World of Motion: A Retired Disney World Attraction

Disney World is constantly coming out with new ideas and attractions to entice people to visit. While some of these ideas never see the light of day, others are implemented only to be eventually shut down. Disney World's World of Motion at Epcot is one of the attractions that no longer exists. In this article, you'll discover the history behind World of Motion, what visitors experienced on the ride, and why Disney World shut it down.

History Behind the World of Motion Ride

This ride was developed as a fun way to find out how man progressed throughout history directly related to worldwide innovations in mobility: from foot power through time into the future, showing how we might travel from place to place one day. This ride was sponsored by one of the automobile giants, General Motors, in a ten-year deal for the ride as they tried to compete with Ford. The pavilion's construction was a part of the initial construction of Epcot Center itself. On October 1, 1982, the main attraction was ready for grand opening with the Disney World of Motion Park.

What Happened On the World of Motion Ride

It was a fantastical ride that four to six person-cars would take you through the Epcot World of Motion on an approximate ride time of fourteen minutes and thirty seconds. They would start in the beginning of time where cave dwellers walked around, to showing scenes from the invention of the wheel and then moved into carriages and riding horses, to show the history of transportation. Then moving along they would show man evolving into the future with monorails and planes.

The Disney World of Motion had continuous motion that showed the different accomplishments of movement right up to the present day and of the near and far off future, where they attempted to predict a real future for transportation. With fiber optics and projectors, they showed just what the city of the future could look like using the sixty-foot clearance to make ride out of it.

Why the World of Motion Closed Down

General Motors started loosing money after the second sponsorship deal ended for Epcot World of Motion; instead, they started signing 1-year contracts for the ride hoping the changes would increase revenue. Disney and GM both concluded that a major remodel of the Disney World of Motion ride would make a difference. In January of 1996, they closed it down, and the new ride that focused only on cars (called Test Track) took its place.

Miscellaneous World of Motion Facts and Figures

On opening day, people walked into the Disney World of Motion listening to the song "It's Fun To Be Free." Throughout the fifteen minute ride the voice of Gary Owens' heard telling the tale of progress. The ride showed people everything from the Babylonians creating the wheel to chariots and the Trojan horse; then pulling characters from our history such as Leonardo da Vinci and Mona Lisa to show the age of flight.

For fourteen long years, the attraction made its mark in Epcot. The riders turn towards a mirror, and the occupants appear to be riding in a GM concept car at the end of the ride, it took the riders into the TransCenter where you could see prototypes for new cars and alternative style engines, and a wind tunnel. It also showed people concepts in concept cars and new fuel economy technology.