Walt Disney World Archives > Epcot > HorizonsHorizons
Closed January 9, 1999'If we can dream it, we can do it!"
Horizons Overview
The Gem like structure, Horizons, was one of the highlights of Epcot during the 1980s and early nineties. It explored communication, energy, transportation, imagination, land, sea, and life in futuristic families. Guests first arrive at Futureport, a transportation terminal of the future where they boarded their transportation vehicles.
In the first segment, "Looking Back At Tomorrow", visitors first toured the future, as Jules Vern, and forward-looking thinkers of the 30s and 40s would have presented it.
Guests continue to present, view present day dreams and technologies on the two giants screens called Omnisphere.
The final leg consists of guests viewing the 21st Century where farms are made fruitful in the desert, travel is efficient through magnetics, and robots harvest undersea resources.
Guests then select their mode of transportation back to present-day earth. They may either go on a space flight, a desert hovercraft, or a personal submarine back to Futureport.
JWL Media takes you on a trip back in time to celebrate Epcot's 25th Anniversary. This third in a series, features the Future World classic attraction Horizons, Presented by General Electric. This incredible DVD was recorded with an audio mixer and two microphones
to capture the sounds in front of you and the narration from the speaker behind your head. Features full coverage of the exterior, que & load area, all your favorite ride scenes, a visit to the space station Brava Centauri plus the original General Electric exit displays.Don't delay! Purchase this Horizons DVD before it disappears in back into the vault!
Horizons History
The Disney Company and General Electric wanted to follow-up on their success together with Carousel of Progress. They envisioned a new ride picking up a century later using the same family. This was the beginning of Epcot's Horizons attraction.
General Electric was very involved with the ride development. Both Companies started developing the attraction in 1979. Site work started in August 5, 1981, but actual construction began January of 1982. The attraction was originally going to be called "Century 3". Century 3 referred to the United States Tricentenary in 2076, but decided the name sounded to scientific.
Horizons opened on October 1st, 1983 presented by General Electric. The following is an excerpt from the marketing material for the ride opening:
"Opening 1983. In Future World Phase II, visitors will see a bright view of what's on our Horizons in a show depicting family life-styles in the 21st century.
Before entering the future, guests see today's world as it's never been seen before. The incredible OmniSphere presents microworlds and macroworlds of crystal formation and chains of DNA as well as a fiery space shuttle blast-off and extra-terrestrial locales on a colossal projection surface towering more than eight stories.
On tomorrow's horizons we'll find a 21st century habitat floating beneath the sea. Here, school children equip themselves with recirculation gills to prepare for a "field trip" to an undersea kelp farm. In a desert community, voice-controlled robots are seen harvesting genetically engineered crops. Guests will also visit space colonists who live within the interior of a rotating sphere, simulating the pull of gravity. To bring members of the family "together" from ocean, urban, desert and space habitats, colonists use their holographic televiewer, one of tomorrow's many innovations for a better life-style.
Before leaving the 21st century, we'll be able to choose our own tomorrow by simply pressing one of the buttons aboard the ride vehicle. Our probe into the future will culminate in a simulated ride through one of the environments we've just viewed."
©1982 Walt Disney Productions. All Rights Reserved
September 30, 1993, GE decided it didn't want to sponsor the ride anymore. The Disney Company closed down Horizons and removed all the GE sponsorship. The ride continued to remain open on and off until January 9, 1999, when it was closed permanently to make room for Mission: Space.
Horizons Trivia
- After GE pulled sponsoship in 1993, Horizons was the only ride in Epcot not to have a corporate sponsor.
- Horizons measured 136,835 square feet on the inside of the building with the entire pavilion occupying 3 acres.
- The Gravity Wheel from Horizons can still be seen today in the queue for Mission: Space.
Horizons images © JWL Media. All Rights Reserved.
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