Disney Attractions Of The Past: Universe of Energy

One of EPCOT’s iconic opening day attractions was the Universe of Energy. This attraction embodied the park’s vision of educating guests in a big way. It saw several changes throughout its time and in 1996 became Ellen’s Energy Adventure, while still hanging onto it’s original name of Universe of Energy.

The Ride

Universe of Energy was a one-of-a-kind attraction that was a 45 minute-long experience. The original attraction consisted of several phases: a pre-show, theatre one film, primeval diorama, theatre two film, and theatre one finale film. These theaters and segments were divided into rooms with the ride vehicles slowly transporting guests in between phases. The ride vehicles were named “traveling theatre cars” and operated on a trackless system following wires along the floor.

The original attraction’s pre-show was an 8-minute live-action film about energy in its various forms. The film was shown on a large mosaic screen featuring 100 rotating prism-shaped flip screens. The guests then transferred into ride vehicles and entered theatre one film where an animated movie played on three large movie screens depicting the creation of fossil fuels and the beginning of life on Earth. The ride vehicles then transferred guests to the primeval diorama scene. Ride vehicles slowly moved throughout the 7 minute-long scene depicting ancient life on Earth through dinosaur animatronics. After this scene guests are moved into theatre two film where they view another live action film about current energy resources, this film being around 12 minutes-long. After this film guests are moved into the final scene, theatre one again, where they view the 2 minute-long finale film. The finale film was animated and depicted ways that energy could be harvested. After the finale guests left the attraction.

Changes Throughout The Years

In 1996 Universe of Energy went through a major renovation and became Ellen’s Energy Adventure. Ellen’s Energy Adventure was an attempt to revitalize interest in the attraction utilizing a star-filled cast. Ellen DeGeneres, Bill Nye, Jamie Lee Curtis, Alex Trebek, and Johnny Gilbert all starred in this revitalization of the attraction.  The new attraction used humor for an engaging look into energy sources, alternative energy, and fossil fuels. Ellen’s Energy Adventure reused the same traveling ride and theatre system, as well as the diorama scene with the addition of an Ellen DeGeneres audio-animatronic.

Every film used during Universe of Energy was changed for Ellen’s Energy Adventure. The preshow sets the stage as Ellen is watching Jeopardy in her apartment with her neighbor Bill Nye The Science Guy. She falls asleep and finds herself as a contestant on Jeopardy with her old college rival Judy (played by Jamie Lee Curtis). Every question on Ellen’s dream Jeopardy is surrounding energy, a topic in which Ellen knows nothing about! Luckily she has Bill Nye there to take her on a journey throughout time and space to learn all about energy what it is. The other theatre shows involve Bill Nye taking Ellen throughout various locations and places in time to learn about energy. With the finale show being the final question on Jeopardy which Ellen, of course, wins.

Closure

In 2017 it was announced that Universe of Energy, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, would be closing. The ride closed in August of 2017. It was announced that a Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster would be taking the place of Universe of Energy. This eventually became Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, which opened in May of 2022.

Were you a fan of Universe of Energy? Which version of the attraction did you prefer? Let us know in the comments below.

Featured Image by Emily Murray.