Discoveryland: Attractions

 

37 - Horizons

D-Ticket

Any Height

In this revival of the former Epcot attraction, guests travel to the future to see how our community might be able to live, paying tributes to people of the past as they go.

QUEUE:

Located in a large, Steampunx-style building, guests enter the attraction through a Victorian exhibition hall. There, they get to see the model of a time machine, fashioned after H.G. Wells' vision of a time machine. Also here are other retrofuturistic inventions envisioned by Europeans. Soon, guests will come into the load station, where they board an omnimover vehicle to take them to trough time.

RIDE EXPERIENCE:

As the vehicles leave the area, guests will enter their names and hometowns, as well as whether they want a narration in English or French (the two main languages of Canada.) Then, they will sit back to enjoy the ride, waiting until the end to answer more questions.

The vehicles begin by going back to Ancient Greece, where philosophers in Athens propose great ideas. Then, they travel to Saracuse, where the inventor Archimedes is working hard on a new invention. The vehicles then enter workshops in China, India, and the Middle East to see what Medieval inventors of those regions did.

Soon, guests enter into a Renaissance section, where they see Da Vinci making plans for a city of the future. They see his flying machine, the Vitruvian Man, and others. They also see people like Sir Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei, who changed the way we see science.

Then, in an Industrial Revolution section, guests see more inventions. From the early inventions of the late 1700s, to the greater inventions throughout the Nineteenth Century. They even go to the 1889 Paris World's Fair, where they see Jules Verne and H.G. Wells sharing their visions of the future.

As the Nineteenth Century turns into the Twentieth Century, guests see more ideas for the future. They move past Walt Disney, who shares his ideas for the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow (EPCOT.) Then, they see the opening of the park inspired by this concept in 1982. In a final scene, guests emerge in the modern world, where technological advancements are happening more than ever. It explores how things like Social Media, AI, and the Internet is shaping the world, and how it could impact the future.

Then, as guests go through a dark tunnel, the time machine asks them more questions. After their survey is complete, an animated video will play, showing guests what a possible future could look like for them. This is similar to the ending of Spaceship Earth at Epcot.

POST-RIDE:

Once their video ends, guests will get off their vehicles and head into a gift shop, Inventions. This is where they can find pictures of them in their future as well as science stuff.

38 - Space Mountain: From the Earth to the Moon

E-Ticket

Must be 48 in.

This retro-themed, more intense, Space Mountain takes inspiration from Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon and is similar to both its Parisian original and the Mission 2 ride that succeeded it.

QUEUE:

Located in the heart of Discoveryland is a big, Steampunx-style building with a large cannon resting on it. Here, guests go over a bridge and walk towards a building to its side. This is the headquarters of the Baltimore Gun Club, who have designed a contraption called the Columbiad Cannon. It is a powerful cannon that could launch someone into space, and the guests will be the ones to go on this voyage.

Guests go through several rooms explaining this backstory and displaying blueprints for the machine. Then, they will enter into a loading station where they will board their spacecrafts. They put their belongings in a pouch before pulling their lap bars down.

RIDE EXPERIENCE:

The ride goes up to the base of the mountain, resting right on the edge of the cannon. Then, with a sudden boom, it launches guests into the mountain. However, they go past the moon and further into space. This sends guests through several sections, including an asteroid field, a planetary belt, and a nebula. They even have to escape from a supernova, heading through a wormhole to get out. Then, as they head back towards Earth, they see the moon (with a face on it), and a spacecraft has crashed into it. This is supposed to recreate the scene from the 1902 silent film A Trip to the Moon. After this, guests go through a second wormhole and end up back at the Baltimore Gun Club.

POST-RIDE:

Guests exit into the Baltimore Gun Club Emporium, a gift shop selling souvenirs themed to the attraction.

39 - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

C-Ticket

Any Height

Guests join Captain Nemo on a search for the Lost City of Atlantis, heading through the deepest part of the ocean to find it. This is similar to a ride in Tokyo Disneysea.

