It was hard to hear the dialogue above the shrieking , but riders sit through former test runs ofExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounterin Walt Disney World in Orlando , Florida , bugger off the drive ’s canonical premise . A friendly group of aliens are showing off their novel teleportation engineering . midway through the presentment , something goes incorrect : They accidentally send a carnivorous monster to Earth , and when the Light flick off , the exotic fauna starts assail consultation members .
Though the attraction did n’t pop the question any steep plunge or high - speed turns , it aim to be one of Disney ’s premier flush rides , with the most substance - pounding moment taking stead as guests sit still in complete darkness . But when Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner experiencedExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounterfor himself inJanuary 1995 , he was unimpressed .
By that dot , Disney had already spenteight yearsdeveloping the drive , which was mean to be the collector’s item of Tomorrowland ’s $ 100 million makeover . It frighten other test - rider — theOrlando Sentinelreported people screaming over the dialogue andrunningfor the exit — but Eisner felt the ridewasn’t scary enough . rather ofclearing itto open later that month as planned , he rank the common ’s intriguer ( also known as Imagineers ) to shut out it down and ramp up the strength .
Five months later , one of the most terrifying rides in subject park chronicle opened in " The Happiest Place on Earth . "
From Alien Encounter to ExtraTERRORestrial
Disney was n’t a top goal for kick - seekers when Michael Eisner assume over the company in 1984 . The parks ’ Greco-Roman rides , likeIt ’s a Small World , Pirates of the Caribbean , and evenThe Haunted Mansion , were beloved for their nostalgia , not for their fear factor . Eisner ’s adolescent son Breck made this clear when he turned down the chance to go to Disneyland in California , saying the park was too lame . Determined to tempt the teenager demographic , Eisner began looking for ways to institute more thrills to Disneyland and Walt Disney World .
Alien Encounterwas conceived as part of this reimagining . A lot of the other ideas of what the ride would be ended up make it into the last product — guests would be seated in an sports stadium - style dramatic art facing an animatronic unknown that would ultimately run and terrorize them all in the darkness . But instead of a generic alien , the scoundrel was originally imply to be the Xenomorph from theAlienfranchise .
Disney plunge an ambitious renovation project of Tomorrowland around that time . Walt Disney ’s concept of the futurity had n’t senesce well since the parks first opened , and Imagineers were tax with recreating the world of tomorrow for modern audiences . Tomorrowland 2055 would welcome parkgoers into an intergalacticalien spaceport — a.k.a . the utter setting for the next attempt at anAlienride .
Eisner was 100 per centum on plank withAlien Encounter , and a full - fledgedAlienride may have opened at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World if it was n’t for some detractors work behind the scenes . Many of the theme park ’s more seasoned Imagineers opposed a ride that was not only based on an R - rated property , but contradictedWalt Disney’soptimistic vision of tomorrow . ineffective to convince Eisner to prohibit the project on their own , the Imagineers enlisted the avail of entertainment heavyweight George Lucas , who was shape as a advisor on theIndiana Jonesride for Disneyland at the time .
Lucas also felt thatAlien Encounterwas too vivid for the household - well-disposed parkland , and he agreed to collaborate on a strengthen - down , Xenomorph - costless rendering of the drive . With Lucas ’s name attach , Eisner was willing to let go of theAlienbrand , and an updated take onAlien Encounter , now calledExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter , become into development .
Though their project no longer featured alien that burst through chest or bled acid , the purpose squad still had the chilling atmosphere ofAlienon the brain . The movie ’s influence was ostensible whenExtraTERRORestrialopened in Tomorrowland on June 20 , 1995 .
ExtraTERRORestrial: A Ride “Too Intense for Children and Some Adults”
After month of prediction , ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounterfinally earned Eisner ’s approving , and Disney World invitee were able to see it for themselves . Byaddingnew special effects andtightening upthe tarradiddle , Imagineers had revise the ride into something guaranteed to affiance and terrify even the hard critics .
warning posted outside indicated this was n’t an modal Disney ride : “ TheExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounteris a frightening theatrical experience in a confined setting with forte racket and mo of full darkness,”one signread . It went on to say the ride “ may be too acute for children and some adult . ” But that did n’t stop parent from take on their young tyke into the attraction .
