Thank you so much for sharing this - something that would have been lost to the ages if you hadn't. I never even knew about this original version. Thanks again!
Awesome video! I saw this original version back when I was 9 or 10 and after watching the promo videos before going to MK, was prepared to be scared stupid. But the ride really wasn't scary, I never got to ride the redone version with Tim Curry's voice. Oh well.
this ride was so scary for me,and im so glad they made it into a stitch ride because i love stitch soooo much and im glad that they got rid of that abmination!
I sooooooo want this ride back. They should've just moved it to MGM/Hollywood Studios if it was "too intense for kids" or just not even take the kids on there! Honestly it doesn't seem THAT scary to me but to younger kids probably.
It was not the action or characters that were freaking people out, as much as the setting, including the harnesses that clamped onto your shoulders, and the fact that the lights went out completely, leaving you in the dark. Compared to other "scary" theme park rides, it was rather over the top.
That kind of C-3PO step-cousin had so much well coordinated moves someone could believe there was a person inside it. Date is December 14 1994, that was 2 days BEFORE the soft opening of the ride, amazing...
@HoldenSouthardsTv The Alien is named Skippy but on Stitch he just stays there and the "fried" Skippy audio animatronics figure is re-used and edited to be the "donut guy" they teleport in. Last time I went on Stitch I asked a cast member if Skippy likes peanut butter(because Skippy is also the name of a peanut butter brand) and the answer was yes! He's so cute.
He was called Skippy because in the earliest concept art he looked like a sort of kangaroo. "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" was an old TV show from the 1960s.
At least here the teleportation system has the potential to teleport without frying you. And this robot acts more like a real person and cares about Skippy. That's why S.I.R. stands for SIMULATED intelligence robotics. Disney simulates everything else better than SIR's intelligence, that's for sure!
Yes. See descriptions elsewhere, but mostly the video was recut, more (endless) voiceovers were used in the blackout sequence, the live cast member was added, and the canned audience reactions were redone. The basic sequence was the same.
I can't remember if they shot any new video. I think it was just vocal tracks with some new dialog. The original video was just cut differently. Oh, and I think they added some new graphics, but no new live action. It's been a while so I don't recall too clearly.
@kuhnigget Upload it! I uploaded Miracles From Molecules, the theme song from Adventure Thru Inner Space at Disneyland, a ride that has been gone for over 20 years and has little known video footage.
So I went to WDW when i was seven and saw this and cried it was so scary, so the next time we went when i was 13, i was all excited to ride it again and what took its place? Stich. stupid
Well, of course, I'm biased, but I would agree. I thought the revised version was downright cruel. In this version Skippy is the hero and he survives the accidental frying. In the revised version he is deliberately killed. In my mind that set a really negative tone for the whole show, especially given the cartooney dialog of the main show video that followed.
I tend to agree. It should have been at the Disney-MGM studios. Unfortunately, it was "sold" to management as an appropriate update to the mission to mars attraction, which was pretty much sitting empty in Disneyland and The Magic Kingdom.
There was a lot of internal debate at WDI about the show, and many parties did not want it to be as scary as it eventually became.
On the other hand, Snow White's Scary Adventure received more overall complaints.
@ubermorph1000 It's an old magician's trick. Beneath each tube are two mirrors mounted vertically with one touching the other in a V shape with the apex of the V pointed at the audience. The edges of the mirrors are hidden by struts in the base. By reflecting the struts, it appears as if the space below the tube is empty air. Skippy drops (and fried Skippy rises) behind the mirrors as the tubes fill up with liquid nitrogen and the liquid crystal material coating them goes opaque.
@kuhnigget im actually a 13 year old just wanting 2 know because at "Stitch's Great Escape" i was wondering how that new alien appears in the tube when there's those pipes connecting at the bottom
@ubermorph1000 well, here's a secret.. I found out a mirror is under the tubes reflecting another view to make the tubes look like they don't reach all the way to the floor. Before that, my only choice was to believe in the science of the teleprtation. And here's a video of a demo of a really great game coming this year that many people are anticipating and has teleportation which reminded me of Alien Encounter. video=gFMWeDXHK9Y&lc=iSsngAZzgkgS8WQYUTU8t-nP1LiF7S8WlLsYblKZWyg&feature=inbox
No, the pre-show stayed pretty much the same. Just the video playing on the monitor. There might have been a new audio track made for when the doors open and the new robot invites you in, but I don't recall.
i have a question.. i went on this years ago so i don't remember. it might just be the lighting, but did they change this robot after a while? in the video to the side that magicalthemeparks has, the same clip, the robot looks different? did they change him?
