ABANDONED EPISODE 7

HORIZONS
BRIGHT SUN GAMING
[INTRO]
Right so, Horizons has a massively rich history and thats a big
reason why I wanted to do this video also that many people dont know
the full story. So, Im going to grind it down into a few minutes. Also I
get that this isnt really abandoned per say, however the building itself
did sit abandoned for a few years, that along with the fact I really want
to do this video is making me accept it as abandoned. Anyway lets get
into it.
So around 1978 and 1979, concepts were pitched to Walt Disney
Executives. The rides extremely early incarnations were to be the
history of Thomas Edison and GEs origins. This idea came straight
from Regional Jones, the CEO of General Electric at the time. That
didnt last for long when Imaginers switched the idea of the ride to
show the future other then the past. The ride was to be called
CENTURY 3 as America entered its 3rd century. Models and sketches for
the pavilion showed the pavilion to feature an Omnimax theater and an
observation tower. The Design team then thought the name was too
American as people from around the world would be visiting EPCOT so
the name was changed the to FutureProb. This version of the ride
would feature Mission Control narrating the ride. After much debate
between GE and Disney, sometime between August and September of
1981, the name was once again changed to its permanent one,
Horizons.
Development on the ride came a bit too late and Disney wasnt able
to make the deadline of opening day. The ride itself was shown in the
concept art and models for the park in 1980 and 1981. Then on
October 1st 1982, EPCOT Center opens to the public after going way
over budget excessing between 800 million to a staggering 1.4 Billion
dollars which in 2015 would be around 3.6 Billion Dollars. During the
opening year, Horizons appeared on guests guide maps saying the
emerging structure was to open later that year. The ride was being
built in Future World East and in-between The Universe Of Energy (Now
EEA) and The World Of Motion (Now Test Track). Then, exactly one year
after the opening of EPCOT Center, Horizons opened to the Public on
October 1st, 1983 under sponsorship of General Electric. The ride
costed Disney 60 Million dollars in 1981 which equals now to about 155
Million dollars in 2015.

This was the only ride that incorporated all the major themes of Future
World in EPCOT. The omnimover ride brought guests through different
looks on the same big future, bringing you through three different
people doing different jobs in the future showcasing space housing,
agriculture technology and undersea living. That along with additional
scenes of the history and future. Props and projected screens were
mainly used to tell the story. --- PLAY RIDETHROUGH VIDEO WITH IF
WE CAN DREAM IT, THEN WE CAN DO IT MUSIC --- At the end, much
like spaceship earth now, you were given 3 different endings to choose
from. These were films made from models, and one of which holding
the record for being the longest continues shot of a model.
Then things started to get bad for Horizons. On September 30th 1993,
General Electrics contract to sponsor the attraction expired and GE
refused to renew it which left the attraction without a sponsor for the
first time. Within a few months, all signs that mentioned GE were
removed along with the voice spiel in the beginning and end of the
attraction were altered to remove GEs name. At this point, Horizons
was the only attraction in EPCOT to be without a sponsor. The
attraction would remain sponsorless for the rest of its existence.
Then, in late 1994 the inevitable happened, Horizons closed to all
guests. The attraction is then left abandoned for an entire year until to
the surprise of many people in December of 1995, it reopened with no
renovations and nothing changed. Why did it reopen? Well both the
Transportation and Energy pavilions were closed for renovations,
meaning only Wonders Of Life would be open in Future World East. So
to relieve the crowds, Horizons opened back up to the public. During
this time rumors circled of the attractions building being turned into
Journey into space, which was an abandoned concept of a space
pavilion in EPCOT but this concept was cancelled. This went on for
roughly 4 more years as Horizons became a seasonal attraction.
It was widely expected by then that Horizons would close when Test
Track was set to open in 1998. However Test Track had some serious
delays in its testing phase, go figure, and it was eventually delayed up
until January 9th of 1999 when the World of Motion re-opened as Test
Track. By this time Future World East now had 3 different pavilions
under full operation and now the inevitable happened. On January 9th
1999, Horizons closed permanently. The pavilion was left abandoned
for around 8-9ish months until on September 23rd all signage for the

ride was removed. Now apparently on October 1st 1999 some press
groups rode the ride at night. I couldnt find much reason as to why,
maybe because it was its 15th year anniversary but who knows, the
fact of the matter is, the ride was still intact after being abandoned for
nearly 10 months. This was great news for fans of the ride, now
proving the rides still here. However, on EPCOTS Millennium
Celebration for the year 2000, to the surprise of many guests, Horizons
didnt reopen to guests to handle the crowds.
Still, the building was left abandoned until reports came in saying the
building was being emptied out. On March 13th this was confirmed
when people caught Disney transporting the ride vehicles off the
property and permits for the demolition of the building were leaked to
the public. Once the word was out it wasnt too long until Disney
finally announced that Horizons was to be replaced. The Disney
announcement which occurred on April 20th and said the Horizons
building was to be removed to make room for a larger space themed
attraction by the name of Mission: Space. It wasnt long after that the
demolition of the Horizons building. Then finally in August of 2000, the
ground was completely clear. Then in October 17th 2000, the
foundation was poured and Mission: Space started construction until
finally on August 14th 2003, Mission: Space officially opens to the
public.
So, why did Horizons close? Well theres many theorys as to why it
closed and Disney never gave us a real reason other then that the
Mission Space Pavilion was larger then the Horizons one which is
completely untrue. So allegedly they did a little bit of Disney lying as
the real reason the building was to be torn down is something much
more serious. It seems that sometime in the mid to late 90s, a sinkhole
began to form under the Horizons building. Now apparently Disney
already knew the building was under put under a lot of stress from the
ride system, however later Disney discovered the building was in much
worse condition then they previously thought and they had serious
concerns for the safety of guests and cast members. After all the years
Horizons had been opened, the building was collapsing in on itself and
causing massive roof and structural problems and Disney had no other
option but to tear it down.
During the construction of Mission: Space, metal gurders filled the
alleged sinkhole. Horizons went from 1983 1999, it truly defined what
EPCOT was about. Is Mission Space a worthy successor? Absolutely not,
it always has short wait times for a 100 million dollar attraction also
given that its injured and killed the most people in WDW. Sooooooo not
the best ride to live up to Horizons and it would be amazing if they

would bring it back in anyway. Horizons now will now only live in people
memories and online. Thank you very much for watching everyone,
have a great day, and thanks for watching.
[OUTRO]