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| Designer / calculations | WED Enterprises | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Capacity | 141 cars seating 4 guests each | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hourly capacity | 3250 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 60 feet | ||||||||||||||||||
| Speed | 1.0 mph | ||||||||||||||||||
| Track length | 1,250 feet | ||||||||||||||||||
| Animatronics | 150 | ||||||||||||||||||
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World of Motion was a Dark Ride located at Epcot in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA. Opening with the park on October 1, 1982, the ride was a comedic look into the world of how the world moves around via transportation, narrated by Gary Owens. For its entire life, the ride was sponsored by General Motors.
History
When the Transportation pavilion was originally being developed in 1975, Disney was looking for a way to get a sponsor for the pavilion. General Motors, being the leading automobile manufacturer at the time was on a lookout to make sure they would get chosen. Eventually, they would and GM would become sponsor of the pavilion in 1977, the first to do so.
The ride was the first to be completed during construction. The ride’s building was shaped like a car wheel, with rods on top of the building reinforcing that concept. The entirety of the middle of the building was to be covered in a glass material. The bottom of the building was unevenly shorter than the middle, as a design choice. The ride started by exiting the building and circled the main entrance, and the atrium was built on the second level of the pavilion.
The ride was completed in time to open for the 1982 season. The ride followed guests as they traced the history of transportation and several milestones in that path. The ride was a smash hit, hitting 1 million riders in not even a year.[1]
The ride itself would see very little changes. The exhibits downstairs were constantly changing to fit into today’s visions. As the years went on the ride would become less and less popular as more and more pavilions began to get added, with Horizons next door in 1983 and Wonders of Life in 1989.
World of Motion would close forever in January 2, 1996 in order to be transformed into Test Track. Universe of Energy was undergoing a transformation as well, so Horizons was forced to reopen just to have at least 2 attractions operating in the area. Much of the ride props and animatronics would be reused, and some of the vehicles were sold off. World of Motion remains as the first original Future world ride to close forever, followed by Universe of Energy shortly after. The ride would eventually be transformed into Test Track in 1999 after much delay and setbacks.
References
- ↑ "Site Maintenance". www.gm.com. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