Yes, this version of the show was quickly shut down after an initial "soft" opening. There were many reasons why, and it's too complicated to go into details here. Suffice to say a mixture of Disney politics, turf wars, and 20/20 hindsight vision added up to the inevitable switch. Tim Curry voiced the new version of the preshow.
That was only part of the reason. It was an expensive show to operate and the operations group never liked it for that reason. because it was original IP, it wasn't really useful for marketing other Disney product, which is a big part of how the parks present their budgets to management. Stitch was seen as a solution to this aspect of the attraction's "problems," and a way to get a few more years' $ out of the original investment in the attraction.
Skippy is the little creature inside the small teleportation tube in the preshow, above. He, or rather "they," since there are two Skippy figures, were original AA figures designed specifically for this show. A guy named Andy Gaskill did the original concept design for him, and various others refined him to best work for the show.
Thanks for the response. I went on the 2nd version a good 20 times. I had heard online in the original version that Skippy had a bigger role. One not just in the pre-show. Must have been hearsay.
No, Skippy was never in the main show. At one very early stage in the development, there was to be another humanoid figure teleported into the main show tube, but that went away rather early on in the process. The team jokingly referred to him as "George," after George Lucas...who (again) had nothing to do with the development of the actual show for this attraction.
Yes, for a simple animatronics figure, the robot was pretty cool. The animated eyeballs added a lot of expression. And the Skippy figure was one of the best Disney ever did, in terms of character. And of course, when that original design was presented to the "powers that be," they dismissed it as being unlovable.
Man I miss this one. I never got to see Phil Hartman as the voice for S.I.R. Only Curry, because that's when my mom would finally let me see it. I just got back just today from Disney and let me tell you, tomorrowland would be better with this back.
Also, anyone whose been on the Tiki Room, is that Phil Hartman in the preshow there too?Because I thought they remade it after he passed.
It would have been a good touch, if the main show were equally sinister. The trouble is, the attraction was schizophrenic...it ended up being an unappealing mix of serious scares, goofball silliness, sinister evil, cartooney buffoonery...a little bit of everything. There was no focus, no one direction guiding the whole show. Great concept, destroyed by (too many) good intentions.
The problem was actually pretty simple. The classic scary/funny Disney attractions (Pirates, Mansion) start scary and end up funny. Alien Encounter went backwards.
I don't think it's that simple. The show turned into a random mix of scary/goofball elements, presented in no apparent order. The mix of cartoony jokes and the overall goofy tone of the videos were at complete odds with what was going on in the main theater. It made for a very disjointed experience. Had it been one way or the other, it wouldn't have been so difficult for the audience to deal with it. As I said before, from an insider's point of view, there were too many cooks in the kitchen.
At any rate, I think the attraction was much better with the final Tim Curry preshow, since you at least had some suspense and momentum going into the show chamber. It was also more clear with the Curry version what was "supposed" to happen.
During this preshow though, it sounds like they're playing a longer/revised version of "Seizing the Future." Does anyone have that music?
Okay everyone. I need to know. I'm going to florida for spring break for the first time since I was two. I am now 14 and I was dying to go on this ride after all the stories my mom had told me about it. I have heard rumors that it has been shut down to make room for a Stitch ride. Please tell me if this is true or not :(
Yea a few years ago this ride shut its doors and replaced it with Stitchs great escaoe. Its too bad it was good. But i guess it wasnt disney like. But im sure you will have fun anyway!
yeah it was waaaay too scary for kids! i think it was taken down in 2003. im thinking like august of 2003 but hay i really dont kno
but i know that you do HAVE TO go on the great movie ride. its in hollywood studios but it has alien in it if u really wanna see it. truthfully, i dont like alien but the great movie ride is totally awesome!!!!!!
Actually the ride was shut down after parents complained that the show was scaring thier children. This ride was never advertised as something for little kids so what did the parents expect?
That's actually not true. There were many reasons it was shut down. Guest complaints were one factor, but operational costs were another. It was an expensive show to run.
Not as much. They eliminated a couple of cast member positions, I believe. And decreased the amount of liquid nitrogen used in the main show, which was a big expense. Plus, shorter queues = less crowd control. I guess what I mean to say is that it was no one thing that shut it down. Complaints, the fact that the park brass never liked it to begin with (not Disney enough, whatever that means), operting cost...just too many check marks for it to survive.