Once inside the building , guests wait in line watched a robot sound by Tim Curry prove a “ teletransporter ” made by the fictional exotic technology company X - S Tech , using a furred , yellowed alien named Skippy as his guinea pig . When ravish Skippy from one containment tube to the other , the car glitches , and the cute alien materializes looking burn up - up andin pain . The disturbing pre - show was meant to usher in rider to the teleportation machine ’s intended purpose , as well as its flaws , and to give them a taste perception of the ride ’s dark tone while they still had time to turn around and run .
The main show began when rider were show into the theater - in - the - round and strapped into their seats with harness . A squad of Alien X - S Tech voice recognise Earthlings from their abode planet via video Monitor and announced that they were about to do an interstellar demonstration of their teleportation gimmick . X - S Tech ’s chair volunteered to make the journey to Earth , but what appear in the electron tube at the center of the room was clearly not the same alien audience member saw on the screen .
Through strobe Light Within flashes and heave fog , riders catch a brief glimpse of the animatronic puppet — a hulk monster with leathery wings , areptilian clapper , and glowingred centre . The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the field and then the lights went sullen : The creature had escaped .
In an effort to imprint Eisner , the Imagineers task with tweaking the drive added more tactile special effects . Theyborrowedelements fromHoney I Shrunk the Audience ! , a newly opened show at Epcot that used 4D effects , such as water spritzer to imitate being sneeze on .
OnExtraTERRORestrial , these same effect were meant to horrify parkgoers , not gross them out . Through strategically placed speakers and 4D equipment , riders heard repulsive slurp and crunching noises , then were sprayed in the face with warm water — making them think they had been splattered with fresh blood . At one point , harness pressed down onto rider ’ articulatio humeri to make it feel as if the monster was crouching on top of them . Warm air travel and pee released from the derriere retroflex what it might feel like if the brute was drool down the back of each interview member ’s neck . Instead of watching the horror unfold on a CRT screen , each guest was made to feel as though the foreigner was stalking them personally . shrieking filled the room from start to conclusion , though it was n’t always potential to enjoin which cries for assistance were coming from consultation members and which were part of the scripted show .
Eventually the colossus was captured and the light came back on , revealing that no one in the theater had really been harmed … or ingest .
Though the ride did n’t inflict any physical damage , it did leave some psychological scars . Children often left the theaterin snag . AsThe Missoulianreportedin 1996 , one 9 - year - old was too scared to get anExtraTERRORestrialT - shirt from the gift workshop after the show . Karal Ann Marling , writer ofDesigning Disney ’s Theme Parks , toldtheOttawa Citizen , " This is the first time in a Disney park you ’re really , genuinely frightened . ”
Stitch invadesExtraTERRORestrial
Throughout the previous 1990s and early 2000s , ExtraTERRORestrialwas Disney World ’s most dissentious attraction . new kid and parents come to Disney to see Cinderella and Goofy may have feel betrayed by the drive ’s intensity , but old Thomas Kyd and teens , the chemical group Eisner to begin with wanted to win over , lovedit .
Despite the praise it received , ExtraTERRORestrial ’s life at Disney World was cut brusk . In 2003 , Disney end the drive with plans to open a novel , much tame radical park experience in its place : Stitch ’s Great Escape!recycled much ofExtraTERRORestrial ’s setting , peculiar burden , and construct — but or else of surviving an skirmish with a bloody-minded alien , riders instead faced the precious agonist of Disney ’s hit property , Lilo & Stitch .
Disney never explicitly stated why it shutteredExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter , but it was light they wantedStitch ’s Great Escape!to appeal to a wider interview . The Orlando Sentinelcalledthe new ride , " a milder version of the Magic Kingdom ’s too - scaryExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter . "
design it for everyone did n’t makeStitch ’s Great Escape!very pop . The 4D effects that had feel thrilling onExtraTERRORestrialnow seemed obnoxious ; rather of spatter you with " ancestry , " Stitch allow out a chili pepper - frank scentedburpin your typeface .
Attendance was so low-down that in the 2010s , the ride transition toseasonal operation . In 2018 , the ride closed indefinitely , and while Disney deniedreportsthatStitch ’s Great Escape!was go for respectable , leaked image of a dismantledStitch animatronicsuggest the ride wo n’t be reopen .
ThoughExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounterhas been closed for more 15 years , the demise ofStitch ’s Great Escape!is a going for lover of the original draw . The updated show had recycled many part of the nineties ride , admit animatronics like Skippy the alien ( he was never excruciate in the Stitch version ) . Now nostalgic Disney lover have to scourmemorabiliaon eBay for evidence that the alarm Magic Kingdom drive ever existed .
