ALIEN INVASION ORLANDO LICENSE
Following that attraction’s success, Disney looked for more opportunities to use its license of the Alien franchise.ĭisney launched an ambitious renovation project of Tomorrowland around that time. The ride recreated iconic scenes from film history, including Ripley’s showdown with a Xenomorph at the end of Alien.
ALIEN INVASION ORLANDO MOVIE
Nostromo never made it past the design stage, but Alien found another home at Disney World when The Great Movie Ride opened at MGM Studios in 1989. Disney had come close to building an Alien-themed ride in the 1980s called Nostromo, where riders would shoot down Xenomorphs with laser guns mounted to their cars. But instead of a generic alien, the villain was originally meant to be the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise.Ī gory, R-rated property may seem like an odd match for Disney World, but the partnership was years in the making. A lot of the early ideas of what the ride would be ended up making it into the final product-guests would be seated in an arena-style theater facing an animatronic alien that would ultimately escape and terrorize them all in the dark. Determined to lure the teen demographic, Eisner began looking for ways to bring more thrills to Disneyland and Walt Disney World.Īlien Encounter was conceived as part of this reimagining. Eisner’s teenage son Breck made this clear when he turned down the chance to go to Disneyland in California, saying the park was too lame. The parks’ classic rides, like It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, and even The Haunted Mansion, were beloved for their nostalgia, not for their fear factor. Disney, Wikimedia Commonsĭisney wasn’t a top destination for thrill-seekers when Michael Eisner took over the company in 1984. Instead of clearing it to open later that month as planned, he ordered the park’s designers (also known as Imagineers) to shut it down and ramp up the intensity.įive months later, one of the most terrifying rides in theme park history opened in "The Happiest Place on Earth." From Alien Encounter to ExtraTERRORestrialĬoncept art for ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. It frightened early test-riders-the Orlando Sentinel reported people screaming over the dialogue and running for the exit-but Eisner felt the ride wasn't scary enough.
But when Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner experienced ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter for himself in January 1995, he was unimpressed.īy that point, Disney had already spent eight years developing the ride, which was meant to be the showpiece of Tomorrowland's $100 million makeover. Though the attraction didn’t offer any steep plunges or high-speed turns, it aimed to be one of Disney’s premier thrill rides, with the most heart-pounding moments taking place as guests sat still in complete darkness. Halfway through the demonstration, something goes wrong: They accidentally send a carnivorous monster to Earth, and when the lights flicker off, the alien creature starts attacking audience members. A friendly group of aliens are showing off their new teleportation technology.
It was hard to hear the dialogue above the screams, but riders sitting through early test runs of ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, got the ride’s basic premise.
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