fun to Be Free" was the ubiquitous theme song for the World of Motion pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot theme park. Composed by Disney staff musician Norman "Buddy" Baker with lyrics by Xavier "X" Atencio, it is notable among Disney Theme Park music for the sheer number of variations...
", written by X Atencio
X Atencio
Francis Xavier Atencio , also known as X Atencio, is a former animator and Imagineer for The Walt Disney Company....
("Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)
Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)
"Yo Ho " is the theme song for the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions at Disney theme parks. The music was written by George Bruns with lyrics by Xavier Atencio...
" from Pirates of the Caribbean and "Grim Grinning Ghosts
Grim Grinning Ghosts
"Grim Grinning Ghosts" is the theme song for the Haunted Mansion attractions at Disney theme parks. It was composed by Buddy Baker, with lyrics written by X Atencio...
" from The Haunted Mansion), and Buddy Baker
Buddy Baker (composer)
Norman "Buddy" Baker was an American composer who scored many of Walt Disney's films, such as The Apple Dumpling Gang, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, The Shaggy D.A., The Million Dollar Duck and The Fox and the Hound.Baker was born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, and got his degree in...
, another legendary Disney composer. The song was played throughout the ride (and queue area) with music changing to reflect the different time periods as the ride progressed through the various scenes.
The song can be found on The Official Album of Disneyland and Walt Disney World (1991 CD) and Official Album: The Happiest Celebration on Earth - Walt Disney World Resort Album.
External links
- World Of Motion Memorial: A fanpage preserving the attraction's memory.