World of Motion
World of Motion, presented by General Motors, was the former occupant of the transportation pavilion in Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort. It was an opening day attraction at EPCOT Center in 1982 and it closed in 1996 to make way for Test Track, a new thrill ride through a GM testing facility.
| World of Motion | |
|---|---|
The Transportation pavilion logo, used for both World of Motion and (to varying degrees) its successor Test Track | |
| Epcot | |
| Area | Future World |
| Coordinates | 28°22′22.39″N 81°32′50″W |
| Status | Removed |
| Opening date | October 1, 1982 |
| Closing date | January 2, 1996 |
| Replaced by | Test Track (World Discovery) |
| Ride statistics | |
| Attraction type | Dark ride |
| Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering |
| Theme | Transportation |
| Music | "It's Fun to Be Free" |
| Height | 60 ft (18 m) |
| Site area | 79,400 sq ft (7,380 m2) |
| Vehicle type | Omnimover |
| Riders per vehicle | 4–6 |
| Duration | 15:00 |
| Sponsor | General Motors |
| Control system | Omnimover |
| Host | Gary Owens |
| Audio-animatronics | 188 |
| Show scenes | 30 |
Visitors would board moving four to six person Omnimover vehicles, and would be taken through scenes that were populated with Audio-Animatronic figures and also projection effects. It was a whimsical look at the history and achievements in transportation, showing scenes from the invention of the wheel right up to the present day and beyond.
The grand finale of the attraction attempted to predict a real future for transportation, with CenterCore, a sparkling metropolis that seemed to be in perpetual motion, and Pepper's Ghost illusions putting guests into futuristic vehicles. At the ride's conclusion, visitors disembarked into the TransCenter, an interactive area about new products in development by GM.
World of Motion closed in 1996. GM has continued its sponsorship in World of Motion's replacement attraction, Test Track, since its opening in 1999. Since that attraction's 2012 overhaul, GM has sponsored the attraction through its Chevrolet division.