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next Walt Disney World Resort attraction will go where no thrill ride has gone before --
deep space, announced Al Weiss, president of Walt Disney World Resort and Michael
Capellas, CEO of Compaq Computer Corporation.
Walt Disney World Resort’s newest attraction, Mission:
SPACE, to be presented by Compaq Computer Corporation, will lift off at Epcot in 2003.
It’s the latest in a series of new attractions and entertainment offerings at Walt
Disney World Resort, continuing a period of phenomenal growth that includes the
resort’s current year-long Millennium Celebration.
Offering guests a one-of-a-kind "astronaut-like"
experience, Mission: SPACE will launch guests into a simulated space adventure --
from pulse-racing lift-off to weightlessness in outer space.
In association with former NASA advisors, astronauts and
scientists, Walt Disney Imagineering created Mission: SPACE with new technologies,
making it the first ride system ever created to take guests straight up in simulated
flight. Set decades into the future, guests are transported in time and place to an
International Space Training Center where they will encounter simulated challenges faced
by real astronauts.
"The combination of Disney magic and Compaq technology
will create a truly one-of-a-kind guest experience," said Weiss. "Epcot is the
perfect setting, continuing the park’s dedication to the explorer in all of us with
its unique attractions that inspire us to discover new worlds."
"Computers are vital in developing space programs
today and well into the future," said Capellas. "With some of the most advanced
technology ever produced, Mission: SPACE will provide guests with a rare glimpse
into a world where the possibilities for computers and space flight are endless."
With a career in the NASA space program that spanned more
than 30 years, six-time NASA shuttle astronaut Story Musgrave is an ongoing consultant to
Disney’s Mission: SPACE project. Musgrave calls the new attraction, "a
place where guests can imagine our future in space and their role in it, walking in the
footsteps of heroes and building on the wealth of technology we’ve developed to
date."
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