Omnimover

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The Omnimover is an

The ride system was descended from the PeopleMover ride system developed for Ford's Magic Skyway at the 1964 New York World's Fair.^[2] It featured continuously moving ride vehicles like its predecessor, but also had the ability to swivel each car 360 degrees so that riders would see what the ride designers intended them to see.

The first Omnimover was developed for Adventure Thru Inner Space, a Disneyland attraction that opened in 1967. It was then used in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion attraction, where the clamshell-shaped cars were nicknamed Doombuggies.

Description

The Omnimover system was created by Roger E. Broggie and Bert Brundage to provide a ride system capable of providing passengers with a motion-picture-type experience by controlling the line of sight.^[3] This concept also allows the designers to be able to place infrastructure elements of the attraction, such as lighting and projectors, behind the vehicles without concern for having the illusions of the attraction revealed to the riders. The system consists of a chain of vehicles operating on a track, usually hidden beneath the floor. The chain of vehicles maintains constant motion at a specific speed (usually about 2 feet or 60 centimeters per second^[4]) throughout the entire course of the attraction. To facilitate boarding and disembarking from the vehicles, a conveyor belt moving at approximately the same speed as the ride vehicles parallels the track at the loading and unloading areas. Passengers step from the moving belt into the vehicle or vice versa.

One of the features that differentiates this system from other ride systems is the ability of the vehicle to be rotated to a predetermined orientation. Previous ride conveyor systems, such as

• If You Could Fly until it was closed in January 1989. Six months later, the ride system was reused and transformed into Delta Dreamflight, which was sponsored by Delta Air Lines until 1996. The ride vehicles were reprogrammed in 1989 to alter their viewing direction. In 1996, the ride became known as Take Flight and closed on January 9, 1998. Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin uses the very same Omnimover ride system of If You Had Wings/Delta Dreamflight, except for having new third-generation vehicles that can be rotated by the riders to any angle to shoot at various targets. This variant and that used for The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure
  use electric motors on the individual vehicles to rotate, instead of fixed control rails. Space Ranger Spin also uses two of the speed tunnels from If You Had Wings.
• The Living Seas
  , which used a different attraction theme and a different Omnimover vehicle design.

• Haunted Mansion Series
  • Disneyland
  • Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World
  • Tokyo Disneyland
  • Disneyland Paris
• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster
  Series
  • Disneyland
  • Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World
  • Tokyo Disneyland
  • Disneyland Paris
  • Shanghai Disneyland
• The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure
  • Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort
  • Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World^[6]

Current individual attractions using the Omnimover system

• Epcot
  • Spaceship Earth
  • The Seas with Nemo & Friends ^{System recycled from a previous attraction}
• Hong Kong Disneyland
  • Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle! (originally opened as Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters)

Omnimover attractions no longer in operation

This list includes all Omnimover attractions that have been permanently removed and not recycled.

• Disneyland
  • Adventure Thru Inner Space (replaced with Star Tours in 1987)
• Epcot
  • World of Motion (replaced with Test Track in 1999)
  • Mission: SPACE in 2003. Homages to Horizons can be found in both Mission: SPACE and in the Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain
    .)
  • Journey Into Imagination
• Hong Kong Disneyland
  • Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters (rethemed into Ant-Man & The Wasp: Nano Battle! in 2019)

Current attractions using the Endless Transit System

• Carnival Festival - Efteling
• Geister Rikscha
  - Phantasialand
• Batalla del Alcazar "Adelante" - Shima Spain Village - Parque Espana
• Abenteuer Atlantis [fr] - Europa-Park
• Geisterschloss [nl] - Europa-Park
• Madame Freudenreich Curiosités - Europa-Park
• Hershey’s Chocolate Tour - Hershey's Chocolate World
• Boo Blasters on Boo Hill (formerly Phantom Theater) - Kings Island
• Spirit Of London Ride - Madame Tussauds, London
• Yoshi's Adventure - Universal Studios Japan
• The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash! - Universal Studios Hollywood
• Reset - Mirabilandia

Variations

• Horizons
  at EPCOT is notable for being the only attraction to utilize an inverted Omnimover. The vehicles did not rotate, but instead traveled sideways during the entire attraction.
• The Seas with Nemo and Friends
  , the opening ride-through portion utilizing "clam-mobiles" was extended. Although visually similar to the Omnimover system, these vehicles do not tilt or rotate away from parallel to the track. This is due to the lack of space below the track for the mechanics and space in the ride area to place anything behind the vehicles for them to turn around to face.
• Buzz Lightyear
  is the only Omnimover-style ride where riders spin the vehicles manually.
• Journey Into Imagination
  at EPCOT used multiple individual trains of Omnimover-like cars. While the cars do rotate, they come to a full stop for loading and unloading of guests.

References