The main show has been posted several times by others, unless you mean the original one, which I haven't gotten around to digitizing yet, being a lazy slug.
Yes. There was no live cast member walking around above, there was no "narration" during the lights-out segments, the videos were cut a little differently, and the in-theater audio recordings were performed by a bunch of truly awful amateurs. The ending was better, tho. Chairmain Clench is beamed into the theater, only to be shut up inside the tube. He bangs on the inside of it while the audience unloads.
I guess that's a matter of opinion. Some people thought all the blathering narration in the second was distracting. The revised show was also not as dark inside when the lights went out. But the show had so many "cooks in the kitchen" by the end of the process it's amazing it made any sense at all. Too bad. It was a brilliant concept ruined by the very people who could have made it great.
No, the binaural FX were great. The problem was, the people delivering the canned lines (the people from the audience you heard talking and joking) were frakkin' cast members recruited from the park! Oh, and one SAK theater guy who wasn't too bad. It was embarrassing.
too scary for the kids. I remember i road that ride twice and there was always aboout three or more kids crying to get out. One time i went on it and about eight kids were crying and i think one pissed his pants
to replace it witch the stitch ride to make it less scary because even some adults and teens were scared. stitch's ride is pretty cool though. mostly little kids would try to even escape and cry because of the alien
Much of the themed cladding on the figure was scrounged from scrap lying around WDI. It's basically just a naked AA figure with various bits of vacuform plastic - and that helmet - stuck on. Only the projected eyes were really new, and that was a pretty nifty effect. Originally, there was a backstory created about why his head looked like a bike helmet, but I forget the fictional reasoning now.
When the decision was made to re-do the whole attraction, the preshow was revamped as well. I guess they felt a scarier (if somewhat sadistic) preshow would better prepare people for the experience in the main theater.
Lilo and Stitch did not rip this off. Disney Imagineers adapted the original alien show sets, effects and animatronic figures for a "new" show. The basic gag is the same, but the theming is different.
but yet the "new one" sucks and it make me cry more than the original scary one. I just wish that they put back their origianl ride for other people. there was on w/ these 2 robots and one and 9 eyes and he was sent back in teh past and we saw all of the different time periods. i loved that one by nooo Disney has to take out the good ones to make it suitable for teh "young" people BS!
Yes, but I haven't gotten around to digitizing it yet. There are several vids of the later versions of the show on YouTube, as you can no doubt see in the Related Videos box there to the right.
nice but i saw the tim curry one and dont remember that one so i would think that this is a good one, do u have the replacement vid cause i would like to c that.
December 14, 1994; that's the day I was born.
IAmMisterTterevel 3 weeks ago
Thank you so much for sharing this - something that would have been lost to the ages if you hadn't. I never even knew about this original version. Thanks again!
Smilee306 1 month ago
Comment removed
Smilee306 1 month ago
Stichs great escape wins by far
lovetosurf1010 1 month ago
If you've gone on Stitch's great escape the have the sane aliens in the transportation tubes
tank115killa 1 month ago
bring it back bring it back!!!!!!
dps2027 3 months ago
Awesome video! I saw this original version back when I was 9 or 10 and after watching the promo videos before going to MK, was prepared to be scared stupid. But the ride really wasn't scary, I never got to ride the redone version with Tim Curry's voice. Oh well.
mongoletwo 3 months ago
In the end: Blame Michael Eisner. He should have left the engineers at WDI design something rather then try to make an Alien ride.
Costerguy1234556 4 months ago
@Costerguy1234556
Michael Eisner had nothing to do with Alien Encounter. It WAS designed by imagineers, myself included.
kuhnigget 4 months ago 4
@kuhnigget Wait you're an Imagineer?! Ok sorry about that statement I was just reading earlier about this ride guess they were wrong.
Costerguy1234556 4 months ago
Learn to spell.
kuhnigget 4 months ago
this ride was so scary for me,and im so glad they made it into a stitch ride because i love stitch soooo much and im glad that they got rid of that abmination!
\
SuperFamfan 4 months ago
I sooooooo want this ride back. They should've just moved it to MGM/Hollywood Studios if it was "too intense for kids" or just not even take the kids on there! Honestly it doesn't seem THAT scary to me but to younger kids probably.
