r/Epcot • u/Accomplished-Dog1259 • 6d ago
THROWBACK What do you think of The World Of Motion?
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u/turkisflamme 5d ago
Like all the original Epcot Omnimivers, WoM was a great ride.
It had more scenes, animatronics, and details than all current rides put together. As far as having a lot to look at, all the old rides really put the current ones to shame. WoM even had screens (!) which were used well.
Let’s not forget to mention the amazing music and that enormous futuristic city which is the greatest unknown treasure lost to time. Virtually no decent photos of it exist, and it was truly breathtaking. Like Peter Pan’s London on steroids.
The old rides were not thrill rides, they were better than that. Enriching. Engaging. We’ve lost that. I enjoy having fun too, but I miss the old rides and I would happily exchange most of the new ones for what was there before.
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u/MC_Fap_Commander 5d ago
The 20+ minute duration of many of the original rides turned them into something very different than what one thinks about in a "theme park." There was a narrative audaciousness to old EPCOT that no one has remotely tried to duplicate since.
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u/turkisflamme 5d ago
Yes. They’ve definitely moved on to the lowest common denominator which is adrenaline rush for 90 seconds instead. I’ll take slow and steady all day. You can quote me on that.
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u/MC_Fap_Commander 5d ago
I would lean towards a nice mix (something that EPCOT didn't have initially and never effectively put in place). Ideally, I think that a couple thrill-ish rides integrated into the original park (maybe Matterhorn in World Showcase... perhaps something like the Tron ride at MK launching out of Communicore... etc.) would have been perfect. If done right, it could have heightened the effect of the lengthier rides and complimented them.
Instead, they seem to have just shoehorned thrillrides and rides based on IP into the park (diluting the experience of both).
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u/MrEPCOT 5d ago
Third best ride in EPCOT's history.
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u/Ridetrackx 5d ago
I know #1, what's #2?
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u/MrEPCOT 5d ago
1) Horizons 2) Journey Into Imagination (the original)
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u/Ridetrackx 5d ago
Really? Just gonna not mention SE? Ok, I like Imagination but, over SE...... hmmm. I have to chew on that for a while!
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u/MrEPCOT 5d ago
I would give the 1986-1994 Walter Cronkite version of Spaceship Earth the #4 slot.
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u/Ridetrackx 5d ago
Like there was any other version.
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u/MC_Fap_Commander 5d ago edited 5d ago
The original version was sort of accidentally extra awesome because the first portion felt vaguely unsettling.
Where have we come from, where are we going? In the dust from which we were formed, answers recorded on the walls of time. So let us journey into that past, to seek those walls, to know ourselves and to probe the destiny of our Spaceship Earth.
The dark plus the caveman holograms legitimately scared me a lot as a kid, lol. Cronkite certainly made the revised text feel friendlier.
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u/Ridetrackx 5d ago
Narrated by the talented and hilarious Gary Owens (not that Gary Owens), who also voiced.......
Space Ghost (original), Powdered Toast Man, Opening Announcer on Garfield and Friends, Blue Falcon (original), and a million other narration projects.
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u/Koala-48er 5d ago
His narration was definitely a highlight. He was also the announcer on tv’s “Laugh-In.”
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u/disappointedCoati 4d ago
It’s fun to be free, to be on the move to go anywhere with ever a care to… It’s classic. I miss it. Those old dark rides will never be made like that again.
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u/yaksplat 5d ago
The current version of Test Track is the best one, however it's still nowhere near as awesome as the World of Motion.
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u/HonoluluLongBeach 4d ago
It was brilliant. Infinitely better than what replaced it. Marc Davis and Ward Kimball’s best work.
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u/Interesting_Note3299 6d ago
It was ok. Weakest of the omnimover rides at Epcot. Closed for a reason.
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u/PurpleEsskay 5d ago
Of it's time. It wouldn't have lasted until now regardless of test track IMO. As pointed out below it was far too similar to Spaceship Earth to survive long term. Had SSE been changed into something else it very well could have survived (All be it with major updates) but getting rid of it was the right move under the circumstances of the day.
Original Test Track that replaced it was a worthy upgrade. The second version not so much.
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u/Gmh88E4TQK1d 5d ago
My opinion, and forgive me if this is controversial, is that World of Motion closed 10,837 days ago.
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u/Gmh88E4TQK1d 5d ago
I assume we're going to continue getting one of these "What do you think of [long-shuttered attraction]?" posts daily forever, so I'll just jump ahead a few months and state this for the record: I think the courtesy phones immediately southeast of The Odyssey restrooms are a charming anachronism.
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u/EddiePensieremobile 6d ago
It was fun to be free