We continue to need photos for these old attractions, as well as others in the tournament. Please e-mail graveyard [at] themeparkinsider.com and many thanks to the TPI readers who have sent in photos already.
Back to the Future (Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood)
Just closed last year, these attractions, based on the popular Michael J. Fox movies, placed you in eight-passenger flight simulators, made up to look like the film's DeLorean time machines. You "flew" in front of a massive, Imax-style screen, as you chased bad guy Biff Tannen through time to reclaim his stolen DeLorean.
Soap Box Racers (Knott's Berry Farm)
This Arrow coaster featured four side-by-side tracks, upon which you "raced" other riders, all in coaster cars fashioned after Soap Box Derby racers. Top speed was only 30 mph, but fans said that this ride fired your imagination at 100 mph-plus.
Horizons (Epcot)
This GE-sponsored Omnimover ride stood on the site of the current Mission: Space. Horizons offered a early '80s view of the future, after first taking a look back at visions of the future from the past. Highlights included the orange-scented farm of the future as well as the then-innovative opportunity to choose your own way to travel back to the 20th century (by land, sea or space).
Cranium Command (Epcot)
Loaded with late '80s pop culture references (Hans and Franz, anyone?), this mix of film and animatronics taught you about the central nervous system, through the eyes of a young boy. Literally. The show's still there, in Epcot's Wonders of Life pavilion, but shuttered indefinitely. Like the hypothalamus ("blink, blink, breathe, breathe, day in, day out, never a 'thank you,' never a 'job well done'") it just doesn't seem to earn much respect.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom)
Well, it wasn't 20,000 leagues - just a lap around the old Fantasyland lagoon - and your Jules Verne-inspired subs never did descend under water below window level, but many riders loved this tour recreating scenes from the classic Walt Disney live action film. Poor hourly capacity and inaccessibility to wheelchair guests ultimately doomed the ride, and Disney filled in the lagoon, which is now the site of a Pooh-themed toddler play area.
Drachen Fire (Busch Gardens Williamsburg)
Here's TPI's Russell Meyer's take: "The coaster was a pretty cool ride with some of the most unique combination of elements on any coaster ever built. You went up the lift and straight into a corkscrew (kinda like the one after the first loop on Anaconda), and a high speed dive into a trench. Then you went into the Batwing (or cobra roll as it is known now). Then you went through the MCBR, and before 1994, there was a diving corkscrew (later removed for a straight piece of track) and up through a cutback (kinda like a dive loop) and through a final corkscrew before ending with a vicious 540 degree helix into a trench."
Journey Into Imagination (Epcot)
Yes, this ride still exists. But it ain't the same. Fans clamored for the original dark ride from Epcot's Imagination pavilion to be included in this tournament. It's initial replacement, the universally despised Journey Into Your Imagination, remains the lowest-rated ride in Theme Park Insider history. But the original, with its impish Figment animating the journey, provided a welcomed touch of Disney whimsy in a Future World that was just too... educational for many early Epcot Center visitors.
Adventures Through Inner Space (Disneyland)
Hop aboard your Omnimover "Atom-mobile" and prepare to be shrunk down to molecular size by the Mighty Microscope for a journey through the human body. This Tomorrowland ride, on the site of what is now Star Tours, was sponsored by chemical company Monsanto, which pitched its many products the unload area. Looking back, the ride screams "cheese," but when I was a kid, I totally, completely and utterly bought in. And adored every moment aboard.
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Go Figment, look at those numbers!
I am very surprised at Horizons...not my first choice, but want to see how this does down the line against other graveyarded rides.
Marty McFly and Doc Brown are kicking some serious sea-bass right now; why did they get rid of that ride? So much for the "power of love"
Because Universal wanted to theme it with a show that jumped the shark years ago, but can bring in more money because of cross marketing. Almost makes you wonder if they had a hand in getting the Simpson's movie to come out after years of talks that one would happen so that they could still be the park where you "ride the movies." Sorry for the rant, but I think they could have chose something else instead of adding a third ride based on a cartoon, Jason Bourne maybe?
No way I could take Horizons since it was replaced by one of my favorite attractions, Mission:Space. I mean Horizons was interesting, but seriously.... I would much rather have Mission: Space. Anyway, Cranium Command was/is a great hidden gem....I do hope someday Disney comes to their senses and gets the Life Pavilion back up and running...
20k Leagues has sort of been replaced, so I don't miss it much, however Drachen Fire is just gone...nothing replaced it. That spot in the park is just a place for concerts now. So sad to see a coaster just die like that...
Journey Into Imagination was and is a lame attraction, Figment or no Figment.
A history tidbit...the story goes that it was originally
supposed to be designed and built by B&M, but the company had too many projects at the time to build a coaster for both Busch Parks. Kumba was built for BG Tampa, and the Williamsburg contract was given to Arrow. The elements in Drachen Fire were very similar to what would be in numerous future B&M designs, leading many to believe that Arrow used the design that was initially created by B&M, and applied Arrow technology to it, causing design incompatibilty from the start. Arrow's center of gravity was always the center of the train, while B&M's center is the heart of the rider. Arrow's rigid trains accounted for much of the roughness. Had it been wholly designed and built by either Arrow or B&M, it may have withstood the test of time.
Here's a youtube of Drachen Fire. Company promotional video POV
http://youtube.com/watch?v=s7e3hbVWRJQ
I'm sure that BTTF will win the match with Soap Box Derby. I voted for Soap Box Derby from a historical perspective. There's no questioning the significance of Back To The Future though. In fact, I would probably say that BTTF would win the whole thing, except everyone around here has mouse on the brain.
I never rode either one of the other two rides, so I didn't vote for them. I probably won't be voting in a lot of these contests. For one, I never rode a lot of them, and I'm not sure I can get interested in another Disney lovefest.
Soap Box Racers was awesome! I rode that a multitude of times. BTTF was a great ride, but really got quite jerky with time.
And Adventure Through Inner Space is already losing?? I thought for sure that would be a top contender! "You're smaller than an atom!!"
*sigh*
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