AlexDemiLennonLove 5 months ago
@AlexDemiLennonLove
It was not the action or characters that were freaking people out, as much as the setting, including the harnesses that clamped onto your shoulders, and the fact that the lights went out completely, leaving you in the dark. Compared to other "scary" theme park rides, it was rather over the top.
kuhnigget 5 months ago
@kuhnigget what about that damn abominable snowman ride, freaked me right the fuck out, but i'm glad they didn't replace that too.
slipknotcrazy100 3 months ago
@kuhnigget Yeah :( I wasn't properly seated when I went on the stitch ride, so I was in a "slipping out of my seat" position, with aching shoulders.
^ I was pretty much slouching, while getting biled on by stitch. Idk HOW many times I got sprayed at when I went to florida.
Harry potter ride's spiders, Spiderman ride's water part, Jurassic park, It's tough to be a bug, stitch, the magical 3d whatever 3D mickey thing,
so much water!
SouleaterOnyx 1 month ago
can someone please tell me whats scary about this eide never been on it and is it really scary liek what happens?
n2neeed 5 months ago
That kind of C-3PO step-cousin had so much well coordinated moves someone could believe there was a person inside it. Date is December 14 1994, that was 2 days BEFORE the soft opening of the ride, amazing...
moldorm64 6 months ago
@moldorm64
The attraction was all but complete when this was taken. Only the main show was still being worked on.
kuhnigget 6 months ago
well not in florida
StormX6 6 months ago
lol i thought the robot said a cuss word, then i read the comments and saw that it was taken down cuz it was scary, i wans t around to see it =(
StormX6 6 months ago
that face at 4:28 scared the shit out of me
koolkittykat5000 6 months ago
Is that the same alien being teleported in the new Stitch ride?
HoldenSouthardsTv 6 months ago
@HoldenSouthardsTv
Haven't a clue. Never seen Stitch.
kuhnigget 6 months ago
@HoldenSouthardsTv The Alien is named Skippy but on Stitch he just stays there and the "fried" Skippy audio animatronics figure is re-used and edited to be the "donut guy" they teleport in. Last time I went on Stitch I asked a cast member if Skippy likes peanut butter(because Skippy is also the name of a peanut butter brand) and the answer was yes! He's so cute.
DisneyfanBeckers 5 months ago
@DisneyfanBeckers
He was called Skippy because in the earliest concept art he looked like a sort of kangaroo. "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo" was an old TV show from the 1960s.
kuhnigget 5 months ago
Was the original version of the ride more "kid friendly".
Costerguy1234556 7 months ago
@Costerguy1234556
No. It was basically the same intensity. In fact, there were fewer dumb jokes in the lights-out audio portion.
kuhnigget 7 months ago
@kuhnigget Oh OK thanks for the information.
Costerguy1234556 7 months ago
At least here the teleportation system has the potential to teleport without frying you. And this robot acts more like a real person and cares about Skippy. That's why S.I.R. stands for SIMULATED intelligence robotics. Disney simulates everything else better than SIR's intelligence, that's for sure!
DisneyfanBeckers 7 months ago
did they change the show as well when they changed this??
LEGOMaster56 8 months ago
@LEGOMaster56
Yes. See descriptions elsewhere, but mostly the video was recut, more (endless) voiceovers were used in the blackout sequence, the live cast member was added, and the canned audience reactions were redone. The basic sequence was the same.
kuhnigget 8 months ago
@kuhnigget i mean like the footage they show
LEGOMaster56 8 months ago
@LEGOMaster56
I can't remember if they shot any new video. I think it was just vocal tracks with some new dialog. The original video was just cut differently. Oh, and I think they added some new graphics, but no new live action. It's been a while so I don't recall too clearly.
kuhnigget 8 months ago
@kuhnigget can u help me find the original show?
LEGOMaster56 8 months ago
@LEGOMaster56
I think I have the only footage of it. Haven't gotten around to uploading it yet. One of these days...
kuhnigget 8 months ago
@kuhnigget Upload it! I uploaded Miracles From Molecules, the theme song from Adventure Thru Inner Space at Disneyland, a ride that has been gone for over 20 years and has little known video footage.
DisneyfanBeckers 8 months ago
wow disney used the same things for stitch
DisneyFan921 10 months ago
So I went to WDW when i was seven and saw this and cried it was so scary, so the next time we went when i was 13, i was all excited to ride it again and what took its place? Stich. stupid
MadameMadHatter 1 year ago
the only good part disney did with Stitch was the preshow.
funspot101 1 year ago
Phil Hartman FTW
rustysurfing07 1 year ago
Weyland-Yutani: building better worlds for every man, woman and chi - whoops, wrong story.