QUEUE:

Guests see the Nautilus in the lagoon behind Space Mountain. From there, they go over a bridge and into a cave in Mount Prometheus, where Captain Nemo has set up base. Guests move past his diving equipment and a portrait of him on the wall (fashioned after James Mason, who played him in Disney's 1954 film adaptation.) Then, guests will enter the loading area, where they board four-person submarines with flashlights on them.

RIDE EXPERIENCE:

Like the Tokyo version, the vehicles don't really go underwater. It's just an illusion to make it appear so. Bubbles appear os a projection to create this illusion.

The ride begins by going past the Nautilus, where Captain Nemo gives his command. From there, they proceed into a trench, looking at the sea life and sunken ruins thereof. Nemo hopes that these are signs that Atlantis is nearby and prompts the guests to keep looking. However, as they continue to go deeper, the sights become less common and nothing is seen. Disappointed by this, Nemo is about to make the subs return to base, but then a giant squid is seen. It knocks the subs off course and severs Nemo's connection to it.

Luckily, power is restored when some amphibious creature appears. With Nemo connected to the subs again, he orders the guests to look around. They have appeared in an underwater city filled with humanoid fish creatures, the Atlanteans. They look around a little more before Nemo orders the subs to return to base. Declaring the mission a success, Nemo congratulates the guests as they return to the surface.

POST-RIDE:

Guests exit into Nautilus Necessities, a gift shop that the ride shares with Journey to the Center of the Earth.

40 - Journey to the Center of the Earth

E-Ticket

Must be 40 in.

Guests journey deep into a lost, subterranean realm as they attempt to make their way back to the surface.

QUEUE:

Guests enter another one of Captain Nemo's research bases, where he has been studying Ancient Norse texts talking about a world beneath ours. They then learn that he has discovered such a place and is inviting guests to come see. The guests then board elevators to travel 10,000 miles down (even though they're actually going up) and then board a subterranean navigation vehicle that sits up to eight people.

RIDE EXPERIENCE:

The ride goes through some tunnels of glowing crystals, which Nemo has noted to be highly valuable. However, as they go deeper, the volcano erupts, rerouting the vehicles deeper into the mountain and sending them where Captain Nemo hasn't been. Here, they go through Axel Island, full of bioluminescent plants and strange creatures. As they leave the island, there are flashes of lightning, giant dinosaur-like creatures, and fireballs. As guests get closer to the center of the earth, the ride becomes more intense. Then, as they reach the center, they encounter the centipede-like lava monster, which snaps at them as they pass by. Then, they shoot out into an outdoor portion of the ride and move along a track before heading back inside.

POST-RIDE:

Guests exit into the Nautilus Necessities gift shop, which also displays photos taken on the ride.

41 - Orbitron

A-Ticket

Any Height

In this faster Dumbo attraction, guests board a rocket and soar around Da Vinci's planetary model.

42 - Soarin'

E-Ticket

Must be 40 in.

In this flight simulator, guests board a perfected version of Da Vinci's Flying machine to fly around the world.

QUEUE:

In the back of Discoveryland is an Italian Resnassiance fortress. Guests go inside and see many tributes to Da Vinci's life and legacy. Then, they go into a room where a video about the man plays. Here, the New Renaissance Society of Discoveryland have realized his flying machine and are inviting guests to ride it. After giving a safety spiel, they let guests into one of two theaters, where they board their machines.

RIDE EXPERIENCE:

The ride is a slightly extended version of Soarin' Around the World. In this order, guests travel to the Matterhorn in Switzerland, the Arctic region of Scandinavia, the Sydney Harbor in Australia, Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, the Serengeti in Tanzania, the Great wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India, Monument Valley in Arizona, the waters of Fiji, Iguazu Falls in Argentina, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, and finally, Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City, Canada. After that, the ride ends and guests take a passage back to Discoveryland.