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The Ride
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The ride begins as guests
board their omnimover vehicles, each seating up to six. Exiting the pre-show queue
area, guests begin their ascent. The familiar site of the vehicles moving up the
modern u-turn platform at the entrance to the ride gives those below a glimpse of the
adventure inside. Entering the building, guests find themselves in an ancient cave,
but not alone. Soon, footsteps appear on the walls beside the vehicles, heralding
the dawn of transportation - foot power. |
The second scene depicts early water transportation, showing
dwellers floating along on a raft. Next, animal power is introduced. An Assyrian
tableau shows man's attempts at harnessing camels, ostriches, and zebras. |
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The invention of the wheel scene, one of the
more memorable, shows three men offering their creations to the King of Babylon. One
holds a square, the other a triangle, and the winner holds his prized wheel. |
Past an ancient 'wheel factory', guests find themselves in
the used chariot lot. The Trojan horse, among other offerings are put up for sale. Leonardo
da Vinci's attempts in flight are shown next, alongside an ignored and visably upset Mona
Lisa.
"The Age of Flight" scene finds a man and his animal companions peering down
on London from the basket of a hot air balloon. |
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A Mississippi river boat heralds the
introduction of steam power. And the western expansion is shown by a neverending
parade of stagecoaches and buckboards.
"Finally, the steam railroads...dependable, fast, and safe
transportation..."
Unless, of course, you happened to be one the unlucky individuals stuck on
this train, in the robbery scene. The train is completely authentic. |
Probably one of the most photographed scenes is the
"world's first traffic jam." This American city, circa 1910, has its town
square buzzing with excitement...and cars honking, an ice truck spilling its load, an
upset horse, cops, kids screaming, and much more to add to the frenzy. |
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The open road of the twentieth century is
depicted in the next few scenes. They include a family picnic, an outing to an
airfield, and a highway scene filled with classic cars from the 40's, 50's and 60's.
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Not to mention the observant cop hiding out behind a
billboard. |
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The speed-tunnels are a tribute to the success
of the one found in "If You Had Wings," at the Magic Kingdom. World of
Motion vehicles pass through the center of bullet-shaped rooms while filmed images are
displayed around the vehicles. These included crop-dusting, bobsledding, and
hurtling down a snowmobile trail. The illusion is very convincing, and a guest
favorite. |
The ride is capped of by a glipse of the future.
Vehcles descend around the CenterCore, a depiction of the city of tomorrow, which uses the
full height (60ft) of the building. The city is created with fiber optics,
liquid-neon, projectors, and advanced lighting technologies. Just before dismebarking,
guests are shown, Haunted Mansion-style, just what it might be like to ride in a car of
the future. The ride vehicles turn toward a mirror, and the occupants appear to be
riding in one of 3 GM-designed concepts. |
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Ride Statistics
- Pavilion - 60ft high, 320ft
diameter
- 188 Audio-Animatronic figures
- 33 animated props
- 16 full-size vehicles
- 24 full-scale sets
- length of ride: 14:30 min.
- ride capacity: 3,000 guests/hour
- 20,000 visitors/day
HOME PLANNING & CONSTRUCTION GM
TRANSCENTER
TEST TRACK
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