HowlingWolf518 1 year ago
I like this version better than version 2. And I like it even more than the Stitch one.
Benstudio13 1 year ago
@Benstudio13
Well, of course, I'm biased, but I would agree. I thought the revised version was downright cruel. In this version Skippy is the hero and he survives the accidental frying. In the revised version he is deliberately killed. In my mind that set a really negative tone for the whole show, especially given the cartooney dialog of the main show video that followed.
kuhnigget 1 year ago
I NEVER thought this show was right for The Magic Kingdom Park. It would have fit in well at Epcot or even The Studios, (I know that's a stretch.)
TheRayRogersShow 1 year ago
@TheRayRogersShow
I tend to agree. It should have been at the Disney-MGM studios. Unfortunately, it was "sold" to management as an appropriate update to the mission to mars attraction, which was pretty much sitting empty in Disneyland and The Magic Kingdom.
There was a lot of internal debate at WDI about the show, and many parties did not want it to be as scary as it eventually became.
On the other hand, Snow White's Scary Adventure received more overall complaints.
kuhnigget 1 year ago 4
@kuhnigget how did u make skippy disapear in the teleportation tube
ubermorph1000 2 days ago
@ubermorph1000 It's an old magician's trick. Beneath each tube are two mirrors mounted vertically with one touching the other in a V shape with the apex of the V pointed at the audience. The edges of the mirrors are hidden by struts in the base. By reflecting the struts, it appears as if the space below the tube is empty air. Skippy drops (and fried Skippy rises) behind the mirrors as the tubes fill up with liquid nitrogen and the liquid crystal material coating them goes opaque.
kuhnigget 2 days ago
@ubermorph1000 Of course, now that you know the secret, you realize I have to kill you, right?
Just kidding, Mr. FBI man scanning all these posts with your fourier analyses.
kuhnigget 2 days ago
@kuhnigget im actually a 13 year old just wanting 2 know because at "Stitch's Great Escape" i was wondering how that new alien appears in the tube when there's those pipes connecting at the bottom
ubermorph1000 1 day ago
@ubermorph1000 well, here's a secret.. I found out a mirror is under the tubes reflecting another view to make the tubes look like they don't reach all the way to the floor. Before that, my only choice was to believe in the science of the teleprtation. And here's a video of a demo of a really great game coming this year that many people are anticipating and has teleportation which reminded me of Alien Encounter. video=gFMWeDXHK9Y&lc=iSsngAZzgkgS8WQYUTU8t-nP1LiF7S8WlLsYblKZWyg&feature=inbox
DisneyfanBeckers 1 day ago in playlist Liked videos
@ubermorph1000 Oh, okay, I guess I won't have to kill you then. But you have to promise not to tell anyone the secret, kay?
As usual, it's all just smoke and mirrors. :)
kuhnigget 1 day ago
this attraction was so scary lol...
CoasterChick22 1 year ago
SKIPPYYYY <3
CoasterChick22 1 year ago
omg its phil hartman
wannagetsomepizza 1 year ago
OMG I MISS SKIPPIE THE LIL ALIEN SOO MUCH MY DAD BOUGHT ME A SKIPPY PLUSH TOY AND I LOST IT
WiCkedRiDDleBOX19 1 year ago
@WiCkedRiDDleBOX19
Check eBay. You see them come up every now and then.
kuhnigget 1 year ago
1 Person likes Stitch's Great Escape.
Tonytambe 1 year ago
Was the first pre-show any different in the original version?
MechaBearHunter 1 year ago
@MechaBearHunter :
No, the pre-show stayed pretty much the same. Just the video playing on the monitor. There might have been a new audio track made for when the doors open and the new robot invites you in, but I don't recall.
kuhnigget 1 year ago
@MechaBearHunter, its diff, this one was oddly enough to Disney, not scary enough at the opening of the attraction and was soon changed after.
PreludeVTEC01 1 year ago
i have a question.. i went on this years ago so i don't remember. it might just be the lighting, but did they change this robot after a while? in the video to the side that magicalthemeparks has, the same clip, the robot looks different? did they change him?
