Horizons at 40: Why this remains Epcot's most beloved past attraction

The opening of the fun past

The outside of Horizons got attention. It looked like a spaceship landing but the designers wanted to keep its exact purpose vague to show how no one knew what the future would hold. It did look great on maps and notable for one Future World pavilion that was only a single ride.

Guests entered the huge diamond-shaped building, passing by paintings of a futuristic city, an underwater base and a space station. It was designed as a "spaceport" with labels on departure times and more. Guests got onto a moving walkway and into the special omnimover transports with one side always open. 

As they entered a tunnel of lights, an elderly couple began narrating how people had long imagined the future. This led to the "looking back at tomorrow" section examining how science fiction writers of the past imagined the future. That included Jules Verne in a bullet-shaped rocket; a city where a robot butler vacuumed and a robot chef was causing a mess in the kitchen while a TV played the song "There's a Bit Beautiful Tomorrow;" a 1950s-styled traffic jam; and various film clips. 

The Omnimovers then passed through what was then one of the largest Omnimax screens ever (before IMAX was a thing) that showed "modern" (as in 1982) looks at technology from computer chips to solar radiation.