FromA2mee 1 year ago
@FromA2mee:
Yes, this version of the show was quickly shut down after an initial "soft" opening. There were many reasons why, and it's too complicated to go into details here. Suffice to say a mixture of Disney politics, turf wars, and 20/20 hindsight vision added up to the inevitable switch. Tim Curry voiced the new version of the preshow.
kuhnigget 1 year ago
@kuhnigget
wasn't it because it was too scary for kids, so disney felt that it needed a more kid friendly approach? such as stich?
WDWtony 1 year ago
@WDWtony
That was only part of the reason. It was an expensive show to operate and the operations group never liked it for that reason. because it was original IP, it wasn't really useful for marketing other Disney product, which is a big part of how the parks present their budgets to management. Stitch was seen as a solution to this aspect of the attraction's "problems," and a way to get a few more years' $ out of the original investment in the attraction.
kuhnigget 1 year ago
@WDWtony yup and i dont think thats fair if its too scary dont get on
hiveproof 1 year ago
this was the best ride ever!!!!
birminghamjan3 1 year ago
do you have footage of the original ride?
iRuler101 1 year ago
@iRuler101 :
Yes. But I'm too lazy to digitize and upload it.
kuhnigget 1 year ago
BRING THIS RIDE BACK!!!!!
slimdon12 1 year ago 8
@slimdon12 I could do that ;)
schoonfam08 1 week ago
thats a pretty damn good animatronic!
seangames111 1 year ago 2
Nice to know Disney recycled the Audio-Animatrons from the original ride for the Lilo and Stitch version!
ztslovebird 1 year ago
They need to bring back Alien Encounter.
Xenomorph237 1 year ago 2
at least they kept these guys =)
funspot202cartoonsTV 1 year ago
Was Skippy a part of the main show? I have heard he was from someone else.
limitedresources 1 year ago
Skippy is the little creature inside the small teleportation tube in the preshow, above. He, or rather "they," since there are two Skippy figures, were original AA figures designed specifically for this show. A guy named Andy Gaskill did the original concept design for him, and various others refined him to best work for the show.
kuhnigget 1 year ago
Thanks for the response. I went on the 2nd version a good 20 times. I had heard online in the original version that Skippy had a bigger role. One not just in the pre-show. Must have been hearsay.
limitedresources 1 year ago
No, Skippy was never in the main show. At one very early stage in the development, there was to be another humanoid figure teleported into the main show tube, but that went away rather early on in the process. The team jokingly referred to him as "George," after George Lucas...who (again) had nothing to do with the development of the actual show for this attraction.
kuhnigget 1 year ago
The robotics/puppetry used for this is still amazing these days.
Kl4pp5tuhl 2 years ago
Yes, for a simple animatronics figure, the robot was pretty cool. The animated eyeballs added a lot of expression. And the Skippy figure was one of the best Disney ever did, in terms of character. And of course, when that original design was presented to the "powers that be," they dismissed it as being unlovable.
kuhnigget 2 years ago
Man I miss this one. I never got to see Phil Hartman as the voice for S.I.R. Only Curry, because that's when my mom would finally let me see it. I just got back just today from Disney and let me tell you, tomorrowland would be better with this back.
Also, anyone whose been on the Tiki Room, is that Phil Hartman in the preshow there too?Because I thought they remade it after he passed.
SuperBitCube64 2 years ago 2
Yes, Phil Hartman was also used in the Tiki Room. I believe he died shortly thereafter.
kuhnigget 2 years ago
parents should know that any attraction with the word "terror" in it , will be a scary one
like duh!
ROSE911GUNDAM 2 years ago
I dunno, that wicked queen makeup is pretty scary. :P
kuhnigget 2 years ago
I just realized that Phil Hartman was the original voice for the pre-show robot...I believe it was replaced with Tim Curry...
Curry did make the robot more sinister though...which was a good touch...
evolutioninexistence 2 years ago
It would have been a good touch, if the main show were equally sinister. The trouble is, the attraction was schizophrenic...it ended up being an unappealing mix of serious scares, goofball silliness, sinister evil, cartooney buffoonery...a little bit of everything. There was no focus, no one direction guiding the whole show. Great concept, destroyed by (too many) good intentions.
kuhnigget 2 years ago
The problem was actually pretty simple. The classic scary/funny Disney attractions (Pirates, Mansion) start scary and end up funny. Alien Encounter went backwards.
TheInflicted 2 years ago
I don't think it's that simple. The show turned into a random mix of scary/goofball elements, presented in no apparent order. The mix of cartoony jokes and the overall goofy tone of the videos were at complete odds with what was going on in the main theater. It made for a very disjointed experience. Had it been one way or the other, it wouldn't have been so difficult for the audience to deal with it. As I said before, from an insider's point of view, there were too many cooks in the kitchen.
kuhnigget 2 years ago
At any rate, I think the attraction was much better with the final Tim Curry preshow, since you at least had some suspense and momentum going into the show chamber. It was also more clear with the Curry version what was "supposed" to happen.
During this preshow though, it sounds like they're playing a longer/revised version of "Seizing the Future." Does anyone have that music?
TheInflicted 2 years ago
That's actually just Phil Hartman improvising: "We're seizing the future, grasping the moment, pinching your wallet..."
kuhnigget 2 years ago
I still have an original skippy stuffed animal from 11 years ago lol
ggary04 2 years ago
so do I!!!
u4ikreign 2 years ago
they still have skippy but he is not burnt
PastelStudios 2 years ago
Did I mention... PLEASE BUY MY NEW BOOK, "THE FINAL ORACLE."
Check it out at Amazon or other online retailers. Thank you.
kuhnigget 2 years ago
<3 SKIPPY!
CoasterChick22 2 years ago 2
Okay everyone. I need to know. I'm going to florida for spring break for the first time since I was two. I am now 14 and I was dying to go on this ride after all the stories my mom had told me about it. I have heard rumors that it has been shut down to make room for a Stitch ride. Please tell me if this is true or not :(
kiramasae 3 years ago
Sorry. It was redone as Stitch's Great Escape a few years back.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
Yea a few years ago this ride shut its doors and replaced it with Stitchs great escaoe. Its too bad it was good. But i guess it wasnt disney like. But im sure you will have fun anyway!
MAJiclemons 3 years ago
this has been closed for some time.
moto1666 2 years ago
yeah it was waaaay too scary for kids! i think it was taken down in 2003. im thinking like august of 2003 but hay i really dont kno
but i know that you do HAVE TO go on the great movie ride. its in hollywood studios but it has alien in it if u really wanna see it. truthfully, i dont like alien but the great movie ride is totally awesome!!!!!!
hornattack 2 years ago
yeah stitch took its spot a few years ago.
CoasterChick22 2 years ago
Actually the ride was shut down after parents complained that the show was scaring thier children. This ride was never advertised as something for little kids so what did the parents expect?
emilysclone 2 years ago
That's actually not true. There were many reasons it was shut down. Guest complaints were one factor, but operational costs were another. It was an expensive show to run.
kuhnigget 2 years ago
Isn't stiches great escape an expensive show too?
emilysclone 2 years ago
Not as much. They eliminated a couple of cast member positions, I believe. And decreased the amount of liquid nitrogen used in the main show, which was a big expense. Plus, shorter queues = less crowd control. I guess what I mean to say is that it was no one thing that shut it down. Complaints, the fact that the park brass never liked it to begin with (not Disney enough, whatever that means), operting cost...just too many check marks for it to survive.
kuhnigget 2 years ago
Yeah. Closed. Full details (more detail than you'll ever want) on wikipedia.
marks47 2 years ago
awesome, thanks for posting this!
elvingtonjr 3 years ago
Post the main show please! (:
kevkev44 3 years ago
The main show has been posted several times by others, unless you mean the original one, which I haven't gotten around to digitizing yet, being a lazy slug.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
is the original show any different than the other one?
Cloud198422 3 years ago
Yes. There was no live cast member walking around above, there was no "narration" during the lights-out segments, the videos were cut a little differently, and the in-theater audio recordings were performed by a bunch of truly awful amateurs. The ending was better, tho. Chairmain Clench is beamed into the theater, only to be shut up inside the tube. He bangs on the inside of it while the audience unloads.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
so it wasnt as scary as it was when it closed?
Cloud198422 3 years ago
I guess that's a matter of opinion. Some people thought all the blathering narration in the second was distracting. The revised show was also not as dark inside when the lights went out. But the show had so many "cooks in the kitchen" by the end of the process it's amazing it made any sense at all. Too bad. It was a brilliant concept ruined by the very people who could have made it great.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
i see. thanks for answering my questions
Cloud198422 3 years ago
how were the audio recordings awful? just bad binaural quality?
sgraem 2 years ago
No, the binaural FX were great. The problem was, the people delivering the canned lines (the people from the audience you heard talking and joking) were frakkin' cast members recruited from the park! Oh, and one SAK theater guy who wasn't too bad. It was embarrassing.
kuhnigget 2 years ago
wait, why did they get rid of it?
cyberdude14 2 years ago
See my other comments. No one reason for axing it.
kuhnigget 2 years ago
too scary for the kids. I remember i road that ride twice and there was always aboout three or more kids crying to get out. One time i went on it and about eight kids were crying and i think one pissed his pants
Crewwstube 2 years ago
then they shouldn't have brought their frigin kids on it! Didn't they pay attention to the commercials or anything?
cyberdude14 2 years ago 15
It was explecitely signed as not appropriate for children under 7! Some people are so dumb...
DrBigBen 2 years ago
And THEN signed as not for under 12. Stupid ass parents, you killed a legend.
>:(
AdrenalineAddict610 2 years ago 2
to replace it witch the stitch ride to make it less scary because even some adults and teens were scared. stitch's ride is pretty cool though. mostly little kids would try to even escape and cry because of the alien
hyena419 2 years ago
Hello, I'm Troy McClure. You may remember me from such Disney rides like Alien Encounter and Greatest Moments with Mr. Eisner.
(Please don't give me any thumbs downs. Also I know that Greatest Moments with Mr. Eisner doesn't exsist. I was just adding a little humor to it)
luisrox94 3 years ago 21
My greatest moment with Mr. Eisner was when I saw him walk face first into a potted palm tree.
True story.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
is that phil hartman?
edwood666 3 years ago
I love this because the robot has a bicycle helmet on. Scaaaarryyy!!
kissingoldfriends 3 years ago
Much of the themed cladding on the figure was scrounged from scrap lying around WDI. It's basically just a naked AA figure with various bits of vacuform plastic - and that helmet - stuck on. Only the projected eyes were really new, and that was a pretty nifty effect. Originally, there was a backstory created about why his head looked like a bike helmet, but I forget the fictional reasoning now.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting the original version!
NewsPlusNotes 3 years ago
You're welcome, you're welcome, you're welcome.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
The Ride Gave Me Good Scares Every Time I Went On. I Was Selected 2 Out Of 7 Times
toyinattic 3 years ago
A painless procedure, I assure you.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
Exactly!
toyinattic 3 years ago
Circut Y? Y Ceartainly!
toyinattic 3 years ago
thts a good robot for 1994 i went on this whn i was 6 so i forget most of it
farc300 3 years ago
wow, Phil Hartman (rip) and Tim Curry. kind of a shame they had to get rid of such talent on this attraction, albeit faceless.
dreamer856 3 years ago
Wow, very rare footage here.. post the main show! :)
Why'd they change the original per-show?
kevkev44 3 years ago 2
When the decision was made to re-do the whole attraction, the preshow was revamped as well. I guess they felt a scarier (if somewhat sadistic) preshow would better prepare people for the experience in the main theater.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
Lilo and Stitch did not rip this off. Disney Imagineers adapted the original alien show sets, effects and animatronic figures for a "new" show. The basic gag is the same, but the theming is different.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
but yet the "new one" sucks and it make me cry more than the original scary one. I just wish that they put back their origianl ride for other people. there was on w/ these 2 robots and one and 9 eyes and he was sent back in teh past and we saw all of the different time periods. i loved that one by nooo Disney has to take out the good ones to make it suitable for teh "young" people BS!
sanbs12 3 years ago
Thanks so much for posting this. I've waited for years to finally see this version.
dxwwf3 3 years ago
I may be slow, but I'm worth the wait.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
But do you think you'll post the original Main Show?
MOVIEGREEN 3 years ago
When I get around to it. :/
kuhnigget 3 years ago
Did you tape the main show too?
MOVIEGREEN 3 years ago
Yes, but I haven't gotten around to digitizing it yet. There are several vids of the later versions of the show on YouTube, as you can no doubt see in the Related Videos box there to the right.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
That is classic material! Thanks for sharing. - - RU42
ru42 3 years ago
Wow -- is that Phil Hartman voicing that robot? How eerie.
marckb 3 years ago
Yes, it's Phil Hartman. The soundtrack was recorded a little less than 4 years before he died, after he had just finished his last season with SNL.
kuhnigget 3 years ago
nice but i saw the tim curry one and dont remember that one so i would think that this is a good one, do u have the replacement vid cause i would like to c that.
sanbs12 3 years ago
Several people have posted it on YouTube. Do a search for "Alien Encounter" preshow and you will find it.
kuhnigget 3 years ago